Amelie Trailer Analysis

Camera Angles, Shots, Movement and Consumption

• At the beginning of the trailer, there are zooming’s on all of the characters face’s in the film. This shows us that it is a character driven film and that all these characters are involved in the film; it also introduces their faces to us so that when we watch the remaining of the trailer/film, we will have a rough idea of who they are.
• There is a shot reverse shot near the beginning of the trailer, of the protagonist man looking at Amalie (the protagonist female role) then her looking at him, and then they both meet eye contact. This showed the romance in this film, and immediately gave us the reaction that the protagonist man and Amalie were in love. This fit in well with the “Romantic Drama” genre, as it was apparent and shown to us that there was a romantic aspect in the film.                              

Sound

• Throughout the trailer, there is a soundbridge of non-diegetic music and the narration of a man talking to us about Amalie and her life. As a viewer, this made me feel eased into the trailer more and straight away know who the protagonist of the film was and the most important aspects of her life.
• At the beginning of the trailer, there are shots of some of the main characters in the film, but Amalie is not introduced until 30 seconds into the trailer. She is introduced by the narrator saying “This is Amalie; she likes to fix other people’s lives”. By the narrator saying this, whilst a shot of Amalie is shown, made me as a viewer feel more understanding towards the trailer, as a knew exactly who Amalie was, and what her role was in the film.

Editing

• In the middle of the trailer, there is an effect on a shot of Amalie melting and disappearing into the floor and also another shot of her basically flying up an escalator passing everyone else who is just walking up them. This as a viewer gave me the idea that in this film they were showing Amalie as being unique and was challenging the conventions of reality. This for me, made the trailer more interesting and made me really want to watch the film, to see why they had done this in the trailer.

• At the beginning of the trailer, the pace is very slow and calm, however, towards the end of the trailer the pace of the shots and movement starts increasing. This suggested to me as a viewer that she had a lot on her case, a lot to get through and was stressed, yet the shots of the fast pace was her doing jobs and being busy and getting things done, this then gave me the idea that Amalie put herself out for a lot of people and had a very busy life.
• There is two shots cut together, the first shot is of Amalie discovering an old box and opening it, but we are not shown what is in this box, but are shown the reaction shot of her, this shot is then cut with a shot of a man finding and opening the same box, and we are shown his reaction shot also as well as being shown photographs in which are inside the box. This as a viewer, made me feel slightly uncomfortable and intrigued as I wanted to know why this box was shown so much in the trailer and what its purpose was.

Mise en scene

• There was a shot in the trailer saying “From the acclaimed director of “Delicatessen”. As a viewer, whether I liked to look of the film or not, but was a big fan of the director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, this would make me want to go and watch the film, due to liking all of his previous films.

• The first shot of Amalie, she is shown in a long red dress. This automatically gave me as a viewer the idea that Amalie was a passionate, fervent young lady, however towards the end of the trailer, Amalie is shown in black clothes and black sunglasses, also showing me as a viewer that she also has a slightly mysterious side.  

Silver Linings Playbook Trailer Analysis

Camera Angles, Shots, Movement and Composition

• The male protagonist is talking to another man saying “I hate my parents and I want to control them”, with this there is a high angle shot from the males point of view, even though the two men are sitting at the same level. This shows that the male protagonist is very passionate about what he is saying and is going to give it all the power and determination in the world to make it happen, it also shows that he has power and dominance over the other man he is speaking to.
• The first shot as the trailer starts is a zoom, close up shot of the house that the male protagonist is living in with his parents. This gave me straight away as a viewer that they are an averagely middle-class family in America and live an everyday life. By doing this shot, gave us an outline or the male protagonist and his family’s life.
• There is at the beginning of the trailer, a two shot of the mum and dad in bed whilst listening to the male protagonist talking and raging about his life. This two shot showed me that the mum and dad were very tired of listening to the male talking about his life in this way, and all they wanted to do was help him but he wouldn’t let anyone.                                     

Editing

• The male protagonist narrates “Im ready, im motivated, I go running all the time”, whilst this was being narrated there was a shot of the man walking down the road with a bag of crisps. The fact that these two things were put together showed that the man wasn’t going running all the time he was going walking but also eating junk food. However, I felt that this didn’t fit into the genre completely straight away as it almost had a chunk of comedy in it, not so much romantic drama, as yet.

• There are two shots cut together, the first shot is of the man and woman sitting back to back and not even wanting to speak to each other and both rolling their eyes at each other and the shot it is cut with is of them both standing really close together and looking at each other and laughing. This is really nice to see as a viewer as you have witnessed them both being unhappy and now they are both making each other very happy.  

