Shank: Trailer Analysis

Shank is an action packed film within the social realism genre which is set in a future London which is decaying. The targeted audience are people within the same age groups of the protagonists ( 15-22 year olds) most likely those who live in Britain as they will be able to identify with the issues captured and it will therefore be easier for them to  be attracted to watch such a film. 

The very first thing we see is a quick paced jump cut of  a male character in a boxing attire in a gym. Already this gives us as an audience an idea of what this film will be like, creating a sense of urgency due to the fast pace of footage and aggression shown from the character. It then cuts from that shot and goes to three continuous shots of a black screen which have inter-titles on them of both the distribution and production companies of this film. This is effective as it enables viewers to further gain an idea (or even support the one they had) as to what type of film this will be as these companies are well known for their involvement of such films. After the three shots of the distribution and production companies, there is another quick paced shot of a character jumping over a fence suggesting that this character may be in trouble as he is running away from something. The music at this moment increases in pace to further create tension and make the audience read between the lines as it makes them wonder what is going on that isn't being shown to us. After that shot there is again another inter-title which says "from the distributor that brought you Kidulthood" which is Revolver Entertainment. The inter-titles used in these first couple of second of the trailer are very effective as they draw in an already established audience (those who have watched Kidulthood, as they now know that Shank will also be a good film covering some very similar issues) and perhaps a new one which enjoy films like this but has not seen a film like Kidulthood. 

It then quickly cuts of a series of shots of what appears to be the same character as previously jumping over the fence and running away and then transitions to an over the shoulder shot of an older character and a younger one talking where there is dialogue added of "you know I love you right" over some shots of them boxing together in a gym, suggesting that as an audience we might witness a relationship through tough and happy times as it looks like they have a sibling bond and this idea is supported by the pace and mood the music creates. It then cuts to a shot of a red bus driving past fast, this is helpful as it sets the scene for the audience members letting us know that we will be set in London for most of the film if not all of it. We then see a group of young boys walking and the lighting then gets darker suggesting that they are perhaps trouble makers or they take up roles of villains throughout the film. An inter-title which says "London 2015" is shown which makes the audience wonder what will happen next as it is set in a futuristic time to when the film was actually released, again creating tension and suspense as it makes the audience members feel uneasy perhaps because it is an issue projected which is close to home, making them worried as already only one minute into the trailer we have been shown themes of gang culture. After that inter-title there are a variety of quick paced jump cuts which show London in a chaotic state adding to the suspense. 

We are then shown another inter-title which says "the gangs have taken over" and cuts to a series of other fast paced shots again of London in a rough and chaotic state as we are shown quick glimpses of characters dressed in all black with bandanas and other clothing such as hoodies which are often linked, stereotypically with clothing associated with gang members and some of these people shown have paint on their faces. These characters further add to the suspense as they then create a sense of fear. A variety of very fast paced shots are presented of some characters fighting where we then see one of the characters which we were introduced to at the very beginning on the floor and we see a part of a knife being held by another character in an aggressive manner and it then cuts to a scene where that same character has been stabbed and the character doing this is smiling while he is inflicting pain to the protagonists brother. We are then shown a shot of the protagonist against a wall with facial expressions which connote both anger and sadness and this could suggest to us that this could be a turning point for the protagonist in the film, especially as the films title seems so far to be revolving around this act and how this character will deal with the loss (the blood in the background could foreshadow the blood loss which will occur later on). 

 There are then four inter-titles presented to us in between a variety of quick paced shots which capture gang culture and everything which those who are a part of it go through or are involved with. The first inter-title we see in this series of shots says "this March" this is effective as it lets audience members know when the film will be released. The next three are those which say "there is one rule", "kill", "or be killed" which is clever as it makes it sound as though all of this will actually happen and that the audience members will have to go through this similarly to the characters (in 2015) creating interest as they will want to see how these characters will deal with these events and what we might be lead to do if we go through this in the future. The shots that we see in between each inter-title are captured to give us further insight into that sort of life and seem to portray aggressive, angry, violent and dangerous characters and this is shown through series of shots which capture fights and arguments. 

The next series of shots slightly lighten the mood and are put in place to introduce the main characters featured in this film. For example, after the inter-title "Adam Deacon", there are a couple of shots of his character within the film and the same occurs for the other three characters. This is effective, as it attracts audience members which like and appreciate their previous films, especially as Adam Deacon was in Kidulthood and Adulthood. As Bashy is one of the actors, the music used in some parts of the film such as the clubbing scene include his songs as he is a UK grime artist, further adding to the authenticity of the film and attracting a wider audience. 

The shot after that is of an inter-title which includes the title of the film and it then transitions to another two inter-titles which say "if you're not one of us" and "you're a victim". This is suggesting that through this film we will see numerous characters which perhaps were forced to take part in something they didn't want to in order to survive. This is supported by the next shot we see of the protagonist throwing a punch (in the background there is a character dressed in the same clothing as the previous gang members we were shown) making it look as though he is going to punch the camera and it then goes from a black screen to one with an inter-title which has the release date and their website link on it giving the audience members additional information of the film. The very last thing we see is of billing blocks and this is effective as it includes credits of everyone involved in the production and distribution of this film. 

As a whole I think that this trailer is very effective and successful as it manages to captivate and keep the audience interested through out. Even while I was watching it, although it is my type of film due to the heavy feature of violence, the quick paced editing and music had me interested the whole time. So far, out of all the film trailers I have analysed, Shank's film trailer is the only one which includes so many inter-titles and this is because it hasn't used a huge amount of dialogue so they have relied on inter-titles to deliver and make the narrative clearer to the audience members.