Research and Planning: Trailer Analysis One

Obsessed Film Trailer (2009)
For my first analysis I have decided the film 'Obsessed' would be a good choice and would help me as this film plot is like one of the plots on my pitch. This film is under the genre of thriller and is certificate 12A therefore I don't think the violence will be too extreme. The film director is Steve Shill and only got rated 4.6 out of 10 on the IMDb site.

Genre
Obsessed is a thriller, we can see this through the trailers construction which is fast pace with lots of jump cuts this helps to add suspense and shows you have to be active when watching the film to keep up with what is happening in the content. Andrew Sarris's theory on genre  is that 'genre is the idea that is has recognizable style that draws on an existing audience.' I think this is true in this trailer as it has the typical conventions of a thriller film trailer from the powerful close ups to the creepy non diegetic sound in the background of the trailer. The genre is hinted at through the narrative of a woman becoming obsessed with a man and doing strange things to his family and how she imagines a whole relationship in her head which isn't really true showing she is mentally unstable.

Representation
Laura Mulvey's theory for representation is the 'Male Gaze' which is a term that was coined by Mulvey in 1975, she believes that in film the audience have to view characters from a males perspective. I think this trailer supports this theory as the camera lingers on the females curves and presents it from the males view. The women is objectified and comes across with sexuality and the events shown are from the males reaction to what the female is doing. I think a few stereotypes are shown in this trailer too, as it shows the blonde woman as being a 'bunny boiler' wanting to ruin a mans family life, she is shown as being obsessive and dangerous in pursuit of this innocent man. I think that this is a typical stereotype as it is a woman seducing a man and the blame is often put on just the woman, in this trailer the man comes across as innocently flirting but knows the limit as he says 'Stop'. I think that the mans wife (Beyonce) isn't stereotypical as she is not represented as being weak and vulnerable, she is in fact a protective figure who faces the situation in a strong and  fighting manner.

Narrative
I think Todorov's theory comes is highlighted; in terms of this trailer it begins with an equilibrium where everything is balanced and then the new temp worker comes to the office which is disruption to usual events and this sets off a chain of events where she begins to act irrationally and attempts to commit suicide. This problem seems to be solved at the end of the trailer as there is a showdown between the stalker and the wife, however we do not see the result of this showdown in the trailer this is because they want to entice the audience into seeing the film at cinemas or buying the movie on DVD. Within this narrative there seems to be three very active characters - The blonde stalker woman, the man who she is stalking and the mans wife, this trio is like a love trio. The narrative starts by introducing the new temp worker at the office but switches between scenes between the man and his wife and the man and his stalker so it is like he lives a double life, it is when the wife and the stalker come into contact that the real action starts to begin.

Audience
The target audience for this is 12A as it only contains moderate physical and psychological threat and the disturbing sequences are not frequent. I think this film appeals to both genders as it has scenes a main male characters and two leading female characters, as it is a thriller is isn't aimed at a specific gender as this genre is quite widely aimed at audiences. I think the audience will have interests in subjects such as psychology as the woman obviously has a mental disorder and this would interest students in that specific subject, I think they would have to like active films as you have to keep concentrated on what is happening within the film.

Media Language
Mise en Scene: 
- There are many different locations included in this trailer. The underground car park is an isolated place which has a sinister feel towards it with its low key lighting it builds tension for something to happen. There is the typical american house where they live and a city office where he works which is busy both of these locations are familiar places and where most people feel safe and comfortable however both these places are violated and intruded on by the stalker so there is no where to feel safe. The other location is the hospital which is a bare setting with high key lighting.
-The outfits/costumes in this trailer are stylish and up to date which shows the film is set in modern day. An outfit that stands out in the trailer is the stalker in her long red dress this could show her passion but reflects to the audience a sense of danger and hints at what she is capable of.
-In the beginning of the trailer the stalker acts friendly and most of her facial expressions consist of smiling however this changes as the trailer goes on as she becomes more nasty and angry in her facial expressions especially when she doesn't get what she wants. Whereas the wife's body language is very stand off when around the stalker which shows she doesn't trust her.
-The wife and man are always positioned tightly in the frame which shows they love each other and the feelings are reciprocated. However the wife and the stalker always have distance in the frame as they clearly dislike each other.
-There is low key lighting when the stalker is on her on in a few of the scenes e.g. in the little boys room and when she is swirling around the hotel room this could reflect her dark thoughts and show her as shady. The lighting is high key whenever the stalker and man are in public together which shows the relationship as being innocent.

