Trailer Analysis
The Blind Side
The trailer starts with upbeat music (non-diegetic) as you see this woman going about her normal life, plain mundane nothing out of the ordinary, clearly very family centered and the final shot reinforces this as a close up shot is used to show her emotions clearly as you see her looking over her family showing they mean the world to her and she cares for them greatly. The music changes to a slower, more depressing, sad song - the speech over the top shows his background, and emphasises that life doesn't look to good, he's trying to make a change though as is very brave to even turn up at this school as "most kids with his background wouldn't come within 200 miles of this place". This makes the audience feel a great deal of empathy for the character and they desperately pray that someone will help him and that his life will improve. The main character then meets Sean and the music becomes more upbeat because of its positive connotations and the fact it will lead to the next scene which improves his life drastically but before that part the music dips again as he walks the streets alone as he has no place to stay. The mother helps him and offers him a place to stay, the tempo increases again - much higher than before and is matched with shot of the big fancy house and the life that he could now have thanks to this woman. The music dips again as the novelty wears of and reality sets in, (the fact he's never had a bed before - reinforcing the background he's come from, the life he had before, that he's still got his real mum out their and all the problems associated with that, its not all sunshine and rainbows). A dramatic monologue (diegetic) also features and builds the drama even more, the music increases in tempo and volume, climbing towards something better as she goes to find him, shows he finally has someone in his life who cares about him, you see the good that comes from being with this family. A final dramatic dip in the music before an even bigger increase accompanied with a dramatic speech over the top, "are you going to protect the family Micheal?" - the thing she cares about most in the world and shes leaving it to him to protect showing she trusts him, accepts him and loves him dearly. Big cheers from stadium show how far he has come, all shes done for him but the dialogue reinforces the fact it is him who has actually changed her life and the meeting was mutual beneficial and changed both of their lives for the better.
"You're changing that boys life!
No, he's changing mine."
The edits at the beginning are simple and plain, like her life, nothing out of the ordinary, there are multiple shots that highlight their wealth and perfect family life - cutting back to her at the end as you can see how proud she is of this family and how much she loves them all and how much they mean to her. This is largely contrasted to the world he comes from (a change in music accompanies this dramatic shift in lifestyle) his world he lives in is darker, dirtier, poorer. Putting these two worlds next to each other highlights the differences in their lives and how they go about day to day living and is a recurring theme throughout the film and trailer - no matter how much you improve his life his past will always be there. When she invites him to sleep at their house there is a large contrast again from him alone and damp on the dark, depressing streets to the big house they pull up at with it bright lights and warm rooms - a luxury world. This is again contrasted to his old home, dark, worn down and it seems this may be his life, forever torn between these two worlds. Dialogue from the mother changes this though as she states, "you threaten my son, you threaten me" - hes accepted by her and she's not going to give up on him like all the other people in his life have done before. A montage of clips show his life improving, all the highs and smiles and happiness he now has with this family, he can move on from his past to a brighter future. A medium shot of them hugging before it cuts to the final shot of her, shows how he's on her mind and has made her happy, he's a part of her family, she's accepted him and brought him in and the huge smile on her face shows how it has changed her life for the better and she is so happy about it.
The film production logos appear first which indicates to people what type of film this is going to be and what the audience can expect from this film (Disney = children/animated, Blumhouse productions = horror, Working Title = romance/comedy). This is important, as John Carter proved, as if you go with the wrong production company and emphasise it too much audiences may become confused as to what sort of a film its going to be. The text "it's the only world she's ever known" reinforces how plain and mundane her life is, she loves her family and works hard it's nothing out of the ordinary, all this wealth and sophistication is the only world she's ever known. Several medium shots allow enough in the frame to highlight the wealth in the house and the nice clothes, spacious rooms and delicious food they have. This is contradicted by Micheal's' world much more run down, poorer but "it's the only world he's ever known". When he joins school he looks scared, nervous, anxious as people look at him weird - the music reflects his dampened mood and makes the audience feel very sorry for him. He then meets Sean, a young boy who accepts him and is kind to him, the mother is notably curious as she looks on from her car and you can see from her facial expression that she's not only curious but also worried about this boy. The lighting n the next few scenes is key in showing again the two different worlds these characters come from, as he walks down the street it's dark, damp, cold and generally depressing, on the other hand they are in a warm, light car and takes him home to a bright, big, comforting house - foreshadowing that by staying with they her now has a brighter future. She also wears brighter colours, a crisp clear white innocence highlights her innocence as she simply wishes to do the best for this boy, he on the other hand wears slightly of white, more grey clothes showing his life has been tinged with darkness - just like his shirt. Throughout the trailer she always tends to wear much brighter colour tops than him (white, cream, sky blue) whereas he wears more browns and greys showing his world he comes from is darker and dirtier whereas she is holey innocent trying to do something nice for this one boy.Her pajama bottoms are also white reinforcing her innocence, the text "based on an extraordinary true story" - draws the audience in and makes what they see on the screen hit home a little harder as they know it's based on real life. As the trailer goes on there are more and more smiles conforming to the convention that there has to be some happy moments to show the audience it's not all doom and gloom. The green of Micheal's football jersey connotes something good and positive, as more and more colours creeps into his outfits showing his life is becoming brighter and better.
