Thursday, 4 February 2010

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DeWsZ2b_pK4

This is the film trailer for Tim Burtons 'Alice in Wonderland'.

  • The first shot we see is of Alice running with just a shot of her feet, then fading to black then the next shot being of Alice herself. The character of Alice is being slowly revealed to the audience, with the black screen prolonging the character being revealed to the audience. The fact it is in slow motion also puts emphasis on this.
    The shot of Alice peering over the large rabbit hole, from a worms and a birds eye view, makes the audience aware of what is about to happen as she does eventually fall into the hole.
    The quick cut to the graphic of the director Tim Burtons name distances the audience from the plot, but makes the film recogniseable to the audience as Tim Burtons films are easily known.
  • The sequence of Alice falling through the hole shows the audience the themes and nature of the film itself. It shows a direct contrast between reality and surrealism as a girl falling through a hole into a magical world is a surreal situation. There are many objects which are falling towards the camera which then put the audience in Alice's shoes and help them to explore the surrealist nature of the film. when Alice reaches the bottom of the hole, the shot of her lying face down on the ground shows there is no way back to reality and to face that she is now in an entirely different world.
    The long shot of where we are able to see Alice looking at a bottle of potion foreshadows what is going to happen next, especially as the bottle appears to be so oversized. The fact Alice shrinks when she drinks the potion prepares the audience for other bizzare ordeals which will occur during the rest of the film.
  • The next few scenes which are briefly shown to the audience are very surreal as the shot of Alice walking down a pathway with bizzare looking characters again highlights the surrealism occuring throughout the film. The setting with huge plants all different colours and dark buildings show a contrast of almost good and evil, foreshadowing further events or characters in the film.
    The scene where the Cheshire Cat appears through the woods is a bizzare image as he is floating with a blue light behind him again to emphasise the surrealist view of the film. He has no body and is enlarged which therefore makes him a memorable character for the audience, with his huge grin and blue eyes.
    Other characters shown after this graphic such as the knight with an eyepatch on is unconventional as in the original stories knights are supposed to be in shining armour, handsome and brave. The Red Queen is also unconventional as she is small with bright red hair, again a memorable character but highlights the postmodernist feel brought to the film.
  • The graphics that are shown towards the end of the trailer address the audience, making the film seem more personal to them as " you've got a very important date" shows the film to be a must see.

Wednesday, 3 February 2010



This is a front cover of the magazine 'Total Film' featuring Johhny Depp as the Mad Hatter for Tim Burtons new film "Alice in Wonderland".

  • The main focus of the front cover is the image of the Mad Hatter. The image stands out from the background of a dark blue but also ties into the wonderland theme of the film.
  • The costume used to dress the character of the Mad Hatter again ties into the surrealist theme that runs throughout the film as it is clearly shown that Burton is postmodernising the original story.
    The different colours and patterns used on his clothing show the 'Mad' Hatters personality, this being bizarre and somewhat strange. Other features have been emphasised of the character such as his bright orange hair and the huge top hat, to show how over the top the rest of the film is going to be. The character is also put infront of the masthead "Total Film" to make him stand out on the cover and make him the focal point of the front cover.
    However the part of the Mad Hatter played by Johhny Depp contributes to his list of such characters like the Mad Hatter, such as Edward Scissorhands and Willy Wonka from Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory. Each of these films show a more postmodern version of the original story or a more postmodern take on reality.
  • The white writing which is shown on the cover stands out from the background so it is not only easy to see, but is a more subtle colour against the bright ones that have been used on the chararcter.
    The font size of "massive preview 2010" has been enlarged against the other straplines to really stand out and make the audience want to buy the magazine in order to find out what the massive preview is. The audience are made to feel that they are getting an insight into what others arn't going to know until the actual release.