Sound

• The trailer straight away began with upbeat, optimistic non-diegetic music which straight away gave me the impression as a viewer that the trailer was going to be fun, enjoyable and entertaining.
• There is non-diegetic music played throughout the trailer, until the man says “Do you want to go on a date with me” and the female replies “pick me up at 7:30”. The music was stopped which highlights that its a significant moment in the trailer but also the film as it is a turning point for the two due to know them both being so miserable and unhappy before but this is a turning point for them both. Following on from this, there was a build-up of non-diegetic music and this led up to the main protagonist characters going on their date, this showed me as a viewer that this was a big and main part of the story and where everything changes.
• There is positive, cheerful music playing until the female protagonist narrates that she got sacked from her job as she “had sex with everyone in the office”, at this point all music stopped corresponding with a reaction shot close up from the male protagonist showing his awkwardness and discomfort, with not knowing what to reply.

Mise en Scene 

• At the beginning of the trailer, it shows the male and female protagonist’s in loose, baggy, earthy coloured, ripped clothes, showing their personalities through clothing and what they looked like and showing their unhappiness and misery, however, this contrasts at the end of the trailer when the male and female protagonist are together and the male is dressed in a black suit and the female is dressed in a white sparkly dress. This for me as a viewer, showed me that their personalities, qualities and behaviours all changed once they had fallen in love and they had changed eachother for the better and that they saved eachother from becoming “depressed”, and that they were looking for eachother all along. This then links into the genre really well due to all the drama they had been through just to be together and have romance.
• Throughout the beginning of the trailer the light is very dim and indistinct, though towards the end of the trailer, the light becomes more bright and lively. This to me as a viewer gave me the impression the light was symbolising the lives of the two protagonists and that at the beginning of the trailer/film their lives were low, unhappy and miserable but at the beginning it was happy, content and delightful due to being in eachother company.

Endless Love Trailer Analysis

Camera angles, Shots, Movement, Composition

• There is a tilt shot in the middle of the trailer, of when the protagonist male is undressing the female protagonist, the tilt shot is from her feet going upwards. This was interesting as she was wearing a blue dress, and the colour blue to me signifies innocence, and the fact he was undressing her, gave me this feeling that the innocence was no longer there.


• In the middle of the trailer, there is a high angle shot from the male protagonist point of view looking down onto the girl protagonist undressing. This showed me as a viewer that the male protagonist was the powerful, dominant character at this specific time and control and authority over the girl.


• Tracking shot when the police car is driving up to the girl protagonist and the male. By this tracking shot, it showed me as a viewer that something bad was about to happen as the police only get involved when there is something bad and dangerous happening. This made me as a viewer feel uneasy and perturbed. 

Sound

• Mid-way through the trailer, the non-diegetic music became very harsh and deep, whereas at the beginning of the trailer it was very calm and peaceful. This gave me as a viewer the automatic reaction that something bad was going to happen, and made me feel very on edge and anxious.

• The female protagonist narrates: “Im scared, I've never done this before” whilst with a shot of them having sex and the male protagonist replied “It’s fine, let’s get on with it”. This gave me the impression as a viewer that the male protagonist didn’t really care about how the female was feeling about what was happening, he cared more about the sexual intercourse than the girl herself.

Mise en scene

• We are shown a scene of the male and female protagonist in the car and the women’s dress is blown up and the man inappropriately looks up her dress and she pulls it down very fast and the smile is wiped off of her face. As a viewer, seeing this you are beginning to instantly feel nervous and worried for the girl as no man should put a lady in that awkward situation, this shows the innocence and purity of the young women.

• At the beginning of the trailer the female protagonist is dressed in a white long gown and towards the end of the trailer; she is dressed in a silky red shorter dress. This shows the innocence of the girl has been taken away by the male protagonist, as the colour white represents almost pearly, perfect child who has all the innocence and purity in the world, however, the colour red symbolises fire and blood, so it is associated with energy, war, danger, strength, power, determination as well as passion, desire, and love.


• At the beginning of the trailer, the light is very bright and colourful giving a warm feeling to the atmosphere and situation. However towards the end of the trailer, a lot of the scenes are set at night or in a dim lighting area. This made me feel as a viewer feel very suspicious to why this was and wanting to watch the remaining of the trailer and possibly the film to see why this has happened and why it was giving me this idea of something bad happening.

