Trailer Analysis
Paper Towns
The trailer starts with eerie music as an establishing birds eye view shot shows the "paper town" and reflects the audiences feelings as they are yet to find out anything about this film - in the opening part the dialogue is key as the over voice sets the scene and briefly explains to the audience how these two characters met. The music changes and increases in tempo as the audience is introduced to Margo - arguably the most important character of the film - conforming to conventions the male characters narrative of their relationship continues.The music cuts out completely and there's silence as the two first meet showing their dialogue to be the most important thing, as the two of them go out and spend the night together the music is more uplifting, happy as they work together and bond. To conform to conventions there's the first of several cheesy dialogue parts as she states "everything's uglier up close" and he replies "not you" - this gives the romance lovers what they look for in a trailer without being too over the top and the trailer doesn't dwell too much on this and soon moves on to a fast paced montage of shots to keep the excitement and momentum of the trailer. The music changes to more haunting tune cluing the audience up that something bad is going to happen, their happiness won't be long lived, we then find out Margo has vanished and wonder what's going to happen next. The music changes again (conforming to conventions) and seems more hopeful as the boy realises she wants him to come find her, this is supported by dialogue that explains what is going on and guides the audience so they don't get confused. The music picks up tempo as he starts to solve the puzzles, it's uplifting, inspiring and happy suggesting this film could have a happy ending (conforming to conventions as it's something which all romance lovers want to see - a happy ending). The music cuts out near end as dialogue is key and he echos what he said at the beginning possibly suggesting nothing will change in this film, his life won't become any better.
An establishing shot sets the scene and shows the "paper town" that the two main characters live in, it cuts to a long shot of him stood alone suggesting he was lonely before she came into his life or his size in the frame (which is fairly small) could suggest he is very unimportant in life but she makes something of him. Medium shots of her arrival instantly show the dynamic in this relationship, hes interested shes not - she doesn't even notice him whereas he can't take his eyes of her, this conforms to conventions as usually one love interest is far cooler than the other making their love seem unlikely and therefore more interesting and brings the audience in more as they start rooting for this couple. The trailer jumps forward in time to when they're at high school and a long shot is used again to show the boy but this time he has friends showing he's not so lonely and perhaps he doesn't need this girl as much as he thought he did but the next few shots confirm that the dynamic between them is still the same, he can't take his eyes of her whilst she doesn't even notice him. Therefore it may seem a surprise that she shows up randomly at his window but as these two are the main love interests she had to notice him sometime or else it would be a very interesting film. A medium shot using the rule of thirds - placing her of center showing her to be interesting, a two shot from the side shows how there's still a lot of space between them, they don't really know each other yet, it could also suggest they're only showing half their feelings - he tries to act cool but the other half of him is going crazy as he finally gets to talk to Margo, his "miracle in life" and she acts like this is a spur of the moment this when actually she could have been planning this for a long time. Rather than shot reverse shot as used before showing each other in single shots, as the trailer progresses they are always together in a two shot showing how they've become closer as she's dragged him into all her mischief. Shot of them up high show how maybe they feel untouchable but there problems will soon catch up with them, this is shown as in the next shot when it's morning she's gone, the last time they saw each other a low angle shot was used for her and he was seen in a high angle shot suggesting she holds all the power and he is still captivated by her. Close up shots of the clues show how by completing this puzzle he's growing closer to her, A long shot of the car driving shows how far he's willing to go for this girl but also suggests how insignificant this quest is, does she even like him? Close up shots of the main characters show their emotion and suggest we as the audience are closer to them now as we know more about them - possibly the same way the characters in the film feel for each other. A low angle shot of the boy at the end suggests he either gets the girl and so is feeling untouchable or he doesn't get the girl but grows as a person throughout this film so that he is no longer under her spell and therefore feels untouchable.
Margo is seen in camouflage coloured clothing suggesting in life she fades into background but not for him, to him shes everything and stands out brighter than anyone else. The boy wears dark, plain clothes implying he has a plain life whilst Margo wears white suggesting her innocence at heart. She appears in his window in dark clothing connoting mystery, also she is up high on the window ledge whilst he's down low showing from the moment they met she was in control and she had a hold over him.In following shots she has her hood up which looks mysterious and is almost like she is trying to hide herself suggesting there's more to her than the audience may first imagine. He on the other hand is wearing burgundy jumper which connotes love and suggests a possible future romantic relationship between these two characters, the low key lighting suggests a darker side to Margo and builds on the mystery part of the film, drawing the audience in even more. As they say goodbye she's up high whilst hes down low mirroring the moment in the bedroom when they first met and showing that after meeting her he's now simply more captivated by her than he was before as she's now significantly higher than him. The boy stands above his friends suggesting hes becoming important and interesting because of Margo, the car crash part adds bit of drama and excitement before a fast paced montage of the friends all happy and dancing around which cuts to a shot of her possibly foreshadowing that she will make him happy. In another shot he's low down, she's high up - reinforcing the idea he is under her spell, captivated by her, she's also wearing a bright red/pink dress which connotes love and romance. The final shot has high key lighting suggesting she will brighten up his life and bring happier times for him.
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