Trailer Analysis - Life of Pi

'Life of Pi' became a hugely successful film, due to its critical acclaim and success at the Oscars, being nominated for many Oscars including Best Picture. However, even if it wasn't subject to such critical acclaim, the trailer for the film may well have still carried it to success, as it is a very strong trailer. The film itself probably would have been hard to make a strong trailer for, as the basic plotline of the film is that the protagonist is stuck in a boat with a tiger for the majority of the film. The difficulty in making a trailer for this is that it is generally a philosophical film and the beauty of it isn't in exciting action set pieces or sweeping romances like many other films rely on, so it is harder to filter the footage that would make it look exciting. The style of the film also attracts a relatively small demographic, so it would be hard to try and widen this demographic as much as possible through the trailer. Despite this, the trailer was hugely successful and very well put together, so I have chosen to analyse it for research purposes.

One of the main strengths of this trailer lies in the choices of music. There are two pieces of music in it, the first is 'Sæglópur' by Sigur Rós and the second is 'Paradise' by Coldplay. They both play key roles in the success of the trailer. 'Sæglópur', interestingly, actually starts playing before the first visual of the trailer, establishing the mood of the trailer before the visuals have even started. Although only a couple of quick notes are played before the first shot fades in, it still makes the trailer seem calm and laid back - the equilibrium before the disruption. The first shot fading in helps this effect and the overall atmosphere in the first few seconds is very peaceful. 'Sæglópur' sounds both exotic and peaceful, with an uplifting, almost ethereal vocalist making it seem almost heavenly. This supports the vibrant visuals of India, especially as when the vocals start it cuts to a shot of orange candles on a lake - obviously some sort of religious ceremony. The mixture of these visuals and the music works incredibly well in establishing a peaceful atmosphere that makes it even more shocking when that atmosphere is broken. Remarkably, instead of breaking the peace with a heavy, orchestral score, it is broken with no music whatsoever. The boat sinking is simply shown with the sound effects of the storm and the boat which is  certainly effective enough. At one point the protagonist dives under water and it goes incredibly quiet, like the sound that is normally heard underwater. Simply by stopping the music, the trailer is able to evoke strong feelings of shock and horror. However, what I feel is the most effective use of music in this trailer is the next track - 'Paradise' - that plays for the remainder of the trailer. Not only is the song relevant to the visuals, which look like a stunning paradise, but it is also a very successful and popular song. Fans of Coldplay would flock to see the film simply because they were excited to see their music in the trailer of a film. Many people associate popular music with particular memories, so by using it, the trailer draws on the happy memories of the audience, and by extension causes the trailer itself to be associated with happy memories, making those people want to see the film. It is an extremely clever use of music in a trailer for advertisement. Using Coldplay's music would also get the film publicity because they used Coldplay, so many people would hear about the film because they heard that Coldplay was involved. The song also has a creative benefit as well as an advertising benefit as it heightens the power and strength of the climax of the trailer. It works incredibly well at moments like at 1:38, where the four  distinct beats are timed to four words that appear onscreen - a technique that is used numerous times over the course of the trailer. The music is both epic and ethereal, two attributes that make it perfect for the trailer. The strong beats that generally go with the words display the epic quality, whilst in between them the music is slightly ethereal, making the story seem like a magnificent exciting story, but also one of wonder. 

This would not work, however, if it was not for the strong visuals that support the music. Arguably one of the strongest features about 'Life of Pi' is the vibrant, powerful cinematography that is in almost every shot, and this is demonstrated beautifully in the trailer. There is not one weak shot in the entire trailer. The shot at 1:26 immediately justifies the song choice of 'Paradise' as the shot is simply magnificent. Equally, the final shot at 2:20 is beautiful and showcases the film's incredible visual effects work. It is the perfect shot to end on, as the audience will be lost in wonder by the end. It is clear from this that when working on my trailer, I need to make sure that every single shot is a masterpiece in its own right. For any trailer to stand a chance of being noticed the visuals need to be fantastic, and so this is something I'll really have to work on. The shots not only need to look good, but they also need to look very professional, as any amateur-looking shots will make the production value of the film fall dramatically. I also need to prepare some 'show-stopping' looking shots, that could grab an audience member on its own. By this I mean shots of a similar ilk to the final shot of the 'Life of Pi' trailer. Although these will be hard to achieve, I think that if we take our time on a few exquisite shots then it'll dramatically improve the quality of the entire trailer. The trailer for 'Life of Pi' also shows how essential the choice of music can be in deciding the strength of a trailer. It depends very heavily on music, and I will do a lot of analysis on pieces of music in order to make sure that this aspect of the trailer is perfect. The music here works much better than in 'Django Unchained', as it never dips in volume to allow a character to deliver a line, but instead keeps accelerating the trailer forwards towards its climactic ending.