Trailer Research

Romantic Comedy Trailers

Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason Trailer

Bridget Jones is a classic romantic comedy', in which thousands upon thousands of women can relate to which is why the film and the book that the film is based on is so popular.

As this is the sequel to the first Bridget Jones movie the film opens with the voiceover of Bridget Jones saying "another year another diary" convey the sense of 'we've been here before' the trailer then goes into it's first humorous scene and joke with an elderly upper class man; "the spotted dick rather finished me off actually" the trailer then moves forward with joke after joke and scene after scene. Until the non-characterised voice over starts with "Theres no-one quite like Bridget jones (pause. more humorous scenes) for taking a perfect situation (pause.more humorous scenes) and making it impossibly complicated" The film then climaxes with Bridget's problems which in the trailer she say's and then the trailer cuts to evidence of what she is saying for example: 

Bridget: "I can't ski"- cuts to Bridget falling of ski lift 

Birdget: "I embarass you" cuts to Birdget turning up to a party with a very red and blotchy complexion

Bridget: "and yes i will always be just a little bit fat"

The trailer for this film follows many conventions which are both familiar and sterotypical to the rom com genre.

What Happens in Vegas Trailer

What Happens in Vegas is another Romantic Comedy, made very popular by the target audience. in this film the two leading characters make a drunken mistake and get hitched in vegas after just meeting, they decide to divorce until leading male played by Ashton Kutcher wins the jackpot gambling... the trailer opens with  the leading female 'Joy' played by Cameron Diaz getting dumped by her now ex fiance and then the voiceover narrating the scene "Joy just got dumped" and then male role 'jack' getting sacked by his boss/dad both scenes have humorous punchlines which immediately draws the audience in to making them want to watch further; the voiceover carries on by saying "Jack just got canned". Cross cutting is then used going back and fourth from Joy to Jack as they realise that what they need is a trip to Vegas. fast forward to vegas and the trailer continues with drunken clips of 'Joy' sliding on a bar top and the two meeting for the first time; the voiceover continues with "They were strangers...looking for a night to remember" the punchline of the voiceover ends with "what they got was a morning after they'd never forget" as the two realise they got married. decide to divorce and then see Jack win $3,000,000 and Joy suddenly having a change hearts with the line"were married now remember" the trailer goes on to the court case where the jackpot is frozen and the two are given a 'months worth of marriage' the music changes to reflect the mood the trailer continues with scenes of marriage counselling, and pranks they pull on each-other to ensure they get the whole $3,000,000 when the voiceover continues "They had 3 million reasons to stay together...for better...or for worse" the music changes again as they apparently start falling for each-other.. predictable but wh cares?

Romantic Trailers

   Like Crazy Trailer               

Like Crazy is a traditional Romantic Film about two strangers falling in love an American Man and an English student that is until her visa runs out and she is forced back to England and without him being able to move to England they are force to start life again. the trailer begins with the two together and Jacob (male lead) asking Anna to read him a book the trailer then cuts and the music begins with "can't help falling in love with you" and Anna is used as a voiceover begins "I thought I understood it.. but i didn't" scenes cut of the couple having fun together on go-karts, shopping etc. "only the idea of it.. of you and me" more scenes of them at the beach, holding hands until the climax of the trailer when Jacob asks "What are we going to do when your visa runs out" and Anna answering "Don't think about it" the music ends briefly during the scene and then starts again when the trailer ends into decline and Anna heads back to England seen getting into a black cab. the couple ring each-other when they are apart both crying and after trying to bring Jacob to England the ultimatum is made "would it be easier if we saw other people when we were apart" and the voiceover then repeats "I thought I understood it but i didn't, not really" as the names of the actors cut through the closeup scenes and both Jacob and Anna are seen with new people "Only the smudginess of it.. the idea of it" and scenes of Jacob and Anna together are cut together again and the name of the film appears.

The Notebook trailer

The Notebook is often voted as one of the best romantic films and the trailer begins with the voiceover very fairytale like: "It was a magical summer Noah was a country boy Holly was from the city" as scenes of the two are cut together "they met at the night of the carnival" is then read but not as a voiceover but by an elderly man reading a book to his wife the trailer then cuts to the carnival and the voiceover carries on "they had nothing in common but after seeing holly that night something in Noah snapped" and he climbs the carnival wheel to ask Holly out otherwise he'll fall the trailer cuts to scenes of their date and them having fun cutting back to the elderly woman who asks "They fell in love didn't they" and answered "Yes they did" and more scenes of the couple in love are shown until Holly's mother bans her from seeing Noah "Your not to see him no more and thats final" the trailer then cuts to scenes of war and a voiceover begins "From the best selling novel by Nicholas Sparks" and Holly is seen falling and dating another man, who's (by the uniform) in the army  the voiceover continues "comes a story about what we long for , what we settle for and who we are meant for"  and Holly receives a proposal from the new man and agrees to marry him, whilst arguments with Noah continue as she visits him after seeing his face in a newspaper article and asking why she hasn't heard from him after she wrote to him where noah answers "I wrote to you everyday for a year" the film trailer then introduces the characters and the name of the film appears.