Editing

• At the beginning of the film it tells us it’s been made by the film company of “Universal” in which is a very big and popular film company. Just by seeing this at the beginning of the trailer will automatically bring you in an audience.


• The narration of her mother saying “she’s done nothing in the last 3 years, but have her nose in a book” cut with the narration of the female protagonist saying “shall we steel his car?” – As a viewer, this was a shock as you could tell that something had changed this woman into a different person, yet you didn’t know what. It gave you an awful feeling that something bad was going to end up happening, from this, it made you want to continue watching the trailer.


• When the female and male protagonist are in the car, there is a eye-line shot from the woman looking at the man then the man looking to the woman’s skirt that has blown up. This shows us as a viewer that the man is the complete opposite to this “innocent”, “loved up” girl and it looks like he is only in the relationship and spending time with this girl for one reason.


• Between each shot towards the end of the trailer, it fades out into the next shot into a black screen. This as a viewer made me feel very anxious and on edge of what is about to happen, as the fact it kept fading out into the colour black which is a very harsh and dangerous colour symbolised to me that something unpleasant and not nice was about to happen.

The Notebook Trailer Analysis

 Shots, Camera angles, Movement and Composition

• There was a zoom shot on both of the protagonists face’s when they were dancing in the rain. The dancing in the rain, firstly, is a “stereotypical” passionate thing to do in a film, yet the zoom in on their faces, really showed me as a viewer that they were in love. This is as they were both looking into each other’s eyes and smiling, but you could also see tears in the women’s eyes, without the zoom, I wouldn't of been able to pick up on this within as much detail as I have.
• When the male protagonist was hanging off of the big wheel at the carnival asking the female protagonist to go out with him, the camera was a high angle shot from the male’s point of view. This showed that the male had the power and was the more dominant role at this point, as he put pressure on the woman to say yes and she couldn’t say no otherwise he would jump off.
• Towards the end of the trailer, there is a shot reverse shot used of the protagonist man and women when they see each other again after years, showing their reactions and emotions of seeing eachother again. This is also set in the rain, like it was at the beginning when they both were dancing in the rain. This gave me as a viewer the idea that their romance would blossom again as the rain must represent something between them.

Editing

• Cuts shot together at the end of each character and introducing their names and what character they’re playing in the film. This is to draw in a wide variety of an audience, for example: if an individual didn't like the look of the film yet, was a massive fan of Ryan Gosling who is one of the main stars in the film, they may go to watch the film as they know that they enjoyed all the other films that Gosling has been in.
• Through the beginning of the trailer, there is a man telling the story of the two protagonists in the film and how they met and fell in love. Whilst he is telling this story it is showing us what he is talking about, for example: the man narrates “they first laid eyes on each other at the carnival” and then it shows us a shot of the carnival and of them meeting. As a viewer, this drew me in as I was following and understanding what the man was telling me, and it helped me follow what was going on.
• Scene cut from the two protagonists having fun on a boat, cut with a shot of the male protagonist fighting in Afghanistan. This was a shock to me as a viewer, as fighting in Afghanistan for the country is such an overwhelming and proud moment, yet it being cut with such a happy moment of him and the women protagonist on the boat, showed me as a viewer that it was almost reflecting on his life and how it is starting to go downhill and harder and how something bad between the two protagonists is about to happen.

Sound

• At the beginning of the trailer, there is a sound-bridge of soft, relaxing music contrasting with a man’s voice, yet he was speaking in a very tranquil tone of voice. As a viewer, this automatically eased me into the trailer and made me comfortable and unperturbed, which made me want to watch the remaining of the trailer.


• The non-diegetic music starts getting louder as more action starts to happen in the trailer, for example: when both men start fighting over the women. This made me as a viewer, feel very on edge and almost want to jump in the middle, it also made you sympathise with both men but also with the women, as the trailer starts off with everyone being happy and ends up with everyone being miserable, this also draws you into want to see the whole film due to not knowing exactly what has gone on.
• It is narrated that the film was taken after “the best-selling novel by Nicholas Sparks” . This would draw in an audience as the audience who enjoyed the book, would be intrigued to go and see the film and see if it was as good and want to see how the book is acted.

Mise en Scene

• At the beginning of the trailer, you are shown the couple on a bike, having a picnic and having fun together cut with the scene of the family telling the girl she cannot be with him because he doesn’t earn enough money. Through this, it makes you sympathise a lot with the man but also with the women as she wants to be with him so bad but her family just won’t allow it due to financial issues. This also is a slight shock as it happens in real life.


