Greta Baldwin Comm 225: Film Form and Context Professor Messaris October 15, 13 The Fall of the “In a World…” Cliché Introduction Movie trailers have always been an important aspect of the pre-promotion of movies. The success of a trailer influences the production of films and can often times predict box office success1. There are many conventions that have been established within movie trailers. This study examines the use of non-diegetic sound in movie trailers and the relationship between box office hits. Non diegetic sound, also called “voice of God” narration, is a voice that emerges from outside the world of the film. In the 80’s and 90’s most of the big trailers contained a strong, deep voice that exaggerated the drama and introduced the audience to the world of the film2. For example, common conventions of the introduction to a drama trailer is when an unknown voice emerges saying “In a World….” or “Will embark on a journey….”. A comedy trailer would start with “Meet ____” or “…Until one day…”3. These elements have been fundamental in successful films but have recently been subverted in trailers of the new century. This study focuses on trailers for successful movies in the 80’s, 90’s, and 00’s decades that use a narration from an outside voice rather than narration from a character in the movie, which many times is a voiceover narrating their thoughts. It will determine the possible effect of the voice-of-god narration in successful box office movies, which is expected to be detrimental to creating a hit movie in today’s world. Procedure Due to there being no data on the top fifty domestic gross profits of films per decade, the data collected for this study was obtained by gathering records of the profits for films by year and then combining and organizing the profits into a cohesive list by decade4. Each trailer for the fifty top films of the 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s decade were examined. The presence of a non-diegetic, voice-of-god narration, was documented and then formulated into a chart to compare the use of this convention in films through the span of three decades. In addition, the films were categorized into genres and assessed in accordance with their time period and the prevalence of voice-of-god narration for specific genre. Findings The following chart proves that there has been a decline in the number of trailers that employ an outside narration. This means that box office hits today do not use non-diegetic narration in trailers because it would be detrimental to the success of a film. Watercutter, Angela. "To Predict the Next Box Office Hit, Look at Google Movie Trailer Searches." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 04 June 0013. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. 2 Kehe, Jason, and Katie M. Palmer. "The Gripping, Mind-Blowing, Thrilling Evolution of the Movie Trailer." Wired.com. Conde Nast Digital, 16 June 0013. Web. 10 Oct. 2013. 3 "In a World." TV Tropes. TV Tropes Foundation, LLC, Web. 11 Oct. 2013. 4 Table 1; all data obtained through yearly summaries from Box Office Mojo 1 An interested point in the data was the comparison between the Indiana Jones sequels from the 80’s and 2000’s. The Indiana Jones from the 80’s employed use of outside narration for the trailer and was a successful movie. The Indiana Jones from the 2000’s was also a success but the trailer did not have the voice-of-god element. This exemplifies the change in trailer conventions even within the same movie franchise. Furthermore, there is a significant switch in the top grossing profits for films pertaining to certain genres, which in turn is also seen in the use of the non-diegetic voice of trailers. These charts show the shift in genres for top box office hits of the 80’s, 90’s, and 2000’s: This genre data can be broken down into segments for films that had trailers with the non-diegetic sound, as seen in these charts: Conclusion These charts show that there has been a switch with the non-diegetic use in films between decades and also in the genres that employ such voice-of-god narration. The most significant change can be seen in the animation and family genre films. In the 1980’s, trailers with non-diegetic sound were not widely used with children’s films. This is because this genre was not as significant in the film industry, in comparison to comedy and action-adventure. The use of the narration in these popular genres enhanced the dramatic effect of the story