Textual Analysis:
For my A2 project of creating a film trailer, I have decided to research four film trailers. The second one I have decided to research is 'He's just not that into you'.

Plot summary: The plot follows the lives of several people; five women and four men all struggling with love, we meet Gigi Haim who is very needy and desperate for a man, she goes on a date with a man called Connor and he promises to call her back, when he doesn't call she goes to the bar where he regularly goes, but she meets Alex and strikes up a friendship with him, and begrudgingly takes his advice on men and dating. Janine and Ben seem happily married, but then he meets Anna a yoga instructor and begins a flirtatious friendship with her; that then leads to an affair. Neil and Jen have been together for seven years, but when Jen realises he doesn't want to marry they break up. Mary is looking for love and begins online dating eventually meeting Connor and dating him.

Media representations: The first character in the trailer we meet is a little girl playing in a sand pit; when a little boy comes over and pushes her over saying she smells. We then see the girl talking to her mum; and her mother is saying that when a little boy likes a little girl they act mean to hide that they like them. This is stereotypical of little boys as we all know little boys act mean when they like a girl. We then hear the voice-over woman saying 'This is the beginning of our problem as we are all programmed to believe when a boy likes you he acts like a jerk', and this relates to the target audience as we have all been told this by our mothers. The voice over also conveys subtly that this is what the film is going to be about, men acting like jerks to women, and the women trying to cope with it. We then meet the woman who is the voice-over on a date and he is walking her home, and they seem like they had a good time, but then we see her sat at a desk at work calling him with her friend there saying 'I haven't heard from you in a while', and this reinforces what the voice-over says but it also enables the audience to relate to her and grow to like her, as most women have been on a date and the man has not called back. She is also reading of a pad, which was clearly written before she called him, and this is stereotypical of 30 something women desperate for Mr Right, and this woman represents the traditional single woman going on dates, whereas the next woman represents the modern woman, as she says this man 'myspaced' her. This reflects our society as we all now go on the Internet and have social networking sites, and this character represents the people who are like this, and therefore reaching out to a wider range of audience. She is also dressed quite laid back and fun, and this is also stereotypical of people who date on the Internet. We then meet another woman who is living with her partner but they're not married, and she says to him 'I don't want you to be nice unless your going to marry me', this character is stereotypical of the women who want to get married to their partner, their quite desperate to get married and it takes up their life so they bring it in to every conversation, and this character represents these women, and therefore they can relate to her, and her need to get her boyfriend to commit. We also see again the woman who we met first sitting by several different telephones clearly waiting for a man to call, this again is stereotypical of women waiting by the phone, so they can identify with her. We also meet two other women the wife and the mistress, this is a stereotypical love affair and represents the two opposite types of women, and therefore it reaches a wider range of audience. We also meet men in the trailer and therefore men can identify with the characters, as the men are all portrayed differently, single, playboy, has a partner, and married, therefore a wider range of people can relate. This is the same with the different female characters, as they all portray different types of relationships, which is common in our society today. As the trailer has many different ideas of love it can attract many different audiences, which therefore brings in more revenue to the film.

Media languages and forms: There are many locations in the trailer, the first one is a park were the little boy and girl are playing, the park has fun connotations but it also has romantic connotations, and in most romcoms there is often a park featured with a couple walking in it. We also see an office were Gigi is supposed to be working but is calling a man. In the romcoms I have researched I have found that there is usually an office were the main protagonist works, this is representative of the audience as most of the women in their 30's work in an office. We also see Beth's home which allows us to make a connection with her and it also represents her character, as its very smart and looks quite expensive, as she is a career woman the woman like her can relate to her character. There is also a wedding featured in the trailer, this is representative of the genre, and is associated with romcoms. There is also two male characters on a boat, and this represents the audience the film is aimed at, people who are career people, and are smart and have life experiences, as people on the doll would not be able to relate to that. The facial expressions help us with understanding the different relationships and their feelings. When we see Beth and her partner hugging they have quite sad expressions, and this conveys to the audience that they're having problems with their relationship, and we also see Ben who is having an affair we see him putting his head in his hands when he is with his his lover, this conveys that maybe he is regretting his affair and realises its wrong. The music is also upbeat and quite fun, which is a convention for romcoms and therefore it attracts the audience.

