Genre Conventions

Trailer Analysis - Beauty And The Beast (2017)

Beauty and The Beast Teaser Trailer.

The trailer starts by showing the well known Disney castle but unlike the bright, colourful Disney castle that an audience would be used to see it is shown as being dark and dull which can foreshadow the danger which will happen later on. The dark atmosphere may suggest that this adaptation of the classic has been aimed more towards an older audience as they would of been the original target audience when the movie first came out.

The establishing shot then fades into a long shot of a grand hall which is brightly illuminated. It is shown as an open space with chandeliers and grand piano as the main focus of the shot. The change of scene is also accompanied with a change of music which appears to be non- diegetic piano music. As the camera slowly begins to pan downwards we see the room slowly start to lose its vibrant colours as it darkens, this goes against the light atmosphere which an audience would usually associate with Disney films. The non-diegetic piano music then becomes a sound bridge as the scene changes.

As the scene changes we are shown more of the castle but every shot has a dark atmosphere attached to it, as we are shown areas covered in leaves and a balcony that was once golden become covered in cobwebs. The look of the castle goes against the soundtrack used, as we are shown an area that is dull and life less while listening to a piece of music which appears to be romantic and brings up feelings of nostalgia as it is from the original movie.

We are then shown a medium shot where the audiences attention is drawn to a lavish painting of what appears to be a rich family. It then fades into a close up on the sons face in the picture which suddenly becomes slashed in different places, this could create a sense of shock and panic in the audience as this is a change from the slow paced shots used previously. It then immediately changes to a blackout with an animalistic growl placed over the top, which would only increase the levels of tension in the audience.

After this shot the trailer continues with a slower pace once again which suggets that there is a calmness is this scene. Shots are separated with black screen which have voice overs layered on top which appear to be characters talking to each other. Voices used are the characters 'Cogsworth' and 'Lumiere' which are memorable roles from the original movie, which would also increase the sense of nostalgia an older audience would experience while watching the trailer.

From the previous black out the screen the cuts to an extreme close up of the rose which is a universal symbol for love. The camera then zooms out from the rose to then change the focus on the figure behind the rose which is Emma Watson who was cast to play 'Belle'. The casting of Emma Watson will definitely play a key part in the success of the film as she is a well known actress from her role of 'Hermione' in the Harry Potter franchise.

The trailer ends on a title saying 'Be Our Guest' which is the name of one of the songs used in the original animated movie, this would increase the feeling of nostalgia in the audience. The trailer has managed to engage an audience of a wide age range as there would be younger children interested in the movie because it is a new Disney film but it has also attracted the attention of the previous target of the original movie. It has achieved this without revealing the whole plot line of the movie which would only capture the attention of the target audience further.

Analysing this trailer allowed me to understand what is expected of a movie that already has a reputation to go with it. It showed key elements that would easily make the movie distinguishable to an audience, this is something I would like to try and achieve in my trailer. I would like to have a feature or concept which sticks in the mind of the audience and makes my trailer memorable.