Textual Analysis:
For my A2 project we were given a brief of creating a music video, film trailer or something else. I chose a film trailer; and I have chosen the genre of romcom as it is my favourite type of genre, as I find romcoms make the best film trailers. I have decided to research four film trailers, and the first film trailer I have decided to research is 'The Holiday'.


Plot summary: The film follows two women; Iris in England, and Amanda in America. Iris loves her boss and had a relationship with him but he is getting married; but he still uses her if he needs anything making it hard for Iris to get over him. In America Amanda has just dumped her cheating boyfriend, and wants to move on from him. Both women decide they need a holiday so Amanda goes on a house swapping website, and decides to swap her mansion with Iris cottage for a holiday. While in Iris's cottage in Surrey Amanda meets Graham; Iris's brother and falls in love with him. While in America Iris begins a friendship with Amanda's 90 year old next door neighbour; who helps her build up her self confidence. Iris also meet Miles a film composer; and falls in love with him.

Media representations: The first character we meet is a woman stood at a party watching a man. She is wearing a smart black dress and looks very sophisticated, suggesting she is classy and a career woman. We then hear her say 'oh lord here he comes' to her friend, as the man she has been watching starts to come over to her. As she is saying this she is drinking a glass of wine; but when he comes over she drinks it all straight away, suggesting she needs courage to be with him, conveying to the audience that there is some sort of relationship between them. The next clip we see her saying 'You're getting married' to him, she says this in quite a hurt, loud voice; signifying she feels something for him. We then go back to the party as her friend is saying 'he cheated on you', conveying to the audience there was a relationship and she still loves him. The woman Iris is portrayed as a typical dumped and lonely 30 something stereotype drinking wine to get over her broken relationship. We then meet the next character, a blonde woman stood on the balcony of a mansion asking her boyfriend if he slept with his secretary. The woman looks like the typical American woman; all blonde and white teeth. When her boyfriend admits he slept with his secretary she punches him twice, representing how she is a very strong and independent career minded woman; and the mansion she is in also reinforces that image. Amanda the American woman is contrasted with Iris, because whereas Amanda punches her boyfriend because he cheated; Iris gets over her broken relationship by pining after the man who cheated on her and drowning her sorrows in wine. The men who cheated on both women are also portrayed in the trailer, they are both portrayed as very smug, and smarmy which is stereotypical of men who cheat. We also meet two other male characters who both women start to fall for they are both in black coats and smartly dressed, and have nice smiles on their face, this conveys to the audience that these are nice trustworthy men. Graham played by Jude Law is quite young and good looking, and seems trendy and quite fun, which is similar to Amanda's character, as we first see her looking like the stereotypical American woman, and therefore it makes us think she is quite obsessed with appearance, which matches what we think of Graham, and therefore conveys to the audience that they will have some sort of relationship. We also meet Miles who is quite funny and unique, and not obsessed with appearance but more about people's feelings, and that matches Iris's character as she will do anything for her boss because she cares for him, and again this conveys to the audience that Iris and Miles are going to have a relationship. Both women are portrayed as opposites, and this adds to the verisimilitude as everyone's different and go through different relationships, and by having two protagonists it makes it easier for the audience to relate to one of the characters, and therefore this attracts the audience to the film.

Media Languages and Forms: The first location we see in the trailer is Iris' office, and this represents the career women who the film is aimed at, and it also helps the target audience relate to her, and it is also stereotypical of the audience as most of them have a career. We then see Amanda at her mansion standing on the balcony talking to her partner, this scene is mirroring the Romeo and Juliet scene were Juliet is pledging her love to Romeo, but here Amanda is breaking up with her partner, the mansion is representative of the high flying women who strive for the good things in life, the aspirers. The mansion also reflects Amanda's image as being the stereotypical American girl, blonde, pretty and successful, and as she is American and Iris is English it is representing international audiences and therefore increasing the range of audience. We also see Iris' house and this is very humble and what most houses are like, and this represents how she is a kind down to earth girl, and it reflects everyday life as the audience may be able to connect with her more than Amanda. In the trailer we see both of their houses and this helps us to really understand them and almost feel like we know them, as we can see into their personal lives and what they're going through. The expressions of the characters help convey their feelings, and guide the direct the audience on what characters to like and who not to. When we first see Iris she has a sad expression like she is longing for her boss, and she is downing her glass of wine, and this encourages the audience to not like her boss/boyfriend as he is causing her pain, whereas when she is with Miles she is happy and smiling, representing how he is good for her and they would be happy together. Amanda is the oppsite as instead of sad her facial expressions are quite angry, showing the difference in the two characters, but also her anger again encourages the audience to take an instant dislike to her partner, and when she meets Graham like Iris she is happy and quite silly, which conveys that he is right for her. Again like most romcoms it is quite an upbeat soundtrack representing how their lives will get better, but again I think the music is quite reminiscent of a gameshow which is also what I found in the trailer for 'Bridget Jones Diary'. The mise-en-scene is stereotypical of most romcoms, as the music is quite upbeat, and the caharcter are stereotypical of romcoms aswell.

