Django Unchained trailer analysis

In the Django Unchained trailer we learn what the film is about. It’s an American western film about a freed slave called Django who travels across the America with a bounty hunter to try and find and rescue Django’s wife. I think the main characters in this film is Django Freeman who is played by Jamie Foxx, The bounty hunter played by Christopher Waltz, Broomhida who is Django’s wife and is played by Kerry Washington and Stephen who’s played by Samuel L. Jackson. The genre of the film is American western which is clearly shown through the sound and mise-en-scene. The main characters are played by well-known and established actors/actresses since the film is about a serious story based on America’s past slavery. Having such respected and known actors/actresses in the film suggest to people that the film will be produced and directed well which encourages the audience to watch it. Most importantly these actors and actresses may have a loyal fan base who will go to watch the film because their favourite star is in it. 

 During the clip a range of sound was used such as upbeat western music which relates to the genre, Voice-overs and dialogue as we are shown different scenes within the film. The upbeat western music keeps the western theme consistent and adds overall representation of the western genre. The music starts off slow with low pitch sounds matching with the depressing mood and also what seems to be western blues is played with adds to the effect, making the audience relate to what’s happening and feel some type of emotion. Then suddenly the mood changes midway and this shown through the high pitch light hearted, upbeat and fast music played which then changes the emotion of the audience.

Discontinuity editing is used throughout the trailer, which is expectable for a trailer. The editing goes hand in hand with the music and flows together, the shorts are also fairly long but cut off at the most interesting parts leaving suspense. The shots are in non-linear order because there are a few flashbacks why voiceovers are played to help the audience understand the storyline. Also a lot of captions are used to highlights key information, for example ‘This Christmas’ which informs the audience when the film is coming out.

I think the target audience is middle-aged and older adults because of the violence in the film and the seriousness of the storyline. The film is about what happened years ago and the older generation may be able to relate or understand more about what’s happening. The trailer is very effective because the most important and interesting shots from the film are used which gets the audience interested in the film, Also are the main stars are shown in the trailer which will cause the audience to start to recognize people.