1. The Force AwakensTrailerAnalysis
General Overview:
Director– J.J.Abrams
Studio– LucasfilmandDisney
Year Released –2015
Country – US
Budget– $245,000,000
Box Office – $2.068 billion
Preview –17th
December
Worldwide Release–18th
December
Purpose:
The purpose of the filmwas mainlyforentertainment andmoneybecause suchabigaudience is
interestedinthe StarWars franchise;itwaslikelythatanew filmwithnew characterswasgoingto
be a hitat the box office.The filmappealstobothyoungandoldaudiences,withitappealingtoold
audienceswiththe returnof HanSolo,PrincessLeia,andChewbaccabriefly,we alsosee R2D2,
havingthe old characters come back can give the oldfansnostalgiaandtheywouldwantto see the
film.Havingnewcharactersmeansthatnew,youngfanswill be able toconnectwiththe characters
because itwill mostlikelybe the firstStarWars filmthattheysee and theywill be able tofollow the
filmeasilyastheywill be learningaboutthe charactersforthe firsttime alongwitheveryone else.In
addition,theywouldnothave towatchthe otherfilmstounderstandwhatisgoingon, eventhough
theymay misssome Eastereggsthat the olderfanswouldbe able tonotice.Disney will alsocollect
a large revenue inkidstoysandmerchandise because itismarketedasachildfriendlyfilmasthatis
whatDisneyfilmsare,sotheywill be able tosell children’sclothesandtoysinadditiontoadult
clothesandcollectibles.
Genre:
The Force AwakensisaSci-Fi heavyfilm,withtypical Sci-Fi conventions.The settingof the film
followsthe typical conventionsasitissetin space on fictional planets,withthe trailershowinga
desertplanetandthere are forest-like areasthatcome laterinthe movie.italsofeatures
conventionssuchasspace travel,whichiswidelypresentedthroughthe filmandthe conceptof
flyingshipsisalsoshownthroughouttogive more of a feel of the future.There are alsodystopian
conventionswithReylookingthroughwhatlookstobe anabandonedshipinthe trailerandwith
placesbeingmade of whatlooksto be scrap metal.Robotsare frequentlyfeatured inthe film,the
mostnotable beingBB-8.Fantasyconventionsare alsopresentedwithdifferentspeciesof aliens,
withMaz Kanata and Chewbaccabeingthe mainonesthe audience are presentedwith,the use if
alienshelpsthe audience identifythatthe charactersare on a foreignplanet,forexample,the
desertthatRey isin,inthe trailercouldbe mistakenforearth.Westernconventionsare alsopresent
throughthe film,withitbeingsetina desertandtypical Arabdresscostumeswithcharactersbeing
wrappedupand protectedagainstthe sun.There are alsoduel-type fightswithlightsabresinthe
film.
Form:
The majorityof the filmwasfilmedon35mmfilmstockexceptforthe scenesInJakkuinthe desert.
Usingthe 65mm filmstockmeansthat the shot isbetterqualityandwill lookbetterin IMAX.Being
able to watchthe filminImax appealsmore tothe younger audiences thanthe olderaudiences
because they will valueresolutionandqualityovercontent,whereasolderfansare more likelyto
2. The Force AwakensTrailerAnalysis
overlook thatandfocusmore onthe characters.Verylittle CGIwasusedon setmeaningthat
everythingwasmore realisticandlifelike.Roughly,28 shotswere CGIout of the 357 scenes.
Style:
Abram’suseda 70s/80s style inthe film.Because verylittleCGIwasused,there wasa lotof costume
and makeupthatwas usedwhichgave the filmmore of an oldschool look.Manyprops were made
such as BB-8, the MillenniumFalcon,the X-Wing.Thisoldstyleappealstothe oldfansas theywould
be more usedtothe oldstyle because itwouldbe mimickingthe styleof the firstStarWars films
that came out and thiswoulddrawinmore oldfans.
Content& Meaning:
In thisscene we see Reyforthe firsttime,itisthe firstscene inthe trailerwhichsuggeststhatshe is
the mainprotagonist.Inthisclose upall yousee isherface that iscoveredupand some glasses,at
thispointthe audience doesnotknowwhetherthisisahuman or an alienbecause there are no
cluesthat indicate if she isone orthe other.Thismakesthe audience
ask questionsabout whotheythinkthisisandwhethertheyare anmain
character or not.The backgrounddoesnotgive anythingawayeitheras
it isquite dark,all we knowat thispointisthat we are seeingone of the
characters forthe firsttime.Withthisshotisalsolookslike Reyis
lookingatthe audience because youcannottell where she islooking
because herface is covered.The musicinthis scene isquite asparse musical score witha pianothat
isquite empty,itgivesitquite anominousandmysteriousfeel aswe are still figuringoutwhothe
character is.At thispointthere hasbeennoobviousthingthattellsthe audience thatitisa Star
Wars film,Itis the firstinsightintothe sci-fi conventionsasshe lookslike analienandthe audience
may thinkthatshe is until theywatchthe restof the trailer.
In thisshot, we getmore of an insightintowhothe main,important
character isand where she is.Reyisseento be standinginwhat
looksto be an abandonedshipof some sortas it looksquite high
tech,thislongshot showsherwhole bodywhichgivesthe audience
the ideathat she ishuman andnot infact an alien.We can assume
that she isscavengingbutthat isn’texplicitly shownin thisscene.
The music fromthe shot before isstill the same andcontinuestogive amysteriousatmosphere to
the shot.
