Migrain Analysis: Resident Evil:Extinctions Trailer...

Media Language:
The trailer begins with a close up shot of an eye, this creates an enigma, as it forms a question of whose eye could it be in the audiences minds, which would therefore engage them. It then zooms out to reveal the the main protagonist of the film 'Alice', she is shown in a bath tub with no clothes on and a white cloth over her, the white could therefore give connotations of purity and innocence. At the beginning of the trailer its very fast paced, as it shows a montage of images from the first part of resident evil, which clearly suggests that 'extinctions' is a sequel of the film. The montage is in a dull blue colour which therefore implies that its a flash back of the past. for the first 28 seconds of the trailer she is the only character presented which would therefore suggest that she is the main protagonist of the film. The facial expression of the main character is serious which highlights the genre of the film: horror/action/thriller. She is also presented wearing a red dress with black boots, the red could have connotations of danger however it could also be portraying her as seductive and therefore reinforcing the stereotypes of the typical blond women. The men are dressed in white, which has connotations of innocence, this could be seen as binary oppositions as they are associated with evil in the film. There's both high/low key lighting used in the film. The low key lighting follows the generic conventions as it gives the film a more horror look. There's also both diagetic and non diagetic music used in the trailer for the film, as well as music you can also hear the dialogues of the characters, for example where one of the characters says "it really is the end of the world". The music at the beginning of the trailer is slow paced in order to create tension, whereas as it gets to the middle the music suddenly changes and it goes more faster and upbeat. This could suggest that there will be a change in the storyline of the film. The trailer also uses caption e.g. 'the world lies in ruins', this could be in order to inform the audience about the storyline and what the films about. The text is in orange/red which has connotations of fire, which also connotes danger.

Institution:
screen gems

Genre:
The film is a hybrid genre of science fiction/action/horror. The trailer conforms to the genreic conventions, mainly through the main character. Jovovich is presentented as strong and powerful. At the begining the flashback of the explosion etc highlight the violence that would take place later on in the film. Aditionnaly the fighting scenes also suggest that its an action film as well as the low key lighting. The propps that are used such as guns, bikes etc all convey that the main genre of the film is action/thriller. The science fiction genre is presented through the captions in the trailer, for example where it says "mankind faces extinctions".

Representation:
The main representation that is covered in the trailer for the film is the representation of females. Females are represented as powerful and physically strong in the film, this is mainly portrayed through the protagonist of the film; Milla Jovovich. From this trailer we can suggest that the film is challenging the stereotypes that females are associated with e.g. weak and inferior, this is mainly done by having a female action star, as films seem to present women as objects of desire for men, and they are sexually represented in order to attract a male audience. However in this film they seem to be taking on a masculine role. In the trailer there is a part where jovovich is holding a sword in each hand, this portrays her as powerful, also through out the trailer she seems to be carrying a weapon e.g. gun, this could therefore be a symbol to represnt her power and strength. Near the end of the trailer it shows the protagonist standing in a deserted place looking up at the sky which is all fire, the camera then slowely pans around her. This could suggest that she is in control of the situation and could therefore present her as powerful and superior because the camera is looking from up at her from a low angle. On the other hand the film can also be reinforcing the stereotypes that are associated with females to an extent. For example at the beginning of the trailer the protaginist is presented wearing a red dress which is quite revealing, the red could have connotations of her being sexy and seductive and therefore reinfrocing the stereotype of a typical blond women which is a gaze for the male audience. "Alice" is also represented as the 'hero' of the film, this is mainly shown through the captions of the film e.g. "One women..Is the final hope", suggesting that she is going to be the one who will save 'mankind'.

Audience:
The primary audience of the film seem to be both male and females ages 18-25, males because they are mostly interested in genres such as action and females because the main protagonist of the film is female. The female audience of the film may aspire to be like Jovovich; powerful and physically strong and some may see her as a role model. The film doesnt seem to be targeted at a particular ethnic group due to the reason that some of the actors in the film come from different ethnic background, this could be in order to target a more wider audience.

Ideology & Values:
The main ideology that the film contains could be the improvements that females have made within the film industry. Because previously females were miss-represented in the media, they were mainly portrayed as sex objectives however this film seems to be challenging these stereotypes by having an female action star. she is presented as powerful and superior, therefore the ideology could be that the representation of females in films has been a key area of development. However feminists may still argue that females are being objectified in the sense that they are dressed in revealing clothes for example at the beginning where shes wearing the red dress and also her and the other females characters costumers throughout the trailer. A question that could be raised is that why cant they have female action star fighting in joggers and t-shirt rather then the revealing clothes that they normally tend to wear.

Narrative:
At the beginning of the trailer there is a flash back, which therefore suggests that the film does not follow a linear narrative. The film contains many enigma codes, for exmaple a question that could be created at the beginning of the trailer is "why is she naked in a bathtub" the audience would then be tempted to watch the film in order to find the answer to their questions. Other narrative engimas that could be created in the trailer is "why do they need Alice in order for them to return to the surface?". We can also apply the proppian theory to the trailer: Alice is clearly presented as the herione of the film who will 'save the day' and ian glen as the villian who is attempting to capture alice and kill her, also the survivors are seen to be the helpers of the herione. As well as propps we can also apply Levi Struass's binary oppositions, for example good vs evil, light and dark etc also theres a binary oppostion at the begining of the trailer where the men are dressed in white which has connotations of good and innocence however this is ironic because the men are actually associated with evil in the film therefore they oppose.