Textual Analysis
For my A2 project of creating a film trailer, I have decided to research four film trailers; and the third one is 'Made of Honour'.


Plot summary: The film revolves around two friends Tom and Hannah. He is a serial dater, whereas Hannah is the opposite and wants to get married and start a family. When Hannah goes away on business to Scotland for six week, Tom realises how much he misses her and wants to change. Just as Tom realises he wants to settle down Hannah gets engaged, and she asks Tom to be her 'made of honour', he agrees just so he can attempt to stop the wedding and make her fall in love with him.

Media Representations: The first character we see is a male driving a convertible sports car down the streets of New York, with the top down wearing a smart shirt and sunglasses. This immediately gives the image of him being flashy, cocky and a bit of a womaniser. Also the background of New York reinforces that image as it conveys the image of him having money, and getting what he wants. Also the voice-over man reinforces the image as he says 'Tom has no problem getting girlfriends', and then we go to the next clip of him in a coffee shop getting the number of a young, blonde woman. The woman is blonde representing he is quite shallow and all about appearance, as the stereotype of blonde women is that they're very shallow, and a bit like Barbie, which adds to the image of him being shallow and vain, because of this he is also being represented as the stereotypical young bachelor; who just wants to have fun and date lots of young blondes. We then meet Hannah; who is represented as the opposite of him. We first see her wearing a smart, black dress; portraying her as a classy woman. She is also very nicely spoken, and has a smart brunette; which also represents sophistication and class. Also as she is portrayed in a very sensible way; it conveys to the image that she is very well grounded; and possibly looking to settle down and be serious, whereas Tom just wants to date different women. Both characters are portrayed as completely different people, but both are portrayed quite stereotypically. Tom is portrayed as the stereotypical bachelor, and Hannah is portrayed as a stereotypical business woman looking to find love.

Media languages and forms: The first location we see is Tom driving in the streets of New York, this is a famous city and is also quite romantic, and it represents the genre, and it is also somewhat of a convention as a lot of romcoms are set in New York, as it is also quite a fantasy, dreamy place aswell, and often romcoms do try to portray love as quite a fantasy. We also see Tom in a gym representing how he takes care of himself, and has pride in his appearance, again reinforcing our impression of him being a bit of a player, and a womaniser. We also see another wedding in the trailer, this is a convention of romcoms, and a wedding is usually featured in a romcom as it is the ultimate show of love. Ath the wedding Tom and Hannah aredancing together, we already know that they're just friends at this poitn, but this could also suggest that maybe their relationship will change during the film, and they will be dancing at their wedding. We also see Tom's home in the trailer. Tom is sat on his couch phoning Hannah, and we see in the background a tacky sign on the wall, this represents how he just buys things without regard, again showing him to be a bit of a show off. This trailer out of the four that I have researched conforms to the genre conventions most, as there are two protagonists a male and a female, and this is a convention of romcoms. The facial expressions of the characters help portray their feelings, as when we see Tom with the many women he dates he is very flirty and smiling, conveying that he just sees this women as a bit of fun and not serious, and when we see him when Hannah has gone away he is very sad and upset, and this conveys his feelings for her, and portrays that his feelings for her have changed and he now loves her romantically instead of as a friend. The music again is also stereotypical of the genre as like most romcoms it is upbeat and quite a happy song, representing the comedy element of the film.

Narrative: The narrative has its own diegesis, and the film is set in the diegesis. The usual narrative for romcoms consists of two protagonists; a a male and a female, and the film usually follows their relationship The trailer for this romcom follows a convention of narratives for romcoms, there is an initial equilibrium at the beginning of the film, and then the equilibrium is disrupted by some event and usually the two protagonists seperate due to this event, and then they get back together in most romcoms and reequilibrium is established, and this is the theory of Tzvetan Todorov who stated that this is the narrative for most films. We can see at the beginning of the trailer that there is a stable equilibrium, as we see Tom driving his car having a good time, and dating many different women, the narrative portraying him to be a bit of a womaniser, and we see Hannah his best friend also enjoying her life, and we see them going to places together and they're happy, but then the equilibrium is disrupted as Hannah goes to Scotland for work, this affects Tom as we see in the trailer he realises he loves her while she is away, and this follows conventions of romcom narratives as during the time the main protagonists are apart they realise they love each other, and the film follows this narrative. Although in most romcom narratives the protagonists are usuallyin a relationship but in this they are friends, so therefore it doesn't follow all the conventions of narratives, but when she comes back he tries to show Hannah his love for her and make her love him, and the trailer creates enigma as it doen't reveal the end of the film, which is a convention. The editing follows conventions of most film trailers as the clips in the trailer are not in the order they're shown in the film. The editing helps reinforce the narrative as it shows us how Tom begins to fall for Hannah, the montage of clips are the most exciting clips, and also help convey the characters to us, as the editing shows us Tom is a bit of a womaniser, and Hannah is a sensible, kind girl. Also in the narrative, there is a use of split screen, this is quite a dated thing to do now, and many trailers don't use this technique anymore. The split screen helps to convey him as a womaniser, because they use it to show four different girls he is dating, this technique helps the audience understand the character, and realise he is a serial dater.

