This document analyzes different genres of comedy through posters and trailers for three films: Ted, Identity Thief, and Grown Ups. For each film, the assistant summarizes key aspects of the poster or trailer based on composition, color scheme, target audience, and how effectively it conveys the comedic genre. Overall, the posters and trailers are deemed effective at attracting their intended audiences through their use of visuals and humor.

1. Analysis of Different
Genres- Comedy
By Nicole McClelland

2. TED http://youtu.be/8YBlnHxkCJc
This poster is very simplistic as its main colour scheme only ranges from green
to do with text, white and beige with a black representing the smaller text.
Where we see the text as green it is used with differential sizes of which to
publicise what they are trying to sell and associate the film with a TV series, this
also gives away the genre as well as the ironic live beat with a beer bottle in its
paw sitting next to a live, adult human being. The background is very plain but
makes the image more plain to see and not busy suggesting that the film is
going to be easy to watch, so you can almost resemble the image on the poster
to sit back and relax during the film. We have the smaller text which is black
again contrasting against the white which makes the text easier to read to the
onlooker. We have the usual conventions seen on a typical poster i.e. the release
date the key actors, but surprisingly no billing block which is unusual.

3. The trailer is extremely effective as the use of dialogue and shots work well
together. However, the beginning of the trailer comes across as being a family
film. It’s all very soft and quiet. Also, the voice over seems very smooth and
calming. The editing of this particular piece works really well, especially the
transition of one shot to another. The category this particular film falls into is
comedy. This is shown through the trailer as some of the funny scenes are
shown; this attracts its target audience as a lot of the humour is aimed at an
older audience. However this trailer does challenge it’s genre’s conventions at
the start of the piece as the clip comes across as being a family movie. We are
under this impression because of the trailer starts off with a young boy at
Christmas time and the voice over is similar to that of other family films. The
target audience for this piece would be individuals over the age of 15 due to the
contents of this film. This trailer appeals to its target audience because it
contains a lot of adult humour and innuendos. The trailer doesn’t give too much
of the storyline away which is good because people don’t always want to know
the story line before watching the actual movie. The use of the text overlay is
very basic yet effective. It’s a simple bold font which stands out against the plain
white background. The transitions of one slide to the next works really well and
the trailer has a nice flow, its continual oppose to choppy. The props and
costumes work well and appear to be very comical. This is due to attempting to
appeal to an older audience. Finally, the use of the camera angles and shots all
work extremely well together and bring the trailer together.

4. Identity Thief
http://youtu.be/sCFDdokjAnQ
This poster is very cleverly composed. The Identity Thief title has been
placed to split the two actors apart in what could be seen a police like
tape, and also symbolises the plot of the film by showing the split
identities. The use of the cropping of the 2 actors goes nicely within the
poster almost like the awkwardness of which your going to experience in
the film or when reading the plot. The mise en scene is simplistic to do
with the costume i.e. the man typically wearing a suit to represent he has
a highly paid job and the casual type clothing the woman is wearing,
shows that she's just a normal person to what you don’t believe by her
innocent face that she's a fraud. The colour scheme is mainly yellow and
white symbolising maybe the flashing lights of the law. The tagline Is
quite ambiguous but suggests to the onlooker that she is in fact the
criminal. The important text is seen in yellow telling audience what films
have been previously made by the people of this film. No actors names
seen on the poster indicates the irony of the title i.e. the stolen identity
and the fake name of which the woman is under, almost like she has no
real name.

5. As a comedy, the trailer is effective as the transitions of the shots alongside nondiegetic sound and dialogue works well together. However, the trailer tends to
dip towards the middle. This was where the main character held a conversation
with his family. This was the point in the trailer where the comedy seemed to die
off. However, the producers of this film are the same as those who produced ted;
there wasn’t a voice over within this trailer. The way in which these particular
pieces were edited works well together. This is due to the smooth transition from
one shot to the next. This trailer is also a comical movie trailer; this is shown
through the humorous scenes shown throughout. These scenes were used to
attract its target audience. However the target audience for this trailer is aimed
at a wider array of individuals. This trailer doesn’t seem to challenge it’s genre’s
conventions; however the humour seems to fade off in the middle. This is due to
the producers inform the audience of the storyline. This trailer appeals to its
target audience because it contains a lot of adult humour. The trailer gives
several clear cut snippet of the storyline. This leads to the audience wanting to
watch more which means the trailer has fulfilled its purpose. The use of the text
overlay is almost non-existent but still appears to be very effective. It’s a simple,
one colour, bold font which stands out against the plain white background. The
transitions however of one slide to the next works really well and the trailer has a
nice flow, although the trailer still appears to be choppy. The props and costumes
are very basic as it is meant to be a naturalistic piece of drama that mimics
reality. Also, the use of camera shots works well together and smooth’s the
trailer out. The mise-en-scene for this piece was also very naturalistic which
makes the characters the focus of the trailer.

