mรกs ymรกs
monthly newsletter of NISI MASA
JAN12 trailers CONVERSATION:
bruno carmelo REPORT:
Drive, Nicolas Winding Refn
b r at i s l ava
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, David Fincher
editorial In 2011 two trailers created the buzz. One of them was an announcement of David Fincher's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011), a ferocious ride through his "feel bad movie of Christmas". With a suggestive soundtrack and bold editing choices trailer promises a dark and brutal adaptation of its literary predecessor, making it one of the most original trailers (and most anticipated films) of the year. On the other hand, the trailer for Nicolas Winding Refn's Drive (2011) achieved a certain level of notoriety when a woman from Michigan sued the distributor of the film and the cinema where it was screened because the film didn't contain as much car chases as the trailer promised. Truth to be told, the trailer is probably THE most misleading one of the last year, but the fact that somebody took legal action against its distributors demonstrates how we managed to incorporate the codes not only of the film language itself, but also of its "paratextual side", especially commercials.
Not only we managed to read the codes, but we also managed to manipulate them. While distributors don't know how to handle a film like Drive - a film that drifts apart from the lame genre-schemes, while at the same time clinging to them - YouTube created a space for a new video form: re-cut trailers! With easy accessibility of audiovisual material, editing software and public broadcasting platforms like YouTube, fans of many popular movies got their chance to play with the titles that became a part of popular culture for generations to come, de(con) structing the language of cinema, as well as the ways it has been presented to the public through advertising. Even with trailers that are broadcasted publicly a year before the film reaches the cinemas (e.g. The Hobbit), one thing is for sure: trailers are all about expectation, teasing and surprises. And that is why they are a perfect food for thought for the start of the new year, on both sides of the screen. By Mario Kozina
Mas y Mas is a monthly newsletter published by the association NISI MASA. EDITORIAL STAFF Coordination & Layout Mario Kozina
Contributors to this issue: Daria Blažević, Otilija Kerbelyte, Mario Kozina, Pirjo Leek, Atso Pärnänen, Michaela Pnacekova, Getter Trumsi
NISI MASA (European Office) 99 Rue du Faubourg Saint Denis 75010, Paris, France Tel/Fax: +33 (0)9 60 39 63 38 + 33 (0)6 32 61 70 26 Email europe@nisimasa.com Website www.nisimasa.com
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Trailers
Misleading Trailers
dossier
Trailers are about creating expectations. By highlighting certain elements of the film - its stars, plot or its style, the viewer can easily decipher what awaits her/him after the lights in the cinema go off. But what if a quirky comedy turns out to be a dark social satire, Cruise & Kidman NEVER go into "steamy action", or the protagonists of a revenge thriller starts to sing? These are some examples of how highlighting the wrong elements in trailers can create surprises: sometimes bad and sometimes good.
The one that comes to mind as the most intelligent misleading trailer would be Eyes Wide Shut (1999). It's at the same time revealing, very correct, but also misleading while almost a comment on audience expectations. When the actual film starts, Kubrick shows Kidman dropping her clothing and then he cuts the scene, making our eyes go shut while they are still wide. This is all that Kubrick is going to give you. In a sense he is saying : "If you thought you'll see a star couple in action you came to the wrong movie". Also in the trailer the mirror and the soundtrack contribute to the theme of "faces" and people "watching". Like the masks that are worn, masks that look all the time, but cannot see. Masks that have their EYES WIDE SHUT. By Atso Pärnänen
