Textual Analysis of Existing Texts

"Fame" Official Trailer - 2009



The above trailer is for the newly released re-make of the classic film "Fame". This version of the film was released in 2009.

The trailer opens by giving graphic images of the logos of companies who have been involved within the films production and distribution. This is a conventional feature of trailers that this film has adopted.

This information is followed by a sequence of montage edited close-up and medium-close-up shots, used to highlight the key characters in the film to, allowing the audience to familiarize themselves with them. This engages the audience and establishes a connection with the on-screen characters. The characters are seen dancing, singing and performing, establishing the films genre as a musical.

The non-diegetic sound of a drum roll performed on a symbol in introduced at 0:10, the moment the first images taken from the film appear. The symbol sound carries on until 0:19, increasing both in speed and volume to build up a sense of excitement. This is accompanied by an increase in speed in the cut editing between shots, mirroring the sense of excitement that is being created by the non-diegetic sound.

This sequence is followed by a medium close-up of another main character, again establishing his role and familiarizing him to the audience. The narrative enigma begins to be established at this point through the diegetic speech. Here another character is introduced by the means of a medium-long shot, who comments on an audition she has just witnessed. Here the equilibrium of the narrative is introduced, as all characters appear happy in their roles.

An establishing shot of New York City is used to introduce the setting of the film to the audience. This creates curiosity amongst the audience, as New York is seen as a busy place where exciting things happen, and the viewers become eager to learn more about the films storyline.

An up-beat song is introduced alongside the establishing shot, re-enforcing the idea that New York is a busy city where lots of things are happening. Graphic captions reading "in New York City" are shown on screen to further re-enforce the location. Graphic captions are one of the conventional features of film trailers. The text style of these captions resembles the bright, colourful lights of Broadway, further establishing the films genre as a musical. Another caption is shown, reading "there is a school", which is shown alongside an establishing shots of the New York Subway, followed by a wide shot of a school corridor, as well as the non-diegetic sound of a school bell, which further sets up the films central location to the audience. More graphic captions are used at 1:31 to reveal when the film will be released.

The films genre of a musical is identified further by shots of ballet dancers and a young girl playing the violin. This sequence of montage shots also uses stimulating fast-paced cut editing to build up a feeling of anticipation. Two further graphic captions are used to build up a sense of narrative, informing the audience that the film tells the story of a group of performers following their dreams. The captions "where any dream" and "is possible" make us want to learn what is happening at the school and whether the characters that have already been established to us conquer their dreams and aspirations.

At 0:38 the disruption of the narrative is revealed as a boy is seen hitting a locker, and a large drum sound signifies his sense of anger. At this point in the trailer all other non-diegetic sounds stop, underlining the scene as being of particular importance to the story. The shot fades to a blackout, representing a major change in the narrative structure from a happy, upbeat mood, into a feeling of darkness and despair.

A short two shot is used to show the relationship between the teachers of the school and the students, which is represented as positive. At 0:43, the previous song is re-introduced over the film clips. The opening lyrics of the song "remember my name" is used to mirror the aspirations of the students. A further sequence of montage edited shots are played until 0:53, again showing pupils dancing and playing instruments, even further re-establishing the films genre as a musical. This sequence is followed by another fade to black, giving the trailer a dramatic, punchy feel. This structure is repeated, a series of montage shots followed by a fade to black until 0:59.

A relationship between to of the main characters is established at 1:02, a young boy and a girl who he is seen watching as she dances. This makes the audience curious as to how their relationship is going to develop, making them want to watch the film to find out more. At 1:08 the non-diegetic backing track changes to "Black and Gold" by Sam Sparro. Again this song is very energetic and upbeat, reflecting the films genre as a musical.

Another establishing shot of the New York City skyscrapers is shown at 1:11, re-enforcing the films location to the audience. This establishing shot fades to a medium close-up of another main character. Further relationships between the characters are established in the series of shots played until 1:28, including the relationship between a young boy and his mum, who sees his talents as negative. Here another disruption in the narrative is introduced, making the audience curious as to how it will develop and be solved.

At 1:33, another song is played over a sequence of cut-edited shots. The song uses loud, dramatic drum sounds to build up the tension. Close-ups and medium close-ups are dominantly used in the sequence to highlight the characters emotions to the audience.

The main themes running throughout the film are released with the aid of more graphic captions, which run in a sequence between 1:55 and 2:16, reading "love, friendship, talent, heartbreak and passion." These captions will captivate the audience's attention, making them wonder about how these emotions and themes all come together in the film, and how the narrative disruption of the described "heartbreak" will be resolved. In between the captions a series of montage edited shots of the main characters are shown, developing a connection between them and the audience, making us even more interested as to their individual roles in the film and how the narrative will unfold. This makes the film have a much more personal feel, making us believe that we actually know the characters personally.

