How Time is Shown in Period Pieces

In the narrative of our trailer, a critical aspect is that there is a change in time. Here I will look at how a change in time is shown in existing media products so we can project this key aspect in our own narrative to an audience. 

Submarine:

Submarine is a 2010 British coming-of-age comedy-drama film adapted from the 2008 novel of the same name by Joe Dunthorne and directed by Richard Ayode for his directoral debut. 

 The film follows 15-year-old Oliver Tate who has two objectives: To lose his virginity before his next birthday, and to extinguish the flame between his mother and an ex-lover who has resurfaced in her life.

Although the time setting of the film, and the book, is not confirmed, it is believed to have been set around the 70's.

It is through mise-en-scene such as costume, backgrounds, choice of props (such as vinyls opposed to CDs) and the indie style of the film that this time setting is presumed. 

The thing that I most like about the way Ayode choice to represent the time setting of this film, is that there was no direct indication to when it was set, it was through his choice of mise-en-scene that leads the audience to believe what they choose to, making the film seem more arty and stylish, as well as making the narrative perhaps more relatable by making the time setting irrelevant. 

Life of Mars:

Life on Mars is a British television series broadcast on BBC One between January 2006 and April 2007. The series combines elements of science fiction and police procedural, featuring an officer from the Greater Manchester Police who apparently travels back in time after being involved in a road accident. The title is a reference to David Bowie's 1973 single "Life on Mars?"

Much like Submarine, this TV drama uses mise-en-scene which fits the codes and conventions of the particular time period the narrative followed, for example flared trousers and an older looking car. 

American Horror Story:

American Horror Story is a horror television series created and produced by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk. Described as an anthology series, each season is conceived as a self-contained miniseries, following a disparate set of characters and settings, and a storyline with its own "beginning, middle, and end".

In every series there are often frequent changes in time period as a part of the narrative. Despite in this series the change in time setting is explained through a title screen signifying the time of the change, however this would be due to the genre of the series being Horror and not wanting to over complicate and confuse the audience.