Sound:
- There is a mixture of diegetic and non diegetic sound throughout, the diegetic sounds consists of dialogue and sounds made by objects in the story such as the phone ringing.
-Whereas the non diegetic sound is that of the mood music which flows throughout the trailer, the mood music is sharp  and adds a dramatic effect to the trailer when the music speeds up we know its reaching a climax in the storyline. However, the music changes as at the start it is sharp and punctuates certain points of the narrative e.g. when the man and female first meet at work, the music changes as the wife begins to get involved in the narrative to a more sinister sound which builds up to the fight.
-Part of the dialogue when the stalker says 'Derek' is slow and hazy this enables the audience to see something has happened and something negative is going to happen.

Cinematography:
- The film trailer begins with an extreme long shot which helps to establish the scene and then cuts to a birds eye which is a shot from directly above. Both of these shots are to introduce the scene and surroundings to the audience, the shots show the city buildings and the cars on the road, this helps to show the time in which the film is set (modern day) and what life the characters have.
-When the female stalker is in the office environment there are mid shots and close ups of her but I think the most interesting shots of her are the long shots as they show what she is wearing and she seems to wear sexy office clothes that are intentionally worn to seduce the men in the office and make her 'wanted'
-The birds eye shot of the female stalker lay on his bed wearing nothing but his top puts a lot of distance between her and the audience and shows the different mindsets of people, she is crazy and we see her from a more stable and superior view
-The point of view shot from the mans perspective shows the emails coming through on his computer and the picture that she keeps sending him, she is obviously obsessed and the situation is getting out of control. As we see this from his perspective we feel as shocked as he is when he observes what is going on.
-After the scene with her attempting to seduce him at the office party there is a medium close up of the man in the elevator so we get an idea of how he is feeling just before the doors shut therefore we are not fully enabled to see his overall reaction to the events. It then cuts to a pan of his house this shows us that he may be feeling guilty about what just happened as it is taking us to a place where he has responsibilities. This idea is further shown with a close up of his wife looking through the window, she has a suspicious and worried look on her face which makes her seem very intelligent as she seems to guess what is happening behind her back.
-The film trailer ends on the fight scene between stalker and wife and there are quick cuts to a worms eye shot showing the wife is higher up than the stalker and the frame shows the way the audience feels. We feel more sympathy for the innocent wife and we want her to win the fight so she is superior in the moral hierarchy. The camera tilts to show the stalker hanging from the ceiling with only the wife holding on to her, she literally has her life in the hands of the woman whose husband she is trying to steal.
-Throughout the trailer are two shots of wife and husband where they are positioned tight in the framing showing them to be comfortable which contrasts with the two shots of the man and his female temp woman (stalker) where when they are close he looks uncomfortable but usually they have some distance.

Editing:
-The editing for this trailer is very fast paced which builds tension for the audience and emphasises the film genre of Thriller.
-There are fades from titles in the trailer back into the images of the film, this looks very effective as it doesn't disturb the footage.
-The shot reverse shots are between the people talking, these are very important in this trailer as it allows you gauge the reaction of the character from what has been said to them for example the scene when they are in the car together she says 'I almost went insane today I had to pretend I was concentrating on work when all I could think about..' he then replies with a shocked look 'LISA!' he is trying to discourage her obsession with him.
-Within the trailer is a short montage when the wife rings a colleague asking where her husband is, it then starts the short montage of the stalker stripping off, to being unconscious in bed and then in a hospital bed this allows the audience to keep up with whats happening in the film without spoiling it.
-There are straight cuts throughout the trailer which helps to keep the trailer fast and tense.