The trailer of Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) misleads the viewers to think the film is a thriller telling “the story of an ordinary man who had everything” whose fortunes turned against him, completely failing to mention that it is a musical. The protagonist Johnny Depp, who recites most of his lines in the movie in the form of singing, does sing for a second in the trailer, but even that can be interpreted as a cry for help uttered in an emotionally charged moment. The narrative tension and relatively realistic portrayal of the background story in the trailer provides a sharp contrast with the mode of narration in the movie. Thus, you do see Depp but all the other expectations created by the trailer prove to be inconsistent with the movie which might leave members of the audience overwhelmed by the whole experience. At least I know I was. By Pirjo Leek
This Article Has Been Approved for General Audience 1455 characters on a PDF presents a voiceover in which from the writer of the article "Practical Ways to Being Funny" comes this holiday season a wonderful tale of empires collapsing and heroes rising in a world gone mad where one man from an ordinary town embarks on a journey and ends on a collision course. Be prepared for action, adventure, romance, a story that you've never seen before, experience life, laughter, tears, joy, romance and justice in the thrill ride of this month's newsletter. For some suspense waits you. For others simple complicated special songs played by your favorite artists from classic Mas y Mas publications making this the article you've gotta read if you read only one article this month. An article to be remem-
The trailer for the film Gosford Park (2001) seems to suggest that it's a light British ensemble comedy, with jokes and plot twists around every corner (and Stephen Fry!) and nothing in the trailer would have you suspect that it is in fact, a rather slowpaced drama about the beginning of the end of English nobility, and the effect that its corruption and immorality has had on their servants' lives. It is of course in the murder solving genre, however not comical but slightly ironic, with Stephen Fry only in a minor role of a police detective. What an ingeniously directed ensemble film about power, morality and society you almost misjudged because of that ridiculous trailer! By Daria Blažević The trailer for Lost in Translation (2003) is a good example how to let audiences down: look, it's Bill Muray in funny and awkward situations with the Japanese, and sometimes there's also Scarlett Johansson! When in fact pretty much the whole film is narrated from Johansson's perspective, and when I remember it, I don't think about how funny it was, but how sad and melancholic and dreamy and soft it was and how Scarlett was (then not conventionally) beautiful. And how interesting it is that it has neither a happy nor an unhappy ending, but an inconclusive one, making it definitely NOT a comedy about Bill Murray's middle age crisis, but a drama about the contemporary times. By Daria Blažević
I work in a cinema in Lithuania, so I have an opportunity to choose the films that will be screened in the program. Sometimes, however, I don’t have the time nor the possibility to see the film before I order it, and in those cases I do my best to read the reviews and see the trailers of a certain film so I know what to expect. One time I needed an animated film, and at the time Lithuanian distributors had a little to offer. I’ve seen the trailer for Yogi Bear (2010) and decided to order it. It turned out to be a big mistake, because animated parts shown in the trailer were the only animated parts of the movie! In the end, the film almost turned out to be a romantic comedy for adults, more than an animated film. By Otilija Kerbelyte bered, to be kept and shared with family and friends at a time when words meant to communicate system failure can transform, lead, help and save us all. Oh, Forrest! Featuring images kept in the dark and found only now and then never to be seen again for one hundred million years. Imagine, until, one day, truth will come out because this time it's personal, so let's do this, OK, let's go, let's read and ride on because everything is different now, so let's end this. YIPPIKAIEE. Rated R. Coming soon. Conditions apply, offer available only for a limited time, paid for by, well not really, but not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee by people to elect... Oh, sorry. On to another commercial! By Atso Pärnänen
dossier Stupid, Love (2011) was even a bigger hit. But both of these trailers were released just months before the movie itself premiered. The Hobbit, which is probably aiming to break some box office records, has spiked an interest which has to last for an entire year.
