2. • The trailer opens with the universal pictures logo
onscreen for less than 2 seconds, with an up-beat
soundtrack playing in the background. Already this
suggests that it is a feel good movie.
• There is then a short blackout and the picture quickly
fades back to a man an establishing shot of a very
nice house. It then immediately cuts to a man and
woman in bed – showing that they are in the house.
From the position of the people you presume that the
man is more dominant as he is lying over her – he
then tells her he wants to leave and all of his dialogue
is more or less declaratives or imperatives: “you
should probably get going soon”. This establishes her
relationship with the man. Many of the lines are
funny too and in between the lines the intertitles
drop down saying “Annie is out of love… out of luck…”
The colour of the font is pink, suggesting that maybe
it is a chick flick or that it is based around women?
• During the funniest moment so far the music stops
after building up pace (when she is stuck on the gate
and the housekeeper turns up) to emphasise the
moment and the humour.
• These first 34 seconds establish the main
character, and her basic personality and situation. It
also sets up the genre and the mood of the trailer.
3. • After the next intertitle “out of her depth” the music
picks up pace and there is a second establishing shot
of a city scape – giving the audience the location.
• There is then a few very fast paced clips giving us
more information on the storyline through dialogue
– we are also introduced to the other main
character: the bride. “I’m getting engaged… will you
be my made of honour?”. The is a two shot of them
both on the sofa together – suggesting the
characters are close.
• After another intertitle – giving us information on
the directors’ past movies (a good selling point) –
the audience are introduced to the rest of the cast
as they all decide on “ideas for the bachelorette
party”. Wide shots are quickly edited together of
each of the bridesmaids in their home/ work
environment. The background, costume and
dialogue of each of the characters lets the audience
know a lot about them in a matter of seconds. For
example one woman says she has the “need to
smell the neck of a man I don’t know”. In the
background of her home you can see four young
boys – so the audience can presume she is unhappy
at home with her family life.
• Every time there is a really funny moment – for
example when Megan burps in the wedding shop –
the music stops, always to add emphasis to the
moment. It then re-starts, giving the impression of
lots of things building up – suggesting the stress the
main character is under.
4. • At around 1.36, another intertitle drops down,
reading “raise your glasses”. There is then a short
scene on an aeroplane and the pace of the music
picks up with electric guitar riffs involved too –
building up the drama.
• At 1.49 the music stops again, and a man says
“you’re like the maid of dishonour” (quite a good
summary of the movie) another title drops down,
and the music returns with lyrics and faster than
ever.
• The clips then get shorter and are selected
randomly from throughout the movie – rather
than in chronological order. Most of them are
action packed, including a car chase, a sex scene,
lots of running and shouting, and dancing. This lets
the audience know that it is not a family movie.
• Over the top of these clips there is a voiceover
from one of the clips bleeding over with the
protagonist saying “you’re gonna take this huge
step and I’m gonna be there right next to you.”
Which is humorous as it is ironic because all of the
clips have shown chaos. The music then stops and
there is then a shot of the bride running across the
road in her wedding dress and the maid of honour
standing and watching.
• The title of the movie is then shown in bold, pink
font – only for a couple of seconds, to keep the
pace up – there is then one last, very funny scene,
to keep audience attention, followed by the
release date.
5. • In the trailer women are represented as quite wild, hysterical, drunk and
sex hungry. This goes completely against any stereotypes of women in
mainstream media. The trailer goes completely against Mulvey’s male
gaze theory too – and in one clip the role is reversed as a woman
describes how she is going to “climb that like a tree” when discussing a
male character. This is probably because it is a women’s movie – or at
least a majority of the target audience are. I think the trailer is mainly
aimed at women due to the fact most of the characters are women, it is
about weddings and the colour scheme is pin and white.
• The movie is a comedy and the trailer makes this clear from the
beginning through the up tempo music and the emphasises and
regularity of funny moments in the trailer.
• The narrative structure in the trailer conforms to that found in most. The
first thirty seconds or so lays out the premise of the story and
establishes setting and introduces the main character, The middle drives
the story further and usually ends with a dramatic climax. Relationships
are established further and characters are developed in their world, and
the final minute or so consists of a visual montage of powerful and
emotional moments/events of the film
7. • The trailer begins with an establishing shot of
the camera panning across a city, with calm
music. There is then a voice over of a young
boy, beginning “dear friend”. There is then a
close up of a boys face – suggesting to the
audience that it is this boys voice they can hear.
There is then a blackout as he says “I really
want to turn things around this year”.
• The Summit entertainment logo then appears
with a green background (a colour that matches
the one on the advertising posters – if they
have seen the posters they will recognise the
link).
• There is then a wide shot zooming out of him
sat alone in the canteen. This shot emphasises
his loneliness and the distance he feels
between him and his peers. The dialogue of a
character calling him a “toad” also suggest that
he doesn’t have many friends at school.
• We then see a title (on the same background
colour) saying “charlie never stood out”. The
lack of proper grammar or punctuation suggest
that it is an easy-going movie or that it is aimed
at or about younger people. The words also pop
up in time with the music – a convention of
movie trailers. It also informs the audience that
the boy is charlie.