At 2:18 the title of the film, "Fame", is re-enforced through the use of a graphic caption. Upon this being shown all non-diegetic background music fades to a quieter volume, underlining the level of drama that can be expected from the film. At 2:22 all conventional information, such as the films producer, distributor, release date and website is shown on-screen.

Unconventionally, this film trailer does not contain any voiceovers, other than those showing character interaction.


"Dirty Dancing" Official Trailer - 1987




Above is the official trailer for the 1987 romantic musical film "Dirty Dancing".

The trailer opens with a conventional sequence of montage edited clips taken from the film to captivate the interest of the audience and to immediately identify the genre as a romantic musical, made apparent by the medium close up shots of couples dancing together.

The trailer also uses voiceovers to further inform the audience of the genre, for example "The heat is in the music", once again identifying the film as a musical. The voiceovers are also used as a method to lure the audience into the narrative, particularly through the line "The dancing sets her free," as here we become curious as to relationship of the male and female couple shown on screen. At this point the images in the trailer also transform into colour, highlighting the couple shown at 0:39 as being of particular significance to the story.

Another conventional feature of the trailer is the dominant use of close-up shots to identify the stars of the film, as this would be a selling point to the audience. At 0:43, a close-up two shot is used upon the main stars of the film Patrick Swayze and Jennifer Grey.

The voiceover is also used to deliver more information typically given through film trailers, such as the name of the distributing company (Vestron Pictures) and the most importantly the film's title, "Dirty Dancing." Later on in the trailer the voiceover is used to identify the names of the main stars, demonstrated between 1:55 and 1:59. When the two main stars (Grey and Swayze) are named. A corresponding long shot is used to show them both visually alongside the voiceover.

This information is coupled by a series of clips edited in a montage style, giving the audience glimpses of the story however leaving them questioning about the finer details of the plot. For example upon the voiceover line "It turns out to be the time of her life," a series of clips showing these two stars interacting in an intimate way makes the audience want to know more about their relationship in the film and what happens to them.

As is conventional to film trailers, some details of the narrative enigma are released within the trailer, including the equilibrium seen as the couple first meet and first begin to dance together, demonstrated by the sequence of shots between 0:55 and 1:15. This is followed by the revelation of a disruption to this equilibrium first demonstrated by a scene between Jennifer Grey and Jerry Orbach, who plays her father, at 1:16, and further shown by the sequence of scenes involving Jennifer Grey and Patrick Swayze between 1:20 and 1:40 and their quest to perform in the dance competition. However the resolution to the storyline is left a mystery, which is what would make people want to go and watch the film for themselves.

Throughout the trailer fast-paced cut editing is used to build up a sense of excitement. This also maintains the viewers interest as they are eager to see what else will be revealed, although they are never given too much to visually look at to preserve their curiosity. A series of songs including "Be My Baby" by the Ronettes, "Do You Love Me" by the Contours and "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes are played throughout the trailer as these are songs that are widely associated with the film. The tempo and style of the music playing has also been coupled to reflect the mood of the characters on screen. The fast paced, energetic song "Do You Love Me" is played throughout the scenes showing the star couple dancing happily together, whilst the slower, more serious song "(I've Had) The Time Of My Life" is played over the scenes showing the narrative disruption. This re-enforces the way that the producers have chosen to represent the characters at these particular moments. A graphic caption of the films title is displayed at 1:53 coupled with the voiceover "Dirty Dancing" to re-enforce the title to the audience, making it more memorable.


"Hairspray" Official Trailer - 2007



Above is the trailer for the 2007 musical film "Hairspray".

The trailer begins with an establishing shot of a dreary, run down council estate, coloured in a sepia tone to make the town look dull. From 0:06, wide shots are used featuring images such as a young boy delivering newspapers to houses, a car driving in the street, and two women crossing the road. These are all normal images that the audience would see in every day life. Already the audience are able to connect themselves with the film setting. However the non-diegetic sound of a drum in the background indicates to the audience that something exciting in the narrative is about to be revealed, making them want to watch on and find out more. The way the two women in the street are dressed is also iconic to the 1960's era, therefore the films setting is established to the audience.

The trailer also uses voiceovers to provide the audience with more details of the narrative structure. The opening voiceover heard at 0:08, "It was a time of tradition" further re-establishes the feel of the 'everyday neighbourhood' to the audience along with the opening sequence of establishing shots, again making them want to keep watching to find out what in the narrative will disrupt the state equilibrium shown on screen. Further shots of normal day-to-day routines are shown at 0:12, including a wide shot of pupils sat in a classroom, and a medium shot of a woman reading the Bible. These images are shown alongside another voiceover, "a time of tradition and of values".

In between these two series of establishing shots and following the scene taken from a classroom are cut-in shots of a young girl getting dressed. Accompanying these images with the on-going drum beat implies to the audience that the girl will be a main character in the film, establishing her identity to the audience and forming a connection with her.

