Trailer Analysis

The Maze Runner is a film from the adventure genre featuring Dylan O’brien. Adventure films are mostly set in a period background and may include adapted

stories of historical or fictional adventure heroes. Adventure films come along with subgenres which

include Survival film, Western film, pirate film, Disaster film, and Historical drama. This genre of

films are popular to combine with other movie genres such as, science fiction, fantasy, horror and sometimes war films or explorer films. These films are known as cross-genres. Audiences enjoy the complexity of cross-

genres, and like to make predictions about plot and characters.

A young male Thomas wakes up trapped in a strong moving underground cage. When reaching the surface he finds himself surrounded by a group of boys who are around a similar age as him. He discovers that he is trapped on a side of a maze; he has no memory of the outside world other than strange dreams about a mysterious organization known as W.C.K.D which is shown at the beginning of the trailer. Throughout the trailer he finds that a female character and he have been put there for a reason. Only the memories of his past with clues he discovers in the maze can help him discover his true purpose and a way to escape.

Narrative

The unique selling point of this film trailer is that the film already recognized as a bestselling teen novel, as stated in the film trailer itself. But being a well-known franchise, many people may know the main protagonist (Dylan O’Brien), who plays Thomas in this film. This will also bring in the wider audience as Dylan O’Brien is very popular within the female eyes.

Unique Selling Point

The target audience for this film could be young people between the ages of 15 to 18 both male and female. This may be because of who the main characters in the film are. As they’re quite young, it may attract a younger audience, as well as people who may have seen them in other TV shows/ film, as they are quite recognizable.

Target Audience

During the opening scene of The Maze Runner there is a high angled shot of Thomas in an underground cage. This is establishing the location of the first shot. Another high angled shot of this character is also shown at the beginning while another male character is talking to him. This shows that Thomas feels belittled. He uses diegetic dialogue ‘I can’t remember anything’ during this shot which suggests he is in a vulnerable state.

A point of view shot from Thomas is shown and we see another male character, this is a low angled shot which shows that the male character has more power than Thomas at this point of the trailer. A mid shot of Thomas pan 180 degrees into a wide low angle shot. This shows his first glance at his surroundings and the maze. This also gives the audience an idea of where the film is set and shows us the size of the maze. The camera being at a low angle would give the protagonist a sense of power, however comparing him to the setting which is the maze makes him look intimidated. A similar shot happens when the girl comes in, but on a greater scale as all of the boys are looking down on her, and she is looking up. When the black darkened transition occurs the camera slightly moves up to eye level. This could suggest that he is becoming fearless of his surroundings.

There is an over the shoulder shot at eye level of a male character when he is explaining where they are. This is a typical shot for a film as it’s a good way of showing conversation and facial expressions of the characters which could also lead to a shot-reverse-shot movement.

A close up on an object covered in slim is shown which is known as a ‘clue’ which is stated by one of the boys using diegetic dialogue. This could be from one of the ‘monsters’ that are found in the maze at night. This gives the audience a feel on how dark the maze is and what the ‘monsters’ are like which enables them to imagine what they are without seeing them. In this case, they could be electronically controlled.

A medium close up of Thomas is shown when the maze entrance shuts on someone’s body for the first time. He then makes his way through the walls and the camera cuts on him struggling to make his way through. This leaves the audience in question to whether he makes it through in time. It also adds emotion to the character and the audience can then sympathize and feels what the character is.

Throughout the trailer fades to black and dissolves transitions to each shot are used. These types of transitions are used to show a sense of soothing when a director wants to portray a characters story. When Thomas is looking at his surrounding in a panning shot there is a dissolve of two shots that are similar of him spinning at a slow pace around the maze.

During the opening scene of the trailer you can hear the non-diegetic sound of the lift screeching and clunking. As the cage movement gets faster the sound get more intense. Over this you hear a voice over of a male character saying “can you tell me a bit about yourself”. This shows that the protagonist is new to wherever the lift is taking him. As the cage stops the non-diegetic sounds of the doors opening which shows the audience that he as at his location and the intensity dies down, allowing the audience to feel settled.

