Analysis of My Girlfriend's Boyfriend's promotional package

1. My Girlfriend’sBoyfriend Promotional Package Analysis –PetaSearle
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlD2I8l1xb8
Poster:
Mise-en-scene (setting,colours,costume,make-up,lighting,composition):

2. A conventional compositionhasbeenusedforthe main
image of the (main) characters as the female characteris
(whothe filmisbasedaround) isinthe centre and her
twotrue lovesare eitherside of hertosignify herforced
choice.The composition suggeststhe femalecharacter
has an angel anddevil oneithershoulderandshe must
workout whichone iswhichbefore it’stoolate.
The backgroundof the image islightblue withclouds
signifyingablue skyandconnotingthe freedomof
choice the female characterhas. Thisblue skyis
appealingtoa teenage targetaudience asitis
reminiscentof the manyoptionsthatteenagershave.
Thismakesthe filmmore appealingto the audience asthe female characterhasto make a decisionjustlike them
and maybe watchingitwill helpthe audience make theirownchoices.
Thisimage alsoconnotesthe ideaof the female powerfantasy asthe womaninthe middle isthe one withall the
power– as she is one witha choice of men.This isappealingtothe targetaudience of teenage femalesasit
empowersthemandencouragesthemthattheydohave powerandcan use it; it effectivelygivesthemconfidence
inthemselvesastheyknowtheyhave choices. Thisfemalepowerfantasyisalsoseenthroughthe size of the fontof
the mainactress’name “AlyssaMilano”is the largestfontonthe poster.Thisreinforcesherpowerful characterin
the movie andgivesfemalesconfidence.
Conventionsof form:
The listingof the actor’s namesat
the top of the posteris
conventional forafilmposter.Theyare listedatthe topof the posterso that theyare the firstthingthe audience
see whentheylook atthe poster(due to the route of the eye).Thismeansthe audience willsee whichactorsare in
the filmandimmediatelyknowwho’sinthe filmandwhatkindof genre itis – as actors tend to stick to one or two
genres;fromthis,the audience willknow if theywanttowatchthe film.Thislistingisunconventional inthatthe
namesare all inlower-case letterswhereasmostrom-comfilmpostershave actor’snamesinall capitals.These
nameshave beenwritteninlower-case toappeal toa youngertarget audience of teenagersandmakesitappealing
to thembecause textingismainlydoneinlower-case.Below are some examplesof rom-comfilmpostersthathave
all upper-case namesatthe top of the poster.

3. This isconventional fora
filmposteras it listsall the productioncompanies,actorsandpeople whohelpedtoproduce the filmaswell as
showingthe targetaudience forthe filmandthe PG suggestion. Thisisusedtogive all the peopleinvolvedinthe film
creditand alsoallowsthe audience toidentifywhomade the film.Aswell asthis,the PGsuggestionstellsthe
audience whothisfilmissuitable for.
Conventionsof genre:
Thistitle isconventional asthe word “girlfriend’s”isinboldanda differentcolourtothe otherwordsinthe title.
Thisis conventionalwithrom-comtitlesandservestoemphasise certainwordswithinthe title.The fontissansserif
whichisalsoconventional of rom-com’sasitmakesthe title easytoreadand appealingtothe teenage target
audience astheydo not have to workveryhard to read it. Some othersans-serif andusingdifferentcoloursinthe
title rom-composterexamplesare below:

4. The interspersedpinkcolourof the textfeminisesthe title andalsothe names –eventhe namesof the male actors.
Thisacts to appeal to the audience asthe pinkcolourmakesthe posterrelatable tothemasit isfeminine.

5. Website:
Thisis the frontpage of the website http://www.mygirlfriendsboyfriend.com/ anditisa romanticcomedy.It
focusedonwomanwhohas a static love life untiltwoguyscome alongat once and she has to decide whichone is
herone true love. Thiswebsite linkstothe posterasthe posterisusedas the backgroundimage of the entire
website.

