Theatrical trailer analysis - Me Before You (2016)

Genre: Drama, Romance

Narrative: A girl in a small town forms an unlikely bond with a recently-paralysed man she’s taking care of. – IMDb

Unique selling point: The plot, this is because the book has attracted a majority of the audience as it isn’t something that is commonly shown especially when relating paralysed men and romance. This is due to the stereotype of the disabled that is shown in the media that causes the element of surprise for the audience when watching the film as they take a twist on the typical expectations for the disabled. 

Target audience: The majority of the target audience would be readers of the book and even fans of the author herself. Therefore, the audience would be aged around fifteen and over, this could go on into mid-thirties to forties as the genre of the film is aimed at the female audience as a whole.

Music and dialogue: The trailer begins with diegetic and non-diegetic sound, the diegetic sound being the dialogue between the job hunter and Louisa, ‘We have tried the chicken factory,’ ‘I’m still having nightmares about those giblets.’ The non-diegetic over the dialogue is of the song by Oh Honey, Take All The Time You Need which goes alongside the dialogue as it is upbeat and light-hearted. However, at 1:09 of the trailer, the first song stops and Photograph by Ed Sheeran is then played until the end of the trailer. 

The song is played underneath the dialogue and the sound shifts as the emotions of the trailer develop into sadness and the audience know the story line thickens from the previous happier scenes. The song Photograph is played until the very end where the song ends on the lyrics ‘Wait for me to come home’ as the titles of the film appear which intensifies the overall mood for the film as the audience can immediately tell the film will perhaps be quite mournful. This is also supported by the dialogue leading up to the ending of the trailer as a conversation is inserted ‘I promised my parents six months and that’s what I’ve given them’ ‘But that was before me.’ 

Camera angles/shots: 

It starts traditionally with an establishing shot of the location where the film is primarily set and also where the Traynor family live. 

 There are many over the shoulder shots in this trailer and here are the first two that are shown as Louisa is introduced to the audience. The use of the over the shoulder shot is to create the idea that the audience are peering into Louisa's life. Especially as this is the first scene in the trailer where she is seen. As well as the fact that using both angles from front and back of the over the shoulder shot, it allows the audience to pay attention to Louisa's outfit. From the back, the audience are able to see her unique hairstyle followed by her outfit which instantly creates enigma codes on who she is and perhaps why she is dressed the way she is. It also engages the audience as her attire isn't ordinary and therefore they will be intrigued by the character.

                                                                                   

There is an aerial shot of the location showing the castle and the homes surrounding it. Once again, this is just to show to the audience the setting in where the characters live. But also to show that the community is close and quite small, which relates to the context further in the trailer as Will says to Louisa ‘That can't be from around here.' 'Why not?' 'Because this is the kind of place where people come to when they have got tired of actually living.' 

 There are also many close up/extreme close up's of the main characters such as Louisa and Will. There are many of Louisa in particular as the film is told through her life so through the close up's, the audience develop an understanding of her emotions as the events unfold in the trailer. It also shows the authority she holds as she is the main character and this is evidently shown as she has the most screen time in the trailer.

They also include two shots to portray the relationship of the characters. This is an example of Nathan and Will, which shows the difference between the two. This has been done intentionally to highlight the key fact that Will is sitting in a wheelchair to signify that he is disabled in comparison to Nathan. 
Another two shot is used of Louisa and Katrina which shows the sisterly bond they have. They are also both lying down on the bed together which shows there is no difference between them, in comparison to the previous two shot of Nathan and Will.

 As mentioned before, the use of over the shoulder shots are used frequently, as well as high/low angles. These are both an example of using both the shot and the angle, the effect of this is for the audience to see the clear representation as Will looks up to Louisa. This has been done to portray the difference between them and the fact that Will is relying on Louisa as he looks up to her physically as he cannot complete tasks alone. Therefore, while defying the stereotype of the disabled by the character of Will being included in a romance film, they still continue to stereotype the disabled through the shot variation and angles to portray them to be weak. 

Inter-titles: 

The titles for the film are shown before the final inter-title when the trailer comes to an end. But the titles leading up to it are giving the audience more information about the film e.g. with the first title, it is informing the audience on the originality of the film. It also is showing how popular and well known the novel has been and how it was then turned into a film. 

