Research And Planning - Trailer Analysis Two: The Vow

Genre- 

The genre of this film is romantic drama. This can be seen straight away by showing the couple getting married at the start, dressed in traditional wedding attire; however, as security come and the couple run, the audience sees that there is a 'dramatic' spin on the romance film, presenting sililarities with small differences to past movies of the same genre, which supports Steve Neale's theory of there being a "repetition with an underlying pattern of variations." At the begining of the trailer the montage shows the couple enjoying their life together, doing things such as going to the beach and the woman being asked to move in- these are stereotypical things for couples to do, and so this shows the romantic side to the genre straight off.


Representation- 

One of the first things we see during the montage is the 'strong' man picking up his wife and spinning her around as she shouts "no" - this shows that he is the stereotypical muscular male whereas she is the stereotypical delecate female. The film is based on the woman losing her memory and her husband trying to help her to remember things, and this is presented in the trailer as he suggests she goes home with him and starts to get frustrated with the situation. This shows the stereotypes theory, in that the male is the one who is having to care for his wife, as she is the one who is vunerable and 'needs' looking after.


Narrative - 

The film is about a young couple who have got married, and, when they are together in a car, are in a bad car crash. The car crash causes the woman to lose her memory; the film follows the two trying to get her to remember her husband/rebuild their relationship. A voice over of the main character informs the audience of what is going on by asking "what if one day, you can no longer remember anything" and the montage then goes on to show the car crash. This shows what goes on in the film without giving away too much, so that the plot is clear however the main challenges faced in the film aren't ruined. Todorov's theory of there being equilibrium, distruption and equilibrium restored can be seen here as the montage begins with the happy couple, then shows their relationships downward spiral due to her memory loss, ended with the main characters voice over saying "we will always find a way back to each other" as the couple are seen getting on again, which shows that something positive is happening. 


Audience- 

 The film is rated a 12A, which means the trailer is quite suitable for 'all' to watch. Due to the use of the voice over and speech in the montage, the it is very easy to follow what is going on- the active/passive theory is presented here, as we see that the trailer is 'active' in that everything is simple to understand and this therefore means a wider audience can be reached. The trailer is simple enough for younger audiences to understand, however, the film its self, containing more sensitive topics such as memory loss, may engage those who are older, such as young adults. The two main actors in the film are Channing Tatum and Rachel McAdams- these two actors are already established in mature/teen films, and so, this will appeal more to those who are at an older age such as around 15, as they will be more interested in seeing the actors works, as they have seen other things that they are in. 

Media Language -

(Cinematography, Editing, Sound, Mise-en-scene) 

At the begining of the trailer, a lot of close up shots are used, and the couple are framed tightly together. This shows the evident attraction between the two and shows that they are obviously very much in love. While to two are getting married shot reverse shots are used at an eye angle- this shows the two are equals and both on the same level. It also shows their emotion well and the audience can see how happy they are together. This contrasts with the rest of the trailer where the two are framed away from each other- a high angle shot of her in the hospital bed while her husband is stood over watching her shows how the two are no longer close as they both were, and shows that he is now 'above' her and presents her vunerability. The montage uses a lot of dissolves to change from one scene to another- the slow edititing shows that the film is quite sad and serious, and this is engaging as it shows the suffering the characters are going through without giving too much away.

The start of the trailer has no sound other than the diegetic sound of the couple talking- then light, upbeat music begins. The music seems quite joyful, however, after the car crash the music cuts off, and this makes you really listen to what is being said. A dramatic song begins which gets 'faster' and more intense- the music is sang with a womans voice, and this makes the music show how although it is a powerful song, there is still vunerability, which represents the film as it shows there is strength between the shattered couple. The costumes used are very simple- everyone is wearing what you would stereotypically 'expect'. At the begining the bride and groom are wearing a white dress and dark suit, and the nurse is wearing clothing to show her job role- this makes the film seem more realistic as nothing is too dramatic. At the start of the trailer we see the wife wearing 'girly' things where she shows her personality, however, her clothing changes to more laid back clothes in the middle- this shows her confusion following the accident through the use of costume. However, how her husband dresses remains the same, which represents how she has changed and move on but he has not. High key lighting is used when the couple are together, which shows that they are 'meant to be.' The locations they visit are all well lit and places you would expect couples to go, such as a restaraunt, and this ties back to the romance genre, ensuring the audience understand what is going on and what to expect of the film throughout the entire montage.