Opening few medium shots show the house, comfort, wealth, wide shot shows the living room and all the luxury that is associated with it, an establishing shot of the house shows how grand and magnificent it is, shots of each of the family members gives the audience a chance to get to know family. A long shot of Micheal establishes the setting he lives in (very different to the families house) and shows how he stands out. Medium shots show this luxurious school that he just doesn't seem to fit into and causes people to stare at him. A long shot of Micheal and Sean shows how Micheal towers over him and again reinforces how posh and fancy this school is. As the mother asks Micheal if he has anywhere to sleep that evening close up shots are used to show emotions - they're whats important. A two shot of the parents is followed by one shot of her emphasising that shes thinking more long term about this boy than her husband is. A medium shot shows him in his new room and the luxury he now lives in before he drops the bombshell that he's never had a bed before and a close up shot is used to show her emotions as she's visibly moved by this.
A long shot of her in doorway of his bedroom with the dialogue off screen of his real mother saying "don't be surprised if one day you wake up and he's gone" makes the audience start to doubt if this women will be able to do enough to help him. As she enters his old neighbourhood, and she is on a path down steps, an over the shoulder shot showns how small she is and how innocent she looks i her off white dress in this filthy neighbourhood. Ironically she is 'below them' (even though looking at the lifestyle they lead she is above them in every way possible) as she stands on the slightly lower path as shes in unknown territory but shes not scared. The situation changes as in next shot she is towering above them and a low angle shot makes it feel like she is leaning over the audience, towering above them and intimidating them. Another close up shot is used as she drives around to show her emotions as she's worried, she finally finds him and stands but waits behind the car door, not to overwhelm him, giving him his space. In another shot to follow Sean is stood above Micheal, in charge - this is a contrast to earlier shot when Micheal towered over him, shows its his turn to help, not just his mums. A long shot of Micheal on field training with other boys shows how he has become one of them, contrast to in the beginning when he stood out, now he is no different.
Shot revere shot shows the mother and Micheal talking as he towers over her yet she is in charge, this shows no matter how big he gets, or how many people accept him and like him as his surrogate mother she will always be in charge and always stand over him to protect him, "yes maam" reinforces this. It's also reinforced by cutting to other scene where they walk along and hes way taller than her but she takes his arm and walks along with him, takes charge and leads him even though hes scared. A Medium shot of Micheal, the mother and Sean on bed reading story shows how they really have accepted him as a part of their family.
Medium shot of Micheal carrying Sean over his shoulder shows how good friends they have become, and shows how wealth, and the big house are not important anymore its the relationships formed with the people inside that count. A medium shot of Micheal and the mother hugging shows his surroundings, he's graduated shows how far he's come - the final close up shot of her shows her emotions as shes grinning from ear to ear and shows how he has had such a positive effect on her life.
"You're changing that boys life!
No, he's changing mine."
The edits at the beginning are simple and plain, like her life, nothing out of the ordinary, there are multiple shots that highlight their wealth and perfect family life - cutting back to her at the end as you can see how proud she is of this family and how much she loves them all and how much they mean to her. This is largely contrasted to the world he comes from (a change in music accompanies this dramatic shift in lifestyle) his world he lives in is darker, dirtier, poorer. Putting these two worlds next to each other highlights the differences in their lives and how they go about day to day living and is a recurring theme throughout the film and trailer - no matter how much you improve his life his past will always be there. When she invites him to sleep at their house there is a large contrast again from him alone and damp on the dark, depressing streets to the big house they pull up at with it bright lights and warm rooms - a luxury world. This is again contrasted to his old home, dark, worn down and it seems this may be his life, forever torn between these two worlds. Dialogue from the mother changes this though as she states, "you threaten my son, you threaten me" - hes accepted by her and she's not going to give up on him like all the other people in his life have done before. A montage of clips show his life improving, all the highs and smiles and happiness he now has with this family, he can move on from his past to a brighter future. A medium shot of them hugging before it cuts to the final shot of her, shows how he's on her mind and has made her happy, he's a part of her family, she's accepted him and brought him in and the huge smile on her face shows how it has changed her life for the better and she is so happy about it.
