Examining Movie Trailers

21 Jump Street Trailer

In the trailer for 21 Jump Street, there are several techniques used to tell the basic story line. The most noticeable one is the fact that all of the shots move very quickly from one scene to the next, which gives the viewer a hint of the fast-paced action that will occur in the movie. The trailer is not meant to give too much away, but just to give the overall idea of the movie. In the beginning of the trailer, the shots continuously shift back and forth between the two main characters of the movie (the nerd and the high school bully). This action shows where their relationship started (high school), and then moves on to tell the reader that they attended the police academy together, as well. The back and forth shots link these two characters together. There are some shots that occur in the trailer that are meant to be sarcastic and make the reader laugh. For example, one of the shots shows the two characters graduating from the police academy, and as the camera zooms in on their face, it is obvious that they are proud and excited to be real cops out on the streets. However, the next shot shows the two riding bikes beside a lake, and then playing with their guns. This shows the contradiction between what was supposed to happen and what actually happened. This trailer effectively uses movement of the camera to convey what the movie is about.

21 Jump Street trailer

21 Jump Street Trailer
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZirgAYBcOgo

Long shot- police academy with police cars in the foreground
Mid shot- police cadets standing in a line
Mid shot- switches to one particular face and he is being talked to by another cadet
Mid shot- switches back other way to first cadet
Mid shot- cuts to same boy, but back in high school with braces, nerdy
Mid shot- cuts to second boy, back in high school giving the other one a titty twister
Long shot- wrestling practice, two boys in the middle surrounded by circle of others
Close up- mean boy on top of nerdy boy in wrestling gear
Mid shot- same two men now cadets in police academy, getting tests back
Close up- shows grade of mean boy, it's a 37
Close up- shows nerdy boy's grade, it's a 100
Close up- goes back and forth between mean boy and nerdy boy as they talk
Mid shot- cadets running and sweaty
Mid shot- shows academy graduation
Mid shot- two cops riding bikes along water
Long shot- same cops still riding bikes
Mid shot- two cops playing with guns out of boredom
Fades and cuts into Columbia pictures logo and Metro Goldwyn Mayer
Mid shot- two cops sitting in office with another man
Long shot- two cops hugging with man in handcuffs on the ground
Mid shot- one cop shoots gun off into the air