Narrative: The Narrative goes against the convention of most romcom film trailers, as a convention for romcoms is that there is usually initial equilibrium, but in this film there is not, we start with both characters having problems with their relationships, Amanda's boyfriend cheating on her, and Iris's boyfriend/boss getting engaged to another woman. This immediately goes against the conventions, but also it adds to the verisimilitude of the trailer. Also there is two main female protagonists, which again goes against conventions as most romcoms usually have a male and female protagonist who are together and then split up, and then at the end get back together. We see the two characters begin to fall in love with different men, and the narrative portrays the different relationships between the two women, which again adds to the verisimilitude as there is more than one type of relationship. Graham and Miles, the men who Iris and Amanda fall for can be put into a character that the Russian theorist Vladimir Propp came up with, they're the (magical) helpers, as they help the two women recover from their break-ups, and help them love again. At the end of the trailer we can see that their equilibrium will be re-established, even though the trailer retains enigma to keep the audience interested, and this is a convention of most romcoms. Also like most romcoms it fits into the narrative types suggested by Kate Domaille, and like most romcoms it is the Romeo and Juliet narrative type, as they're usually based on a love story. The editing also conveys the narrative as it is a montage of different clips, which is a convention for film trailers, and this conveys the narrative but it also retains mystery. The editing of the trailer shows us how the two female protagonist manage to recover from their break-ups and fall in love again, and this also shows Graham and Miles in a good light as they're helping the women. The narrative is very effective in enticing the audience.

Genre: The genre of the trailer is romcom, and it is identifiable because of the love stories, and the different relationships, and also because of the female leads. The trailer does go against generic conventions by having to main female protagonists, but it does make the trailer much more interesting and could also attract a wider range of audience, as by having two different characters people may be able to relate to one more than the other, and if you had just one female lead, some of the audience may have found they could not relate to the character. The characters are again like most romcoms representative of the genre and the audience, as they're both 30 something women, have careers and are struggling with love, and it is a convention of romcoms as it is about love and relationships. The actresses in the film are very representative of the genre as Cameron Diaz who played Amanda has been in many romcoms, and probably one of the most famous ones 'There is something about Mary', this therefore makes it recognisable as a romcom, and also helps the audience connect to the character, as she is of the age of the target audience. Kate Winslet who plays Iris is also typical of the genre as she starred in one of the most famous films ever made, 'Titanic'. This film has probably the most famous love story ever between Kate Winslet and Leonardo DiCaprio, and because Kate Winslet played Rose the audience already have a connection with her as everyone has seen this film, and therefore it makes the film much more popular. Jude Law and Jack Black have both starred in many romcoms, and this helps make the story much more believable and adds to the verisimilitude, because if you had Arnold Schwarzenegger in a romcom it wouldn't be taken seriously, and he would not fit the stereotypical characters of romcoms.

Media Institutions: Columbia pictures and Universal pictures produced and distributed the film, and as these are two major companies part of the big six, it shows how this film had quite a big budget. These film companies are also international and because of this the film became international, therefore increasing the popularity of the film, which in turn increases the revenue from the film. Columbia distributed in the U.S and Universal distributed it internationally, and I think this is because Universal is much more recognisable and well known internationally as it has produced many famous films, including probably the most famous film ever 'E.T-the extra terrestrial', and Universal serves worldwide and is the second longest lived Hollywood studio behind Paramount Pictures. They're both massive companies and both influenced the film and trailer, and they have one thing in common, as the main purpose of the film is to sell it, and bring in lots of revenue and acclaim to both companies.

Media values and ideology: The ideology of the trailer is love and the different types of couples around nowadays, and to show the change in society, as 40 years ago a woman would not leave her partner, and it would be socially unacceptable to live with your partner without being married, and Amanda does this by living with her boyfriend until she finds out he cheated, and this reflects the change in our society. Like most romcoms the main theme and ideology of the trailer is love, and it is shown through many different relationships, most prominently through Amanda and Graham, and Iris and Miles, therefore adding to the verisimilitude. The trailer also like most romcoms refers to the ideology of 30 something women, and their life and troubles. The trailer portrays the opposite types of women in Amanda and Iris, Amanda not letting her partner walk over her and she kicks him out, whereas Iris takes it to heart and still helps her ex with what he needs. The values of the film are connecting with the audience and hopefully helping the audience put themselves in the characters shoes.

Media Audiences: The target audience for this romcom is women around the ages of 25-50, as they can understand the characters, and have probably experienced what the characters have, the women who the romcom is aimed at are also career women as both Amanda and Iris are career women, and represent most women around their age, as most women in their 30's have a career. This is also a convention of romcoms as most romcoms have a target audience of around that age, and the films are usually aimed at women. The characters also represent the target audience, as Amanda represents the high fliers, and has stereotypical traits of high flying, career-minded women, as she takes care of her appearance, wears nice clothes, has a big house, and is a perfectionist, and this is stereotypical of career minded women, and therefore her character appeals to these type of women. The character of Iris is stereotypical of women who are quite down to earth and humble, still have a career but they really want a family, and therefore her character appeals to this type of women. As the film has two opposite types of characters who represent different things, it therefore brings in a wider range of audience to the film.

The length of this trailer is 2.29, and again this film has a multi-strand narrative with two characters, and like 'he's just not that into you' the trailer conveys the story of both characters, and therefore this is the reason for the length of the trailer.