Analysis of Genre

"21 Jump Street" Trailer 

I'm going to analyse the characteristics of the trailer for the 2012 action comedy film;
"21 Jump Street". We instantly recognise that this film is of the comedy genre when looking at the binary opposition of popular vs. unpopular in the opening scene in high school to the upbeat music used reinforcing the comical atmosphere. We can also see that the film is of the action genre, making this a hybrid comedy genre. We find out this is an action film as we see the two protagonists training to be a part of the police force as well scenes of a car chase towards the end of the trailer. 

When considering the aesthetic look of the trailer, one of the first scenes we see within the trailer is what appears to be a flashback to the two main character's high school years where we again, see the binary opposition of popular vs. unpopular or the jock vs. the nerd. When hearing the lines of dialogue 'not so slim shady' we're immediately directed to this scene as we see the 'nerd' dressed as the rapper Eminem telling us that he is a 'wannabe'. This overall would create humour for an audience due to us seeing the contrasting characters now being forced to work together however learning from each other's strengths in the upcoming scenes.This is a key convention featured within comedy films, particularly within the high school setting as we immediately recognise the two stereotypical characters and it's here where we're introduced to the theme of friendship. When looking at the conventional use of stereotypes in a comedy, this film being set mostly in a high school will feature many stereotypes, the obvious one in the trailer being 'the popular kids'. An audience of a similar age to the high school students will perhaps relate to scenarios or characters making the scenes presented, more comical. 

In any comedy, a lot of the dialogue is what creates humour and in this particular trailer we hear many examples of this. The diegetic sound of dialogue is clear so us an audience can understand it and potentially laugh at it. A clear feature in the trailer which creates humour is when one of the protagonists say, 'get ready for a lifetime of being bad asses' to the trailer then flipping to a shot of the two riding bikes in a park. This juxtaposition is what creates humour and we see various features of this throughout. Another example of this is the defiance of them purchasing alcohol and getting drugs for a party despite them previously saying 'we'll be super professional'. If they had listened to what he had said and not had a party with alcohol, it wouldn't have been as funny for an audience to watch therefore making juxtaposition another convention of comedy films. As well as this, the scene at the party where we see one of the protagonists discover that he has been stabbed is another part which we find funny despite the extremity of the situation. However we laugh mainly becuase of the response of 'that's awesome!' Many films of the comedy genre feature such extreme situations for humour as we it's something that we perhaps don't expect to happen and they portray it in a comical way.

The plot of the two characters going undercover to find the supplier of some sort of drug in the high school is quite an unrealistic scenario yet the enigma code of them going undercover raises the question of, will they get caught? Comedy depends on conflict no matter how major it may be and being of the action genre as well, conflict is also featured within the trailer. 

Some conventions of the action genre that feature within the trailer are the close ups of them loading their guns. Guns have connotations of the theme conflict therefore signifying that some sort of action is about to take place. As well as this, the fast pace editing of events after this also demonstrates how within their mission to find the supplier, they perhaps get closer to completion however there are barriers in their way which is typical of any action film. The non-diegetic music playing in the background also adds to this effect of fast pace editing. The iconography of the scenes of explosions and violence are common in crime films and are scenes that we would expect to see within and, through these scenes we see the binary opposition of weak vs. strong. We also see them wearing white suits for the high school prom after loading their guns which again is another feature of juxtaposition as we would connote the colour white with purity and innocence. However we know that the two character's are undercover and have guns which contradicts with this. 

Overall, the trailer features many key conventions that are identifiable for the mostly comedy genre from the use of stereotypes to the juxtaposition of scenes which when it's all put together, creates humour for us as an audience and is what makes the film's genre of comedy so easy to recognise.