The film production logos appear first which indicates to people what type of film this is going to be and what the audience can expect from this film (Disney = children/animated, Blumhouse productions = horror, Working Title = romance/comedy). This is important, as John Carter proved, as if you go with the wrong production company and emphasise it too much audiences may become confused as to what sort of a film its going to be. The text "it's the only world she's ever known" reinforces how plain and mundane her life is, she loves her family and works hard it's nothing out of the ordinary, all this wealth and sophistication is the only world she's ever known. Several medium shots allow enough in the frame to highlight the wealth in the house and the nice clothes, spacious rooms and delicious food they have. This is contradicted by Micheal's' world much more run down, poorer but "it's the only world he's ever known". When he joins school he looks scared, nervous, anxious as people look at him weird - the music reflects his dampened mood and makes the audience feel very sorry for him. He then meets Sean, a young boy who accepts him and is kind to him, the mother is notably curious as she looks on from her car and you can see from her facial expression that she's not only curious but also worried about this boy. The lighting n the next few scenes is key in showing again the two different worlds these characters come from, as he walks down the street it's dark, damp, cold and generally depressing, on the other hand they are in a warm, light car and takes him home to a bright, big, comforting house - foreshadowing that by staying with they her now has a brighter future. She also wears brighter colours, a crisp clear white innocence highlights her innocence as she simply wishes to do the best for this boy, he on the other hand wears slightly of white, more grey clothes showing his life has been tinged with darkness - just like his shirt. Throughout the trailer she always tends to wear much brighter colour tops than him (white, cream, sky blue) whereas he wears more browns and greys showing his world he comes from is darker and dirtier whereas she is holey innocent trying to do something nice for this one boy.Her pajama bottoms are also white reinforcing her innocence, the text "based on an extraordinary true story" - draws the audience in and makes what they see on the screen hit home a little harder as they know it's based on real life. As the trailer goes on there are more and more smiles conforming to the convention that there has to be some happy moments to show the audience it's not all doom and gloom. The green of Micheal's football jersey connotes something good and positive, as more and more colours creeps into his outfits showing his life is becoming brighter and better.
Opening few medium shots show the house, comfort, wealth, wide shot shows the living room and all the luxury that is associated with it, an establishing shot of the house shows how grand and magnificent it is, shots of each of the family members gives the audience a chance to get to know family. A long shot of Micheal establishes the setting he lives in (very different to the families house) and shows how he stands out. Medium shots show this luxurious school that he just doesn't seem to fit into and causes people to stare at him. A long shot of Micheal and Sean shows how Micheal towers over him and again reinforces how posh and fancy this school is. As the mother asks Micheal if he has anywhere to sleep that evening close up shots are used to show emotions - they're whats important. A two shot of the parents is followed by one shot of her emphasising that shes thinking more long term about this boy than her husband is. A medium shot shows him in his new room and the luxury he now lives in before he drops the bombshell that he's never had a bed before and a close up shot is used to show her emotions as she's visibly moved by this.
A long shot of her in doorway of his bedroom with the dialogue off screen of his real mother saying "don't be surprised if one day you wake up and he's gone" makes the audience start to doubt if this women will be able to do enough to help him. As she enters his old neighbourhood, and she is on a path down steps, an over the shoulder shot showns how small she is and how innocent she looks i her off white dress in this filthy neighbourhood. Ironically she is 'below them' (even though looking at the lifestyle they lead she is above them in every way possible) as she stands on the slightly lower path as shes in unknown territory but shes not scared. The situation changes as in next shot she is towering above them and a low angle shot makes it feel like she is leaning over the audience, towering above them and intimidating them. Another close up shot is used as she drives around to show her emotions as she's worried, she finally finds him and stands but waits behind the car door, not to overwhelm him, giving him his space. In another shot to follow Sean is stood above Micheal, in charge - this is a contrast to earlier shot when Micheal towered over him, shows its his turn to help, not just his mums. A long shot of Micheal on field training with other boys shows how he has become one of them, contrast to in the beginning when he stood out, now he is no different.
Shot revere shot shows the mother and Micheal talking as he towers over her yet she is in charge, this shows no matter how big he gets, or how many people accept him and like him as his surrogate mother she will always be in charge and always stand over him to protect him, "yes maam" reinforces this. It's also reinforced by cutting to other scene where they walk along and hes way taller than her but she takes his arm and walks along with him, takes charge and leads him even though hes scared. A Medium shot of Micheal, the mother and Sean on bed reading story shows how they really have accepted him as a part of their family.
Medium shot of Micheal carrying Sean over his shoulder shows how good friends they have become, and shows how wealth, and the big house are not important anymore its the relationships formed with the people inside that count. A medium shot of Micheal and the mother hugging shows his surroundings, he's graduated shows how far he's come - the final close up shot of her shows her emotions as shes grinning from ear to ear and shows how he has had such a positive effect on her life.
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