At 0:14 an over-the-shoulder shot is used to identify the girl as the main character of the film. A series of montage edited cut shots are used to identify other characters in the film. A wide shot of the girl dancing at 0:17 identifies the films genre as a musical to the audience. The yellow school bus in the background establishes again the sense of realism in the setting the film makers are trying to create.

Voiceovers are used along side graphic captions throughout the trailer. Often the voiceovers are used to re-enforce the message the graphic captions are trying to deliver. The graphic caption "shake things up" shown at 0:19 further develops the films genre as a musical to the audience, as the word "shake" is often associated with dancing. Further voiceovers are used at 0:35, "for anyone who only ever wanted something bigger" and at 0:41, "there comes a time to break all the rules". Again here voiceovers are used to deliver more information of the narrative without revealing to much information. Here the audience will become eager to find out how the female character who has already been established to us will achieve her dreams.

Further details of the narrative enigma are revealed at 0:19. In this wide shot featuring the main character alongside a host of other characters, the narrative disruption is revealed through the use of diegetic speech used by a following characters, "Not in Baltimore it isn't". A sense of location and setting is also further established as the name of the fictional town featured in the trailer is revealed. At this point in the trailer, the audience will become curious as to how the relationship between the on-screen characters, clearly portrayed as the protagonist and the antagonist, will develop. These two characters form the narratives binary opposition.

At this point in the trailer the non-diegetic background music become much more upbeat and fast paced, stereotypical of the kind of music used in modern musicals. The tempo of the music also matches the way the characters are being represented on screen in a series of montage edited clips between 0:21 and 0:24. The framing of these varies from extreme close ups to long shots, and the angles from straight angles to place us in the narrative alongside the characters, to low angled shots to make the characters appear in control and dominating. All of the charterers in the shots are seen dancing, again re-establishing the films genre as a musical. At 0:23 a transition shot of a fade to white is used to represent a passing of time. A match on action shot is used at 0:24, followed by a two shot of two of the main characters. The two shot identifies these characters as being united and as being friends to the audience.

At 0:33 the conventional feature of distributing companies logo is shown on-screen. A further series of montage shots is played, again showing characters in the show dancing, represented as being happy, showing the narratives state of equilibrium. However a sequence revealing more disruption to the equilibrium is shown at 0:47, between an interaction between Tracy Turnblad (Nikki Blonsky) and her mother in the film (John Travolta). However the resolution to the narrative is left unsolved and a mystery to the audience, which is a conventional feature of film trailers as this makes people want to watch the film to find out more.

Only giving small glimpses of the story in the sequence of clips leaves the audience wanting to find out what happens in greater detail, for example the close relationship between two further main characters Amber Von Tussle (Brittany Snow) and Link Larkin (Zac Efron). These actors and actresses will also be recognisable to a young male and female audience, implying that the films primary target audience is teenagers. Seeing the stars on-screen in these shots will make younger people want to go and see the film.

Another conventional feature of the film is the use of close-ups to identify these stars, such as the close up shot of Zac Efron at 1:03. At this point the background song also changes to another song which features in the film, which again has an up-beat feel. Here the cast are shown singing and dancing, both of which are conventional scenes of musicals.

At 1:13 a medium close-up two shot is used upon the main stars of the film Zac Efron and Nikki Blonsky. The two shot shows these characters as being united, making the audience want to find out about how their relationship develops. Another series of shots edited in a montage way are shown following the graphic caption "This Summer", some of which are separated through the use of fades, slowing down the editing pace and allowing the audience to take in the details of the narrative which are being revealed through the clips and the diegetic on-screen dialogue. The final shots are edited using cuts, building up the pace of the narrative and creating excitement amongst the viewers. Again the shots are iconic of the musical genre, showing the stars singing and dancing together and developing their on-screen relationships.

The release date of the film, "this summer" is shown through the use of both a graphic caption and a voiceover, shown simultaneously at 1:19. In the sequence shown between 1:46 and 1:56, the names of the stars are shown on screen using graphic captions, followed by a shot from the film featuring the named actor or actress. Here the audience can familiarize themselves with the stars featured in the film and the roles they play. The films title, "Hairspray", is also released through a rolling graphic caption at 1:57, followed by the graphic captions of names of further stars from the film along with montage shots featuring them taken from the film. This is another conventional feature of film trailers, as if the audience like the big stars who appear in the trailer, they are more likely to want to go and see the full film. The films title is shown again through a graphic caption and spoken to the audience through the aid of a further voiceover at 2:16. Re-enforcing the films title will make it more memorable amongst the audience.

The final shots are used to re-enforce the films release date, "July 2007" and to give the conventional information of the companies who have worked within the films production and distribution, which can be seen on the screen at 2:23 and 2:24.