The next two titles are again shown as apart of the trailer as it fits in with the dialogue when Will advises Louisa to live her life to the fullest. Therefore, once again the audience can begin to gain an understanding into the possibly outcomes of the story. 
The font for the inter-titles are in the serif font which shows the aspect of romance as they are more feminised with the added decorative flourishes added to the ends of the words. As well as this, the colour palette fits in perfectly with the genre of the film. The main significant colour is red as shown by the vibrant red background which has connotations of love, passion and desire. All aspects which are shown evidently in the trailer, they have complimented the bright colour with the black and white text. These colours both contrast well with the colour red and add to the simplicity of the inter-titles. 

These are the final two inter-titles as the trailer comes to an end. The trailer finishes on a simple note with the inter-titles as they have let the clips of the film engage the audience rather than exaggerating the inter-titles. The simplicity allows the audience to focus more on the scenes and the plot which is the main selling point for the film.

The last inter-title shows that that the film prior to it's release didn't have an official release date or wasn't unveiled in the trailer as they instead say the film is 'coming soon'. This could have intentionally been done to add suspense and keep the audience updated on the film. As well as the fact that they have used the hashtag #MeBeforeYou so the audience can easily keep up to date with the release of the film and or even premieres, any new information will be shown on social media using the hashtag so it is no trouble for them to find out anything related to the film. 

Voice over: Throughout the trailer, there are slight aspects of voice overs but soon after the dialogue is matched with the scene. For example, at 0:14 when said ‘Do you have any experience with care giving?’ ‘I have never done it but I’m sure I could learn.’  Soon afterwards, the scene is then shown of the characters Camilla and Louisa. This is then carried on throughout until 02:04, when Louisa says ‘But I have become a whole new person because of you’, this is the only voice over used as it does not show the character using the dialogue afterwards. Through the use of this specific sentence as the only voice over, it adds tension to the audience as they slowly begin to try and solve the enigma codes that are being presented in the trailer. The trailer is portrayed after the halfway mark to be melancholy and not as uplifting as the first half, therefore the sense of urgency is implied through the tone of the character Louisa as she says those words to Will.

I was inspired to complete an analysis on this film due to the fact that it is apart of the genre of my own trailer and I myself thoroughly enjoyed this film minus the extreme sadness. As for my own trailer, I want to engage my audience the way this trailer did but including a variation of different shots and including music that really fits into the plot of the trailer. These two elements were really important in this trailer and is what made it so effective to the audience as they portray the emotions that the audience should feel with the change in plot through the scenes that are shown and the music that is played.

Magazine cover analysis - Entertainment weekly #2

This is another example of the Entertainment Weekly magazine, however this is different in comparison to the other magazine I have analysed as this cover has fewer information surrounding it.

The central image of the magazine front cover is a portrait mid-shot of the three main characters (Patrick Dempsey, Renée Zellweger and Colin Firth) in the film 'Bridget Jones's Baby.' Therefore the whole cover is focused around the film and the characters themselves. Each character is dressed in a different attire to portray their personalities and even their professions. An example being that Colin Firth is dressed as his character, Mark Darcy who is seen to be wearing a suit. Therefore, without even having to have seen any of the films, the audience are immediately aware of his high status profession and that he is a smart and well achieving man. This is in comparison to Renee's character who plays Bridget Jones herself and Patrick Dempsey's character who plays Jack who are dressed more casually. Bridget is dressed in a mix of colours, ranging from purple, pink and green. This shows her personality to be very bubbly and outgoing as purple has connotations of power and ambition, as well as green that was connotations of growth that links to her character very well. Overall, the suggestion through her colour choice is that Bridget is a confident woman who despite being in between two men is very strong minded and as shown through the previous two films in the trilogy has shown a good character development. Finally, on the left hand side is the character of Jack who again is dressed very simply. He is seen to still be dressed quite smartly through the collared grey shirt he is wearing which has been dressed down with the navy bomber jacket to show the simplicity yet sophistication of his attire. 


