Unit 3 4. Narrative and Themes

Taken trailer:
 one key theme that is clearly displayed in the taken trailer is the theme of revenge. Revenge is shown in the trailer at (TIME CODE), where Liam Neeson, the father of the daughter who has been kidnapped is speaking to the kidnapper, and claim "i will find you and i will kill you" This creates a large enigma around the film and trailer as it leaves the viewers thinking and pondering on whether he will actually get his revenge and find his daughter, which attracts an audience to the film quite effectively as well. This theme could be explored quite well in my own opening as it helps to engage an audience very effectively to the point where the will want to watch the film to fill in the gap of what happens.

A second key theme that is used during the trailer is fear, this is conveyed at multiple point throughout the trailer, one key point in the trailer that creates this theme of fear is the kidnapping scene at (TIME CODE), as the shots sped up in pace as well as the music before the daughter hides under the bed, and this sudden change in pace helps to create fear in the viewer as they then feel the fear that the daughter is feeling due to the mise-en-scene and sound within this period of the trailer. This theme of fear could possibly be quite difficult to re-use successfully in my own thriller, however i do believe if i were to use this idea of fear it would most likely share a similar structure as to how the taken trailer used and portrayed it during the kidnapping scene.

A third and final theme that is used within the taken trailer is suspense. Suspense is used in the trailer extraordinarily well and is used throughout the entire trailer, as during the kidnap scene (TIME CODE), the entire mood and music completely changes from there on. from there on the trailer speeds up in pace, with Liam Neesons voice over played over the majority of the trailer, it as a whole speeds up the viewers heart pace and creates suspense in them, wondering what happens and why it happens. This also would be a relatively difficult to recreate within my own opening, due to the many shots of different situations used to create suspense in the trailer, however if done effectively it would most certainly create a very large amount of suspense for my own audience.