Game play trailers and TV spots

Some more style models I have found to help me conform to conventions, when creating my final products.

TV Spots -

Trailers -

Limbo from Pixel Harmonix on Vimeo.




Super Meat Boy Trailer from Nightnome on Vimeo.

Trailer Analysis #2 - Pokemon Black and Pokemon White

The next trailers I will be analysing are for the RPG/Adventure games, Pokemon Black and Pokemon White. These were released for the Nintendo DS, March 2011.

The first trailer I will be analysing is a TV advertisement for the games. This trailer is very different from the others I have analysed in the fact that is uses celebrities; in this case a well known band, to advertise their game. This advertisement has been shown on TV and is one minute in length.

The advertisement starts with a young lady introducing herself. She states and ‘you’re here with-‘. From the very onset of the trailer, it addresses the audience, by stating ‘you’re’ instead of ‘i’m’ this is done to draw your interest in the advertisement. She points and the camera (seemingly handheld) moves to follow, where the band all shout in unison ‘One Direction!’. This advert is clearly aimed at teenage males and in particular fans of the band and fans of the Pokemon franchise. 

The young lady shown at the beginning then goes on to say ‘ and we’re here to talk about-‘ in which the band follow up with, ‘Pokemon!’. From just 7 seconds into the advert, you already know what it is going to be about. This will attract fans to the advert and serves to keep them interested throughout the entire 1 minuite.

A series of shots of the band, with some people dressed in Pokemon costumes are shown, whilst a recording of them cheering is played, this is non diegetic as it would not have corresponded to the clips shown. The band members are shown having fun and kicking a football around with these characters. The characters, especially Pikachu, work as a semiotic to the audience and serve the purpose of attracting existing Pokemon fans. Oshawott, Snivy and Tepig, three of the dressed up Pokemon characters are new and by featuring them in this video, they are introducing them to their fans.

The advert serves as a sort of interview for One Direction, whilst endorsing the games. The band is asked what they like about Pokemon, the band members give their reasons and some hand held footage along with some game play, filmed for a DS is shown. Both these entice people into wanting to get the game, the fact that a well known band is endorsing it and saying different things they like about the game, make it sound interesting and cool to viewers. They are asked what their favourite thing about Pokemon is and two different band members’ answer, both highlighting very different and fun aspects of the game play, battling and collecting. This is done to help appeal to people who are interested in that sort of game play. 

Lots of footage of the band members having fun whilst playing the game is shown. Some of this has been edited to be in black and white, relating to the games. By showing footage of the members having fun, it connotates to the audience that by buying these games, they too are going to have that sort of fun (Association).

A bit of comedy is used when they are asked what Pokemon they think one of the band members looks like. This gives them the chance to introduce yet another new Pokemon, ‘Pansear’ and the use of comedy appeals to the emotions of the audience.

All of the footage shown is filmed from a Nintendo DSi XL handheld console. This is a recent console to be released and by filming off the console instead of having pre-filmed clips, they are advertising the console to their audience as well. 

Finally, an ending visual is shown, featuring the covers of the game, the DSi and One Dimension logo and the signatures of the band members. These all serve as iconography and will be recognisable to the audience. The game box art will tell viewers what to look out for in stores. A voice over with a slogan,  ‘Explore, Collect and Battle with Pokemon Black and Pokemon White, Only on Nintendo DS’ is played. Once again, this enforces the main aspects of the game, but also gives the title of the new games and the platform they are playable on.  All of these are important to viewers wishing to buy the game or interested in playing.

The Pokemon copyright information is shown below in small, this is done because it is not relevant to the audience.

The second Pokemon Black and White trailer I will be analysing is another TV trailer. This one however, is more set on game play and information about the game, rather than celebrity endorsement. It is only 33 seconds in length and would therefore, more likely be played on TV more often than the one shown above (due to it being cheaper to show). 

Unfortunately embedding has been disabled by the uploader of this video, so you will need to click through to the video on youtube, rather than watch it embedded as done with my previous video deconstructions. 

