‘The Selfish Giant’ was released in 2013 and was directed by Clio Barnard, director of ‘The Arbor’ (2010) and ‘Flood’ (2003). When interviewed about the film Barnard said that she had wanted to create a realist fairy tale based on Oscar Wilde’s children’s story of the same name. She has focused on the forgotten children of Britain, the demonised youth who are banished from society, because childhood is often idealised. The film also focuses on the struggles of motherhood on the Arbor estate, as well as throughout the poorest parts of Britain, this is shown within the interaction between Arbor's Mother and himself after the police officer's visit. The trailer presents these struggles effectively through Mise-en-scene, sound and camera.
In the trailer the first shots are a three-shot montage which depict the close relationship of the two protagonists, their friendship is not one that is common of boys their age or the class that they are presented as. A close-up shot is then shown where the boys are seen holding hands, this instantly creates emotion within the audience. The lighting used in the montage shows one of the boys in a shadow and only a dark silhouette under his bed, whereas the other boy is shown in the light coming through the window. This use of light may represent the narrative of the characters and forebode what Is to happen throughout the film, it may also tell us something about the character’s qualities. This action takes place without the production company logo entering the screen, this is because the film is an independent film and if the film was produced by one of the big six the logo would likely be the first thing you would know about the film, they use their name to bring in an audience, however as it is produced by Film 4 and the BFI, they do not rely on a global audience. This is therefore untypical of the teaser trailers and converts the coverts the conventions of the British social realism genre.
An establishing shot of horses in a field and a horse that is grazing near industrial building is then shown, the use of this particular breed of horses stereotypically connotes the working class or the traveller communities the setting is depressing and miserable this is portrayed through use of muted colours and a barren landscape. This use of setting is tied with the boy’s fate, as an audience we can stereotypically imagine what the boys’ future may be like, this generates narrative enigma as the viewer wants to know if they are right. The horses in this scene are roaming the field and the pace of the scene is very slow, combined with the non-diegetic soundtrack the pace and sound act to isolate the audience from the action in order for them to empathise with the character, who seems isolated from everything around him.
Another set of shots show a chaotic family lifestyle, this is shown by an older brother protecting his youngest sibling, the clothes the children wear present them as lower class. For example, a close up shot from behind the boy shows him with a hood up wondering the streets, this creates tension as we want to find out what happens to the boy and what his story is. This is then followed by a textual shot of the award the film has won, this is a typical convention of a film trailer as they want to sell the film to the audience. The prizes make the film look as though it is good and worth watching. This is then followed by another quotes about the film, this disrupts he narrative of the film and this therefore represents the chaotic disorder of the plot. The next shots show the disequilibrium of the narrative. A medium shot shows one of the boys walking in the rain his clothes do not keep him dry, the use of the rain is pathetic fallacy as it signifies the misery on screen. We then have a 8 different star ratings by different institutions this shows the credibility the film as earned. The transition of a cut to black is then used, and we see a final close up of the two boys holding hands again. This again creates narrative enigma code about what could have happened to lead to the distress shown in the image. The trailer ends with a shot about the instructions that have helped produce and distribute the film. And another with the release date in an eye-catching font, this is a typical convention of a film trailer, the release date adds excitement to the trailer due to anticipation of release.