Medium close up two shot

The Breakfast Club (1985) Trailer Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI9Duq7-fZo

The trailer opens with a non-diagetic voice over, of which the speaker is then revealed within a medium close up shot. The audience is introduced to a middle-aged male through this, appearing dressed in suit attire; from this, the viewer can infer that he is a figure of authority. With the accompanying script and the power exuded, it is clear

that the male is a teacher overlooking students within detention - 'you have exactly eight hours and fifty-four minutes to ponder the error of your ways'. The youths undertaking the punishment are then shown to the consumer; the first to be captured

is a young adult male, who makes a joke in vain of the teacher. This suggests a rebellious persona which is also shown through his choice of footwear, heavy biker boots, resulting in the 'bad boy' aesthetic. A non-diegetic voice over later confirms that he is the stereotypical 'rebel'. Through the following medium close up shots, the audience are also introduced to 'a brain, a beauty,a jock' and 'a recluse'. These are all stock characters coventional to the 'coming of age' genre.

Comedy is a stock theme made apparent during the entirety of the trailer; the 'best bits', comedic diegetic dialect and clips, are cut in throughout. This is a typical convention of a trailer, as noted before within my research work; when creating my own promotional production I will be careful to plan and edit in scenes strongly depicting such themes. Love and friendship are alsosuggested subjects; in one scene we see the 'beauty' and the 'rebel' acting intimately. 'Coming of age' films normally cover a range of topics to emphasise character development and various experiences; this will allow Shannon and I to be creative when planning our own trailer. Following the introduction of protagonists, a soundtrack is cut in alongside the voice over. The music appears to be contemporary eighties pop leading to rock 'n' roll toward the end; the use of including music of the time shows the young adults to be cosmopolitan - a stereotypical trait associated with the younger generation who tend to be 'up to date' with modern culture. The rock 'n' roll music adds a flair of fun and hints at the rebellious behaviour of the individuals appearing within detention.

From 0:24 onwards, the viewer can begin to see the development of a storyline hinting at the plot of the film. The non-diegetic voice over continues to make a soundbridge over the footage, stating that 'before this day is over, they'll break the rules'. A medium close up shot capturing the 'beauty' protagonist smoking a cigarette coincides with these spoken words, acting as an example for breaking the rules. The female coughs, implying that she has not smoked before; this again relates to the earlier matter dicussed of new experiences being depicted within 'coming of age' films. The next statement spoken by the voice over is that the youths will 'bear

their souls' during the period of the day. Another medium close up

shot (notice the lack of varying shot types) shows the 'recluse' character admitting to 'a brain' that she is a nymphomanic; not only does it add comedic value through the males reply - 'are your parents aware of this?' - but relates to the conventional 'coming of age' stock theme of sex, thus, increasing appeal to the target audience. After this scene, the audience is shown, by two low angle wide shots, the 'rebel' falling through the ceiling; this is the production company, once again, showcasing the 'best bits' from the film itself. In the next clip, a two

Medium close up shot

Medium wide shot

Wide shot

shot tracking the 'beauty' and the 'rebel', we see the male commenting that 'being bad feels pretty good'. This strengthens his 'bad boy' depiction to enhance the stock character stereotype, appealing to the consumer; the younger generation are stereotypically shown to be rebellious, so viewers will be able to easily relate. Friendship is also a strong theme throughout the duration of the trailer; in one scene, illustrated through shot-reverse-shot medium close ups, we see a girl confess that she does 'not want to be alone

anymore'. In reply, the male tells her that she 'doesn't have to be'. Following this, the 'brain' protagonist male, confides in the group that he could view them as his friends; again, the trailer has edited in parts of the film that will appeal to the consumer by being easily related to (friendship). The genre is clear thoughout the promotional material and this is evident in

the voice over at 0:58 which claims that 'they only met once. but it changed their lives forever'. As said previously within my blog, 'coming of age' is a young persons transition; this means in some way, they develop/grow. By stating that

'their lives changed forever', a change/transition takes place within these individuals through the film - iconic to the genre choice.

The editing is kept simple throughout with a lack of transition use and inclusion of only three inter-titles - this however could be due to the dated production of the trailer. The first inter-title appears over footage stating the title of the film, with the sceond inter-title reestablishing this. Credits are spoken through the non-diegetic voice over and not shown on screen; this may have been the uniform editing style within trailers of the time.

Overall, I feel the trailer is successful in establishing the genre and themes within the film in order to attract the

desired consumer base. The script plays an important role within this particular promotional material, so when planning for our own trailer we must ensure this is an aspect that we do not overlook but in fact pay attention to. We will include a larger variety of shot types in order to gain audience attention, as I feel this trailer lacks in doing so. I like the way in which the characters are developed in the trailer and portray their stock character stereotypes.