Trailer - Click Here

This trailer is mainly about showcasing the graphics and game play of the Pokemon Black and White games. From the very beginning of the trailer, it starts out with upbeat music from within the games, playing. Players of previous Pokemon games will recognise this music as it is a re-mastered version of the music that plays at the beginning of each game. The first piece of footage shown in this trailer is of the Sky Arrow Bridge. This footage show cases the improved perspective and 3d environments of these new games, already showing new features to attract old players of the Pokemon series. This is followed by a triple battle scene, triple battles are another new feature to the Pokemon black and white games so this serves as another way to draw back old players.  By showing scenes like these, the trailer is both appealing to old fans and people who haven’t played the games before but are interested in the graphic quality or game play. The clip that plays after this, once again, introduces ‘Snivy’, ‘Tepig’ and ‘Oshawott’ the three new starter Pokemon in the game’s by showing all three of them being selected during game play.  Most of the game play footage shown showcases either the new Pokemon or the new region the game is set in. 

The voice over that plays throughout these clips makes sure to use language that creates interest, makes it seem action packed and invites old players back. Words like ‘New’, ‘Never before seen’ and ‘Ultimate’ draw attention and make the game seem good. The voice over refers to the viewers as ‘you’, ‘you can assemble your ultimate team’, by addressing the audience directly in this way, it helps draw them in and encourages them to buy the game.  From then onwards, as the game play is shown, the commentary, instead of addressing the audience by using the word ‘you’, it becomes more like an order, ‘take on Team Plasma’ and ‘Uncover the secret of the legendary Pokemon’. The commentary now changes to things the audience could be doing if they bought and played this video game. 

The tag line for these games is shown, in black and white to correspond to the game titles, ‘start from a new beginning’, this has been edited to zoom out and connotates that you will be playing this game and starting your journey soon. 

The box art for these games is then shown, along with the website address (for viewers interested to learn more) and the ESRB rating, Pokemon Company logo and Nintendo DS logo. All of these are used as iconography, viewers will recognise and be able to relate to these. The E rating applies it can be played by people of all ages, though the primary target audience for these games is 12 – 15 year old males.

Finally, the advertisement ends with information about downloadable content in the game, in the form of the Pokemon Victini, ‘The FIRST fire and psychic Pokemon’. Victini is used as an advertising point for fans, but also encourages people to buy the game in the first month of the release, whilst Victini is available for download. 

Now I have analysed three sets of trailers, I feel it is important to take a step back and research more into the companies dominating the institution, along with legal restraints for both games and advertising. I will then move on to analyse three sets of box art for video games, before establishing the main common conventions throughout all of my deconstructions and thinking about how I can apply these to my final product.

Trailer Analysis #1 - Okamiden

For my first TV trailer analysis, I will be deconstructing is the trailer for Okamiden, an action adventure game for the Nintendo DS and also the sequel to the game Okami, a Wii/Playstation 2 game released in 2007. Okamiden is a fairly recent game, released in Japan in September of 2010 and then in North America, Europe and Australia March 2011. 

The trailer begins with the Pegi logo, Pegi stands for Pan European Game Information and it is well recognised when looking at game trailers or packaging within the UK and other European countries. This game is rated a 12 which denotates its intended age group.  This image is followed by the Nintendo DS and Capcom logo. These both work as iconography. The DS logo is well known by the majority of people, gamer or non gamer, and the Capcom logo, although less known to the general public is well known for game developing within the industry. 

Similarly to the Portal 2 TV spot advertisement, the majority of the trailer is animated specifically for use as a trailer. This trailer shows the main character, Chibiterasu, jumping onto the screen. The style this character is drawn in is recognisable to players of the original Okami game as it is very unique.  Chibiterasu walks over to a Nintendo DS Lite system and nudges it with her nose. Displaying the DS console serves, again as iconography within the advertisement, due to the fact that it is widely recognised.

Kuni, another main character in the game, flies out of the DS and is hoisted onto the back of Chibiterasu. Kuni lifts his sword into the air, and the previously white background becomes red and white, non diegetic music from the game plays. This music is another thing that original Okami players will recognise as it is very specific and oriental sounding. The music from the original Okami game is used within this trailer, possible to gain attention of previous fans.

Both Chibiterasu and Kuni jump into the DS console and a spinning, Japan, rising sun circulates in the background whilst in the foreground, within a screen made of brush strokes, shots of game play are shown. The use of brush strokes and the rising sun constructs a representation and culture reference of the place this game is set (Nippon, Japan) and clearly connotates this region to the audience by use of graphics and music.