• At the beginning of the trailer, the female protagonist is shown in a red, velvet gown and the male protagonist is shown in three quarter length  ripped trousers, a plain grey top and a flat cap. This immediately displayed to me as a viewer that the women was a higher class than the man, however I did get the sense of passion straight away due to the colour of her dress, and the colour red signifies passion and desire. 

The Lovely Bones Trailer Analysis

Shots, Camera Angles, Movement and Composition 

• Near the end of the trailer, it is shown Susie visiting her murderer (when she was a ghost) and it is a high angle shot from Susie’s point of view. This showed us that although her murderer once had the power over her, she now had the power over him and was the more dominant role.

• In the middle of the trailer, there is a tracking shot of Susie in heaven and showing her “perfect” surroundings as she says “I’m not dead, I'm still alive, just in my own perfect world”. This made me feel very happy and relieved that although she was dead, she was enjoying herself in heaven with these beautiful views and she was content.

• As Susie introduces herself and telling us she was murdered at the age of 14, one of the shots that is shown is a two shot of her and her mother playing and having fun in her bedroom, chatting and reading books together. This made me as a viewer, feel very upset as it showed that Susie had a very good relationship with her mum and family before she got murdered, it also made me feel very angry to the thought of how someone could just murder an innocent little girl and made me really think about how it isn't just the director challenging the convents of reality, but it really happens in the world today.

Editing

• At the beginning of the trailer, there is a sequence of quick shots, firstly showing members of all the family and then showing shots of Susie enjoying life at school, with her family and with her friends. This sequence of shots is going on whilst Susie is introducing herself and telling us that she was murdered when she was 14. As a member of the audience, this made me feel more sensitive and moved by this character as the fact that they’re showing you shots of her enjoying her life, when really, she is now dead.


• Between most shots that Susie is in, there is a fade out between the current shot and the following. This made me feel almost that there was no hope for Susie, and that there is a very dark world out there and she had been captured by it. Also by the director doing this a lot in the trailer, drew me in more as it made me wonder what had actually happened to her.


• There was a scene cut from Susie playing in heaven with her friend having fun to a shot of her walking in a dark forest walking towards a black, wooden old house (her murderers). This put me on edge a lot and I didn’t really know what to feel. It showed me that although she was in “high spirits” of where she had been placed in heaven, she still wanted revenge and still wanted to protect her family, there was still a dark side to her life.


• The trailer started off with a shot of Susie and her Grandma looking at something and then cut to a shot of a boy walking across the street. This eye-line match immediately gave us the understanding that in this story, the boy and the girl have some sort of chemistry. This links into the genre that this film had been categorized in “Romantic Drama” as Susie and this man obviously had some sort of connection and romance

Mise en scene

• At the beginning of the trailer, the light is very bright and cheerful, however, throughout the trailer it gets darker and darker. This shows me as a viewer that something bad is going to happen. The bright light for me symbolizes happiness and joyfulness, whereas dim, dark lighting portrays an evil, mysterious and sinister atmosphere.


• When keeping an eye out for colours, I noticed that everyone in the trailer towards the beginning is wearing bright colours for example: Dad wearing a white shirt and purple tie, mum wearing a white top and pink skirt etc. However, at the end of the trailer, I noticed that the majority of the cast were in darker, earthy colours i.e.- Mum was always in black, Dad was in dark green or brown, Sister was in navy. This almost resembled the feelings and emotional state of the family. Susie has died, which means that their life will be dark, gloomy and obscure from now on.

• It became apparent to me that the light is a lot lighter, brighter and softer in heaven with Susie, then it is in the real world with her parents and murderer. This almost made me feel relieved as at least Susie is in this nice world where there is no fear and that the murder was living in a evil, gloomy, horrible world, as he deserved. However, it made me feel sympathy for her parents who are living in this dark, dim, gloomy world due to the realisation that their daughter had been murdered, and they don't deserve to live like this.

Sound

• The trailer starts off with narration from the main character: “My names Salmon like the fish, first name Susie, I was only 14 when I was murdered”.  From this it straight away tells us what the story is about and who the protagonist of the film is. This automatically made me as an audience member feel anxious and straight away made me want to watch this film and the rest of the trailer to see if it let me in on anything about how she had been murdered and what had happened.


• After the girl had introduced herself, a sound bridge of emotional music started to play as well as speech from the detector telling Susie’s parents that her body had been found. This sound bridge brought out a huge effect to me as the music firstly, before even listening to what the detector was saying, conveyed that something bad had happened and it gave me an automatic feel of emotion, yet, when listening to the detector speaking to the parents aswell as the sound bridge of music in the background, it made you sympathise massively with the parents and want to help them, although you can't.