8. • The scene then changes to him at a party
dancing towards a girl and a boy. This could
represent to the audience him becoming close
to them in the movie. The intertitles then
inform the audience that they are his “friends”
and they “let him in”. This conforms to normal
narrative structure in a trailer, as after being
introduced to the main character – we are
being presented with the supporting ones.
• The editing pace then picks up and there is
quick transitions between different scenes of
parties and people, changing the mood.
• The intertitles then introduces us to “Patrick”
and a clip of him shouting in a football stadium
in a camp manner is shown – suggesting that
maybe he is femenine and likes sport.
• “Sam” is next and there is a clip of her standing
on the back of a pick up truck – suggesting she
is free.
• The trailer then shows a range of clips from
throughout the movie along with text
informing the audience that it is out in the
autumn and that it is from the creators of
Juno. The reference to Juno will target a lot of
young people who like coming of age romantic
dramas – the same genre/ themes as this
movie.
9. • Towards the end the text says that it is based on
the “critically acclaimed novel” and many of the
most famous quotes are included: “we are
infinite” and “you see things, you understand”.
• The pace of the music and the editing and clips
then picks up and become more dramatic. The
shots include fight scenes, crying, and laughing –
a complete range of emotions. These suggest
that the movie is serious as well as funny and
covers a range of issues.
• Similarly to the Bridesmaids trailer, the music
stops on the most important parts.
However, because it isn’t a comedy like
Bridesmaids, some of the moments are dramatic
rather than funny.
• The final shot is of Charlie standing in the back of
the pick up truck – suggesting that he is going to
go on some kind of journey in the movie and
become free.
• The names of the movie is the last thing to be
shown, before the release date – this is found in
most of the trailers, as the trailer grabs the
audiences attention so even if they only see the
last minute of it they can still see what it is
called. Under the release date the trailer uses
synergy and shows a link to the movie’s
Facebook page.
11. • This trailer is slightly different to most others as it is the final instalment of a
series of movies which have been a global success. Therefore the audience will
already know the main characters.
• The trailer opens with the instantly recognisable “Hedwig’s theme” but a version
that has been significantly slowed down. Any fans of the movie and even people
who are not will relate the song to the previous Harry Potter movies. The slowing
down of the song gives it an eery mood – suggesting that this movie will be the
same as the others but much darker.
• The editing in the first 16 seconds is literally in time with the music and every
time a new note plays the shot changes. The final shot in this sequence is an
extreme close up of Lord Voldermort’s face as he opens his eyes – suggesting he
is waking up.
• The music then stops and a suspense building, drum roll style sound plays. The
Warner Bros logo then appears but is edited onto the background that the Harry
Potter title is usually set on, in greys and blacks. This continues with the theme of
darkness.
12. • The next sequence follows the conventions
of narrative structure in film trailers, as it
introduces the main character and his story.
This is done in the form of a voice over form
Lord Voldemort, personally addressing Harry.
• As he speaks the images on the screen
reference what he is saying. For example
when he says “you have allowed your friends
to die” he is seen walking through dead
bodies. This is then followed by a shot of the
three main characters looking up, giving the
impression that they are scared of him –
having the same effect on the audience.
• There is then text on the screen with the
release date and saying “only one can live”.
As these appear there is a sound effect of a
drum to add emphasis to what they are
saying.
• Many of the images shown are magical/
mystical creatures of special effects,
reflecting the genre of the movie. The
colours in the shots are very dark/ dull,
against emphasising the darkness of this
film.
13. • In many of the shots Harry Potter is seen
directly after Voldemort and they are binary
oppositions of each other: good vs. evil.
Harry has a voice over after Voldemort’s
ends - which highlights the contrast between
them.
• The music then comes to a dramatic end and
there is a confrontation between Harry and
Voldemort. The over the shoulder shot here
make the audience feel very involved.
• The music then restarts more dramatic and
fast paced than before, and the editing
becomes faster too, and the images more
dark/ violent. There are many shots of
violence and destruction, with several
recognisable characters involved.
• The intertitles appear at intervals
throughout and include words such as “epic”
and “phenomenon”. These, paired with the
music and images, give a huge sense of
drama and volume to the trailer.
• The final images are another face-off
between the two enemies – the theme
throughout the entire series of movies. This
is followed by the title of the movie and the
release date.
14. • The genre is very clear in this trailer – the element of fantasy is
extremely strong as you can tell be the storyline, characters
and the level that special effects play in the trailer.
• The audience is mostly going to be people who have already
seen all or most of the Harry Potter movies, as the trailer
presume you know some of the details.
• However the protagonist and antagonist’s monologues/ voice
overs do explain their relationship and the series of events so
far “you have battled…” so if someone hadn’t seen the movies
before the trailer would still inform them of the storyline.
• The music is extremely important in action/ fanatasy films as it
builds the suspense, tension and drama. The music at the
beginning functioned really effectively as it connotes Harry
Potter and without even having to look at the screen it is clear
that it is a Harry Potter Trailer.
