Semiotic analysis of film trailers - theory

In the lesson today we are learning how we will do a semiotic analysis of a film trailer ourselves. We have never done it on a film trailer before so it will be interesting how different it is. To analyse the trailer we will need to look at the media language in the trailer, the institutions, and the genre.

As an example we are watching the divinchi code trailer, and i was looking out for all these factors in it. The institutions were Columbus, imagine entertainment, which are hollywood companies. This will mean it has a big budget to film and should be good. The target audience i thought was males, as most the people were men in the trailer and its also viewed to be watched by an older group of people. I feel like the main audience would be mature and high class people as the film looks intellectual and will require you to think.

The bad guy in the film is a killer monk. He is an albino which mean he looks slightly strange, which fits in with the stereotypical bad guy having something about him. The film starts with being set in a art gallery in france, which also goes along with the high class audience.

The genre for this isnt just one its a hybrid, its a romance, action and thriller. It shown in lots of clips in various parts of the trailer which gives the audience a taste of what the film is like. the music starts slow then higher pitch with people whispering, which gives the effect theres secrets. The trailer then picks up then turns exiting and thrilling, with a well spoken voice as the voice over. It ends with a saying 'Seek the truth' which leaves the audience wanting more.

In the trailer, the man is shown as a stereotypical butch man who wants to be the protector and save the girl. The idiology in this film is that God actually does not exist and if he does, hes not good and not the person he thinks he is.


I found looking at this trailer very useful as it gave me a chance to see what to look for when analysing a trailer, so i know how to do it by myself, not just with the class.

Why was brotherhood made?

brotherhood is the newest film of 3 films which has made an unintended trilogy. It started with the film kidulthood which was directed by  Menhaj Huda and starred noel clarke. It’s a film that would pretty much single-handedly create and define the whole sub-genre and cottage industry of British ‘hood’ movies. It captured what kids are actually like in a way no British film has since. After Kidulthood, Adulthood was made which noel clarke took on to be the directer and star of.  Noel clarke wanted to base the films on the streets of Ladbroke Grove, the the multicultural area of West London where he grew up, and its part of the main route of the Notting Hill Carnival. Noel wrote the films based in these areas as its where he grew up. He based the films on his past experiences of the posh mixing with the rough. Noel wrote Kidulthood as a hobby while he went to the gym and he never thought it would get produced.
When the films were released there was some controversial comments about how its condoning kids to act this way. Noel replied with nothing in that film wasnt happening already, all it did was outline the issues. One of the reasons he wrote the film was to represent a group of people who were under represented. He said that the film would not influence the innocent society but shows how life is like for some people that get involved in gangs. He was happy to make a British film that wasnt all about kings and queens and shows a different side.

BrotherHood Promotion campaign - britsh realism