Textual Analysis: Movie Trailer – “2012”.
Year Of Release: November 11 2009
Director: Roland Emmerich
Producer: Roger Binbaun
Brian Grazer
Harald Kloer
Mark Gordon
Larry J. Franco
Ryan Kavanagh
Certificate Rating: PG-13
Production Company: Emmerich’s Production Company
Actors: John Cusack
Chiwetel Ejiofor
Amanda Peet
Oliver Platt
Thandie Newton
Danny Glover
Woody Harelson
Length of Trailer: 2:22
Distributed by: Columbia Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: $200 Million
Running Time: 158 minutes
Genre: Science Disaster Film
Synopsis:
The trailer opens up with a caption “The Mayan calendar predicted it” which suggests that the Mayans had predicted the exact year that the disaster will occur. The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization that is mostly known for its art, architecture, Mathematical and Astronomical systems. This causes the audience to question whether this kind of disaster will happen in reality. The non-diegetic music is ‘eerie’; it sets the feeling of suspense in the mind of the audience.
Synopsis:
The trailer opens up with a caption “The Mayan calendar predicted it” which suggests that the Mayans had predicted the exact year that the disaster will occur. The Maya is a Mesoamerican civilization that is mostly known for its art, architecture, Mathematical and Astronomical systems. This causes the audience to question whether this kind of disaster will happen in reality. The non-diegetic music is ‘eerie’; it sets the feeling of suspense in the mind of the audience.
When the geologist Dr. Adrian Helmsley and his team discover that the core of Earth is heating due to solar radiation, he advises the North American President about his findings. The American Govern collects money from the worldwide leaders to build arks to save them with necessary people to rebuild civilization. Meanwhile, the unsuccessful writer Jackson Curtis discloses that the world is near to end and tries to save his son and his daughter from the tragic end.
· Location: There are some features in the trailer that suggest the movie is located at the United States of America; the movie is located at Los Angeles. For example, there is a scene that shows the ‘President’ (Danny Glover) speaking directly to the citizens through an electric billboard about 2012 being the end of the world. The features also include Yellow taxis; the way the houses are built; the cities and the tall buildings.
· Characters: The characters that are portrayed in the trailer are a father and a daughter/ struggling writer, his ex-wife, the citizens in the country, the President presenting a speech to his nation, Priests, Christians, Teenagers who are about to sail but are held back by the large crack in the ground, Fire-fighters, A Science Conspiracy Theorist/Radio talk show host. The representation of the characters fit the theme of the movie which is a ‘Scientific disaster’. Especially because the character that tries to alert the nation of the oncoming danger. This is because, things like this happen currently in society with people who sometimes try to raise alerts but they either get ignored or rejected from their communities. They are seen as outcasts so they isolate themselves.
· Pacing: At the beginning of the trailer, the pacing and the captions are slow. This builds tension in the minds of the audience. However, when the buildings, houses and roads begin to crash, the suspense increases. It causes them to question if what they see will truly happen or not. When the background music is introduced towards the end of the trailer, the action quickens till the title of the movie is quietly introduced to the audience. Then there is a fade to black at the end.
In conclusion, after analysing the various elements of this trailer, I have realised and understood a lot of things. Firstly, editing can be difficult because there are a number of things to be considered about the lengths and order of shots.. The trailer is the ain thing that creates the desire in the minds of people to watch the movie so it has to grab the attention of it’s audience. Camera angles, shots and captions must be taken seriously.
Further-more, I have also come to realise that, a trailer or a teaser dosent have to give away so much information about the movie; it is only made to give them an idea. Trailers include a series of selected shots from the film that is being promoted.
· Characters: The characters that are portrayed in the trailer are a father and a daughter/ struggling writer, his ex-wife, the citizens in the country, the President presenting a speech to his nation, Priests, Christians, Teenagers who are about to sail but are held back by the large crack in the ground, Fire-fighters, A Science Conspiracy Theorist/Radio talk show host. The representation of the characters fit the theme of the movie which is a ‘Scientific disaster’. Especially because the character that tries to alert the nation of the oncoming danger. This is because, things like this happen currently in society with people who sometimes try to raise alerts but they either get ignored or rejected from their communities. They are seen as outcasts so they isolate themselves.
· Pacing: At the beginning of the trailer, the pacing and the captions are slow. This builds tension in the minds of the audience. However, when the buildings, houses and roads begin to crash, the suspense increases. It causes them to question if what they see will truly happen or not. When the background music is introduced towards the end of the trailer, the action quickens till the title of the movie is quietly introduced to the audience. Then there is a fade to black at the end.
In conclusion, after analysing the various elements of this trailer, I have realised and understood a lot of things. Firstly, editing can be difficult because there are a number of things to be considered about the lengths and order of shots.. The trailer is the ain thing that creates the desire in the minds of people to watch the movie so it has to grab the attention of it’s audience. Camera angles, shots and captions must be taken seriously.
Further-more, I have also come to realise that, a trailer or a teaser dosent have to give away so much information about the movie; it is only made to give them an idea. Trailers include a series of selected shots from the film that is being promoted.
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