Theatrical trailer analysis - The Vow (2012)

Genre: Drama, Romance
Narrative: 'A car accident puts Paige in a coma, and when she wakes up with severe memory loss, her husband Leo works to win her heart again.' - IMDb
Unique Selling Point: Both the actors/actresses and the plot, the two main actor and actress is Rachael McAdams and Channing Tatum. They are in very well known films prior to this film, McAdams is in films such as Mean Girls and The Notebook, Tatum has been in Step Up and Dear John. As well as the plot that has been taken by the novel itself, it is a very sad storyline but also could be relatable as many people suffer from memory issues through illnesses so it isn't as uncommon as expected.

Target audience: The audience would mainly consist of 15+ females, ranging from teenagers, young adults and adults as the film can be aimed at any ages throughout the gender due to the plot of the film. Many of the audience could also be readers of the novel who would want to then see how the film is portrayed, as well as fans of the actresses and actors included especially due to the success of both McAdams and Tatum. 

Music, Dialogue and Voice over :  The trailer begins with diegetic sound of both the main characters, Leo and Paige as they are in the car together listening to the radio 'Meatloaf' 'You do not like this song.' Then Leo begins to sing along to the song on the radio 'I'd Do Anything for Love. Then as the scenes progress and instantly fall into the main story line, a voice over is paired with non-diegetic sound as Leo is the voice being heard as he says 'Life's all about moments of impact and how they change our lives forever but what if one day, you could no longer remember any of them.' This dialogue is paired with a continuous beeping sound, almost intimating the sound of a monitor in a hospital. Both uses of sound are ended as soon as the scene is revealed where Paige wakes up at the hospital and then shows the reference of the beeping sound. The music shifts again at 0:51 where another non-diegetic track is played which gentle and gives suggestion to the mood of the film, once again at 1:10 it changes to 'Enchanted' by Taylor Swift which is then played until then end of the trailer. 'Enchanted' is also paused briefly when at the scene where Leo is taking Paige out of a date and she says 'I just have to be back by ten in the morning to which Leo replies with 'Oh my god, first date and you're already inviting yourself to stay the night.' This shows a slight comedy aspect in the film, despite the tragedy which is why the track has intentionally been paused to focus on the events taking place.

Camera angles/shots:

This is a mid shot which is mostly what the trailer consists of. It could have been considered a two shot however in both shots, they ensure the other character is shown but blurred so the main focus is on the character speaking. This is also the beginning shots of the trailer so the audience are immediately introduced to them, in comparison to a lot of other trailers that begin with an establishing shot. Very quickly in, before the events unfold the audience can develop an understanding of the relationship between the two and then how the future events affect them. 

 The use of close up's particularly for this scene after the previous one is to focus on the events then unfold very quickly into the trailer. It shows the main factor that impacts both characters therefore with the close up's, the audience can have a clear understanding for what has happened. The close up's differ in the various scenes to add emphasis on different aspects in the trailer for the characters.

Over the shoulder shots have been used to show in this case, the relationship between the two characters and the love they share. The shot allows the audience to see how expressions from the couple so they can clearly show how in love they both are. This is in contrast to a another over the shoulder shot that was in the trailer of Leo and the nurse in the hospital. By including both of these different scenarios but using the same shots, the audience can see the change in the relationship and in the characters.

 As mentioned before, this over the shoulder shot shows more of the change in plot and characters. But in comparison to the previous shots where an equal amount of the back of the characters are shown, in this scene Leo is shown to have more control in terms of his physique as he is taller than the nurse. Therefore, more of his back is shown to give the illusion that he has more power when in actual fact, he does not. Furthermore, more screen time of him in this scene shows the significance of him and with the close up of the shots, it allows the audience to see Leo's emotions clearly and therefore empathise towards him.

This is a POV shot of Paige which is one of my favourite shots they have included as we are put in her perspective as she wakes up. Therefore they have purposely blurred the scene to present the idea of her slowly waking up. This is when the audience are introduced to Paige after the accident and so the build up to seeing her creates more tension to the audience. 

Once again, they have included another close up shot to show the difference to the Paige prior to the accident and afterwards. The audience then begin to understand the events and how it now affects the couple. This is also an over the shoulder shot from Leo's point of view as the audience experience the heartbreak he is also going through.

After not having an establishing shot for the beginning of the trailer, they include it half way to show the city that the couple are in through the drastic change in their lives. Throughout the trailer, the audience can develop an idea of where the couple live but it isn't shown until now. The use of this shot just adds more onto the plot and into the story of Leo and Paige. 

Furthermore, after many different shots that are similar to a two shot, they finally include one. This two shot shows the separation of the couple now as Paige is dressed in the hospital attire and Leo is dressed casually. It shows the difference between the two now after the accident, a clear indication that things haves shifted between the two. Especially through the body language between the two, Leo has his arm out whereas Paige has her hands nearer to herself and gives the indication that she may not be comfortable around Leo which isn't a surprise due to her memory loss. 

 Similar to the trailer of 'Eat, Pray, Love', before the title of the film itself, they have included inter-titles such as rhetorical questions and statements into the trailer. This has been done to engage the audience and intrigue them, for example with the question asked, it not only shows the plot of the film and the events that happen but also how the audience would feel if it happened to them. In many cases, through illnesses, memory loss can be an aspect that others may be able to relate to, which again shows how they are connecting with their target audience. As well as the fact that the film is in fact real which then immediately interests the audience as this is an example of an accident that could happen to anyone. 

The inter-titles for 'The Vow' are very simple as they are in the sans serif font and the only detail added are that they are in bold. The colours included are black, white and a light green/turquoise. The colours all show sophisticated together, as well as the fact that the colour white has connotations of  light, goodness and purity. These could also be in relation to aspects in the vows spoken at wedding themselves. White is used when associated with weddings which is seen in the trailer as it is shown evidently that the couple are indeed married.                                                    
The final use of inter-title in the trailer is when they display the media links for the film, they specifically used Facebook for the film so they included the link into the film and encouraged the audience to share the film. This shows another way that they have interacted with the audience to keep them engaged with the film.  

For my own trailer, I want to include aspects of the trailer for 'The Vow' such as the variety of shots and the way they have edited together. I especially liked the different effects such as the blurring and the cuts between the shots as the voice over is introduced to the audience. They have included a lot of shots, dialogue and music all together to show the key events of the film which is what I wish to recreate myself. They have very easily sold the film to me and their specific target audience in the matter of two minutes which want I wish to also try to complete in my own.