2. Camerawork
There is a lot of camerawork through the American Pie trailer for example at
the beginning of the trailer there is an over the shoulder shot of Jim watching
porn this is used because it is comical and also it is stereotypical for teenage
boys to be doing this so therefore including it in the trailer allows for the
audience to quickly associate with the genre of ‘Teen Comedy’
3. Camerawork
There is also a wide shot of Jim with his parents
this shows the contrast in ages and also Jim’s
parents are standing over Jim which shows that
they are dominant, they have used this in the
trailer because it is funny for the audience as Jim
has just been caught masturbating which is every
teenagers worst nightmare so they include this to
show there awkwardness and also to show what
is in store for the audience if they watched the
whole film
4. Camerawork
Another camerawork technique used is in
the school scene when the group of boys are
sitting down this shows the different ‘social
areas’ that they are part of ‘Jim’ is shown as a
loser’, ‘Finch’ is a nerd, they have used this
because it would appeal to the teenage
audience because it is common for there to
cliques at school and this depicts this very
well.
5. Camerawork
There is a wide shot used when Nadia is on Jim’s bed to
show Jim ejaculating, this is used because it is funny and is
also a teenagers worst nightmare for this to happen to
them and therefore would make it funny for teenagers to
watch as people like to watch other peoples downfall and
also it is comical and because Nadia is shown as good
looking and popular it is also used to show that because
Jim is portrayed as nerdy that he is even more nerdier than
the audience first thought.
6. Camerawork
A wide shot is used when Jim is being laughed at when he is walking into school,
there are two sets of teenagers on either side laughing at him which is a
teenagers worst nightmare and there would appeal to teenagers and also is funny
for the audience because we know why they are laughing at him which shows
that this film is a ‘Teen Comedy’
A long shot is also used when Jim is with the apple pie this is to show fully to the
audience what is happening and therefore is very comical in this scene and would
make everyone laugh, he is been told to do this to know ‘what 3rd base feels like’
which also shows teenage peer pressure
7. Editing
Shot reverse shot is used in the trailer for
example when the group of boys are in the
library it shows Stifler and then cuts to Jim
and then finally to Stifler this shows the
difference in characters for example Stifler
is shown as a jock and Jim is portrayed as a
nerd, which would make it appeal to a mass
audience
8. Editing
Cutting is also used in the trailer when Jim is
running home to Nadia they have used this
technique as it shows that Jim is in a hurry as he
believes he could loose his virginity to her, and
also it is a relatable for teenagers as there is
often pressure to loose your virginity and also it
shows the comedy side of the genre as he falls
over the bushes.
9. Editing
There is also eyeline matches used in the trailer for
example when Jim is watching porn in his bedroom this
is used because it is stereotypical for teenage boys to
watch porn and also because it is ‘illegal’ channels porn it
makes it funny which makes it stick to the genre of ‘Teen
Comedy’
Eyeline match is also used when Jim is looking at the
apple pie this is comical and therefore backs up the
genre of ‘Teen Comedy’ as it shows his thoughts that his
friends have told him about ‘third base’
10. Editing
Another editing technique is there text screens that appear throughout the trailer to
describe the storyline and portray even further the ‘Teen Comedy’ drama for example
it says ‘Theres something about’ ‘Being young’ ‘fantasies’ these are used to make them
easy relatable to the audience as they discuss areas of teenage life that are common in
all teenagers.
11. Sound
There is deigetic sound of the porn at the beginning of the
trailer, they have used this very effectively as it backs up
the idea of comedy in ‘Teen Comedies’ as this is awkward
for the audience however it is funny and also they use the
sound of the porn because it is stereotypical for teenagers
to watch porn and having Jim doing this makes the film
relatable to teenagers and therefore more people would
want to see the film
12. Sound
There is also non-diegetic sound of music
playing towards the end of the trailer the
music is up-beat and portrays youthfulness,
the music playing is ‘Laid’ this works well with
what is on screen as it shows Jim dancing and
there is non-diegetic sound to show his
youthfulness
13. Sound
There is a lot of dialogue used in the trailer to
portray ‘Teen Comedy’ as they talk about typical
teenage things like sex. For example ‘It’s not a
space shuttle launch its sex’ ‘Tomorrow i’ll just
be some girls you tell your friends about’ the
peer pressure of ‘Naked European chick in your
bed and you’re not going to do anything about it’
and finally the cringy statement of ‘my friends call
me nova as in casanova’ this portrays the genre
very effectively as it is common for teenages to
use cheesy chat up lines and also for teenagers
to peer pressure there friends into do
something, so including these in the trailer make
it relatable by teenagers as they focus on the
issues that they face every single day.
14. Sound
Finally, the American Pie trailer uses the technique of
voice over to bring across the story line of the film it
says ‘Brutally honest look at that time in everyones life
when we try to hold on to our dignity’ by saying
‘everyone’ it suggests that this film is a film for the mass
market as it shows the life of every teenager and also it
shows that it is a comedy because it says ‘Brutally’
which connotes that it will be funny because it will
show the extreme of teenage lives which portrays to
the audience that it will be a comedy film.
15. Mise-en-Scene
There is many props used in the trailer to show that the film is a ‘Teen Comedy’
for example there is the prop of the TV playing porn at the beginning and in the
middle of the trailer there is a prop of a porn magazine with Jim talking to his dad
about ‘women’ this would be incredibly awkward and having the prop of the porn
magazine shows how awkward it would be as they are directly look at naked
females, and also the prop of the TV playing porn is also comical as it is really loud
when the mum and dad walk in, which is every teenagers worse nightmare and
having this in the trailer would allow for the genre to really shine through as it is
stereotypical for teenagers to be looking at porn
16. Mise-en-Scene
The costumes in the trailer also shows the contrast in
characters for example at the beginning Jim is wearing just a
tee-shirt whereas his dad is wearing a shirt a tie which
shows the age gap and shows the immaturity of Jim and also
costumes is used when they show them at school, the
costumes they wear are just everyday teenage clothing to
create verisilmilitude and would allow the audience to
relate to them as they are wearing clothing that they would
wear and would allow them to clearly show it is a ‘Teen
Comedy’
17. Mise-en-Scene
There is low key lighting in the trailer when Jim
and Nadia are in the bedroom and when she
says ‘touch me Jimmy’ they use this to show
nerves and therefore make it comical for the
audience and allow the situation to be
associated with as it is common for teenagers
to get nervous when it comes to having sex.
18. How does the American Pie trailer
comply with conventions of the genre?
The American Pie trailer complies with conventions of the ‘Teen Comedy’ very effectively for example the actual
storyline of the film and the trailer, is shows that a group of boys want to have sex for the first time which is a
technique used by many films for example Superbad and The Inbetweeners Movie. Also it follows conventions by
locating it predominately at a school which is conventional for most ‘Teen Comedies’ for example Mean Girls, locating
at a school allows for it to be accessible by all teenagers as they have to go to school. Another convention followed is
by showing awkward conversations with your parents about sex, for example when Jim is talking to his dad and when
he is caught masturbating, this is conventional as it is the norm for sons to have ‘the chat’ with there dads and it being
an awkward affair so therefore depicting it allows for it to apply to all teenagers. The comedy side is also conventional,
American Pie uses crude humour which is stereotypical for ‘Teen Comedies’ for example when Jim is having sex with
the apple pie, this is crude and therefore would be really funny for the audience, this is a technique used in many films
for example the Inbetweeners Movie when Neil is humping the girl on the boat. Overall, the American Pie trailer
follows all the conventions of ‘Teen Comedies’ as American Pie is often referred to as the flagship of Teen Comedies.
