MOVIE TRAILER ANALYSIS ABOUT TIME

TIM IND

Film title: About time Director: Richard Curtis Editor: Mark Day Initial release date: September 6, 2013 Production Company: Working Title Genre: Rom-com/Sci-fi Stars: Domhnall Gleeson, Rachel McAdams, Bill Nighy, Tom Hollander ,Margot Robbie Filming locations: Cornwall, United Kingdom ,London, England, United Kingdom Film rating: 12A Distributor: Universal Budget: $35 million/ 22.5 million

Plot: At the age of 21, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time. The night after another unsatisfactory New Year party, Tim's father (Bill Nighy) tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Tim can't change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own lifeso he decides to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend. However, when he accidentally erases the timeline, he must try and win her over again.

Sourced from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/About_Time_(2013_film)

Editing
In the about time trailer, the shots are very much sped up in order to get to important parts also to keep the viewer interested and wanting to see more. The shots are sped up to show different aspects of the film ,in the about time trailer we see the marriage at the end of Tim and Mary which fits in with the general conventions of a romance film ending in a much like fairytale happily ever after ending, this also complies with Todorovs theory of narratology in which the marriage scene we see right at the end of trailer is the new state of equilibrium. This screen shot was taken from the about time trailer, this is an example of special effects used to demonstrate time travel as Tim goes back in time to change an event that happened for his pleasure. The pacing of the cuts, in this case lots of cuts(jump cuts in particular) imply a faster and more exciting film for the audience, this is also a common convention and recognised in move trailers. Within editing time travel is shown in the trailer through the use of cross dissolving transitions , a change in the sound/music to a more distort unknown sound which helps create the effect off an uneasy feeling and not knowing what to expect and also through rewinds and reversing of the trailer footage to create the flashback effect, this has been done very well as it smooth and effective through continuous editing. Cover lines are included through editing, these inform the audience over and over again about the feel of the film and they also break up the scenes, this is good editing when used to create a bridge from one scene to a scene much later in the film.
Voice over's and text is used to tell the audience relevant information and breaks up the visual imagery. They are good to break up the trailer and give the eyes a rest from the rapid changes of scenery and shots.

Special effects were used to show time travel, this blurry screenshot was taken mid time travel.

Narrative
At the age of 21, Tim Lake (Domhnall Gleeson) discovers he can travel in time. The night after another unsatisfactory New Year party, Tim's father (Bill Nighy) tells his son that the men in his family have always had the ability to travel through time. Tim can't change history, but he can change what happens and has happened in his own life so he decides to make his world a better place by getting a girlfriend. However, when he accidentally erases the timeline, he must try and win her over again Plot Summary This trailer gives a lot of the story away which is quite unusual in a trailer however it is a very good trailer as it generally does leave you wanting to know more. The trailer shows 3 clear stages and a clear structure to the film, the beginning, middle, and end. The beginning we can see is where Tim is with a girl at a new years party, this is the stage of equilibrium which complies with Todorovs theory ,in where everything is normal and ok but has a awkward feeling about it, shortly after this is where Tim discovers his powers of time travel and uses it to change what happened at the new years party, following Todorovs theory this is now the disruption stage of narrative where that state of equilibrium has been disrupted by an event (time travel). Now coming to the main body of the narrative, Tim has already been using his time travel powers wildly for his own pleasure, this now leads to a horrible event in where we see a car crash and followed by funeral like pictures dark clothing and lighting used to create a dull, depressing atmosphere, this is now the recognition stage of Todorovs theory where Tim realizes that his Mis use of time travel has now consequences. Now this is still the main body of the narrative but it leads to the repair stage of narrative of Todorovs theory where in which Tim has to go back in time to repair the damage what caused the death of his farther as we are made aware in the trailer, but here another effect takes a turn for the worst while trying to repair the incident he accidently erases the time period in which Tim had with Mary so when he meets her she is unaware of there relationship or even of Tims name. Finally we come to the end of the narrative and story in where we reach the stage of new equilibrium this is where we see the marriage of Tim and Mary and finish on a happy ending very much the conventions of a romantic comedy film. The narrative of the film also complies with Levi Strauss's theory of opposites in binary form he believed narratives were based on opposites, this is shown In the film as time travel in the film is shown to be good as it helps Tim change his life. However it can been as bad as he finds out about his future and cant change it for his family. This leaves him in a dilemma. This is a clear indication of good vs. evil.