The Hobbit: A Year of Waiting Early trailers and later box-office successes On the 20th December, almost a year before its release, the first official trailer of Peter Ja ckson’s movie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey took over the Internet. Since 2003,
when the last movie of the Lord of the Rings trilogy was on the screen (and after which it took all 11 Academy Awards it was nominated for), the excitement around The Hobbit had reached a high before 2010’s holiday season. But why so early? As an advertisement, the trailer of a movie has to have a big impact in order to bring in the crowds. Easy A (2010) with its humour filled trailer became a box office success. Leaving some things to be revealed in the cinema, the trailer for Crazy,
Taking a closer look, this tactic seems to be popular among movies directed by well-known names such as Jackson himself. J.J. Abrams, known for his knack for sci-fi, directed Super 8 (2011) to which the first official look was possible 13 months before it reached the cinemas. More than a half a year before Inception (2011) became a box office hit for Christopher Nolan, people were talking about its trailer. In the same way, Ridley Scott’s Prometheus (2012) trailer, that does not even give a good look at the main characters, and The Hobbit’s trailer, both started their advertisement long before the film will actually be ready for the screen. So it seems that for names
Trailers
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like these (and many others), this tactic has and will continue to work out great. Is it the movie or the name behind it that will gather the troops to the ticket lines, will remain a mystery. As of this moment, the trailer of The Hobbit has over 10 million clicks on YouTube alone, even if the filming hasn't ended yet. It has an official blog which has released several production videos and based on this, those waiting for The Hobbit are probably as excited as a legitimate fan would be. So the trailer is intended not just for the movie and its anticipated success, but for individuals who would enjoy it like it was the movie itself. For them, The Hobbit’s trailer came just at the right time, and by the look of it, there are a lot of those people who had one more reason to smile during the holidays. By Getter Trumsi
The Shining, Stanley Kubrick (1980)
Re-cut Trailers The art of extreme 2 minute make-overs, available on YouTube Big studios and creators of re-cut trailers have one thing in common: they both misrepresent the image of the original film. However, studios do it with the titles still unknown to the general audience, and probably because they don’t know how to market a film that resembles, but ultimately falls apart from a typical genre-schemes. Re-cutters, on the other hand, play with the titles that have already become a part of a global pop culture, mocking the structure of a typical trailer, and at the same time, toy with the hidden meanings of the original film. By following several conventions of a typical studio-made trailers, you can make an extreme make-over out of any film, e.g. to turn Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980) into a
feel-good movie about a man in a creative/middle-life crisis and a boy in a search of his father. By highlighting specially chosen excerpts from the film and adding a quirkybut-full-of-understanding voice over, dramatic sound effects in the right places and – don’t forget – the recognizable feel-good music that is often used in trailers for this kind of films, it’s easy to transform Kubrick’s hysterical horror film about a family falling apart into a feelgood dramedy about “picking up the pieces”. The process works both ways. Using the same kind of stylistic devices (or rather – trailer clichés) Walt Disney produced Mary Poppins (1964) can become a story of a psycho with super-human powers: Scary Mary
came through the fog, flies through the air and molests two children in many abnormal ways. Transformation from a likable nanny to a female (and flying!) version of Harry Powell from The Night of the Hunter (1955) is just several montage cuts away. There are trailers that dive into the sub-text of the film, bringing back its hidden meanings right in the face of the audience. Did you know
that Top Gun (1986) is actually a gay romance? Of course you did! But did you know that David Fincher’s Seven (1995) and Steven Spielberg’s Jaws (1975) fall into the same category? Stolen glances, innuendo in the dialogue, Freudian slips and carefully chosen & edited scenes will make you question everything you thought you knew about these plots and characters. By Mario Kozina
Trailers
dossier
La mujer sin piano, Javier Rebollo (2009)
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interview
Bruno Carmelo
working on a project "50 Most Creative Trailers of the 21st Century"