Finally, after game play footage (used to gain audience interest in buying the game) has been shown, a visual showing the logo, box art and some merchandise is shown. A gong is played as this is shown, again, referencing back to the region of Japan, as this is a Japanese instrument. By displaying the logo and box art, the advert aims for viewers to look for this game in shops. 

This ending screen also specifies the release dates for both the UK and other places in Europe. The Capcom and Nintendo DS logo’s are once again, shown below this. The Official Okami Facebook page is shown, this is used to entice viewers to check out their page, ‘like’ it and read more information about the game. Because Facebook is an easy to use website and many teenagers have it, Capcom is using this to appeal to their target audience, but also harnessing new technologies to advertise with.  Small print is shown at the very bottom, this is small due to it having no relevance to the viewer, only copyright information. 

This advertisement, although having the Pegi rating at the beginning, does not construct a very good target audience representation. This game is aimed at 14-18 year olds, however, the advertisement is made to look appealing to very young children, due to the cute graphics and inviting music.

The second Okamiden trailer I will be looking at, is its teaser trailer. Unfortunately this trailer was never released in English.  However, with it having no dialogue and mostly being game footage, I will be analysing it anyway. 

This advert is a teaser trailer and was released long before the game was released. It has a target audience of 14-18 year olds, although this does not reflect well from the style of the graphics and game play, the game shows no connotations of age rating. 

The trailer starts with brush strokes drawing a frame for a faded out picture of Amaterasu, the main character of the original Okami game. From the very start of this advert, Iconography is used, both the brush strokes and Amaterasu are recognisable to players of the original game, therefore by adding these to the beginning of the trailer, it is attracting existing Okami fans to the game. 

The text used at the beginning is most likely explaining how the new game follows on from the original Okami. This new game is set 9 months after the ending of the original and Chibiterasu is the daughter of Amaterasu. This text does not last very long and the soundtrack of the plains in the original Okami is played.  The background is very simply animated and game footage is played within the brush stroke box.  Lots of footage is shown, mostly of cut scenes and other exciting parts of the game. The video shows some of the brush techniques used within the game (techniques such as cut and how to guide Kumi across area’s you cannot walk, on using the brush). 

As the footage changes to a battle scene, the music becomes fast paced and more sinister to match the action within the game play. The background also changes, from a calm, blue, simply animated back drop to a swirling red animated fire.  There are no transitions or special effects used within this trailer and jump cuts are the only thing used to switch between different game play clips.

Finally, the trailer ends with a re-generation of a cherry blossom tree. This is well known from the first game of Okami and both the music and scene will be recognised, as well as the graphic’s style. Finally it ends with the Okamiden logo and a jingle of oriental drums and instruments, this jingle was used in the original game and therefore will be another thing to attract players of the original game. 

Similarly to the Portal 2 teaser trailer I analysed, this advertisement was released long before the final stages of production for the game, only shows game play and does not have a specifically animated trailer unlike the TV advertisement.

My next task will be to look at another set of trailers intended for TV. By looking at a variety of different adverts, it will help me better know some of the conventions commonly used within this form of advertising and help me to apply these well when it is time for me to make my final product.

Types of trailer used within the Gaming Industry

There is more than one type of trailer used within the gaming industry. Many of these trailers will be of a variety of lengths and will show different game play. The length of the trailer largely depends on where they will be displayed.  For example, game trailers shown on TV are likely to be between 30 and 60 seconds in length.  This is because time slots on TV are expensive to buy and game publishing and development companies will want to keep the audience’s attention throughout the whole ad.  Often, these types of advertisements will not show actual game footage but instead will have an animated sequence relating to the game, with a narrator  talking about the game or ratings and quotes from critics with comments about the game.  Below is a TV advertisement for the game Portal 2, I will be using the trailers for Portal 2, an action adventure strategy game, to show some of the different styles used for trailers in the gaming industry.

The TV advertisement for Portal 2 is 32 seconds long and does not feature any footage from within the game. The whole advert is animated specifically for the purpose of this advertisement and shows two characters from the game (Atlas and P-Body) trying to work the portal gun (something players of the original Portal Game will recognise). The main focus of the advert is on the portal gun, you can tell this from the start of the advert, as the portal gun is the only thing in focus. Jump cuts are used often to keep it flowing continuously.

