Analysis of 3 film trailers

My first task for my A2 coursework is to look at and analysis 3 film trailers and look how it portrays youth culture.

The first film trailer I have chosen to analysis is a film called Cyrus:

The crew:

Directors: Jay Duplass

Mark Duplass

Produced by: Micheal Costigan

Tony Scott

Ridley Scott

Written by: Jay and Mark Duplass

Starring: John C. Reilly

Jonah Hill

Marisa Tomei

Catherine Keener

Matt Walsh

Music by: Micheal Andrews

Cinematography: Jas Shelton

Editing by: Jay Dueby

Studio: Scott Free Productions

Distributed by: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Budget and gross revenue

Budget: $7 million

Gross revenue: $7,138,000 (August 2010)

The actors in this film trailer is John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei and Catherine Keener

The genre of this film is comedy.

This film portrays youth culture but in a completely different way normally when you think of a new film coming out with portrayal of youth you would probably think the genre would be violence, gangsta and football hooligans however Fox has come up with away of portryaing youth culture but in a funny way.

This film is about a man called John who's wife walks out on him but then at a party he finds a new women however he is in for a big shock when he goes back to her house and realises that her grown up son still lives with her.

During the trailer there are a number of messages which creates the scene on how Cyrus the man responds to a man being in his mums life. Cyrus sees John as a threat and is worried that with his mum seeing a man that Cyrus is going to spend less quality time with her.

In the trailer it is very clear that although Cyrus is an adult he is still very close to his mother and he is still like a kid such as one bit he walks in to go to the bathroom when his mum is showering in there which is something you would do as a kid so that portrays youth but in a funny way.

Another thing that portrays Cyrus's youth is seeing John as a threat he becomes really jealous because John is seeing his mother and he doesn't like this because as a kid if you see someone with one of your parents after they have divorced or something n the same situation then you immediately think that the person is going to take either your mum or dad away in this case it's the mother Cyrus thinks he's going to lose.

Who and what the film represents:

During the trailer there are three main representations:

Single mum

Only child

Single man

Mise en Scene:

During the trailer there is a huge case of male influence that has affected the behavior of Cyrus who has only ever lived with his mum so when a male figure comes into his life he doesn’t know how to act and he’s worried about how his relationship with his mum is going to be effected.

Another thing that is clear during the trailer is that John and Cyrus are competing against each other and John feels really uncomfortable being around Cyrus because of the way he acts around him its as if both of them wants the male dominance.

During the trailer its clear that Cyrus has developed habits of certain things to show how close he to his mother which John finds hard to come to terms with and finds it awkward because of Cyrus's behavior around of his mother because he is so close to her.

Camera Work:

During the trailer there's a variety of different camera shots used. One of the main types used during the trailer is close-ups but in a number of different ways of showing the different reactions and emotions from the characters. During the trailer there is also a long shot of Cyrus holding a knife, although the genre of this film is comedy it still makes the scene quite tense when Cyrus is just standing straight with a knife at his side. Also during this trailer there is a two shot which shows off both Johns and the mums emotion because John tells her how he feel uncomfortable around Cyrus and she is unsure what to do. Later on during the film there is also a two shot of Cyrus hugging with his mum again this is showing emotion and connotes on how close they are and it proves even further because after that bit there is a close-up shot on Cyrus and he says “I’m so proud of how close we are”. This connotes that there relationship is very special and they have a really strong bond.

Sound:

Throughout the trailer there is a non-digetic sound which really sets the starts of the trailer and and grabs the audiences attention already and then John (John C Reillly) explains the situation and says what has currently happened in his life. There's also digetic sounds during the trailer for example when John Reilly is singing.

Actors:

I can see this film doing well in England it has already been a big hit in America. The reason why I think this film is doing so well is because they have big actors such as John C Reilly who has also been in comedy films such as step brothers which was also a big success so as soon as the audience see big actors then it makes them automatically want to go and see the film because actors has a huge influence whether or not people want to go and see the films.

The second film trailer I have chosen to analysis is The Karate Kid:

The crew:

Directed by: Harald Zwart

Produced by: Jerry Weintraub

Will Smith

Jada Pinkett Smith

James Lassiter

Ken Stovitz

Written by:

Script by: Christopher Murphey

Story: Robert Mark Kamen

Starring: Jackie Chan

Jaden Smith

Taraji P. Henson

Music by: James Horner

Cinematography: Roger Pratt

Editing by: Kevin Stermer

Studio: Overbrook

Entertainment

JW Productions

China Film Group

Distributed by: Columbia pictures

Budget: $40 million

Gross revenue: $268,583,702 (August 2010)

Mise en scene:

During the trailer of The Karate kid it shows about a boy who moves from America to China with his mum although he didn't want to. He finds life difficult and everyday is a challenge because a group of children decide to pick on him and pleads with his mum to go back to America. He then gets trained by someone so that he can stick up to the bullies.