The use of the language on the magazine cover is centred towards the target audience which consists of all females. An example is 'Bridget Jones IS BACK!' and through the use of the font, they have added a heart over the dot on the 'i', which adds the aspect of the femininity. It also shows the casual and friendly language that is being used to attract the audience as they will respond more to language as this as they feel included. However, the magazine also use language such as 'Our Favourite Wanton Sex Goddess Returns...' when describing Renee which shows the popularity of the actor and how she is still portrayed positively throughout the film, defying the stereotypes for the women her age. As mentioned before, this cover specifically only mentions issues associated with the film as that is their main focus. Moreover, they suggest an 'Exclusive First Look' which immediately draws the attention of the audience as they instantly want to discover any new insight from the film. This cover in particular, I wanted to focus on in comparison to the other Entertainment Weekly cover as it only focuses on the film and does not provide any taglines or puffs surrounding the image. This is unusual as in many of their other covers, they are more focused on the headlines as well as the main image however for this film, they were aware of how successful it would be and therefore honoured it with a whole front cover spread.

The lighting on the front cover is light and radiant, it allows the actors and actress to be seen in a light of reality and they are not seen as over exaggerated with their features. It is really natural to again portray the image of the casualness of the characters and how natural they are with their work. The framing of the image as mentioned previously is portrait and is a mid-shot so the audience can see their attire but also see how squeezed together the three are to one another. This is in reference to the film itself and with the use of the prop which adds to the title of the film, as it evidently gives indication that Bridget has a baby and the teddy is shown to add emphasis. Especially, as she is wedged between Mark, a familiar character and Jack who is unfamiliar, which causes the audience to create their own suspicions for the film. The mode of address is also shown through the image as all three characters are looking directly to the audience, especially as they are all smiling and look really happy. Therefore, this has been purposely done as the female gender are more likely to purchase the copy due to the perfect image as they all look content despite the odd situation. The actors such as Patrick Dempsey and Colin Firth also add to the female gaze as they would be attracted to the men and perhaps then be more willing to buy it, as well as the fact that the idea of the love triangle can be relatable to many readers. 

For my own magazine, I am inspired by this cover as I want to recreate a similar central image with my main character placed up and close in front of the camera. I may also include a prop in the image although there isn't a significant prop in the trailer so far, I may add one in to link into the magazine cover. The prop in the magazine gives a suggestion of what could happen within the film and I do want to create enigma codes for my audience therefore I look forward to figuring out if I could include one.

Magazine cover analysis - Entertainment

This is a front cover for Entertainment Weekly, which is another great example showing the different features to a magazine cover.

The central image is of a medium shot of the actress Kate Walsh previously a character from Grey’s Anatomy as it mentions in the story lines. The image evidently shows the mode of address as similarly in the previous Empire magazine, the actress is staring directly into the eyes of the audience. This has been done intentionally so the audience are immediately captivated by the actress, especially when addressing the male audience. In the central image, Walsh is wearing a white slim fitting dress that reveals her chest. Therefore, this has been done as if the male audience comes across the magazine, they will be attracted to Walsh and then may proceed to buying the magazine. For the female audience, it causes an admiration for Walsh an example being her body shape as she is appears to look skinny. As well as the fact that her hair and makeup has been done perfectly which then makes the female audience to aspire to be like her. The cover can be targeted especially at those who are fans of the actress from Grey’s Anatomy, they would more likely to purchase the magazine therefore the company have featured a well-known actress from a successful TV series. The colour palette consists of white, black, red and turquoise. The vivid colours of red and turquoise contrast against the simplicity of the two other colours, the use of red has been done as it has connotations of being energising and confident by its boldness. Therefore by specifically adding those colours in with the cover lines ‘99’ and ‘Preview’, it shows the excitement as the magazine reveals exclusive information to the audience that other magazines would not offer. This is contrasted with the colour turquoise which has connotations of being refreshing and quite a feminine colour. This links in well with the female image that shows that the audience may be leaning towards female in comparison who seek to find out more about their favourite actress. The use of the black and white against these other colours show the sophistication of the magazine and the actress herself, it is simple yet elegant and makes her stand out. Walsh’s outfit fits in with the cover as she is wearing a slim fitted white dress while she has a stethoscope around her neck which relates her back to her character on Grey’s Anatomy. The simple prop is a guidance for the audience when viewing the magazine to remind them of Walsh’s character and from the cover line ‘In the ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Spin-off ‘Private Practise’ shows where the actress has moved onto from the previous show.

