In Depth Analysis Of The Hangover Film Trailer

To brush up on my analytical skills I was set the task of deconstructing a teaser trailer for a film and a short film. The film that I opted to study briefly was ‘The Hangover’. At the beginning of the film the major production logos appear and from the names of the company’s mentioned(Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures) you can clearly denote that the movie is going to be based on a high budget and will most probably be a box office success. However throughout the rest of the trailer the names of the cast aren’t mentioned, but I think these weren’t included as this was one of the first trailers and the cast was rather low key and for many of the actors this was their first major role. Par Bradley Cooper who made an appearance in Wedding Crashers. Before you get to see any of the footage you hear a diegetic phone ring which signifies that the first scene of the trailer will most probably involve a phone based conversation between two characters. It then progresses into the trailer showing two characters engaged in a phone call with the topic of the conversation having large amounts of narrative enigma. This enigma begins when the male character breaks the news to the female character that her husband to be (Doug) has gone missing; this then poses the question, who is this character? And how did he manage to get separated and lost? During the opening few seconds of the trailer the camera shots tend to be a variety of close-ups and extreme close-ups to emphasize both of the characters emotions towards the situation, giving the preferred reading that this was a stag do gone wrong and that the narrative will most probably be based around getting this character back.

In the next scene of the trailer a non- diegetic editing effect is used to provide exposition on the situation, with the message two days earlier displayed, signifying that something has caused a disruption in the narrative equilibrium to result in the loss of the character Doug. It then switches back to the trailer showing another male character who was shown in the background during the phone call to be laid on the floor, with the camera being placed on a high angle to make him appear more vulnerable. In the same frame there is also a rooster/cockerel,which provides an intertexual reference to the early morning wake up call giving anchorage towards the time of day. As well,as this product placement occurs in the form of a ‘Monster Energy’ drinks can which signifies that the setting is most probably America as this is predominantly an American based product (he tiger placed in the bathroom can be seen as an intertextual reference to Las Vegas due to the mirage hotel is home to the white tigers who partake in a magic show).The accents of the characters and there dress sense provides further anchorage to the setting and nationality of the characters, this being the most popular nationality to use in films as it appeals to a vast audience and the accent is recognisable world wide.

Use of the quote ‘What did we do last night’ signifies that the characters have no recelation of their past events which is a creative method to reveal the plot as the audience have the narrative revealed to them at the same time as the characters. As well as this it creates the preferred reading that the characters underwent a form of activity such as drinking which cause this memory loss. At this stage of the trailer your unaware of where in America the film is set, you have a vague idea that its in the desert however this isn’t accurate enough anchorage and the characters are in a hotel in this area. However with the use of exposition shots, being set in the style of neon lights, it gives the impression of Las Vegas which Is later revealed to be the setting.

From watching the trailer you are given a preferred reading that the film is a comedy, yet this can be contested with there being elements of adventure. This is put across to the audience wit the choice of editing styles in terms of music and camera shots.Convential and creative shots are used to give variety to the trailer such as over the shoulder shots for conversations and the shot when the character missing a tooth looks into the mirror. with this rapid style of editing, it shows that the target audience is the youth market, as its seen as more entertaining and has more youth based themes.

The trailers soundtrack is light hearted ,up beat and fast in tempo(to set the pace of the trailer). It’s also non-orchestral, so no long drawn strings as tension is not needed to be created. In the second half of the trailer the non-diegetic music switches to a power ballad,(by Phil Collins which may be another intertextual reference as one of the main male characters is called Phil)which builds up to, the punch, which is diegetically over emphasized, with this and the use of Mike Tyson in the scene it could possibly be creating an intertextual reference to Las Vegas’s boxing history. Or maybe a new equilibrium forming in the narrative after the character that got punched caused the baby to get hit by the car door (karma). Again narrative enigma occurs, posing the question this time why is Mike Tyson in the room, why did he punch one of the male protagonists and how did he get into the room. Its expected that there would be high amounts of narrative enigma as this is a teaser trailer, as its used to entice the audience to see the film as they will want to know the answers to the gaps in the narrative.

Another way that the audience is drawn in further is with the inclusion of the directors past success hit of ‘Old School’, the inclusion of this information will draw in fans of the film itself and admirers of the comedy style. Throughout this deconstruction of this trailer I’ve been referring to several male protagonists and not named a central protagonist, this is because from watching the trailer the main character appears to be missing and the entire group is shown though out the trailer.

If the commutation were to be applied, would the film have the same affect if the main characters were all female, stereotypically females don’t tend to be as outrageous as men when is comes to pre wedding events therefore in my opinion I feel the narrative may have been a bit more tamer so not to offend.

So to summarise what I interpreted from the clip, the name of the film signifies the narrative, which I found easy to pick up on from watching this clip. Its basically several middle aged American men on a stag do in Las Vegas, which goes terribly wrong due to an excess consumption of alcohol. This causes them to lose the groom, the wife finds out and the film is based around retracing their steps to find out what events they underwent to achieve their goal of finding the groom and getting him to his wedding on time.