6. Grown Ups
http://youtu.be/YhOWtVElqfw
The title 'Grown Ups' is at the bottom middle of the poster in a large dark blue font, it stands out from the poster as it is one of the darkest
colours, also the release date underneath the title is in red which stands out even more, because that is the odd colour in the poster which
makes it eye catchy. The colour red connotes warning or danger; however this poster is a comedy film therefore the red colour for the release
date may connote a warning for when this movie is coming out so the audience should watch it.
There is also a slogan above the title in a smaller font and black colour saying ' Boys will be boys... Some longer than others.' This slogan can
be a stereotype towards men as women tend to use this phrase more often against them. Furthermore the image only shows males no
females showing that the males in the film are the dominant main characters. The colours used in this poster are mainly different shades of
blue, yellow and black, the colours blue and yellow may connote happiness, excitement and fun as they are bright cheerful colours.
The composition of the poster is a low angel long shot as the camera seems to be looking upwards at the characters also framing their whole
bodies making it a long shot. It also shows the setting of the poster which seems to be a water park this is an establishing shot.
The mise en scene in the poster shows a denotation off five male adults coming out off a water slide; the scene clearly shows that they are in
a water park having fun. The main person represented in the poster is Adam Sandler as he is the main character out of the five friends, he is
more noticeable to the audience hence he is a fantastic American comedian.
The clothing worn by the characters are dark black, blue shirts and shorts, as they are in the water their clothes are wet. I think they have
used dark clothing colours to make the characters stand out from the other things behind them, the poster is very bright, looks like a cheerful
and fun place therefore to make the characters stand out to the audience they are wearing black which is easier to identity. As I said
previously the lighting is very bright and cheerful, thus there are bright colours used such as blue and yellow also this image is captured during
the daytime. The props used in the image are big yellow do-nuts for the characters to sit on the water slide. The colour yellow usually
connotes danger and safety however as this is a comedy film the colour yellow can be suggested as a fun, laughter mood also it is for there
safety to keep them safe in the water.
The poster shows each off their facial expressions showing different emotions which connote happy, cheerful, excitement, and laughter
relating back to the genre comedy as there should be laughter. Furthermore their body expression connotes the characters are having fun
and laid back on a break. The main character 'Adam Sandler' is more revealed in the poster than the other four characters this may connote he
is like the leader of the group of friends.

7. Grown Ups, the final comical piece is also yet another effective trailer due to its
consistent well put together transitions. The use of diegetic and non-diegetic
sound also works well together. A bonus of this particular trailer is that the
humour appears to be reliable; the trailer doesn’t dip towards the middle. The
way in which these shots were edited works well in collaboration. This is due to
the smooth transition between shots. This trailer also falling under the comedy
genre means the humour is shown throughout of all the scenes. The trailers main
purpose is to attract its target audience. And the target audience for this
particular trailer a wide variety of individuals. This trailer doesn’t seem to
challenge it’s genre’s conventions; however it merely brings in the element of it
being a family film. It has humour for individuals of all ages, meaning it appeals
to an even wider audience then first targeted. The producers have been very
tactful here as they have only shown some of the comical highlights, they’ve also
managed to avoid giving too much of the story line away. The trailer will then
appeal to its target audience because they are intrigued to find out more. This
trailer has therefore fulfilled its purpose as it has caught the eye of its audience.
There isn’t much use of text overlay so it doesn’t distract from the audience. The
transitions however of one slide to the next works really well and the trailer has a
nice flow, due to the choppy style selected shots. The props and costumes are
very basic yet effective; they give the comical vibe and catch the attention of the
audience. Also, the use of camera shots works well together and smooth’s the
trailer out. The mise-en-scene for this piece was also very naturalistic yet
different to typical scenes which make the characters the focus of the trailer.