The language used on the magazine has been modified for the female audience as it is in bold as the cover lines such as ‘Heroes’, ‘Brothers & Sisters’, ‘Gossip Girl’ and ‘Turns 30!’. The magazine have intentionally created their front cover to appeal to women as much as possible, which has been done by the range of concrete and abstract nouns used, such as ‘Heroes’ and ‘Gossip’. As well as written in the puff, it says ‘Your Complete Guide’, whether that is relating to TV or beauty that hasn’t been clarified but it is extremely common for front covers aimed at females to have puffs such as that but it may be dismissed by the audience due to the fact that they would be open to following a guide if Walsh is on the front cover. This leads onto the font of the magazine cover which is all in the font of sans serif, this once again shows the simplicity of the cover. It also could be done as the main attraction of the cover is Walsh herself rather than the cover lines or tag lines, the image is taking up the majority of the cover therefore the audiences’ main attention is drawn on the actress rather than the text around her. The central image also covers the mast head which is commonly done in magazines to show that it is well known and that despite the image covering the mast head, the audience will already know the name of the magazine regardless.

The lighting on the front cover is bright and contrasts with the white background of the cover which gives Walsh an eliminating look to her face. The use of the key and fill light are to enhance the look of the actress and make her face look radiant especially in contrast with the white dress which then makes Walsh look more tanned. This again follows the idea as mentioned before of women aspiring to look like her and being inspired by her, which results in them buying the magazine to read more about the actress. The lighting is key in covers such as this, especially in comparison to the Empire magazine, this is because the key features of the female are being shown clearly and they have to ensure it’s the correct aspects of features from the actresses face to be shown to the public. As the main appeal is for the audience to purchase the magazine, therefore the central image has to be portrayed very well. Furthermore, then because of this the framing of the image has to be correct in order to specifically engage the targeted audience. The framing of this image is similar to Downey in the Empire magazine as it is positioned to bring Walsh to the centre of the cover where she is at eye level with the audience to attract them to the magazine and engage them with the story lines focused on her.

Despite how effective the previous magazine cover was, I do prefer this cover both when analysing and as inspiration. This is because it is a cover I am able to relate to my own film more due to the female audience and the main female central image that is similar to my own. I want my central image to be the main attention of the magazine cover as it will be the main character of my trailer but also so the audience can immediately create an reaction for the character. Furthermore, the titles surrounding the image are more likely to be the kind of titles I would use as they are more female friendly and aren't associated with topics unlike the previous cover that women would read.

Magazine cover analysis - Empire

This is the Empire front cover for Iron Man 3, which is a great example of the features that should be included in a magazine.

The central image is of Robert Downey Jr dressed in his role as Iron Man, all expect the mask that he is holding so the audience can focus on his face. This has intentionally been done as the audience will already be familiar with the Iron Man series and then will be able to recognise him immediately. Therefore, by Downey not being fully dressed as the superhero, it suggests that the main focus for the front cover is on the actor himself. The mode of address is being shown very evidently in this cover as Downey is looking directly into the audiences’ eyes. The effect of this from the central image is that Downey is urging the audience to buy the magazine. This is due to the mode of address that is being shown but also the pose in which Downey is standing in. It shows clear authority and power over the audience, he has one shoulder in front of the other as he holds onto his mask which is also using the mode of address. The mask itself and the costume could be considered as a prop within the front cover. This as mentioned before has intentionally been done to present the character due to the release of the new film, although while they continue to show the costume of the superhero, they still include to show Downey himself. It could be done to contrast the two between each other, from the character to the actor. The masks’ eyes show that despite not being on Downey’s face, it is still functioning and aware of the presence of the audience. Therefore, the audience are getting powerful stares from both the actor and the mask which causes an intimation to be felt by the audience as they stand hopelessly. The central image is purposely used to look dominant to show that the character himself has the upper power on the audience and even suggesting he does in the film.

