Dear John Trailer Analysis

Dear John shows the conventions of a generic love genre the main female role, played by Amanda Seyfried, is a damsel in distress in the start of the trailer, which is a stock character in the love genre. The main male role, played by Channing Tatum, is the hero as he jumps into the ocean to get her bag. As he comes out of the ocean to give her back her bag it is in slow motion, which is an effect, used frequently in this genre.  It is later established that he is a part of the army/military which portrays him as an American hero which is another stock character used in the love genre.

There are a lot of close up shots, point of view shots and over the shoulder shots that positions the audience closer to the characters.  The fact that Channing Tatum is the main character suggests that this film is aimed at girls because Channing Tatum is a sex symbol and a lot of teenaged girls would have a crush on him, also the casting of Amanda Seyfried would mean this film is aimed at young girls due to other films she’s been in such as Letters to Juliet and Mean Girls which are considered “chick flicks”.

The trailer suggests that the film follows the expected conventions of a love genre but the name of the film suggests a twist due to the fact that “Dear John letters” meant break up letters during the time of the world war, which suggests an inevitable break up between the main characters. The use of the name john makes it easy for the audience to relate to due to how generic the name john is.

The settings in this trailer are used often in romance films, for example the beach the airport and kissing in the rain, this suggests a very basic film therefore it would appeal to the mainstream audience another example that this would appeal to the mainstream audience is the fact that the film is based on a Nicholas Sparks novel and considering that the Notebook (another film based off a Nicholas Sparks novel) which was a big hit, suggests this film would be to which would give the mainstream audience expectations to be met.

The trailer adds a sad scene, which is the father in hospital, this gives the audience expectations such as his father being in hospital brings him home from the military. Also other films suggest that the girl would comfort him in this time and it would bring them either back together or closer than before.  Another reason this would be expected is because the female lead says “I like your dad I can tell he loves you even if you cant” this suggests she comforts him when the male lead is regretting not spending more time with his dad.

There seems to be a soft tone affect used through out the trailer and soft colours such as pink, lavender etc. this creates connotations of love and romance which are portrayed by the characters, the music used in the trailer coincides with the actors on the screen the lyrics said “I lay down” as the female character lay down on the bed, another time where this happens is in the hospital however it is not the lyrics that coincide it is the tone of the music, this shot is also one of the few shots that is darker than the rest, most shots the characters are in light even at night the characters are in the moonlight this gives a happy bright tone like its always sunny.