Diegetic dialogue is used to establish the location to the protagonist, Thomas and to the audience. A male character says “Welcome to the glade”. Using the word welcome could suggest that the character is inviting the audience into the setting to experience what Thomas is about to. Another example of diegetic dialogue is ‘What’s out there?’ which is spoken by Thomas and is also followed by the sound of the ‘monster’ which makes the audience clear that there is some sort of creature out there, as well as making them scared of the unknown.

Throughout the trailer a non-diegetic soundtrack is played. It starts off as slow and gradually gets faster as the trailer commences, much like the visual images. This is done to build up excitement and anticipation for the audience.

The intertitles of the film trailer are all made to resemble the walls of the maze. They all transition together to make a word which could also resemble how the walls of the maze move and create a new paths each time during the film. The titles are all grey, just like the walls and are placed on black backgrounds with cloudy light shining behind the middle of the words. This gives a dramatic effect about them, the light being mysterious and unknown. The intertitles and credits include that its based on a bestselling novel, the film corporation and the name of the film.

Code of Enigma questions to the audience which are then answered shortly after or later on in the film. For example, Where is she going? Who is she? Why is she doing that? The audience are enable to question to get intrigued with the film and wanting to find out the answers to these questions, therefore it will bring them to watch more of it, or when watching a trailer it will entice them to watch the film as they’re curious as to what till happen which also helps move onto the narrative of the film.

Code of Enigma

Code of enigma is used throughout the whole of The Maze Runner Trailer. Firstly, Thomas does not know who he is or where he is from at the beginning of the trailer. This leaves the audience unaware of who is and where he came from. Knowing your protagonist is crucial to the audience as it is their main focus of the film so this leaves the audience in question and wanting to find out more.

Secondly, the boys don’t know how they got to ‘Glade’ or why they’re there which also interests the audience as they’re left intrigued as to what and who put them there, or why the boys in particular are there.

Another code of enigma could be the fact that the majority of the population of ‘Glade’ are male. There is only one female who is been placed into ‘Glade’ and she is aware of Thomas when she wakes up. However, all the other boys were unaware of there names or each other when they entered their new homes but Thomas does not know who this female is. This could leave the audience in question on how this female is the only one there and how she remembers more than the other boys.

Also, the maze as a whole is the mystery to the audience. The audience do not know whether the protagonist and the other boys escape from the maze which makes the audience eager to watch the trailer and the film to find out what happens

And finally the female says ‘What if we were sent here for a reason?’ to Thomas. This leaves the audience in mystery to whether they’re both to do with the escape from the maze. It could also be questioned as to why we only see the entrance of these two characters into the maze and not the other boys.

Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film. He believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through stages called the equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again equilibrium.1. Equilibrium - The first part of the story will display a happy

start, where the majority of characters are content and everything is as it should be.

2. Disequilibrium - The second part of the story will feature a problem or some thing will disrupt the happiness.

3. Acknowledgement - This part of the plot is when everyone realises the problem and it is chaos.

4. Solving - This part of the plot is when the characters attempt to repair the damage and restore the problem.

5. This is the final part of the plot where the problem is resolved and normality can resume again.

Todorov’s Theory

In relation to the Todorov’s Theory there is no Equilibrium in relation to The Maze Runner Trailer. The trailer starts with Thomas in a caged lift with no idea where he is or why he’s hereTherefore the equilibrium cannot be broken, however, due to events in the trailer it does get worse for the protagonist.At the end of the trailer we are left with two characters running through the maze not knowing whether they escape or not.

What do the audience learn?The audience learn through the intertitles of the trailer. We learn that the film is based on a best selling novel which is what could make t a unique selling point and we learn that it has been produced by a popular, well know film company and also he name of the film which is key to know if interested in this trailer. We also learn the release date of the film which can be useful for the audience members who want to watch the film. And finally the intertitles which state ‘Enter the Maze’ and ‘Unlock the Mystery’ allows the audience to experience the adventure and the maze along with the characters which is a good way for the audience to feel involved.

The Maze Runner Trailer is an effective way to advertise as it really questions the audience into whether they want to watch he film. The trailer also aims to make the audience want to go and se the film to connect and identify the characters in the trailer so they can to solve the mystery and answers. It will also excite the people who have read the novel because the fans will want to see the film to compare it to the book.

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