Marriage New state of equilibrium (ending)

New State of equilibrium start

Car crash- recognition stage of Todorovs theory

Media Language
Camera- variety of camera angles are used to make the trailer more exciting and pleasing for the eye. Two shot here is used to show a close relationship of father and son. The lighting in the background is white which portrays purity and creates a good hearty atmosphere. A wide angled shot is used to fit in all of the characters, the lighting is more dimmed in this shot showing a sense of intimacy as we see Tim kiss a women at the party .lots of non diegetic up beat backing music is played to create a lively happy atmosphere which is normally real for romantic comedies. In one part of the trailer we see people dressed in black attending a funeral also we see a car crash here music is very depressing and there is very little dialogue in order to create a depressing very dull atmosphere also the voice of the mother and son changes to a more broken lifeless voice to show a sense of heart break and pain. A red dress is worn at the end of the trailer at a wedding this is not the traditional white wedding dress, red represents love but also danger as a lot had to be done to get to this point in the relationship and also suggests that free will and love are things not to be tampered with. In the 4th screen shot on the right, we see a mid shot of Mary, the lighting is very bright that lights her up suggesting the purity and beauty of Mary, also the other people in the shot are blurred out so the only focus is on Mary much like Tims life at the current stage.

GENRE

About time is a romantic-comedy therefore a hybrid or cross genre. The film fits in with many of the conventions of a romance as colors such as red and white are very much used throughout the film. The use of props such as roses also are significant for love. In the trailer voice over's and titles are displayed with the words its about love again reinforcing the romantic side of the film. Also the trailer leads us to a wedding scene of Tim and Mary so very much fits in with the conventions of a romantic film having a much like fairytale happily ever after ending. Comedy is also very evident throughout the trailer, at the start we see the awkwardness of Tim at a new years eve party as he is not sure about what is happening as they go in for a kiss he quickly puts his hand out for a hand shake which when watching is quite comical. Throughout the trailer Tim and Mary are flirtatious and very close by using jokes against one another, an example would be when Tim says you have my mothers name and Mary has a very funny facial expression with the reply I remind you of your mother which

Audience
The audience for About time would more than likely be a quadrant audience in my eyes, meaning young, old, male, female. This is because the film only has a certificate of a 12A meaning it can be watched by young people accompanied by an adult, also that having watched the trailer I would go and see the film myself although it being a romantic comedy which is more favourable by females. However saying that I would say that the majority of people that will watch the film will be females aged between 14-50 as romantic comedies are more popular with the female audience, the film love actually produced by the same company Working title, was a massive success and was a massive hit with the female audience. I think that the people who will watch about time will be either teenagers or middle aged who will view the film with a partner or group of friends., that they will be outgoing social people, who live to socialise and live life to the full, this is because the film has its ups and downs like Todorovs theory but the majority of the film is upbeat comical and happy much like the people I feel that will watch it.

REPRESENTATION

In the about time trailer love is represented as dangerous and rewarding, this complies with Levi Strauss theory of binary opposites. Love can be very pleasing and rewarding as we see through the trailer as Tim and Marys relationship progresses the happier they become however as he becomes so focused on his relationship with Mary he begins to abuse his time travelling powers and then leads to the death of his father, this is love on both ends of the scale yet one side being very severe however it represents love as rewarding yet dangerous. Tim is represented in the about the time trailer as Abit of a loner, very quiet, nerdish and shy. This is done by the way he acts around people for example as he goes to shake the girls hand at the start instead of kissing her, that he is always dressed smart with knitted sweats and top button fastened also that throughout the trailer we never get to see Tims friends only Mary and his family which suggests to me as Tim being quite a lonely character. The screen shot on the right of Tim is an example of time travel but to me it is like a message leading to the common stereotype of a nerd locking them self away in a closet and keeping them self to them self.