Genre essay

Genre essay- analyse the characteristics of the genre of a film trailer of your choice.

 

The film trailer that I have chosen the write about is called ‘Grow up already’ about an American couple who suffer due to the child-like behaviour of the male counterpart. During the first 30 seconds of this 1 minute long trailer, we see many close-up shots of the characters faces. This is one in order for the audience to detect emotions in the characters faces, to tell the story through how the characters are feeling/ responding. An example of this is during the opening 15 seconds, a close up of the female smiling shows the audience that she is happy and in love with her partner as this point of the trailer. This represents that this is the equilibrium stage of the film. The fact that she is smiling at her partner suggests that it is a romantic film because the close up represents her loving emotions.

A mid shot is then displayed of the couple kissing, further reinforcing the romantic element to the genre. This displays an expression of passion and love in the opening part of the film trailer. This is iconic to that of a romance film. The characters displayed in the shot are a boyfriend and a girlfriend, signified by their youth and loving actions toward each other near the beginning of the trailer, however, this doesn’t last long.

The setting of the trailer is in a house, as shots are shown of the pair kissing outside a doorway and arguing in the kitchen of a house. The house is iconic of a romance because romances are often featuring couples in an indoor situation, such as moving in together, having sex, etc. Mid-shots of the male protagonist are shown with him wearing a nappy- iconic of a comedy because grown men do not wear nappies- featuring the living room behind him, illustrated by a green couch and lamp. This tells us that the couple could live together due to his comfort ability to walk around in only a nappy.

The narrative starts out happy, where the couple are over-the-shoulder shot using shot/ reverse shot smiling at each other. This demonstrates the loving relationship between the 2 protagonists. However, this doesn’t last for long. Captions are used to illustrate a briefing of the narrative. Using captions, it tells us that the couple are in love, however, uses the love/hate binary opposite because the following caption highlights that there is a problem in the relationship. This is then followed by a shot of the pair shouting, arguing with each other. This shows an immediate love/ hate relationship in the opening 30 seconds.

The narrative then starts to get sour as the couple start to argue about the fact that the male is immature and needs to grow up. They disagree on such a matter, further enforcing the comical genre as we- the audience- have the pleasure to experience the couple not getting along. Following the disagreement of the pair, we see a mid-shot of the male wearing Childs clothing, e.g. dungarees and a striped polo shirt. This is typical of a comedy because we see that the couple are arguing about the male being childish, the male disagreeing strongly with the accusation, however being hypocritical about it through the shot of him in child’s clothing. This creates an ironic theme to the text, stressing the ideology that ‘females are always right’.

This shot also displays a large colouring pencil in the background with drawing on the wall. This displays a child-like theme because not only does the male dress like a child, but the mis-en-scene proves that the male is more like a child than an adult. This highlights the controversy between the couple, making the film more comical than romantic as we see the romance dying off.

The music presents an ironic theme to the trailer. This is because it is playing ‘The Lumineers- Ho Hey’, sharing the lyrics ‘I belong with you, you belong with me, you’re my sweetheart’. This is typical of a comedy genre because the couple clearly are not getting along as the male is irritating her. However, the lyrics express a different approach, making it funny for the audience to consume (if they pick up on the song compared to the situation/ plot of the film). Irony is a common factor of a comedy genre because the reality is the opposite of what’s being portrayed in the text, and the drama that irony portrays entertains people.

Another section of the trailer which further reinforces the comical side of the genre is that the woman, appearing iconic to that of one of the couple’s mothers, is playing with the man boobs of what looks to be her husband. Man boobs are boobs of which a man carries along with excess weight. This is comically entertaining because boys generally shouldn’t have boobs, and seeing a woman playing with a man’s boobs swaps the gender stereotypes over. The woman looms excited and happy as she plays with the man’s ‘moobs’, making the audience laugh at how entertained/ overexcited that the woman on the screen is. The whole concept of ‘moobs’ (men having boobs) gives a wide range of people a laugh, despite it becoming a common factor in our everyday life recently.

The binary opposite love/ hate is typical of a romance. This is because the couple start off loving each other, and then end up falling out. However, this could be iconic of a comedy as well because the fall out, in this case, is a funny fall out about the man being literally a child (made literal by the initial shot of the male wearing a nappy). This makes the audience chuckle at the fall out, rather than take it with all seriousness. The audience take what they’ve consumed with a pinch of salt and laugh it off, unlike the serious girlfriend, who has a problem with his behaviour. This shows the recognition of the disruption.

Another binary opposite presented in this trailer is child/ adult (maturity/immaturity). This is because whilst the girlfriend wants to be mature and have a loving, mature relationship, the boyfriend literally wants to behave like a child- much to the girlfriends’ dismay. This is iconic of a comedy because of the immaturity level exaggerated by the boyfriend. He’s not only immature, but he dresses very young too. It expresses the bildungsroman and how hard the boyfriend is finding it with the transition into an adult from a child. He isn’t just displayed to act childish; he is shown to emphasize this by dressing that way. This means that the audience are likely to laugh as this is not what is typical of a grown man.

Growing up is a major theme in the text. This is because the title is called ‘Grow up already’, exclaiming that one of the main protagonists needs to grow up and be mature, fast. The fact that the severe levels of immaturity are placing a barrier between the couple shows the importance of this theme. Without growing up, the couple will not last or get along.

Another major theme in the text is love. This is because the two main characters are in love, and there are hurdles that the two lovers can’t seem to jump. The kissing shots show how in love the couple are, and the plot is based around this loving couple. The close-up shots and shot/reverse shot show the connection between the pair emotionally, expressing love.