•  In the middle of the trailer, Susie's younger brother narrates "Grandma, Susie's in the in-between". As a viewer, this made me feel very emotional, as the boy must have only been about 5 and the fact he had lost his sister and was beginning to come to the realisation that she will never come back and actually understood heaven, was heart-breaking.

My Sister's Keeper Trailer Analysis

Shots, Camera Angles, Movement, Composition

• One of the first shots we are shown in the trailer was a tracking shot showing the family having fun, but also quick, sharp shots, showing us the girl with cancer, making it apparent to us that this story and film is based around someone who has an illness. This automatically made me as a viewer, feel nervous and upset.

• There was then a zoom shot of their slightly “undersized” house. This again straightaway shows us as an audience that they are a fun family and are going to give the girl the best life she could possibly have before her time has finished, but the illness is costing them fortunes, and bearing in mind they have a big family, they cannot afford a bigger house.

Editing

• The first editing term I saw was an extremely tense and emotional sequence of shots of Kate firstly, who was crying with her head down in her pillow, cut with a shot of Anna (her sister) crying outside on the swing, but also with Anna narrating over “I want to sew my parents, for the rights of my own body”. This as a viewer, made me feel very upset and almost hurt as it showed that the illness of Kate wasn't just effecting her life, but was also effecting everyone's around her.

•  I noticed that there was a montage of quick shots of each member of the family, but between each shot there were fade out’s into a black screen for literally a second. I firstly started on thinking that it was pointless doing it, but then after watching the trailer a few times realised that by the fact of it fading out into a black screen after most times that Kate was in the shot, it almost gave me the awful feeling that there was no hope for Kate and that she was trapped in this illness.

• Towards the end of the trailer, there was an eye-line match of the dad crying, shot to Kate walking down the stairs with a long beautiful dress on, looking her best, with a wig on. This eye line match was a lovely moment for us as a viewer to see, as the rest of the trailer had been very upsetting, and at this point, it showed that her dad was very proud and made us feel that although she had cancer, she had decided that she will still live her life for as long as she had left.

Sound

• The non-diegetic music began to start, with an upbeat, “jolly” sound, setting the scene of the film. It gave me personally the impression that the music was a reflection of Kate (the ill girls) life. It was upbeat and happy but had moments where it went slow and delicate. 


•  Kate narrated “My disease is killing my family too”. Hearing Kate say this in the trailer was heart-breaking but it links in with the romantic drama genre as it’s a massive drama that she is coming to terms with that she is really going to die at this young age and she is having to accept it, but her main concern is hurting and putting her family through too much pain.


•   “I want a divorce” – Her dad shouting this at her mum, showed us that Kate’s illness was affecting the rest of the family just as it was affecting her. Her illness was tearing her family apart. This was heart-breaking to watch as going through a time like that in a family, a family needs to stick together, however, previously in the trailer, Kate had said that that her illness was killing her family and that was her worst nightmare.

Mise en Scene

• Kate comes downstairs with a beautiful wig and prom dress on, ready to go to prom with her date. This automatically gives us a massive emotional but also delighted reaction as throughout the rest of the trailer, we have only really seen her in a hospital gown. This fitted into the genre really well as the romantic element comes in here showing us that although her illness, she is in love and is making a massive effort for this boy who is taking her to a prom. 


• The parents were shown fighting and crying together, this shot showed us that Kate’s illness was affecting the rest of the family as well as affecting her. 

Defining My Genre: Romantic Drama

When researching the genre I was going to focus my trailer, I found out that Romantic Films were defined as a genre wherein the plot revolves around the love between two protagonists. This genre usually has a theme that explores an issue within love, including but not limited to: love at first sight, forbidden love, love triangles, and sacrificial love. The tone of Romance film can vary greatly. Whether the end is happy or tragic, Romance film aims to evoke strong emotions in the audience.

I then found out that Drama Film's are a genre that rely on the emotional and relational development of realistic characters. While Drama films rely heavily on this kind of development, dramatic themes play a large role in the plot aswell. Often, these dramatic themes are taken from intense, real life issues. Whether heroes or heroines are facing conflict from the outside or a conflict within themselves, Drama film aims to tell an honest story of human struggles.

                                                                

Brief

I am going to make a promotion package for a new film, to include a trailer, together with a film magazine front cover, featuring the film and a poster for the film.