Non diegetic music plays throughout the first scene; this is very laid back, light hearted and not incredibly serious. This part of the trailer is intended to be comical, something that may hook viewers to it and keep them interested. This scene also ensures that it shows how the portal device works as this is the main aspect of the game.  The portal guns and portals themselves work as iconography for the game, because after the original Portal’s big success, they are recognisable to many gamers and may entice them to buy the sequel. 

At around 0:18 in the trailer, the light hearted background music takes on a more serious tone before becoming faster paced. The diegetic sound of the character GLaDOS speaking can be heard. She has a very powerful, female robotic voice and this will be, once again, recognised by players of the original game.  Many features of this new game are show cased within the trailer, but due to the fast paced nature of the second part of the advert, it does not give very much away.  This trailer makes sure to show off the graphics for the game, but also the detail and structure of the facility in the game itself. 

As the music becomes fast paced, there is more action within the scene,  P-Body and Atlas use the portal gun to accelerate through portals and the trailer ends with Atlas firing a portal right in front of him as he nears a wall. At the same time, GLaDOS leaves the trailer with ‘we’re going to have fun.......with science’. Using a phrase like this is inviting people to play the game as it is talking as if you are actually going to be playing this game. Finally, the trailer ends with the Portal 2 logo, the logo of VALVE (the developer and publisher) and the icons of all gaming platforms this game is able to be played on (PC, XBOX and PS3) . It has the text ‘Pre Order now’ in a large blue font with the name of the game’s website underneath. This form of typography draws your eye and ‘Pre Order’ denotates that this game is soon to be released.  GLaDOS’s voice over states ‘Rated everyone, 10 and up’ which is the ESRB rating for the game. I think however that this advert is aimed at an audience over that age and aims to serve a target audience of 14-20 year olds. I have come to this conclusion because of the complexity of the game play. 

This second trailer is more of a preview trailer. This was first released at spike TV’s VGA’s (Video Game Awards) where VALVE showcased it. It is one minute and 15 seconds long, not short like the TV trailer. This is because, unlike the TV trailer for Portal, they do not have a limit to the length and gamers are the people viewing it already, so they do not need to worry about gaining the attention of viewers.

 

This trailer is another one that does not show game play, but rather, sets the scene, using animation of the characters involved (P-Body and Atlas). The trailer starts off with a warning from ESRB, stating that the trailer may contain content inappropriate for children. ESRB are a well known age rating organisation and therefore this warning is a semiotic to the audience. By having this, it also begins to reinforce the intended age group for the game (Young adults). 

From the very onset, this trailer helps to set the scene, the sounds of machines and fog are used, along with many close up shots of machines working to build something.  A shot is shown of the top of one of the machines, where the ‘Aperture Science’ Logo is, this logo is a semiotic to the Portal games and is well recognised. This scene cuts to an extreme close up of a circle, which envelops in light and becomes the eye of a robot.  Non Diegetic music plays from here onwards, setting a more upbeat atmosphere.

It zooms out from this scene, to show the whole view and you see two robots alive but still being built, one of these (Atlas) is a lot more uneasy about this process. They both greet each other before the panel beneath them opens and they both jump down. The camera follows Atlas down a tube, spiralling and becoming lighter before finally fading out to white.  

The Portal 2 logo is then shown; fading out to show the box art of the three consoles it is available on, along with ‘Pre Order Now’ and the official game website. At the bottom of this is the VALVE logo and small print, noting copyright details. This is situated in this area and made this size as it is of no importance to the audience.

This trailer is more about introducing new characters within the game than showing off the game play or game workings themselves. It does not feature any previous characters (such as GLaDOS as featured in the TV advertisement) and focuses solely on P-Body and Atlas, show casing their personalities to the audience.

After being shown at the Awards, this type of trailer would be used for online advertising, such as on YouTube.

This is the full Portal 2 trailer. It is one minute and 57 seconds long and  was probably made for website or internet display. It could also have been used occasionally for the TV.  It starts off showing machines moving and working to build something, some of this footage was shown in the previous trailer.  

From the very start of this trailer it has a voice over by GLaDOS, one of the main characters and the villain figure of the original Portal. Her voice is easily recognised due to its robotic tone.  She addresses the audience as she speaks stating ‘YOU don’t know pride’, rather than ‘they don’t know pride’. This draws the audience in and gets them involved.  The fact that she is talking to P-Body and Atlas, but addressing the audience at the same time, puts you in the shoes of these two robots,  getting you more involved.

