Extension Task: 8/12/17

Extension Task: 8/12/17 - Rhys Wallett

In the trailer for the movie Dorian Gray released in 2009, we can see how the trailer has been similar and different than that of the film poster released alongside it to promote the movie and how the trailer has effectively used visual codes, semiotics and other media techniques to attract audiences.

For starters, when considering the presentation of the macabre in the trailer and how the same theme is shown in comparison to the film poster, we can see how the supernatural is present in the trailer, with an example being in the wide shot which the mise en scene shows a butler holding a metal plate from which Dorian Gray's true appearance gleams off, causing him to go into shock shown by the close-up shot of the glass smashing as a result. This is intriguing as this can link to the essential picture which is vital to the story, which has no link in the film poster. Furthermore, in the film poster, the macabre of the eponymous character Dorian Gray is shown in an entirely different manner, with the mid shot of Dorian Gray using direct mode of address and the post-production technique of having his torso deteriorate from him and have the black crumbles move towards the fearful manor being the evidence of this. However, in the trailer, we see no physical evidence of his body singing away from him in this matter, and therefore an audience would be able to identify that this post-production technique is, in fact, a visual metaphor of the corruption of Dorian Gray's soul as Lord Henry Wotton's persuasion and Dorian's repressed sexual desires result in his demise in Dorian Gray. 

Furthermore, we can use the horrifying and extremely Gothic manner shown in the wide shot of the background of the film poster as a difference between the poster and trailer as in both the trailer for, and the actual movie Dorian Gray, there is no reference to a manner of Gothic design and therefore the film trailer is misleading in the premise of the plot of the movie, which the deteriorating torso of Dorian also supports. I feel that this has been intentional as the vagueness of these indications of stereotypical horror allows a secondary audience to become intrigued by the complete sinistral of these iconography's and so will be prompted to watch the trailer and the movie as the juxtaposition between the trailer and poster ion this sense may have been intentional as it will cause a now stressed audience to watch the movie to discover whether or not the iconography of the macabre shown in the poster will be present in the movie or not. This proves that they are using sheer curiosity as their advertising technique, which is a common but effective technique in trailers and advertisements. 

Secondly, when looking at how semiotics have been used effectively in the film poster and trailer and how they differ, we can infer further differences between the respective media products. Such as how in the film trailer, for example, we can use the semiotics of objects such as the essential painting, shown in the close up of the picture's eyes through which the mise en scene shows the star vehicle Ben Barnes caressing with his index finger. The semiotics of this is of true importance, as the pragmatics of portraits are memory, remembrance and ideality, by which I mean that a typical portrait would never age and remain in its form forever, however as any The Picture of Dorian Gray fan would know, that exact point is the most major point of the play and shows the corruption and consequence if we embedded our ageing to a portrait. Therefore these semiotics are effective as it allows the pragmatics linked to said semiotics to be exploited for the movie regarding the picture which surmises the majority of the plot. However, when looking at the semiotics in the film poster such as the red dress which is shown on the character Emily, we can infer other meanings to the movie as a result. The pragmatics of a red dress are class, wealth and most importantly, sexual desire as psychologically, humans subconsciously consider a red dress to be the most sexually desirable than a dress of another colour. As a result, it allows an audience to ponder why the producers decided to have the late love interest, Emily Wotton dressed in a dress which is a blend of wealthy and promiscuous, with a potential argument being as to how Emily causes Dorian to fall in love with her with her colourful personality and could be a close to Dorian's sexual success and attraction which increases as the movie progresses, her personality is an absorber of Dorian's attraction and devotion, hence why the semiotic of a red dress has been included to give a potential foreshadowing of the emotional envelopment Emily will have on Dorian towards the end of the movie. 

Next, we can use post-production and visual techniques such as the graphics used in both Dorian Gray's trailer and poster to emanate similarities and differences respectively. Such as how in the film poster firstly, we can use the main use of the graphics of the title "Dorian Gray" written in the decorative font. The said decorative font is intriguing as it has tendencies of the serif font, proven by the little add-ons to the text, has a subtle hint of block cursive font shown by the drag of the end of the 'r' in Gray, yet overall the font gives off a certain Gothic look. This is effective as it foreshadows a Gothic/thriller type movie and juxtaposes from the frilly cursive font which is commonly associated with either classy or comedy movies. Plus, a similar but brighter font has been used for the poster's tagline "FOREVER YOUNG, FOREVER CURSED."  which is also effective as the vague quote allows pragmatics of mystery and suspense to be given to the poster which represents the movie, allowing the poster to be mysterious which once again links to the audience technique of curiosity to attract potential viewers as their target audience will be interested in the vague quote and will be tempted to watch the movie to find out the context behind the statement if they are not familiar with the plot for Wilde's novel The Picture of Dorian Gray,  of which it is based on. 

Similarly, in the trailer, the same Gothic, decorative font has been used for nearly all of the lines used in the trailer with a few examples being "His Face Unforgettable", "Forever Perfect" and "Forever Cursed". However this trend of their unique font is broken at the very end when they reveal the title "Dorian Gray", when at the start of the showing of the title graphics, the font is identical to that of the previous statements, however the title begins to wither and decay further on in the trailer which is effective as it is a link once again to Dorian Gray's withering and corrupting soul and has pragmatics of supernatural, impurity and horror, which also could be argued as an odd form of establishing shot, as while it doesn't establish the set of Dorian Gray, it establishes the genre of the movie: Fantasy Thriller. 

So in conclusion, there are arguably numerous similarities and differences between the film poster and film trailer for the 2009 movie production of Dorian Gray and how the producers have decided to use different specifics of stereotypical goth in the respective forms of media to provide the right level of context and foreshadowing to the plot in both to allow the intrigue of audiences to be just at the right consistency to convince them to purchase access to the movie.