Trailer Research

Since I have decided to create a trailer for my game, I have decided to make it humorous, which if pulled off correctly, can really draw people in to liking what you're promoting. I don't want to be obvious in the humour, so I have decided to do a parody of a 50s infomercial, informing the public of the dangers of the virus, Bloodbeat!

To try and get something thats really effective, I have been looking at various 50s infomercials and animations, and also later cartoons that parody the style, to see if I can get any tips.

Top Cat has the style of drawing that I want to to achieve. The animation is very pose to pose, which is very stylistic of the time for animation.

The comedic naivety of this film about the family is what I ideally would like to have in my trailer's script. Of course at the time this film was not patronising in anyway, but in modern times, this style of film has become a commentary on how people lead their lives, and what society was like in the 50s.

The above animation very much gets the style that I am trying to achieve in my trailer. The lines go from being fat to thin, the colour is very roughly applied, and the animation is minimal and simple - relying highly on key frames for the character to express itself.

The Simpsons have done many parodies of these type of infomercials. They really get the type of humour needed to create a successful parody, expressing the naivety of the time, and showing them in a modern context.

Ren and Stimpy also do the same, but they also stylise their animation slightly to create characters that look like they would fit in in a 50s animation. The subjects are also very simple, and of insignificant things, advertised to sound wonderful and exciting - how the 50s could be considered in one opinion by a modern audience.