At 0:20, after both robots have fallen down the shafts, the Portal 2 logo appears on screen, this time with ‘Cooperative testing initiative’ underneath it. By having this, it shows what particular aspect of the game this trailer seeks to advertise. After this has been shown, non diegetic, upbeat, fast paced action music plays and a sequence of game play shots are played, again with GLaDOS guiding the way through it. These show some of the puzzles needed to be solved within the game and real levels are used within these sequences, introducing the game play of the game (despite the fact that the game play sequences are scripted).

The music is stopped at a dramatic part of the game, this is done to create suspense and the music is re-initiated when this dramatic moment is over. By creating suspense, it works as a way to draw the audience in and create interest. At 1:10 in the advertisement, the game play is zoomed out a little and the Aperture Science logo is shown, projected against the wall panels. Again, Aperture Science serves as a semiotic to the Portal games. The quick sequences of game play are shown, each game play scene isn’t very long, to keep interest and they are played consecutively. Another animated scene is shown at 1:28 and shows the two main players in the cooperative mode of Portal 2, running in slow motion towards the camera. This type of editing is seen often in action movies and is used to simulate bravery and courage. 

The final scene within the trailer is a test, zooming out, showing a variety of dangerous tasks to complete. It has the dialogue of GLaDOS, the villain within the game, talking and ends with ‘don’t disappoint me, or I’ll make you wish you could die’. Using dialogue like this adds dramatic effect to the trailer and paired with the sound effects, screen play and GLaDOS’s voice, it works well at leaving a cliff hanger. Because of this, people who are intrigued by the tasks within the game are likely to want to buy it. The trailer ends with the words ‘Cooperation begins 2011’. This is in a large, white, slanted font, partially encased in blue brackets. This is used to draw your eye to it as the white stands out well from the grey and black walls of the facility, shown behind and the blue brackets do well to also attract your attention.  Because Cooperation (2 player abilities) within Portal games is a new feature, this phrase is used to draw interest and attention.

The trailer ends with a familiar black screen showcasing the Portal logo, with copyright details in small print below.

I think, due to the more aggressive and tense nature of this advertisement, it is aimed at young adults, rather than at any age group, as some of the previous ‘tame’ adverts have seemed to be.

Finally, I will be analysing the Teaser trailer. Teaser trailers are released long in advance of the release of a game. For instance, this advert was released  in June 2010 when the game was only due for release in April 2011. These adverts are used to ‘tease’ the audience and get them excited about what is currently in production.

This trailer is notably different than the previous Portal 2 advertisements I have studied this advert  because it advertises single player within the game (all the others have shown multi player). This time, the whole of the advert consists of game play, areas within the game and cut scenes. It shows the worn down and overgrown Aperture facility and starts off with the villain, GLaDOS, waking up. She addresses the audience, saying “it’s been a long time”. This will appeal to players of the original Portal game as they will know her from the first game, released in 2007 and making it a long time since they probably played last. It also points to the fact that this game is set far into the future.

I think that this advert is probably aimed mainly at previous players of Portal, as it states ‘I think we can put our differences behind us’ which also refers to some of the events seen within the original game. This advert is definitely aimed at teenagers and young adults and sets a very dark, even spooky atmosphere.

The trailer is short, only 59 seconds in length and would probably be used in cinemas before films, at gaming conventions and events, for TV or on a website. No transitions or special effects are used within this trailer, however, many zooms and pans are used. This is to set more of a scene because at this stage in the development they probably did not have many completed parts of the game. Zooms and pans are used to make it seem like something is always happening and to keep it interesting.

The trailer ends by flying into a Portal. This is commonly used throughout all of the adverts, no matter what type. The Portal 2 logo and ‘Coming 2011’ are shown at the end.  GLaDOS’s dialogue ‘you monster’ is used for humour as she is clearly not putting your differences behind her. The use of the word ‘you’ addresses the audience, gets them involved and makes them want to play. 

Now I have looked at 4 different style models for trailers, I will be taking a look at some TV Spot gaming trailers, but also at some Teaser Trailers intended for TV. I will be doing this because 2 TV advertisements are required as part of my final piece within this project and I feel that by looking at some examples of these types of trailer, it will help me gain more knowledge on how to present the trailers I will be creating.