Bruno carmelo, a participant and a contributor of several nisimazine workshops, started to work on a project of finding 50 most creative movie trailers of the 21st century. While we wait for the results to be published on allociné's official site on january 18th, bruno made an interview as a teaser/trailer of the topic. Do trailers have a certain narrative structure, and what makes a trailer creative? I don’t think there is a precise structure, since trailers are not obliged to be chronological, classical nor pedagogical. There is a precise message, though, that has to be sent through the film, and that commercial obligation becomes the artistic and creative constraint of every trailer. Even if you choose to show a lot or nothing at all, you’re supposed to make people want to watch your film. Creative trailers are those that find different ways to raise curiosity, not only by the beauty of the images or the stars in the movie, but with an unexpected rhythm, a twist… What is the difference between a teaser and a trailer? Teasers, as the name says, are only supposed to present the audience to the new film, giving them something to expect. It’s supposed to develop the loyalty or the curiosity of the public, presenting some visual and narrative codes the spectator will be able to find later when he/she sees a trailer or a poster. It also allows generating the buzz needed for the word of mouth to happen. Trailers are more classical pieces of image, a lot more concerned with content and storytelling than teasers can be. You work for Allocine, a very popular film site in France. What is more popular: trailers for upcoming films or the texts about them? The page views on Allociné are quite eclectically, which is a choice of the company. Our popular movie trailers get around a million views, but trivia from
famous movies, such as Twilight (2008-2011) and Harry Potter (2001-2011) series, can get even more access than that. Also, we produce a lot of Internet and TV shows that have become extremely popular, being seen by around 40 000 people in a single day. What are the most misleading trailer(s) that you saw? Some trailers are total surprises. Catfish (2010) and Red Eye (2005) are two thrillers that present themselves as romantic comedies. For at least half of the trailer, you’re pretty sure you’ll find nothing but the ordinary “boy meets girl” movie. But then it totally changes. In a different way, animation films can also present themselves as live action films, which is as interesting as it is troubling! Both Bee Movie (2007) and The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) had almost entirely live action images taken elsewhere. Those were nice twists. What are the recent trailers that impressed you the most? I believe that one of the trailers that have impressed me the most is that of Comedian, a 2002 movie by Jerry Seinfeld. The trailer shows nothing but the recording of a regular movie trailer, with the typical man with a low voice saying sentences such as “In a land”, “In a world where nothing was true” etc. Nothing is said about the film itself, but the essence of watching the images we’re used to from a new perspective corresponds perfectly to the film. I’ve also seen two amazing movie trailers, that are amongst my favorite ones, those of French film Mademoiselle Chambon (2009) and Spanish film La Mujer Sin Piano (2009). They both use a single short scene from the film, with no action and no dialogues, nothing but the music. It can be considered commercial suicide (I think neither of got a good result on the box office), but letting people watch a single non-edited scene for nearly two minutes seems to be one of the most daring choices trailers can make nowadays. By Mario Kozina
NISIMAZINE BRATISLAVA
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spotlight
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Every Nisimasian who likes his/ her films to be served with social activism as its main dish wanted to get in Nisimazine Bratislava workshop. It took place during the One World / Jeden Svet Documentary Film Festival in the capital of Slovakia, from November 28th to December 5th. 12 participants from France, Germany and Slovakia created a daily Nisimazine, as well as confronted various challenges when writing about cinema. Read all about it in the report by Michaela Pnacekova, who was one of the participants.
Photo by Lucille Caballero
CHALLENGING THE WRITING PROCESS
Slivovica, Impact and Resonance theory, search for queer bars, Jan Terri in a hotel room and Egyptian elections – those are probably the strongest motifs that stuck in my mind after the NISI MASA Workshop in Bratislava. The One World Film Festival challenged us in several ways. Firstly, it is smaller than its partners in the Czech Republic or Germany, and so one could lose easily touch with it as the city did not quite live the festival. Secondly, it is a human rights festival. If you're asking yourself why that is a challenge, I have several answers.
activism and, sadly, to low funding. As a result of this, while creating a magazine to cover the festival, this posed several challenges. How do you write about a film which is important to be seen but whose cinematic quality is not the best one? The point of activist cinema is not to be artistically perfect but rather to show the important message. Here the audience's expectations are also different from that of a "usual" film festival.
