Media Essay

"How is the trailer for Dracula Untold constructed to appeal to its target Audience?"

Dracula Untold is a Action/Fantasy/Horror film that is yet to be released, the film is set around "Vlad Dracula" or as he was better know "Vlad the Impaler" and follows him and his families lives before he became "Dracula". The film is based of the book "Dracula" by Bram Stoker.

This is the link to the "Dracula Untold" trailer

http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi210742297/imdb/embed?autoplay=false&width=854

Target Audience

The film "Dracula Untold" has a large possible audience as not only is it based on a well known book but it also has huge actors and a extremely well known main character (Vlad) but I believe from the trailer that the film is aimed at 18 to 25 year old males. I think this because of the nature of the trailer as it has heavy use of action.

Pace

The trailer follows a very common pace structure for any trailer of the same genre, during the opening it starts slow, this builds anticipation and helps with revealing story, then as the action starts to grow and things become more dangerous the pace picks up and slowly starts to increase in speed till the "Break Point" in which it suddenly slows.

By doing this it instantly put viewers on the edge waiting to start up again and because of this they take in the information within the trailer better thus they place the title within this section.

After the slow in pace in increases the pace slightly and it remains at that pace until the inter-titles where the pace jumps up until the last moments.

this is common as it uses continual building and then breaking of the action to relay important information, which is key when relaying information to 18 to 25 year olds.

Voice Over

At the begging of the trailer there is a very strong and effective use of a voiceover to sum up the plot of the story and they use Dracula's son to do this, I feel it is extra effective as having a child's voice makes it more memorable.

The voice over is "my farther was a great man, a hero so they say, sometime the world doesn't need another hero, sometime what it needs is a monster." personally I feel that by using a child it helps to  not only show the horror genre but helps to appeal to its target audience by using something that most of its audience see regally in a way they wouldn't see it.

Credits & Inter-titles

During the opening seconds the credit two film companies; Universal and Legendary, both of these are well known companies that have been evolved with many blockbuster films that are aimed at the same audience.

Universal is the first company that is shown but the logo has been altered from the normal colourful world to a silver globe, this is common in modern film as it helps to set the genre instantly before any footage is shown. By showing Universal in their trailer they can better reach their target audience as many film Universal are evolved with target this group of 18 to 25 year olds.

The second shown is Legendary, this logo is also changed, from a golden colour to the same silver and Universal. Legendary have been evolved in many films such as Dark Knight and Clash of Titans both of which attracted the same audience.

During the middle of the trailer they use a sequence of Inter-titles to quickly sum up the story, the inter-titles are; "To fight evil", "A Hero", "Will Turn To Darkness" in each title they use a key word (EVIL, HERO, DARKNESS) which can attract their target audience in a very effective and simple method.

The title of the film "DRACULA UNTOLD" is shown twice through the trailer, once near the begging just after the "Breaking Point" and once near the end during a large fight seen, both of these are place in correlation to the pace so that it becomes as memorable as possible.

They title itself is styled to reveal a small bit about the plot and help to further the genre as it is white on top of black (a hero figure when inside he's a monster) and has bats moving in over which can only be seen when crossing the white.

Dialogue

Throughout the trailer there is a large selection of memorial quotes and dialogue which can easily define the story, line such as "What is it you are seeking? I want the power to destroy my enemies and save my family." not only are effective to sum up the plot but also attract the film audience through "character development" (Growing the connection between viewers and characters).

Other dialogue such as "Do you think you are alive because you can fight? You are alive because of what I did to save you." are also strong examples of potential character development.

Soundtrack

Lorde - Everybody Wants To Rule The World

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BCo1RW1YaOk

The use of the music within the trailer is key as it helps pace the footage and really fits with the base story of the film. Not only does the popularity of the song help to attract the audience but the lyrics add to the footage making it even more appealing to fans of the genre or people with knowledge of Dracula.

Shots & camera angles

The trailer for "Dracula Untold" is very diverse in it use of camera techniques as it ranges from extreme longshots to close ups but each and every shot is used to convey the power of "Vlad" and the position he is in. For Example:

This Close up shot is taken from the early part of the trailer, it shows "Vlad" surrounded by his fallen enemies which shows his strength and many people will go to watch the film for Vlad's strength however the focus is on his face which has a serious look suggesting danger ahead, making people would what could worry him?

another example of the diversity of shots used in "Dracula Untold" is this next screen-grab, it shows a brightly light castle standing in a valley. Its used as a establishing shot however since it is shown just after the dark fighting scenes it suggests a non-horror side to the film which could be used to attract a larger audience but also the location sets the Fantasy genre element.

The use of this long, wide shot helps to show the enemy force which is marching towards "Vlad's" homeland. it suggest a epic battle awaits and this shot alone could attract a huge audience as it shows the action side which the blockbusters are filled with.

Special Effects

Because of the Fantasy and Action elements to the film as well as the modern concept of a "Vampire" being godlike, the special effects are extremely heavy and spectacular, the effects such as the swarms of bats and pealing skin would most certainly be appeal to fans of blockbuster films, and that has been proven by other recent films like "Avatar" or "Avenger Assemble" which were hugely successful.

Unique Selling Points

In a film such as this there are many Unique Selling Points but above all else the connection to not only a historic person (Vlad III Dracula) but to a extremely well known book will attract not just fans but anyone who has even heard of the name "Dracula".

The story isn't the films only USP's as it also contains huge name actors such as Samantha Barks (Les Misérables), Luke Evans (Clash of the Titans ), Dominic Cooper (Captain America: The First Avenger).