Genre: The genre of the trailer is romcom, and it follows the conventions of romcoms as it has two main protagonists, a female and a male, although it doesn't follow generic conventions in that the lead is the male, and he is the first character we meet, as it is usually a female who is the lead, as the target audience are females therefore they can relate to the female lead and put themselves in her shoes. The male character is quite stereotypical of males in romcoms as he is a bit of a player, and they convey this by the way he dresses and the car he drives, also he chats up women in the coffee shop. The genre of romcoms usually show a relationship between the two protagonists and usually they're a couple, but again with this it goes against generic conventions as the Tom and Hannah are just friends and not together, but as its a romcom and they have to follow some conventions we know that their relationship will eventually deepen. There are also many iconographic features in the trailer; such as that it is set in New York, this is a romantic city and quite a lot of romcoms are set here or in other romantic cities, and therefore this follows that convention, but also in the clips we see Hannah and Tom walking in the park, and this is a very romantic thing to do and it is usually what couples do, and this represents the genre of the trailer, and also conveys to the audience that they do love each other. Tom and Hannah also stand on a bridge talking, and this again is a very romantic image; and almost cliche, which again represents the genre as many romcoms are slightly cliche in their portrayal of love and relationships. The major generic theme is love and relationships, but also we see Tom in the trailer realise he loves Hannah, and this is a convention as many romcoms include this in their trailer; someone fighting for the person they love. The music of the trailer also conforms to the genre as it starts of quite indie and about love, but then it gets more upbeat which is what I have found in most of the trailers I have researched. The actors also portrayed in the film are representative of the genre as Patrick Dempsey who plays Tom has been in quite a few romcoms such as 'Enchanted' and 'Valentine's day', he is also in Grey's anatomy, and is seen as quite a hearthrob in that so therefore it makes him appropriate for the film, as by casting him it makes the audience recognise the genre, but it also appeals to the auience as he is around the age of the target audience's age, and therefore the audience can relate to him more than a younger actor. Michelle Monaghan who played Hannah has also been in romcoms such as 'The Heartbreak kid', and therefore she is suitable for the genre, and again she is the same age as the target audience's age; and therefore the audience can put themselves in her shoes, as she has had more life experiences and probably similiar experiences to the target audience than a younger actress has.

Media Institutions: The film trailer and film was produced by Columbia pictures and Original film. Columbia pictures is a very famous company and is probably one of the most well known, as everyone recognises the image representing the company on trailers, the lady holding a torch and draped in the American flag, representing that it is an American company. It is one of the companies in the big six, and is owned by its parent company Sony one of the biggest companies in the world. The company has produced many romcoms such as 'Little women' and 'Erin Brokovich', but it has also produced many other different types of genre such as 'The Shawshank redemption' and others showing that it has produced classic movies that are still known today, it has also produced many recent films such as 'Spider man' and 'Terminator 3', and it also produced 'The Holiday' a trailer I am researching, all these films show just how big an influence the company has, and as Columbia produced it you can see that it would be quite big budget and become famous like the other films the company has produced. Original films is an independent film company and is not part of the big four, it has helped produce films such as 'Click' and 'I am legend', as it is a smaller company I think it reaches out to different audiences as it is smaller and much more personal, which I think helps bring in a wider range of audiences. Both companies helped influence the trailer and film, but by having Columbia distribute it it makes it much more famous and popular, as that is a worldwide company.

Media Values and Ideology: The ideology of the film I think is about friends becoming more than friends and starting a relationship, and taming womaniser, it also represents the ideology of love. The film represents how womanisers when meeting the right woman can change and become serious, and I believe it is portraying this in a ver ideal light, almost like this is the way to start a relationship, being friends first. It also represents the ideology of love in the wedding featured, and Tom and Hannah walking in the park, which has romantic connotations and is almost cliche. The trailer represents the woman looking for Mr Right in Hannah, and the stereotypical man in Tom, a man afraid of commitment but realising he wants her when its to late.

Media Audiences: The typical audience for romcoms are women, around the ages of 25-50, but this romcoms is different to others in that the first character we meet in the trailer is a man, and he is the main protagonist in the film, and therefore because of this it has a different target audience to other romcoms, as this is also aimed at men aswell as women. The film is also aimed at male and females who are friends and not romantically involved, as the main narrative is about the friendship between Tom and Hannah. We can also identify the audience through the characteristics of the characters, Tom is a bachelor and likes to play the field, and this is stereotypical of most men in their late twenties and early thirties, and therefore they can relate to the character and it may make them go and see the film. Hannah is also representative of the audience, as she has a career, is smart and sophisticated, and she represents who the film is aimed at. The target audience influences everything about the film, and the characters are designed specifically with the audience in mind.

The length of this trailer is 2.26, and this is seen in many trailers such as the ones I have analysed, and this is because it conveys the story, and I am aiming for my trailer to be around this length.