At first the boy is determined that he wants to go back because he gets bullied so bad and he doesn't know what to do that shows a representation of bullies and the victim which in this case is himself it sends out the message that the victim doesn't need to feel alone as it shows in the trailer because the young boy then joins a martial art class and learns how to stick up for himself and then feels a lot more confident and doesn't feel intimidated by the bullies anymore.

During the trailer there is a lot of both sadness and happiness that you can tell from the expressions on the characters face because of everything that is happening in their life right now which really sets the scene and gives you the idea of what is really going through the mind of the characters and the way they react to things that are happening to them.

Camera work:

During the trailer it shows a lot of close up especially on the young boy at the beginning there is a close up on his face when they are moving to a different country this shows that he is not happy with the move and he was quite happy were he was. The next close up that is used on the boy is when he starts to get bullied and he tells his mum that he wants to move back to America again this is because he is unhappy with not only were he is living know but he is also upset because he is unable to fit in with everyone else. Then half way during the trailer there are a lot of two shots with the young boy and his trainer which shows them both working hard in order for the young boy to fit in and at the same time the young boy and his trainer build up a close friendship.

The camera work is really effective and gives you and makes you feel what the young boy is currently going through and you can see how it is affecting him and at the beginning how he has know confidence however when he get trains he feels more and more comfortable and feels as if he fits in better.

Sound:

Throughout the trailer there is non-digetic sound playing in the background but its played the opposite way round such as when the boy is in America theres Chinese music playing in the background which straight away gives the viewers the idea he's moving to China. However the second half of the trailer the music changes into rap which is American however this music also connotes that he is getting stronger through the training he is receiving and his commitment for the new sport he is doing which is martial arts.

Actors:

One of the actors in this film is really well known for many other martial art films and other different genres of film so that could attract a large number of people that will end up going to see the film also Will Smiths son plays the karate kid so I can see this film being really big in cinema.

The third film trailer I'm going to analysis is the expendables:

The crew:

Directed by: Sylvester Stallone

Produced by: Avi Lerner

Kevin King Templeton

John Thompson

Written by: Sylvester Stallone

David Callaham

Starring: Sylvester Stallone

Jason Statham

Jet Li

Dolph Lundgren

Randy Couture

Steve Austin

Terry Crews

Mickey Rourke

Bruce Willis

Music by: Brian Tyler

Cinematography: Jeffrey Kimball

Editing by: Ken Blackwell

Paul Harb

Studio: Nu Image

Millennium Films

Distributed by: Lionsgate

Release date: August 13, 2010

Budget: $82 million

Gross revenue $114,000,000 (United States August 2010)

Mise en Scene:

This film is to do with a group of mercenaries who have to overthrow a Latin American dictator. It starts off with the mercenaries being deployed to the Gulf of Aden to stop the pirates from executing the hostages they are holding captive.

The team split up probably due to not being able to follow each others orders and having different opinions and ways of doing things. However they decide to get back together again to try and take out an army of men that have kidnapped some women. Despite he team being outnumbered and the army. It is clear that they are mercenaries because one of the first things you see during the trailer is a man offering them a bag of money in order for them to do a mission which of course they agree to even though they know there going to be outnumbered.

Camera Work: Again the main types of camera shots during this film trailer is close ups and two shots because the trailer is used to show the viewers the main characters that will star in this film and they want to give you a brief on what the story is about and then it goes onto showing some of the action during and other bits that will happen during the film

Sound: During the trailer yet again there is a lot of non-digetic sounds such as the voice over which is used pretty much throughout the whole of the trailer the man that does the voice over has a really low and quite intimidating voice which really sets the scene and the genre for this film. There is another clever piece of non-digetic sound that is used which is a piece of music which kicks in when the action starts to pick up and at the end of the song it says "everyone one of them is expendable" expendable of course is the title of the film.

Actors:

I can see this film being a huge success because of the actors that star in this film are all really famous because of the previous films they have starred in such as Rambo, Terminator and Condemned which all made loads of money.

PLEASE NOTE: All of the trailer I have analysed I have watched off www.apple.com unfortunately I can not link the trailer to my blog as they don't have the hyperlink.