Narrative: The narrative is the organising structure and as such has its own features and conventions; the narrative for this film is a multi-strand narrative, as there are several different narratives within the narrative. We see different couples and they each have their own narrative; within the main narrative. Multi-strand narrative is quite common in Rom-Coms and is seen in many romcoms such as 'Valentine's Day', and 'Love actually', this is because romcoms are usually based on love and romance; and therefore they have different narratives portraying different types of love and romance, this adds to the verisimilitude as there are different couples portraying different kinds of love. The narrative goes against the basic theory of most films, the theory by Tzvetan Todorov. I have found this theory to be quite common in the romcoms I have researched, and this trailer goes against the convention, and I think this is because this film is reflecting our society now, as nowadays there are many different types of relationships and different ideas of love, and by just having one idea of love it wouldn't be Representative of the time, and therefore would lack verisimilitude. In the narrative the different women are portrayed to attract a specific target audience, but the women we first meet Gigi Haim represents most women looking for love, which is why we meet her first as most women can relate to her. The narrative also encourages the audience on which characters to like, and we meet a man who is cheating behind his wives back, and because of this the audience takes an instant dislike to him. The editing again reinforces the narrative, and like most film trailers is a montage. The editing helps show us how desperate Gigi is for a boyfriend, as we first see her calling a man who hasn't called her back, and we meet a few characters in between the next time we see her, and then we see her again and she is sat by a phone, and the editing makes it look like she has been waiting for ages and the man still hasn't called, she has been waiting days and wont give up. The music helps reinforce the narrative and like most romcom trailers I have researched it is quite upbeat, and the song is about love. The music also gives with the different clips shown, but in the middle the music goes a bit slow and romantic when we see two characters hugging, this conveys to the audience that maybe they could be splitting up. The multi strand narrative is I think the best narrative, as it reflects our society and add to the verisimilitude of the trailer.

Genre: The genre is romcom and, the major conventions of the genre are the characters. The main protagonists are all female and all represent different types of love and relationships, but as there are several different protagonists it goes against the conventions of the genre as there is usually just two protagonists, a male and a female. The main characters are all representative of the genres as they're are all women around 30 years old, and are struggling with their ideas of love and are looking for Mr Right, which is usually the central premises for romcom movies. The characters cast in the film are all specifically chosen as they represent the genre best, and are approachable so the audience can feel something for the characters. Jennifer Anniston who plays Beth, the woman who's partner does not want to get married, is one of the most famous romcom actors and has starred in many such as 'The Break up', and 'Along came Polly', as she is so well know for starring in romcoms many people associate good romcoms with her, and therefore as she is in the film it may encourage her fans to see it. Also she starred in 'Friends' one of the most well known T.V shows ever made, and everyone fell in love with her because of that, and people still love her now so it may entice more people to watch the film because she is in it. Drew Barrymore played the woman who dates online, and she has been in many romcoms such as 'The Wedding singer' and 'Music and lyrics', and in that one she starred with Hugh Grant who's is most famous for romcoms. She is a very popular actress and by casting her it brings in more revenue to the film and increases the audience, as her fans may go see it because of her. The other actors casted in this film all represent the genre and therefore make it easier for the audience to identify the film.

Media Institutions: The film was produced and distributed by New line cinema. This is an American film company and is well known in America, but not as well known internationally, although it was merged with Warner Bros in 2008 which is one of the big six film companies. New line cinema co-produced the film with flower films which is an independent film company founded by Drew Barrymore, who stars in the film. The film was able to bring in a lot of acclaim for Flower films as it was a very popular film internationally. Flower films has only produced ten films, and several T.V shows, but it has produced 'Charlies Angels', which is known worldwide. New line cinema has produced many films such as 'my sisters Keeper', and 'Time travelers wife', these are famous films and therefore bring in more revenue to the institution. The main purpose of the institutions collaborating is to create a film loved worldwide, and therefore bring in lots of money to both companies, but also Flower Films produced this to bring in more acclaim to the company and to let the audience know about their company, therefore making the film studio much more recognised.

Media Values and Ideology: The ideology of the trailer is the same as every other romcom, the ideology is love and relationships, but I also think the ideology for this romcoms is our society and the changes, and the different relationships in our society today. This is shown in the multi-strand narrative, and the different relationships the single women, the married woman, the online dater, these are all representative of our society today, as 50 years ago there was really only one type of relationship, a married couple. The ideology reflects the changes and how different it is now as we can go online to meet people now. The values of the film are also the same as other romcoms, love and finding the right person, and the challenges and obstacles what come before you have your happy ending.

Media Audiences: The romcom is aimed at women, as they can connect with the characters. The target age of the audience for the film is about 20-50, it is this age as women this age can relate more to the characters as they have more experience with love then teenage girls do, and as the audience can relate to the characters it makes them want to go and see the film. The women characters are all different from each other and as there is several women characters it makes it much easier for the audience to connect to the characters; as the audience can relate to at least one character. Also as the characters are all different it adds to the verisimilitude of the trailer; as everyone is different and has different ideas of love and romance. The characters are all in the age range of the target audience, which makes it much easier for the audience to put themselves in their shoes, and each character has traits of the audience they're aimed at, such as the lover of the married man, she is blonde, pretty, and flirty, this is stereotypical of the blonde bimbo who most women assume are going to steal their partners, and this character appeals to the lovers of married men, but also in someway appeals to the wives, as they can understand the wives point of view.

The length of this trailer is 2.34, and this is the longest trailer I have analysed. The film has a multi-strand narrative, and therefore it is longer as we have to meet each character, and see what is going on in their love life.