THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER TRAILER

THE TRAILER

THE GENRE

• The main genre of this film is comedy-drama, making it a hybrid. It is also important to know that it comes under what is called coming-of-age.

• In a film, coming of age is a genre in teen films. Coming-of-age films focus on the moral and psychological growth or movement of a protagonist from youth to adulthood. The main character is usually a male in their mid-teenage years. A huge characteristic of this genre is that it relies on a lot of dialogue and emotional responses, rather than action.

• Furthermore, coming-of-age films deal with all the issues that teenagers have to deal with in their lives and although some situations are dramatized they all remain extremely realistic. They show sensitive and real topics that teenagers can relate too, these are often themes such as developing sexual identity and political opinion, being in love, being involved in abuse, partying, having sex and taking drugs. They always have comedy interlinked to make them light-hearted enjoyable films that teenagers themselves can relate to.

• Although the primary audience is teenagers, the secondary audience can be anyone above that age. People who are older or even elderlies can all relate to these situations and issues as they went through their own teenage years. As well as adults being able to relate to the things being shown, it gives them an insight into what teenagers still deal with to this day.

• Because the film is a comedy-drama, it isn’t as obviously funny as regular comedies such as 22 jump street. The story is dealing with real life issues so the comedy is more subtle and realistic such as the comedy being the things people say rather than unrealistic actions that are carried out.

THE PLOT

• The film is set in the present day in a small city in the USA. Charlie, the main character, is a freshman and new to high school. He has no friends and is seen as an outcast or “wallflower”. We meet his new friends Sam and Patrick, two older students who take Charlie in and let him partake in their carefree life which has made them labelled “misfit toys” in their world. At first, Charlie struggles to get used to the social structure of High School and the idea of having friends but slowly he begins to develop and change. Charlie becomes infatuated with Sam, his new friends who he sees as beautiful and when his new friends feel that they are under attack from their adversity by the ‘popular’ kids, Charlie realises he is on a road to self-discovery and he is a person that he never thought he could be.

• The moral of the story is not to learn how to be accepted in this world, but to learn to accept yourself. The message given is a strong and valuable one which is important to get across to teenagers who are going through the same struggles and issues with school and growing up.

SOUND

• The genres of comedy and coming-of-age are definitely reflected in the music that is played throughout the trailer. Sound is used to express specific emotions to the viewer. The trailer uses a slow yet upbeat acoustic melody at the start as the main character, Charlie, narrates. He opens his narration with ‘Dear Friend’ so we know that he is addressing someone in particular who we do not yet know. He talks about how it is going to be his first day as a freshman and how he does not want to mess it up – already this gives the audience a strong indication that the film is coming-of-age.

• The music drops and the scene fades to black as Charlie says, “I really wanna turn things around this year”. This aids the narrative by giving the audience the clue that he has had a difficult past. Right after we hear a loud school bell as the Summit Entertainment logo appears on the screen, as soon as the bell has rung it signifies that he has started school and the tempo of the music starts to increase as Charlie begins to make friends and we see him having a positive life. During the scenes of showing Charlie at school the music slows down as a scene of Charlie talking to his English teacher and saying, “If my English teacher is the only friend I make today, that would be sort of depressing”. The music not playing whilst he says it and the way it starts straight after, emphasises the comedy of this line. There is a clear creative musical aspect being used in the trailer which is known as ‘Caesura’ – this means a lot of dramatic pauses with little or no audio to heighten the anticipation of audience as well as highlight and emphasise the comedy aspects. This creative aspect reflects the comedy genre.

SOUND

• Charlie's voiceover is used throughout which makes the audience feel more connected to him; the more he speaks the more they are getting to know him and his story. Charlie’s voice is soothing as he speaks in a relaxed tone which gives the impression that he is a comforting character meaning teenagers in particular can relate with him. It is critical to the trailer that the teenage viewers emotionally connect with Charlie because he is supposed to be ‘one of them’.

• The way the audio also changes from a slow pace at the beginning to a quick speed could reflect how fast things change for Charlie and how many things start happening to him at once.

• Also, at the end of the trailer we hear a song sung by Imagine Dragons ‘It’s Time’, this has clearly been used as it was in its prime when the trailer was released and it is more likely that younger audiences will recognise the song.

• Overall, the use of the uplifting, cheerful music is vital to attract the primary teenage audience and to give the trailer a specific enjoyable feel.

EDITING

• The way the trailer has been edited and the scenes in particular that we are shown, we can see that we are observing Charlie’s life. We continue to connect with him the more he ‘shows’ us about his life and his world. The pace of the editing reflects how many things he has to deal with as at the beginning everything is rather calm and relaxed as Charlie sits in his room and then tries to adjust on his first day, then all of a sudden after he meets Sam and Patrick, the scenes start to become shorter and quicker, reflecting how many things he has to deal with and how much things start to change for him.

EDITING

Scenes like this continue appear at certain points in the film.

These shots have been edited in at particular points during

the trailer to add extra information for the audience. For

example, this one aids the narrative by telling viewers more

to Charlie’s story.

The bright green background remains the same every time

they do this and so does the typography. This ensures

continuity but adds something extra and more creative to

the trailer.

These clips do not appear within the actual film

because they are a selling point for trailers. They

introduce characters and the story to give

audiences a better understanding of the film,

increasing chances of them wanting to go and

see it.

The bright

colours keep

the uplifting

and upbeat

theme going

throughout.

EDITING

Here is another example of one of these clips. On this one it

mentions that the producers of the film are the same that

produced the film, Juno. They show this as the film, Juno, was a

hugely successful film with the same target audience and

therefore there will be similarities between the two meaning if

people have previously seen, Juno, it will encourage to go see,

The Perks of Being a Wallflower.

EDITING

Another selling point to attract the audience is the way

that they have mentioned this particular information in a

scene. The film has been based on a book that was written

by Steven Chbosky. It was a best-seller and is still extremely

popular to this day.

People who have already read the book will obviously

want to go and see it but even people who haven’t read it

will be encouraged to go and look at the novel and if they

like the sound of it, they will be eager to go to the cinema

to see it.

As seen before in my analysis on, ‘As

Above, So Below’ featured in this

online trailer is the message about

how the trailer has been approved for

the audience of the correct age

rating.

In this one, unlike

the other featured

before the As

Above, So Below

trailer, we see what

age certificate the

film has been given.

This shows it has

been given a PG-13

warning meaning

children under the

age of 13 are not

suitable for a

viewing.

In the smaller text

we see the

reasoning behind

why the trailer is

not appropriate

for under 13’s, it

goes on to say

the trailer

references drug

and alcohol use,

as well as sexual

content and mild

fights.

SHOT TYPES AND CAMERA MOVEMENTS

The trailer uses an establishing shot to

show where the film is taking place.

Close –up shot is used as we see Charlie’s full face for

the first time. After this we see a medium shot of him

with family. The effect of the close-up before this shows

the audience that Charlie is the main character out of

them all.

The medium shot, helps

show us other characters

involved.

SHOT TYPES AND CAMERA MOVEMENTS

• There are mostly close-up shots used in this trailer to show the emotions of characters.

• Medium shots are also a common shot type here as there are often more than one important character in a scene such as:

CONCLUSION

• Overall, by analysing this trailer I know what is expected of me if I were to do a comedy-drama trailer as my genre. It has given me a good knowledge on the type of storyline I could have and what sort of narrative I would need to be successful.

• I know what the conventions are also for a coming-of-age genre and what sort of characters are needed to make this clear to an audience. It has also made me think about the type of music and soundtracks I would need to be successful if were to create this genre for a young target audience.