Analysis of “The Ugly Truth” trailer
“The Ugly Truth” is a typical Rom-com where Katherine Heigl stars as a lovelorn television producer who's made to run a gauntlet of romantic exploits by a pig-headed morning-show host, Mike Chadway (played by Gerard Butler) as a way to prove whose romantic methods are more accurate. As in traditions, the two characters end up falling for each other.
At the start of the trailer, we see Heigl’s character Abby, go on a date with a guy she has met on a dating site. This is clear to the audience as they talk about his profile and a background check she has done on him. This behaviour is comical due to the fact that she seems a tad crazy. The music that is played in this scene changes when Abby admits she printed out his profile. There is a further change in music when she calmly declares she had a background check on him. The change in music adds to the humour in this scene.
When Abby and Mike finally meet, they decide to bet on Abby’ lack of a relationship. This leads to a weird shopping trip, an embarrassing baseball game and some very unusual flirting lessons. These scenes and the one lined conversations appeal to the audience’s sense of humour.
Information about the film is given to us via the character’s dialogue as well as their actions. For example, Mike decides to give Abby a flirting lesson. She decides to turn this against him and it results in him being embarrassed. This snippet of a main scene show how hostile their relationship is as well as what type of film it is and how the film is going to be like.
From the trailer, I suspect the target audience are mainly women in their late 20s/early 30s but also men in the same age range. I also think that this film would appeal to people who like happy endings.
The actor’s names are spread throughout the end of the trailer. This is a very clever technique as it separates the different scenes as well as allowing the audience time to digest and get into what they are seeing. The name of the film is presented to the audience at the very end with a very stereotypical cartoon of what both genders think with. This image reinforces the genre of the film.
This film also has a very unique selling point with their main male actor, Gerard Butler. Butler usually plays a very physically demanding action role such as his part in “Gamer”. This change gives the film a new audience via Butler as it is an unexpected role for him.
01/10/09 - Poster Analysis
These two posters were used recently to market “The Ugly Truth”. The first poster is obviously a teaser poster, due to the fact the there is no release date. This poster may of have been found in cinemas/theatres. It may have even been broadcast on the internet, a main part to the start of a film marketing campaign. The second poster also doesn’t have a specific release date. This may be a clever marketing scheme or again, a teaser poster. In my opinion, I think that this poster would of have been seen in billboards, cinemas, cabs, on the sides of telephones booths as well as in newspapers and in train stations.
One of the main differences between the two posters is that the first one is a drawing whilst the second is an actual physical picture of the two main actors. This contrast gives the posters two very unique looks, something which most posters for the same film fail to do.
Unlike the first poster, the second one shows the names of people that were involved behind the scenes, such as producers, musicians and directors of photography. Unfortunately, the font, size and colour almost make it impossible to read unless you zoom in a great deal. This may be due to the fact it may of have been in massive billboard. If it wasn’t, the marketing team should of have reconsidered this.
Some matching points in both posters include the position of the hearts, where the actors are and the size, colour and font of the title and the actor’s names. The position of the hearts connotes a stereotype of men and women. The fact that this is used insinuates what the genre could be – comedy.
“The Ugly Truth” has a very unique USP with their main male actor Gerard Butler. In this film, Butler is playing outside his norm. By using Butler, the film is able to widen its target audience.
The mise-en-scene used in the second poster includes the red hearts, the red dress and the smart clothing. The red dress can imply love, a recurring theme in this film. By using the red dress, the marketers can aim their film at men as they use an attractive actress. To me, the smart clothing could suggest that the characters have a very professional job.
12/10/09 - Film Magazine Analysis
Empire and Sight and Sound are two well known film magazines available in the UK. Empire is more mainstream and well known magazine than Sight and Sound. Both mastheads are in red but Empire is a brighter red. The red contrasting with the background colour would make the magazine stand out further in a stand whilst ‘Sight and Sound’ would blend in as the masthead is slightly too small.
On top of Empire’s sell line, “James Bond is back” is written in bold. James Bond is a very famous character in well known films with millions of fans worldwide. “Quantum of Solace”, a recent film, is written in a font which can be associated James Bond. This association would attract fans and encourage them in buying the magazine. Sight and Sound have “Murder in Mind” as their main sell line. The bold orange stands out from the image however it is written in a very boring font so the magazine wouldn’t stand out that much.
In both magazines, their images are from the films. This can be that they want to show the actors playing their parts. Sight and Sound’s image is more effective in my opinion due to the way the actors are positions in the two shot.
Twilight like James Bond are very popular books and films. By using these films as sell lines Empire can attract their fans to the magazine. Sight and Sound on the other hand, use sell lines like information about the Cannes Film Festival and Joan of Arc. These sell lines are not as interesting as those in Empire and are written in a boring font and bold colours. Empire uses a few words to describe their sell line in a much bolder font. This is more effective than Sight and Sound.
In my opinion, I think that the target audience for Empire are 18 to 30 year old males whilst Sight and Sound’s target audience are slightly older. This is because Sight and Sound have a very plain and boring front cover compared to Empire whose front cover is more interesting and stands out more.
Both magazines have a house style. Empire’s masthead is placed in the same place in the same coloured font, size and colour. The layout of the sell lines are also similar buy not the same. Sight and Sound’s layout is practically the same through each issue. This would allow readers to recognise the magazine easily on a magazine stand. - Pitch
Analysis of “The Ugly Truth” trailer
“The Ugly Truth” is a typical Rom-com where Katherine Heigl stars as a lovelorn television producer who's made to run a gauntlet of romantic exploits by a pig-headed morning-show host, Mike Chadway (played by Gerard Butler) as a way to prove whose romantic methods are more accurate. As in traditions, the two characters end up falling for each other.