Rather than seeing the newest film by Lars Von Trier, they want to see in what ways we exploit Earth, what is going on in Iraq and what is new in North Korea. Thus a critic who writes festival reviews has to take her/ his readership into consideration and make compromises so as to write an accurate review. These issues functioned as crucial criteria that guided us. And this was in fact something I was personally very thankful for – the challenges of the writing process. By Michaela Pnacekova
Every festival with a certain agenda has to struggle with more than a few issues. First and foremost, there is the programming issue. If a festival already has a focus and it chooses to have also other programming foci, it is logical that you can find older films in the program, as well as those of disputable quality. Moreover, in this genre the message is more important than the form. This is predominantly characteristic of festivals that specify in a alternative ways in cinema (e.g. human rights festivals, queer festivals, eco festivals) and that are connected deeply to
Photo by Lucille Caballero
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news occupy workshop
General assembly 2012
call for applications
announcement
NISI MASA is launching a brand new project called "Occupy: Mashup Workshop". It is designed for the young people aged 18-30 from Slovenia, France, Italy, Sweden and the Netherlands! The workshop will take place from
Board of NISI MASA has decided on the annual General Assembly for 2012. It will take place in Zagreb from March 28th to April 1st. Hosted and co-organized by Kinoklub Zagreb, NISI MASA member from Croatia, the event will gather the representatives of all NISI MASA members. The focus of this year's General Assembly is on selecting and voting for the new NISI MASA board members. The official invitation with more details on the agenda will be launched soon.
the 22nd to the 28th of February 2012 in Maribor, Slovenia. The project is in-
spired by the Occupy Movement, which may not have strong leaders or revolutionary power, but does show that there is a large-scale opposition to the current economic system. The movement is mainly run and manned by young people, who see the world we live in as far from perfect. Young filmmakers should have a peek inside. 25 selected participants will make mashups using found footage about the Occupy Movement around the world to give it their own meaning, support or judgement. They will also be encouraged to mix this found footage with their own rushes, shot in their home cities or on location in Maribor.
New extended deadline is January 8th at midnight. You can find more information on: www.nisimasa.com/?q=node/419
greenhouse
call for applications Greenhouse is a development program for documentary films aimed at Mediterranean Cinema School Graduates and Emerging Filmmakers from Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria and Tunisia. It is a yearly program hosting 10-12 projects each round. The selected filmmakers are invited to participate in three seminars in which they will develop a full international production package and a professional trailer which will be presented in a pitching forum in front of international professionals from the documentary international market. Deadline for applications is February 20th 2012. More info: www.ghfilmcentre.org
agenda 3 - 8 january
ESP 2012: scriptwriting workshop in Luxembourg
8 january
Extended Deadline for Occupy Workshop
13 january
Closing submissions for IFF Oberhausen (see Mas y Mas December)
20 january
the writer's room call for applications
Initiated by TorinoFilmLab in collaboration with Power to Pixel, "The Writer’s Room" focuses on the process of developing a transmedia project within a team framework. The project selected for this year’s workshop is entitled ‘Sequence’, written and developed by Adam Sigel. It will be presented across multiple platforms that include a travelling installation art exhibit, an online web experience, social media and a feature film.
Closing submissions for Random IFF
21 - 24 january
Script&Pitch Alumni Meting in Angers
25 - 31 january
Nisimazine Special Rotterdam
30 january
Closing submissions for Writer's Room
The subject matter deals with a mysterious phenomenon surrounding the evolution of supernatural abilities in humans. Up to 5 participants will be engaged in the workshop during 10 months under the guidance of tutor and story editor Gino Ventriglia. The project is aimed at professionals working across different platforms and mediums, such as story architects, games writers, audience engagement designers, script and TV writers, journalists and producers engaged in cross-media productions. Participation fee is 2000 euros, and the deadline for application is January 30th, 2012.
Nisimazine special rotterdam & alumni news
Apply on: scriptandpitch@torinofilmlab.it
There will be more opportunities for Nisimazine alumni coming up and therefore we have a brand new alumni coordinator. His name is Giovanni Vimercati and he was a participant of Nisimazine Abu Dhabi last October. He will be in contact with you regularly about invitations for festivals and other proposals. You can also contact him on giovanni@nisimasa.com if there is a festival you would like to cover for Nisimazine on our blog.
More info: www.torinofilmlab.it/
After sucessfully covering the Orizzonti selection of the Venice Flm Festival, NISI MASA is organizing another alumni workshop during the upcoming International Rotterdam Film Festival. From January 25th to 31st four NISI MASA journalists will have a chance to watch the films from Rotterdam's short selection, and after the festival is over, one online magazine will be published.