Media Homework - Analysis of Genre within a Trailer

The Social Network Trailer - Genre Analysis


The film is a hybrid genre. It is a hybrid of a Legal Drama and a Biopic centering around the life of Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.

David Fincher directed the Social Network. This is typical of the Drama genre as most of his Filmography is Drama movies. However, the film uses a lot of unconventional acting. Jesse Eisenberg, Andrew Garfield and Justin Timberlake all have acting credits that are mostly comedies or lighter roles. The use of unconventional actors within the drama genre signifies that the director is attempting to create intrigue within the audience by casting actors in a new light.

The film features a score that is a recreated of the Radiohead song 'Creep'. The song is melancholic, sad and dramatic. This is very conventional of the Drama genre. The use of the piano instead of the original songs guitar based music is also significant as it makes the film seem more emotive and serious in tone, that being typical of the Drama genre. As the editing and the pace of the trailer increases, the song becomes louder and more climatic, mirroring the rise in action within the trailer, making it feel as though the entire trailer is leading to a climax, and then leaving it hanging to create suspense and an urge to see what's next.

Many of the films characters prominently wear suits and formal clothing, this is typical of the Legal Drama in particular as a suit has heavy connotations of formality, authority and legal procedures. However, a character that is not seen wearing a suit often is Mark Zuckerberg, perhaps implying that this character is someone who is surrounded by legal issues while he has a more laid back mindset. This suggests that the film is unconventional in the fact that main character is disinterested in legal issues in a legal drama. This iconography is conventional of the Legal Drama yet when contrasted with the main characters costume it can be seen as an unconventional twist on the Drama genre.

The trailer presents many themes and binary oppositions. One binary opposition is 'Friendship vs. Business'. At the start of the trailer, Eduardo and Mark appear to be quite close. However, as the trailer continues and Mark's business in Facebook continues to grow, Eduardo and Mark can be seen arguing and being hostile towards each other, suggesting that business has come between the two characters. Friendship is a theme that is explored in the trailer. There is a close up of the Facebook button "Add as Friend". This is a clear example of a visual signifier that informs the audience that the film will have themes of Friendship. The theme of friendship is shown throughout the trailer as the effect of Marks business become clear on his and Eduardo's friendship.