12B Textual Analysis: Slumdog Millionaire Trailer

1.    Media Forms:
What techniques does the trailer use to persuade its audience to see the film?

This trailer uses a number of techniques which can make the audience see the film, firstly at the beginning of the trailer, they show what awards the movie has won, by doing this is shows the audience the professionalism the movie has, and we know that most people pick which movies to watch based on the awards they have won, because winning an award simply shows how good you are at doing something, and from this perspective it is a movie, so the awards show that the produces were good at making the movie which would basically mean it is a good movie and its worth watching, so by showing the awards that have been won could persuade audiences to see this film. Another technique used after the awards shot it shows a quote which was taken from the Chicago Sunday times, and if the Chicago Sunday times is a big name in the USA then the people would see it on the news paper and in this trailer and then make the people feel as if the film is so good it managed to get quoted into the local news, and most movies do not make it into the news papers unless something bad is being revolved around it, but this was shown in a positive light, so by showing the quote it could make the people want to watch the film, hence persuading them. Another one is as soon as it goes into the clips, you a voice over say “who wants to be a millionaire?” and as most people know what the programmes ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ is all about and the hype it brings, so to know this movie is based on the programme could make people want to watch it, if you are a big fan of ‘who wants to be a millionaire’ then you would also want to watch this because it is based on the same thing.

2. Media Representation:
How is ethnicity represented in this trailer?

Ethnicity in this trailer is represented in different ways, firstly we can see the protagonist is from an Indian/Asian background, and he could be shown as one of the lucky ones, because when you look at the slums of India you will not find any millionaires, you won’t even find thousand airs because it is simply a the slums, is someone had that kind of money they wouldn’t be from the slums and because from this trailer we understand the protagonist wins a million pound, he becomes one of the lucky ones from the slums which could be represented as a positive thing. The other kids are represented as unlucky, as they are shown having a hard time and live in poverty because we can see them running around the slum, but we do see hem running around happy, which can show a different representation.

3. Media Audiences:
Who is target audience and how does the advert attempt to persuade this audience to watch the film?

 The target audience for this could be any one above the age of 12, this is because there is nothing explicit or violent that 12 years old cannot see, but there may be a few images or scenes thet children under 12 may find distressfull, but it would mainly be aimed at teenagers because it shows the life of a teenager, but i think all round it could be aimed at any one from above 12 to any gender. The way they persuade the audience to watch this film is through making the trailer seem thrilling and show alot of diffrent techniques, which relates back to question 1.

4. Media Institutions:
What is communicated about the institution?

The institutions used are well known which are Fox and Warner bros, and because of how well these 2 institutions are the people would know what kind of quality these both offer in films, by knowing this the audience would be more likely to watch the film. Also the hype that was bought around this film through newpapers and magazines makes it a must see film.