presented. In the 2000’s the market for children’s films picks up and the non-diegetic voice skyrockets in its trailer industry, with 75% of the voice-of-god trailers being animation-family. This shows the shift in tastes with audiences. The once powerful and strong voice to generate intensity and enthusiasm in action adventure is now seen as overrated and cliché in such dominate genres. It has now grown in popularity in family films, utilizing the narration to demonstrate the specific tone of the film, generally happy and hopeful, creating an innocent and juvenile aura to the trailer. With action-adventure films dominating the film industry, with 66% of the top grossing domestic films categorized into this genre, there is a dramatic drop in the number of non-diegetic narration in film trailers. With the cliché tone that voice-of-god narrations have gained in their dominance in children’s films, it would be detrimental for action-adventure film trailers to use this element for the promotion. Thus, the majority of top domestic grossing films are negatively impacted by non-diegetic narration. Table 1: Top 50 Grossing Films by Decade Highlighted are films that have trailers with non-diagetic sound The 1980 Decade 1. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial $359,197,037 Action/Adventure 2. Return of the Jedi $252,583,617 Action/Adventure 3. Batman $251,188,924 Action/Adventure 4. Beverly Hills Cop $234,760,478 Action/Adventure 5. Ghostbusters $229,242,989 Comedy 6. Raiders of the Lost Ark $212,222,025 Action/Adventure 7. Back to the Future $210,609,762 Action/Adventure 8. The Empire Strikes Back $209,398,025 Action/Adventure 9. Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade $197,171,806 Action/Adventure 10. Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom $179,870,271 Action/Adventure 11. Tootsie $177,200,000 Comedy 12. Top Gun $176,781,728 Action/Adventure 13. Crocodile Dundee $174,803,506 Action/Adventure 14. Rain Man $172,825,435 Drama 15. Three Men and a Baby $167,780,960 Comedy 16. Fatal Attraction $156,645,693 Drama 17. Who Framed Roger Rabbit $156,452,370 Animation/Family 18. Beverly Hills Cop II $153,665,036 Action/Adventure 19. Rambo: First Blood Part II $150,415,432 Action/Adventure 20. Gremlins $148,168,459 Comedy 21. Lethal Weapon 2 $147,253,986 Action/Adventure 22. Look Who's Talking $140,088,813 Comedy 23. Platoon $138,530,565 Action/Adventure 24. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids $130,724,172 Comedy 25. An Officer and a Gentleman $129,795,554 Drama 26. Coming to America $128,152,301 Comedy 27. Rocky IV $127,873,716 Drama 28. Rocky III $124,146,897 Drama 29. Good Morning, Vietnam $123,922,370 Comedy 30. On Golden Pond $119,285,432 Drama 31. Back to the Future Part II $118,450,002 Action/Adventure 32. The Karate Kid Part II $115,103,979 Animation/Family 33. Big $114,968,774 Comedy 34. Ghostbusters II $112,494,738 Comedy 35. Twins $111,938,388 Comedy 36. Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home $109,713,132 Action/Adventure 37. Crocodile Dundee II $109,306,210 Action/Adventure 38. Terms of Endearment $108,423,489 Drama 39. Superman II $108,185,706 Action/Adventure 40. Driving Miss Daisy $106,593,296 Comedy 41. Porky's $105,492,483 Comedy 42. 9 to 5 $103,290,500 Comedy 43. Stir Crazy $101,300,000 Comedy 44. Parenthood $100,047,830 Comedy 45. Dead Poets Society $95,860,116 Drama 46. Arthur $95,461,682 Comedy 47. The Color Purple $94,175,854 Drama 48. Flashdance $92,921,203 Drama 49. When Harry Met Sally... $92,823,546 Comedy 50. Back to School $91,258,000 Comedy The 1990 Decade 1. Titanic $600,788,188 Drama 2. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace $431,088,295 Action/Adventure 3. Jurassic Park $357,067,947 Action/Adventure 4. Forrest Gump $329,694,499 Drama 5. The Lion King $312,855,561 Animation/Family 6. Independence Day $306,169,268 Action/Adventure 7. The Sixth Sense $293,506,292 Drama 8. Home Alone $285,761,243 Animation/Family 9. Men in Black $250,690,539 Comedy 10. Toy Story 2 $245,852,179 Animation/Family 11. Twister $241,721,524 Action/Adventure 12. The Lost World: Jurassic Park $229,086,679 Action/Adventure 13. Mrs. Doubtfire $219,195,243 Comedy 14. Ghost $217,631,306 Drama 15. Aladdin $217,350,219 Animation/Family 16. Saving Private Ryan $216,540,909 Action/Adventure 17. Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me $206,040,086 Comedy 18. Terminator 2: Judgment Day $204,843,345 Action/Adventure 19. Armageddon $201,578,182 Action/Adventure 20. Toy Story $191,796,233 Animation/Family 21. Dances with Wolves $184,208,848 Action/Adventure 22. Batman Forever $184,031,112 Action/Adventure 23. The Fugitive $183,875,760 Action/Adventure 24. Liar Liar $181,410,615 Comedy 25. Mission: Impossible $180,981,856 Action/Adventure 26. Pretty Woman $178,406,268 Comedy 27. There's Something About Mary $176,484,651 Comedy 28. Home Alone 2: Lost in New York $173,585,516 Animation/Family 29. Air Force One $172,956,409 Action/Adventure 30. Apollo 13 $172,071,312 Action/Adventure 31. The Matrix $171,479,930 Action/Adventure 32. Tarzan $171,091,819 Animation/Family 33. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves $165,493,908 Action/Adventure 34. Big Daddy $163,479,795 Comedy 35. Batman Returns $162,831,698 Action/Adventure 36. A Bug's Life $162,798,565 Animation/Family 37. The Waterboy $161,491,646 Comedy 38. The Firm $158,348,367 Drama 39. The Mummy $155,385,488 Action/Adventure 40. Jerry Maguire $153,952,592 Comedy 41. Runaway Bride $152,257,509 Comedy 42. As Good as It Gets $148,478,011 Comedy 43. True Lies $146,282,411 Action/Adventure 44. Beauty and the Beast $145,863,363 Animation/Family 45. The Santa Clause $144,833,357 Animation/Family 46. Lethal Weapon 3 $144,731,527 Action/Adventure 47. Doctor Dolittle $144,156,605 Comedy 48. Pocahontas $141,579,773 Animation/Family 49. A Few Good Men $141,340,178 Drama 50. Rush Hour $141,186,864 Comedy The 2000 Decade 1. Avatar $749,766,139 Action/Adventure 2. The Dark Knight $533,345,358 Action/Adventure 3. Shrek 2 $441,226,247 Animation/Family 4. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest $423,315,812 Action/Adventure 5. Spider-Man $403,706,375 Action/Adventure 6. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen $402,111,870 Action/Adventure 7. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith $380,270,577 Action/Adventure 8. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King $377,027,325 Action/Adventure 9. Spider-Man 2 $373,585,825 Action/Adventure 10. The Passion of the Christ $370,274,604 Drama 11. The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers $339,789,881 Action/Adventure 12. Finding Nemo $339,714,978 Animation/Family 13. Spider-Man 3 $336,530,303 Action/Adventure 14. Shrek the Third $322,719,944 Animation/Family 15. Transformers $319,246,193 Action/Adventure 16. Iron Man $318,412,101 Action/Adventure 17. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone $317,575,550 Action/Adventure 18. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull $317,101,119 Action/Adventure 19. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring $313,364,114 Action/Adventure 20. Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End $309,420,425 Action/Adventure 21. Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl $305,413,918 Action/Adventure 22. Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones $302,191,252 Action/Adventure 23. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince $301,959,197 Action/Adventure 24. The Twilight Saga: New Moon $296,623,634 Action/Adventure 25. Up $293,004,164 Animation/Family 26. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix 27. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe $292,004,738 Action/Adventure $291,710,957 Action/Adventure 28. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire $290,013,036 Action/Adventure 29. The Matrix Reloaded $281,576,461 Action/Adventure 30. Meet the Fockers $279,261,160 Comedy 31. The Hangover $277,322,503 Comedy 32. Shrek $267,665,011 Animation/Family 33. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets $261,988,482 Action/Adventure 34. The Incredibles $261,441,092 Animation/Family 35. How the Grinch Stole Christmas $260,044,825 Animation/Family 36. Star Trek $257,730,019 Action/Adventure 37. I Am Legend $256,393,010 Action/Adventure 38. The Blind Side $255,959,475 Drama 39. Monsters, Inc. $255,873,250 Animation/Family 40. Night at the Museum $250,863,268 Action/Adventure 41. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban $249,541,069 Action/Adventure 42. Cars $244,082,982 Animation/Family 43. Bruce Almighty $242,829,261 Comedy 44. My Big Fat Greek Wedding $241,438,208 Comedy 45. X-Men: The Last Stand $234,362,462 Action/Adventure 46. War of the Worlds $234,280,354 Action/Adventure 47. Cast Away $233,632,142 Drama 48. Signs $227,966,634 Drama 49. Hancock $227,946,274 Action/Adventure 50. The Bourne Ultimatum $227,471,070 Action/Adventure