Genre Essay

The film trailer that I have chosen to analyse is John Green's 'The Fault In Our Stars.'

The genre of The fault in our stars (TFIOS) can be classed as being three different types; romance, comedy and drama.

Plot: the plot of  The fault in our stars is; that seventeen year old Hazel Grace Lancaster has been forced to attend a support group for people like her who have cancer. She reluctantly goes to the support group meetings and catches the eye of another teenage boy called Augustus Waters - who is there to support his best friend Isaac. Augustus does not have cancer anymore, however he used to but is now in remission. After the meeting, he confronts Hazel and tells her that she looks beautiful. The two go back to his house and watch a movie and share their stories of their cancer, we find out that Augustus had to have one of his legs amputated. The pair get to know each other and agree to read the other's favourite book, Later on in the trailer we see their friendship turn into something else, as their intense feelings of love become clear as he brings her flowers, takes her to dinner and declares his love for her in a beautiful speech whilst in an expensive restaurant in Amsterdam. after this we see a fast paced series of clips where we see the two experience a vast array of emotions. the trailer ends as it begun, with Hazel laying down on the floor looking up at the stars and talking to the audience, 

Iconography: used in a romance film is that they are commonly set in parks, a restaurant or romantic cities, such as Amsterdam. Kissing is also a feature of iconography in a romantic comedy film, the two main characters end up kissing after a big build-up of romantic tension and often happens at the perfect time – in this case, at the top of the Anne Frank house in Amsterdam.  Another common feature of iconography in romantic films are flowers, in the trailer we see main character Augustus Waters walking behind Hazel carrying a bunch of red flowers, red also being the colour associated with love.  A key element of the drama genre in iconography is real life issues being used, in the trailer we see a young teenage girl and boy falling for each other, whilst dealing with one of the most heart breaking illnesses – cancer. This element of realness makes it easier to identify and relate to the protagonists. Most dramas have a set structure in which everything is alright and positive, then something goes wrong and there is a huge disturbance, then finally everything is either alright or ends in disaster. In the trailer we see both Hazel and Gus start of alright, then towards the end we see shots of them crying. The genre of comedy is shown by one of the characters throwing eggs at a car, which is a classic device used in comedy films.

Mise-en-scene:  the costume worn by the characters is casual and informal throughout most of the trailer, apart from when they are dressed formally in a restaurant. We see Hazel with an oxygen tube attached to her due to her illness, this also suggests how strong their romantic feelings towards each other are, as we see them in an intimate scene where she s in her underwear and has her oxygen tube on, showing her vulnerability, and the fact that he still looks at her with a vast amount of love. The lighting used in the trailer is bright and colourful to signify romance and happiness; there is however, an exception to this. The trailer opens with a close up shot of Hazel, here the lighting is dark, she is outside and it is presumably night time due to the lighting being so dark and not illuminated. The use of a close up shot helps us to see the emotion on her face, this also helps us to see her true feelings when talking to Augustus as we cans see the look of love on her face, which is classic in most romance films. Over the shoulder shots are used when the two main characters are having a conversation, this helps us to establish a feel of empathy and relatability with Hazel, as we are looking over her shoulder, this also helps us to see the same distance and view what she is seeing.  Reverse shots are used to show a conversation between the characters in most scenes.  Despite her illness, we see Hazel out and about like normal teenagers would be, this shows us that the illness doesn’t prevent her from having a normal, and happy life.  Flashbacks are used in the form of a montage to create the  trailer, we are being told the story of Hazel and Augustus, also, the trailer begins and ends with the same equilibrium of Hazel lying on the floor outside talking to the audience

Setting: as the trailer is done in the form of a montage, we see different clips of the film, meaning that we see different settings. The main settings for this film are; the hospital, home, Amsterdam, garden, and the restaurant. The setting is very important when it comes to analyzing drama as we wouldn't expect to see for example a sci-fi movie taking place on a beach. The garden, and restaurant connote with the genre of romance. whereas the scenes that take place in the home of either Gus or Hazel, or the hospital, are extremely dramatic and a lot of fast paced shots and close ups are used to portray high aspects of emotion and drama. 

Music/sound:  the music in the trailer is, ‘what I wouldn't do –what I wouldn't do’ by Serena Ryder, and ‘is that what you wanted’ by One Republic’.  The song ‘what I wouldn't do is a very slow paced song which fits the romantic feel to the trailer perfectly. The song changes into ‘is that what you wanted’ after Hazel says the words “Gus I’m a grenade.”  The second song used is much more dramatic and fits with the dramatic speech made by Augustus and the intense montage of shots shown.  The trailer opens with a voice over from Hazel; we get this throughout the trailer, but mostly at the beginning when she is explaining about herself and her life. This immediately gives us a bond with the main character as not only is she the first person we are introduced to, but we get to hear her thoughts, which no one else does.  

Stars and directors: the two main characters in this film are Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort. Shailene was more well-known than Ansel before TFIOS, however the two have become increasingly popular since the film was released. They have also acted alongside each other in previous film ‘Divergent’ so they have chemistry and act well together. The director of this film, is Josh Boone, he isn't well known and this is only his second film that he has directed. It can be said that the director is the most important person in a film. This can be said for many different reasons such as; they help the actors deliver their performance, they use camera angle and editing to emphasize something.