Features of a gangster film trailer;‘The Godfather’

• What I’ve noticed is that most trailers start off by showing the logo of the production company used to create the movie. ‘The Godfather’ was produced my Paramount Pictures which is a well known conglomerate and is part of ‘The Big 6’. This already tells me that there’s a lot of money put into creating the film so I expect everything to be good quality.

Production company

Introduction of characters• In the first few frames of the trailer the main characters and those of importance are shown. Its usually the main character who is first shown.

• We also discover that there is a voice over throughout most of the trailer of a man summarising what the films about.

Genre of film is introduced• Elements of what a gangster film would have are started to show, for example a gun. It lets the audience know that there’s going to be conflict in the film.

• It also lets the audience gain an insight of what kind of characters are included in the film.

Blank screens • Blank screens are used to build tension for the audience as well as speeding up the events that happen in the trailer• This is effective because it gives the trailer a sight edgy vibe to it.

Settings • Things such as rooms and buildings are started to be shown about 20 seconds in. This helps us know what kind of atmosphere the characters stay in.

• It also helps the audience understand what’s going on better.

Production company• The production

company of the movie is shown again.

• The reason for this

could be to credit the people behind the movie and to remind the viewers who produced it.

Conflict • In this frame, there are two men who are angry and arguing about something. This is where the conflict/dilemma of the film is introduced in detail.

• This helps the audience know a bit about the plot of the film and helps them decide whether they want to see it or not.

Death• Another element of what a gangster movie would include is shown in this frame, which is murder.

• This is however shown as a flashback and the chronological order of things make the film more interesting.

Memories • In this scene, there is another flashback which is of a wedding. In this the people seem more happy.

• This shifts the mood in the film and sets a lighter, happier atmosphere which could state that the film isn’t completely negative.

Cigars • Cigars were commonly smoked in the 1970s. The use of this sets the time of the film and helps the audience understand around what time the film was produced.

• Cigars were commonly smoke by wealthy people so that also gives us an idea on the men’s social background and status.

Name of film • The last frame shows the name of the movie and the writer of it.

• This could be reminding the audience what the name of the film is.