The Descendants trailer analysis

The trailer for The Descendants really did not reveal much of the narrative. It showed you many parts however those parts were very brief. This was clever because it created a lot of engimas such as are they parents together? Is the mother dying and why? etc.

Throughout the whole trailer there was upbeat music. It was Hawaiian music which helped us understand that they lived in Hawaii. I did not think the music fitted in with some of the shots int he trailer. This is because some of the shots were meant to be upsetting and get the audience to feel sorry for them but for some reason i couldn't do that because of the music used.

We saw that they lived in a big house right by the beach. This is classed at the equilibrium. We then move on to seeing the disruption. This was where the father went to collect his daughter as she is a troubled teenager so has no been staying at home. In the trailer we do not find out that the mother is dying but on top of all that the daughter reveals that the mother had been cheating on her father. This could be classed as part of the recognition. The father now has a few things to figure out and repair, these include finding out who the guy his wife was cheating on him with and figuring out how he is going to cope with what has happened to his wife. Towards the end of the trailer we hear a different slant on the music which helps us understand that the father is trying to make things right, this would be classed as the resolution. Although the trailer does not give much information away, it gives us enough to sort of work out what the main parts are going to be and what the film is going to be about.

There was many long shots used during the trailer, for example when they are showing the girl sitting by the edge of the pool. There were a few medium shots used as well, this was when the daughter and the father were sitting on the sofa and she told him about his wife cheating on him. These camera shots show us what is going on around them and really sets the scene as to where they are and what they are doing. Throughout the editing pace was quite steady, however at one point in the trailer which was when he was running to the neighbors house, the editing pace picks up. This is to make you think that you want him to get there as quick as possible because it is such an important thing that he wants to know.

There were not many genre indicators throughout the trailer, well i did not feel like there was. I got the sense that it was a drama but it then made me think that it was part comedy as well because of the music they used over it. The thing that made me think it was a drama was the seriousness of some of the conversations that were included such as when the daughter tells the father that the mother is cheating on him.