Trailer Analysis - Django Unchained

The 'Django Unchained' trailer is another style of trailer that has a very unique feel to it. From a filmmaking perspective it must have been hard to create a conventional trailer for a genre that has become very uncommon. There are few Western films being released nowadays, so when creating the trailer the filmmakers would have had to start from scratch. The trailer starts with a cut down version of the opening few scenes, which is conventional of many trailers, however this opening lasts almost a whole minute - almost half the trailer. This is highly unconventional, as most films consider any amount of time in a trailer valuable selling time. By having such a long introduction, the fast paced part of the trailer seems even faster, working in the film's favour as it looks even more action packed later on. For the most part, the trailer is split into three sections - the introductory opening scene which lasts from 0:00 to 0:57, the explanation of the general premise which lasts from 0:57 to 1:37 and finally the climactic, fast-paced ending which covers the rest of the trailer. To some extent, this structure follows Tzvetan Todorov's theory of narrative which suggests conventional narratives are structured in five stages - equilibrium, disruption of the equilibrium, recognition of the disruption, an attempt to repair the disruption and a reinstatement of the equilibrium. Of course, the trailer does not follow the theory of narrative all the way to the final step, as it does not want to give the ending away, but the first four steps are presented clearly. The equilibrium is established from 0:00 to 0:50, in which it establishes Django as a slave, but this is disrupted at 0:51 when he is set free and told that he will help kill some criminals and find his wife. This disruption is recognised between 0:57 and 1:37, where they talk about what the disruption is and what they're going to do about it. The rest of the trailer shows in flashes the attempt to repair the disruption, which takes over the rest of the trailer, as is conventional for a film trailer. It does not show the reinstatement of the equilibrium however, as that would give away huge spoilers for the end of the film.

A key part of a successful trailer is establishing the mood and tone of the film, as this will be vital in determining the audience of the film. The tone that this trailer gives off is that it's a fun, gunslinging roller-coaster of a film, and this comes mainly from the music that starts playing at 0:54. The loud music on trumpets as well as the singer joyously screaming in the background gives it a fast, fun pace. To heighten this mood, the music sometimes dips in volume to make way for a witty one-liner, which would be distracting in a more serious trailer, but here it just adds to the fun of it. The tag line also adds to this: 'Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Vengeance' - this is taken from the Declaration of Independence, but in the Declaration it is the Pursuit of Happiness. By doing this the film is showing that it is doing a fun spin on a serious topic. On the other hand, it could be taken as a satirical look at the origins of American society, which is based on the ideas of freedom and liberty, and yet in its early years (when the film is based), it was created using slavery. 'Django Unchained' is a film that deals with  this slavery, so by using this line, it is highlighting the inequalities in the society of the time. This line is therefore both humorous and meaningful, showing that the film is more than just the fun action film that it shows on the surface. Through this it appeals to a wide audience - it attracts both people just wanting a good time and people who want to see an acclaimed, meaningful film.

Although lowering the volume to hear the one liners does add to the mood of the trailer by making it seem fun, I also think that it prevents the ending of the trailer being as fast paced and exciting as it could be. At 1:39 there is a one liner and then the music kicks in again in an even more exciting way than before, but the moment is killed off less than 10 seconds later with another line. It then kicks off again on another epic ending style piece of music after that line, but again it is killed off less than ten seconds later by another line. This stop-start nature of the final minute makes the trailer very jarred and stops it getting going and having a fully exciting ending. I find this very frustrating, as I want the end of the trailer to be an exciting, non-stop thrill ride, yet it denies that of the viewer. This could put the viewer off watching the whole film, as they may think that the film never gets a decent climax and that there are one-liners every few seconds. So this is something which I need to learn from for my own trailer; that when it gets towards the end, it needs to cut down on the talking and just let the visuals speak more. At the moment I am erring towards making an action film trailer, and from these examples that I have analysed, action films tend to have a very exciting ending, so I need to make sure that I do not rob the viewers of this ending in the same way that I think the 'Django Unchained' trailer does. However, the one-liners do seem very cool and make the trailer seem a lot more exciting, so I think that I'll have to devise some suitable one-liners. They work very well just before big climaxes in trailers; I have seen from this trailer that just before each crescendo of the music there is a one-liner that kicks it off, which is very effective, so I'll be sure to include this in my trailer.