At the start of the trailer, we see Heigl’s character Abby, go on a date with a guy she has met on a dating site. This is clear to the audience as they talk about his profile and a background check she has done on him. This behaviour is comical due to the fact that she seems a tad crazy. The music that is played in this scene changes when Abby admits she printed out his profile. There is a further change in music when she calmly declares she had a background check on him. The change in music adds to the humour in this scene.
When Abby and Mike finally meet, they decide to bet on Abby’ lack of a relationship. This leads to a weird shopping trip, an embarrassing baseball game and some very unusual flirting lessons. These scenes and the one lined conversations appeal to the audience’s sense of humour.
Information about the film is given to us via the character’s dialogue as well as their actions. For example, Mike decides to give Abby a flirting lesson. She decides to turn this against him and it results in him being embarrassed. This snippet of a main scene show how hostile their relationship is as well as what type of film it is and how the film is going to be like.
From the trailer, I suspect the target audience are mainly women in their late 20s/early 30s but also men in the same age range. I also think that this film would appeal to people who like happy endings.
The actor’s names are spread throughout the end of the trailer. This is a very clever technique as it separates the different scenes as well as allowing the audience time to digest and get into what they are seeing. The name of the film is presented to the audience at the very end with a very stereotypical cartoon of what both genders think with. This image reinforces the genre of the film.
This film also has a very unique selling point with their main male actor, Gerard Butler. Butler usually plays a very physically demanding action role such as his part in “Gamer”. This change gives the film a new audience via Butler as it is an unexpected role for him.
01/10/09 - Poster Analysis
These two posters were used recently to market “The Ugly Truth”. The first poster is obviously a teaser poster, due to the fact the there is no release date. This poster may of have been found in cinemas/theatres. It may have even been broadcast on the internet, a main part to the start of a film marketing campaign. The second poster also doesn’t have a specific release date. This may be a clever marketing scheme or again, a teaser poster. In my opinion, I think that this poster would of have been seen in billboards, cinemas, cabs, on the sides of telephones booths as well as in newspapers and in train stations.
One of the main differences between the two posters is that the first one is a drawing whilst the second is an actual physical picture of the two main actors. This contrast gives the posters two very unique looks, something which most posters for the same film fail to do.
Unlike the first poster, the second one shows the names of people that were involved behind the scenes, such as producers, musicians and directors of photography. Unfortunately, the font, size and colour almost make it impossible to read unless you zoom in a great deal. This may be due to the fact it may of have been in massive billboard. If it wasn’t, the marketing team should of have reconsidered this.
Some matching points in both posters include the position of the hearts, where the actors are and the size, colour and font of the title and the actor’s names. The position of the hearts connotes a stereotype of men and women. The fact that this is used insinuates what the genre could be – comedy.
“The Ugly Truth” has a very unique USP with their main male actor Gerard Butler. In this film, Butler is playing outside his norm. By using Butler, the film is able to widen its target audience.
The mise-en-scene used in the second poster includes the red hearts, the red dress and the smart clothing. The red dress can imply love, a recurring theme in this film. By using the red dress, the marketers can aim their film at men as they use an attractive actress. To me, the smart clothing could suggest that the characters have a very professional job.
12/10/09 - Film Magazine Analysis
Empire and Sight and Sound are two well known film magazines available in the UK. Empire is more mainstream and well known magazine than Sight and Sound. Both mastheads are in red but Empire is a brighter red. The red contrasting with the background colour would make the magazine stand out further in a stand whilst ‘Sight and Sound’ would blend in as the masthead is slightly too small.
On top of Empire’s sell line, “James Bond is back” is written in bold. James Bond is a very famous character in well known films with millions of fans worldwide. “Quantum of Solace”, a recent film, is written in a font which can be associated James Bond. This association would attract fans and encourage them in buying the magazine. Sight and Sound have “Murder in Mind” as their main sell line. The bold orange stands out from the image however it is written in a very boring font so the magazine wouldn’t stand out that much.
In both magazines, their images are from the films. This can be that they want to show the actors playing their parts. Sight and Sound’s image is more effective in my opinion due to the way the actors are positions in the two shot.
Twilight like James Bond are very popular books and films. By using these films as sell lines Empire can attract their fans to the magazine. Sight and Sound on the other hand, use sell lines like information about the Cannes Film Festival and Joan of Arc. These sell lines are not as interesting as those in Empire and are written in a boring font and bold colours. Empire uses a few words to describe their sell line in a much bolder font. This is more effective than Sight and Sound.
In my opinion, I think that the target audience for Empire are 18 to 30 year old males whilst Sight and Sound’s target audience are slightly older. This is because Sight and Sound have a very plain and boring front cover compared to Empire whose front cover is more interesting and stands out more.
Both magazines have a house style. Empire’s masthead is placed in the same place in the same coloured font, size and colour. The layout of the sell lines are also similar buy not the same. Sight and Sound’s layout is practically the same through each issue. This would allow readers to recognise the magazine easily on a magazine stand.
- Pitch
24/10/09 - Questionnaire
9/11/09 - Questionnaire analysis
11/11/09 - Genre Research
- Road Trip
- Film
03/12/09 - Group Seminar Presentation
14/12/09 - Mock Film Magazine Front Cover
Mock Film Poster
16/12/09 -
11/02/10 - Storyboard