This is my analysis of a film called The Notebook. This is for my advanced portfolio in media.

1. THE NOTEBOOK FILM TRAILER
ANALYSIS
By Shania Steele

2. WHAT IS THE FILM ABOUT?
 The Notebook is a film about a poor country boy
who falls in love with a rich girl. They get together
but are separated because of class differences.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3G3fILPQAU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FC6biTjEyZw

3. DETAILS
 The film is a Romantic Drama and it was made in
the USA.
 Its budget was estimated at $29,000,00.
 The trailer runs for 2 minutes and 16 seconds.

4. CAMERA SHOTS
 There are a wide variety of shots used in the film such as:
 Establishing shots- Sets the scene of the film.
 Two shots- See more than one character and the relationships
between them.
 Over the shoulder- Like we are following and right behind the
character.
 Long Shot- Gives a distant view of the character allowing to
see the character as a whole.
 Close up- See the emotional side of the character.
 Medium shot- More close up view of the character but does
not show emotion as clear. Upper body expressions may be
seen.
 Shot reverse shot- Seem like we are watching a conversation
and being neutral in the conversation.
The camera comes out at the point where the poor country boy
reveals how much he earns showing how he is different from
the rest of the group.

5. EDITING
 There are approximately 100 edits in the trailer.
 There are:
 Fades in and out. Gives a slow, calm feeling to the
trailer.
 Cuts- A more sharp feeling to the trailer.
 Jump Cuts from the story teller to the story being
acted out- Can give a sense of urgency.
 Frequent dissolves- Gives a slow feel to the trailer.

6. MISE EN SCÈNE
 Reflection in the water- Clear and innocent.
Memories.
 Children on bikes- Sense of time.
 Trees- Country
 Rich woman, posh clothes, man working class
clothes- Shows the opposites of social life.
 Swans- love and peace.
 Pink Sunset- love and peace
 Rain with the poor man bright for rich- Portrays the
social class and who has the upper hand.

7. SOUND
 Calm non-diegetic music at the beginning. Piano, strings and
harp. Sets the mood of the trailer and the film as a whole.
 Bicycle sound- Playing or work.
 Voiceover- Deep male American voice, a typical convention of
film trailers.
 Actor finishes voiceover’s sentence- a direct quote from the film.
 Hear woman scream and the sound of a ride being stopped- An
act of scare.
 Dialogue- Starting to interact with the characters.
 Door slam- A twist in the film. An act of anger and a change of
mood.
 Car Sound- Run away feeling
 Gun Fire- Possibly alarming.
 Music Speeds up- More fast paced. Action happening, main plot
of the film.

8. ACTORS/ACTRESSES NAMES
 It is interesting to note that the names of the actors
and actresses are spoken via the voiceover and not
in the form of text. As there name is spoken, a shot
of their face is shown. This is a good technique as
they are vocally named and many people pay
attention to the sound rather than the text. This
could be part of the USP of the film.

9. Shown at the start of most trailers

10. TEXT
Alliance is the production/distribution company involved with the film. This
is the first thing we see in the trailer.

11. Where the film has been created from. Gives publicity and credit
to the author and will get fans of the author to come and watch
the film. The background is rather dark with bursts of fire across
the shot. This is an interesting shot as there is snow on the
ground which is cold with fire across various parts of the shot
which is hot. This creates a contrasting effect of hot Vs Cold. This
is a USP of the film.

12. Production company involved. This text is shown as well as at the start. This is
a common shot used in the trailer. This could show how someone is on a
journey alone and looks positive because of the sunset. However, as the
character is in darkness, it could suggest how he is alone.

13. This is the title of the film. This is shown toward the end of the trailer so people
remember what the film is called. The way the title is shown like hand-writing
with a notebook style background relates to the title of the film and would help
the audience to remember the name of the film.

14. All the production details. Mainly shown at the end of trailers. This gives the
audience the details to who the main people involved with making the film are
such as the director. This also shows the company’s involved with the film. The
background of these details is significant as it creates a peaceful and loving
atmosphere with the sunset but also creates a bad atmosphere because of the
darkness on the right hand side of the shot could suggest that something could
go wrong during the film. A twist could occur.

15. Advertising that the film is coming so the audience have to watch out for it.
White text with a black background ensures that the text stands out and is
easily read. With ‘coming soon’ being the biggest text on the screen, it
suggests that that is the most important part of the shot. As the text gets
smaller, the text gets less significant.

16. INTERESTING TO NOTE
 In the two trailers I found of this film, the opening
frame is different. Apart from this frame, the two
trailers are the same.