2. GENRE
The genre of the film, melodrama, is
suggested through the hospital setting
(top image), emotions of the characters
(middle image) and the costumes
(bottom image). The setting,
emotionality and costumes all help to
establish what the genre is as they are
normally things associated with the
melodrama genre and have a “sad”
feel to them. The soundtrack, which is a
sad instrumental piece, also helps to
establish the genre as piano
instrumentals are often designed to
generate emotion. I particularly like the
ways Dying Young has established the
genre and would consider using
something similar in my trailer as it is very
effective.
3. NARRATIVE
The trailer tells a heartbreaking story
of how a man who is terminally ill
and then falls in love with his nurse. It
follows the emotional and romantic
side of dealing with the terminal
illness and the relationship between
the two. There is little focus on other
characters and we only see the
protagonist’s father at one point;
otherwise the trailer focuses entirely
on the relationship between the two.
The narrative flows well and
addresses crucial points in the plot
and this is something I will bare in
mind when producing my trailer as I
liked this a lot.
4. CHARACTERS
There are two prominent protagonists
in the trailer: Victor Geddes and
Hilary O’Neil. The trailer focuses on
these two characters for the majority
of the trailer and their relationship
with each other. Personally, I did not
like that they focused only on 2
characters as I believe that
introducing a variety of smaller
characters helps to familiarise the
audience with who is starring in the
film. In my trailer I am likely to include
more than 2 characters as I would
like to portray the thoughts and
opinions of other characters rather
than just the main protagonist.
Victor Geddes
Hilary O’Neil
5. SETTING
The various settings used within the
trailer are fairly natural and realistic
which emphasises the message that
any person can be struck with this
illness. On the other hand, Victor lives in
a mansion and it is full of stereotypical
connotations of a wealthy persons
house such as fountains, large dining
rooms and tall rooms - I particularly liked
this setting. The couple move away to a
seaside resort and this once again
shows the ordinary life that they are
trying to live. The trailer features a lot of
establishing shots so that the audience
is familiar with the setting and I think this
is effective and I am likely to do
something similar in my own trailer.
6. TARGET AUDIENCE
• The target audience of the trailer is likely to be
young adults – adults because the film features
predominantly older characters and the lack of
teenagers and children suggests that perhaps this
film is not aimed at that age group. Since my trailer
is aimed at teenagers, I will do something similar
and have a lot of teenage characters in the trailer
so that the film appeals to them.
7. SOUNDTRACK
• The soundtrack features an instrumental piano
piece accompanied by strings which suggests that
this film is going to be of a sad genre because the
music is very melancholic. I liked the music choice
and will include something similar in my own since I
believe it helps to establish the genre and to raise
emotions.
• There is only one piece of music used for the
soundtrack so I will do something similar since I
believe that having one simple soundtrack is better
than having a lot as the trailer can become
disorganised and the narrative doesn’t flow as well.
8. SHOT TYPES/ANGLES & EDITING
As mentioned in previous slides, the
trailer uses a variety of shot types and
angles such as close ups, establishing
shots, older the shoulder shots and
pan shots. I believe that using a variety
is very effective as it lets the audience
see a variety of aspects and emotions
of the characters. I am likely to include
several types of shot types in my trailer
in order to do this. The editing in the
trailer mainly consists of quick cuts
which helps to quicken the pace of
the trailer. They rarely use dissolves
which is conventional of melodrama
genre, however, so I am unsure
whether I will do this too since I believe
dissolves are a smooth, better
transition.
9. DIALOGUE
• The trailer includes a lot of dialogue from various
parts of the film so that the audience can get an
idea of what the film will be about through seeing
various scenes. I aim to do this in my trailer since I
liked it and it is a common convention of trailers.
• The trailer also had several sound bridges, i.e. where
dialogue was going over different clips like a
voiceover. I liked this as I thought it was effective
and made the editing look more professional so I
aim to do something similar in my own trailer.
10. CREDITS AND TITLES
The logo of the institution responsible for
producing the film is shown at the
beginning of the trailer. This is a common
convention in trailers and is something that I
am likely to use in my own trailer. Titles are
only used in the trailer to show who is
starring and the name of the film. I do not
like how they only include titles for the
actors and title of the film as I believe that
having titles which provide information such
as critics opinions and phrases which help
to describe the plot are more effective. The
trailer also includes credits at the end which
is again a common convention of trailers so
I am likely to use this in my own trailer.