In thisscene we have anestablishingshotof Reyand BB-8,this isthe firstshot we see of Reywhere
we can see herfullyandknowthat she isfemale.Asshe isstill the firstpersonwe have seenthe
audience canassume thatshe is personfromthe scene before and
that she isthe maincharacter.This is alsothe firsttime we see BB-8,
thismatchesthe sci-fi conventionsof robotsasthisis the firstone we
have seen,we canassume that there will be more throughoutthe film.
At thispoint,the audience still doesnotknow thatthisisa Star Wars
film.The musicfrombefore isstill playingandthere isalsodialogue,
Maz Kanatasays ‘Whoare you?’and Reyreplies‘Iamno one’,thisisthe firsttime we hearhervoice
and have an insightIntoherpersonality andwhatshe thinksof herself. We alsosee the
environmentforthe firsttime,atthispointthe audience wouldn’t know thatthisisa different
planetandmay believe thatitisjusta desertbecause itdoesn’tlooklike aplace thatwouldbe ona
differentplanet.
3. The Force AwakensTrailerAnalysis
In thisscene see Rey’sface forthe firsttime before the Lucasfilmlogo,this
showsthat theydecidedtoannounce thatitisa star wars filmbefore theyshow
the rest of the characters, thisshowsthatshe is one of the mostimportant
people inthe film.Reyisalsoshowntobe alone throughoutthe scenes,which
meansthat she has noone.
At thispointwe finallysee the LucasFilmlogoandatthispointthe audience will know thatthisis
Star Wars filmbecause of the infamouslogo.The Logoissilverandshiny
whichgivesoff the effectthatitisimportantand expensive,itcanalso
symbolise starsandgoodquality,the fontmakesitlookmore premium.
Because the audience willnowknowthatthisisa Star Wars filmtheycan
start to make assumptions,becauseReyisthe onlypersonwe have seenup
until thispoint,the audience maystarttobelieve thatshe couldbe another
Jedi.
In thisshotwe are introducedtoFinnforthe firsttime,he isthe secondpersonwe are introduced
too whichmeansthathe isalsoan importantcharacter.He is a stormtrooper. In the mediumshot
he is seentakingof hishelmet,hisface showsthathe isscaredand showsthat
he doesn’twantto be on the bad side,he isalsothe firstblackstorm trooper
because theyare supposedtobe clones,thismeansthatyoungblackpeople
can have a role model tolookupto. FinnandRey have the same introduction
shots,a mediumshotof theirfacesthisshowsthattheyare linkedevenif the
audience doesn’tknow ityet.Finnislatershownwiththe suitoff,thiscanbe
seenashim takingoff hisidentityasastorm trooperand becominganew person.He isalsoshown
to be on what lookslike the same planetthatReywasseenon,the audience canassume thatthey
are on the same planetandthat ishow theyare goingto meet.
In thisshotwe are introducedtoKyloRen,we onlysee the backof himwhile infrontwe see ared
streakgoingacross the screen,we can assume thathe isbad because he is
linkedwiththe colourredandthat can be linkedwithangerandevil.Itstartsoff
as a longshot and he isin the centre,thisshowsthathe isimportant,itcan also
be seenas ominous.He thensays‘Nothingwillstandinourway’,the camera
thenpanstowards him;thisgiveshimasense of importance andhierarchy.His
voice isveryartificial andnothuman.The musicin thisscene changes fromthe
pianoto dark music.The shotthenchangesto a close upof KyloRen,hismask I
dentedwhichmeansthathe isnot afraidto getintoa fightandit showsthathe
isdesperate tobe bad. He is quite similartoDarthVaderso olderfansmight
recognise himforthat.The shotthenchangesto an image of Darth Vader’smask
burntand warped,oldfanswill knowwhathappenedtohim butnew fanswill questionwhyitlooks
like thatand whathappened.He thensays‘Iwill finishwhatyoustarted’oldfanswill know the
iconicmaskand knowwhat he didnewfanswill wonderwhyitgetssomuch respect.
4. The Force AwakensTrailerAnalysis
In thisshotwe see Poe,he lookstobe inpainand showsthathe isterrifiedof KyloRen,thisalso
showsoff KyloRenspowersandgivesusan insightintowhathe islike,we
see onhis face whathe isfeelinginhishead,thisshotthemdisslovesfrom
Poe screamingtoan explosion inred,thisshowsthatthe badside istaking
overhismindand the explosionnalsoreflectswhathe isfeelinginhis
head. The shot goesfromredand destructionstraighttothe blue lightsof
the milleniumfalcon,thiswillgetoldfansexcitedastheyhear the music
fromthe Star Wars theme asit fliespast.There isthendialogue ‘There were
stories’tellsusthatthe filmisseta longtime afterthe others,putsthyemas
folktalesandshowsthat the storieshave become legend.We alsosee Finn
and Reyinthe same shotfor the firsttime(twoshot),Reyisinthe front
because sheisamaincharacter withFinnbehindherinsupport.
In thisscene Han Soloisintroducedforthrfirsttime witha midclose up
sayingthat the ‘storiesare true’,he isinblue lightwhichmeanshe isonthe
goodside.Thenthere isthe iconicuse of special effects where the stars
streampast ina blue tunnel.
There isa midclose upof R2D2 andsomeone withametal handtouches
him,oldfanswill know thatthisisLuke Skywalkerwhereasnew fanswill not
knowwhoit is.Thisis part of popularculture because mostpeople will know
whoit isevenif theyhaventseenthe films.
At the endwe see the Star Wars logo that is traditional withthe title of the
filminthe middle,everyone knowsthe StarWarsfont.The release date is
thenannouncedandwe are toldthat the filmwill be in‘real 3D’and ‘IMAX
3D’,thisappealstoa youngeraudience because theyare more likelytowatchit
in3D, there isalsolegal informationatthe bottom.