The titles of the magazine also link into the central image as the image covers the masthead ‘Empire’, which is missing a word from where Downey is covering it but this has been intentionally included despite that minor flaw. This is because the magazine itself is well known as is the actor, which they do not need to readjust the layout for the audience to know what magazine it is. The font of the entire magazine cover is sans serif and is also bolded. This appeals to the target audience as the majority of them would be male and therefore with the bolded text, it allows the key information to be seen by them immediately. They have also used a simple colour palette of white, gold and red which are the same colours as Iron Man. The use of the colour white which has connotations of peace allows the audience to feel a sense of protection especially from the central image which as mentioned before suggests that Iron Man is powerful and can take care of the city. The colour gold similarly has connotations of courage and achievement which again all relate back to Iron Man as through the films and even just the image with the pose he is standing in, it gives the suggestion to the reader that he is unbeatable especially as this is a trilogy therefore he has yet to be defeated. Lastly, the colour red has connotations of masculinity and power, moreover all of the colours chosen for Iron Man and then carried on in the theme for the cover are all to appeal to the male audience. Through the central image, they want to intimidate men but also engage them to buy the magazine as if they do purchase it, they can increase their masculinity.

The central image is of a medium shot where Downey is positioned at the front of the cover to indicate his authority. The positioning of the image has been intentionally to bring Downey to the centre and ensure that he will definitely catch the eye of the audience. This is especially proven as they have positioned him at the front but also in direct eye line of the audience’s eyes’ so they cannot avoid the eye contact. The effect of this would be that eventually the audience will give in to the temptation and buy the magazine through the stares coming from Downey and the Iron Man mask. The composition of the image also makes the taglines around him become more prominent which is another effect on the audience as it can easily catch their attention.  For example, they have purposely put a tagline in front of Downey as in bold red ‘Iron Man 3’ which addresses to the male audience what the main cover is all about. As well as the tagline written underneath ‘Downey Jr’s lethal weapon flies solo’ the attributive adjective ‘lethal’ indicates the violent imagery and language used in the magazine as it aims to target the male audience. Therefore, in comparison to a fashion magazine the language being used especially when referring to an action film that is the subject of the magazine has to be more aggressive.  Furthermore, especially with the chosen target audience the ratio of photography to text is that there is more image in comparison to text. This could have been done due to the fact that the audience are males and they are more engaged with images than they may be than text. As well as the fact that ‘Empire’ continuously uses larger scale images that cover up the entire front cover and less amounts of text to specifically appeal to their target audience.

For my own magazine cover, I have been inspired by this example and the fact that they have made the central image the main focus. Especially with the genre of film that I am creating, the covers for those are always very image based however the use of titles surrounding the image are always varied. However, unlike this example for my own magazine cover, I am planning on having more headers around the image despite the fact that the image is the main focus. The use of titles around the magazine are key as they are also apart of what engages the audience to purchase the magazine as they need to want to read the content inside. 

Imaginary Friend

As mentioned in my previous post over the course of the past two weeks we have been focusing on our short film just demonstrating multiple shot types and movements. Here is the finished product that I did in my group, it was a good experience for me to acknowledge all the shots and movements so I could gain a better understanding for when I film my trailer. 

Filming update #1

Since I last put up my ideas and plans for my trailer, I have been filming for our short film focusing on all the shots, angles and movements we know to include in the group I am in. Not only for our trailer but in general, by creating this short film it enables us to acknowledge the shots we do know how to do and the ones we aren't too confident in, we can then practise. All of these shots, angles and movements have to be done on the camera using a tripod which has since starting this mini project has enabled me to grow my confidence in using tripods. I never knew exactly how to work them and so last year, I didn't use them our opening but since the beginning of this week, I am starting to be able to set them up quickly and know positioning I need to use for the specific angle.

Updated: Developed ideas

Updated: Genre Conventions

This is the genre conventions for the Romance drama that I switched to from the teen genre that I previously set out to have. Some of the conventions were linked between the two genres although they were still many differences. I hope to include some of the conventions into my own plot and trailer. Although I still want to create differences in order to add a change in comparison to the other films in the genre.