2 Thriller Trailers and Iconography

The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

It is easy to spot that this film is a thriller due to the various pieces of iconography shown in the trailer.Right from the very  start of the trailer we are shown the "columbia" page which tells us the producer and distributer of the film. Most of us are familiar with distributer and producer of this film  and we know the typical image logo which is assoicated with Columbia Pictures:

In the trailer for The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo the distributer image is darkened purposely to keep a dark and depressing  tone right from the start of the movie.Also right from the start their is music playing  in the background which helps to set the tone of the movie with dark music.The first shot of the movie shows us one of the main characters,but from behind which makes her more mysterious..we can hear a voiceover which tells us information,we see and hear that this character is "an investigator"and that she is "different".This is is  typical thriller iconography as typically in thrillers  there is an enigma and the narrative revolves around the investigation of it and the hero  often in thrillers is very mysterious,isolated and different from other characters .Straight a way we here that she is investigator so this tells us that the film will involve investigation-this is extremely typical.Every time the shot of the trailer changes it fades out to a quickly to a black screen this tells us that the film is likely to be fast pased!This is done because typically in thrillers  through the camera shots change at a fast pase to add mystery and tension which is typical in thriller films so the viewers dont get bored as thrillers are aimed to excite the viewer.The voiceover give us brief backgound information while giving us a hint to the characters personality but without giving away too much,creating a bit of confusion as the viewers want to know even more about the "different"  character-typically part of the thriller genre as  normally in thrillers you find out more about the main characters as the film goes along.

The first shot of the second main character helps to set the narrative up for the viewers.Typically in thrillers there are two detectives or collegues working together to solve a mystery. This is shown here when the actor Daniel Craig is introduced:

When this character is first introduced we see his face.This tells us that he will be easy to read,especially compared to the  previous character  which when we first see her,we only see her from behind(over her shoulder) .This adds more mystery to the other main character as it maked her seem even more mysterious.The voiceover has changed to a womens voice ,the voice of the woman main character is telling us what she thinks of the man and  it tells us that she knows who the man is  and from what she is saying in the audio she seems to know a lot about his personal life which is the opposite to her at the moment as she is quite a secretive character.This adds mystery to the tone of the movie as we want to know how and why she knows this.

Soon after this shot above,there is a shot of a car driving.It looks isolated and shows a new setting which is an isolated forest ,this is a typical part of thriller inconography(a rural area) and forests are often seen in the genre thriller.It also is snowing and looks cold which adds a cold eery atmosphere to the film.Which is typical in many thrillers as it adds  mystery and mystery is often the base for many thrillers to help capture the audience.To contrast to the isolated setting a few seconds later in the trailer we see  a very urban setting ,urban settings are widely used in thrillers,they bring a sense of reality to the film.

A new character is introduced in the trailer called "Harriet" and from the rest of the thriller we are told that it is going to be about investigating the murder and tracking down the murderer.Normally there is a mystery or a puzzle in thrillers and the narrative revolves around the investigation of it.This seems valid in the case of this film.We are entrigued to find out who killed Harriet and it is tense because the investigation of the murderer involves getting  closer and closer to the murderer.This adds tension because often in thrillers and in the case of this film the story is told from the heros points of views and we have a connection with the heros(we dont want the antagonist to win).Thrillers are aimed to excite the viewer  and they are usually tense ,they create suspense for the audience.They do this especially through the use of violence,this is seen in the trailer for the girl with the dragon tattoo.

Low key lighting,shadows and silhoutes are often used in thrillers to add tension   especially in the trailer for the girl with the dragon tattoo and  shadows are what give a thriller the enigma and mystery for the audience. Shadows are a common piece of iconography associated with the thriller genre because they build up fear in the audience.

Shutter Island

Similarly to the previous film.At the very  start of the trailer  when we are shown the producer and distributer page,for instance in Shutter island it is "Paramount". The background music is playing right from this point.Dark music typically is used in trailers to set the tone of the movie.The first shot of the movie shows a boat arriving and it looks very misty and it almost looks black and white which is a convention of thrillers because it brings a more dark and sinister feel to the movie.We see a shot of the place it is going to be set.It shows an island, isolated places are often used in thrillers as they make the viewer feel insecure and tense, afraid of the unknown and this is key in thillers.



The fact that it shows us in the trailer that it is set on an island and we can tell by its name "shutter island" suggests that it is purposely targeted to people who enjoy thrillers.It makes it more tense from the start because we know that islands are hard to escape from. To add to this point of making the viewers feel tense we see a shot in the trailer of a tall wall with barbed wire surrounding it which hints to the viewer that people are imprisoned.Fences and barbed wire connote fear and division.Barbed wire is used are used to show imprisonment and isolation in the trailer and generally in thrillers, which links to the conventional thriller. Fences consisting of razor barbed wire also suggest that the characters are imprisoned and have no way of getting out which shows how they are detached from the outside world and therefore it conforms to the convention of isolation in thrillers.

The main characters costume for example their hats and long coats are associated typically with detectives,from the start suggests that they are investigators which is typical in thrillers as normally,there is a mystery or a puzzle and the narrative revolves around the investigation of it.They are also outsiders coming to an unknown mysterious island and this puts them out of their comfort zone which makes the viewer feel tense.Often in thrillers the story is told from the heros point of view so from the trailer we can tell the hero is Leonardo dicaprio and we automatically are on his side as we are also unfamiliar with the island. In thrillers It often shows the audience insights of how different institutions work for instance in this film it is how the police/detectives work .We know Leonardo dicaprio is a senior detective/policeman because it shows us a shot of his badge.