6. Thissynopsisgivesthe audience more insightintothe narrative of the movie andrelatestothe traileras that also
givesthe narrative of the filmbutthrougha selectionof scenesfromthe movie.Though,similarlytothissynopsis,
the scenesof the trailerare interspersedwithtextpagessuchasbelow:
The website reinforcesthe narrative’sideaof choice throughthe choice of
buttonson the site.These buttonsallow youtododifferentbutthe choice isstill
there.The ideaof choosingisalsopresentwhenyouclick‘Watchthe MOVIE’ as
the choicesof where to watchit come up – like below:

7. Trailer:
These intrudingimagesof the productioncompaniesforthe trailerare the firstimagesthe audience see.Thisis
because the audience mayknowthe companybythe filmstheymake andknow theylike themso,immediately,
they’ll knowtheywill like thisfilmbecause it’sbyaproductioncompanytheylike the filmsof.
Camerawork:

8. Thisestablishingshot conveysthe use of the everydayuse of the café inthe film.Thisallowsthe audience tobecome
comfortable withthe settingandtobuildanideaof what sortcharacters theyare goingto meet/see. Thisis
especiallyeffective inthistrailerasthisestablishingisthe firstshotof the trailer(thatisn’tproductioncompany
names) thatwe see.
Mid shots are conventionallyusedinrom-com’sandthisisnoexception. The midshotsshow the characters
expressionsandalsotheirbodylanguage.Thisalsohelpstoshow the relationshipbetweencharacters,asitshows
theirreactions.
Thiscrane shothas beenusedtomake the scene lookromantic.Thishasalsobeendone throughlow-keylighting
and the implicationthatthe charactersare lookingatthe stars.This isappealingtothe audience asitshowssome of
the romance in the film andmakesfemaleswanttowatchso that theytoo – as well asthe mainfemale character –
can be sweptoff theirfeet.
Mise-en-scene:

9. Several settingshave beenusedinthistrailertorepresentthe filmasdiverseandmake the filmseemmore
interesting.Some of these settingsinclude:acafe,a bar (signifiedthroughthe man’schoice of drinkwhichis
connotedtobe alcoholicthroughthe use of a lime),home settings(i.e.kitchens,livingrooms) andalsomini -golf
courses.The low-keylightingof manyof the settings,asshownabove,are made that wayso as to appeal to a
youngerfemale targetaudience asyoungpeople have anactive social life andso,nodoubt,go outdrinkinglate at
night.
Costumingisverycasual inthistrailerand appealstothe targetaudience asthe character wear clothesthe audience
wouldtendtowear;makingthemmore relatable forthe audience. Eventhoughthisisthe case withmostof the
costuming,the twoguysthe female isdating,bothwearverydifferentcostumes.The writerwearsthe typically
creative andkind-of slummytop,jeans, jacketedhoodie andtrainers whereasthe otherguywearsa suit.This
createsan obviousdifference betweenthe twomenforthe audience sotheycanimmediatelyidentifywhichof the
twomen itis. This ismade evenmore clearinthe posterand website of thisfilmasthe twomenare literallybeing
comparedtogetherastheyare standingwithabeautiful womaninbetweenthem.
Editing:

10. These shot/reverse shotsshowthe differentrelationshipsbetweendifferentcharactersandact to keepthe audience
interestedinthe trailerastheycan see people’sreactionsclearer.

11. These imagesillustrate whenthe male charactershootsthe golf ball intothe bushthe femalecharactersaysa
sarcastic “Dreamy”and he replies“That’sright”fromoverhisshoulder.
In thisscene the male charactersays “Hey wait,if I needsome inspiration, canImaybe call you and getsome?”and
the female charactermisconstrueswhathe meansandhe laughsandclarifies“Inspiration.Imeantgetsome
inspiration”.Thisisthe joke the trailerendsonanditis appealingandeffective forthe audience asitisthe first
thingstheywill rememberaboutthe trailer/filmandwill be more likelytowatchitif theyrememberlaughingatthe
trailer.
Thiscomedyelement inthe trailerappealstothe targetaudience asitmakesthemlaughand wantto watch the
film.

12. Thisis conventionalof the trailerformandthisrelatestothe posteras that alsoliststhe actors inthe film.A few
differencesare thatthe namesof the actors onthe posterare at the topso that people readthemfirstwhereasthis
isat the endof the trailerandalsoall the actors are givenscreentime withthisnamesinthe trailerwhereasonthe
poster“Carol Kane”and “Beau Bridges”are intinyboxesunderthe mainimage andhave theirnamesintiny
underneaththem.