Flashdance Trailer Analysis

• The first shot that we see is a close up of the woman’s face; the low key lighting used suggests a very intimate scene showing her passion for what she is talking about.
• The diagetic dialogue turns into non-diagteic voice over as the shot changes to mid-long shot of the same girl dancing; this makes the dancing stand out at the beginning of the trailer, suggesting that there is a passion about it throughout the trailer.
• It then returns to the close up shot of the girl, which again emphasizes her passion, showing how it is a major part of the story.
• On the next shot a catchy pop song starts, this could be to create an identity for the film, if people know the song then they may start to associate this with the film.
• A cross fade is use to connect the shots of her riding a bike and welding, we assume it is the same person, it helps us to gain an image of what her life was like and the different possible aspects that are included.
• This is also cut with the voice over ‘her name is Alex’ this links with the welding as it is a very masculine name, and we do not assume that dancing would be a major part of her life. It also says that she ‘works in a man’s world’ this helps to portray that she does not live the normal life of a girl, and would not have had the same experiences as other girls of her age.
• Another cross fade is used which shows a close –up of two people kissing, the lighting is very low key, this makes it feel very intimate. The cross fade makes the viewer feel that she dreams of finding love and could be a large point in the plot.
• The non diagetic voice over speaks again ‘she dances in a world of her dreams’ this suggests that it is a major part of her life, and will become a major part of the story, because the music that is played in the background is also building to become faster.
• The next thing we see on the screen is the word ‘Flashdance’ this enters the screen on a reverse zoom, as this happens the music changes as the word finally becomes clear.
• An over-shoulder shot of the girl cut with a long-mid shot of a man; this shows that there is a possible love interest within the film, which is a part of the drama genre mainly.
• A montage is shown of her working on the building site. This shows how she comes from a poorer background, doing something that she doesn’t love – this would be her incentive to try and achieve her dancing dream.
• This is followed by long shots and mid shots of various people dancing; this helps to show how she is passionate about it, and hinting that it is the main plot of the story.
• There is a close up of her face whilst she is dancing, showing that she is happiest when she is dancing, meaning she is extremely passionate and will do what she can to achieve that dream. This is part of the drama genre as it shows how she has a real life problem that she needs resolving.
• The word ‘Flashdance’ appears again in the reverse zoom, and again the music speeds up and become the chorus, trying to make it memorable with the song.
• This is followed by a mid-shot of the girl alone, cut with a long shot of her with a boy. This signifies a possible love interest within the film, showing that the genre here is more romantic drama, as the girl’s relationships plays a major role in the trailer.
• A training montage is shown, which emphasises the change she needs to go through to achieve her dream. The angles used in the montage vary with who they are filming. The mid shot of the man is a very low angle shot which causes him to look more dominant and masculine, whereas the shots of the women are there to make them look weaker. This contrasts earlier on in the trailer when ‘Alex’ was made to seem like a man, by her job, name and clothes.
• Then a long- mid shot of her dancing with another woman is shown – possibly a dancing instructor. This helps to emphasis her need to train and shows that this is a major plot point in the story.
• There is a repeat shot of the close up of her looking happy; this is cut with a mid-long shot of a couple. This shows that there is a possible romantic interest, which is a major part of the story.
• The word ‘Flashdance’ appears again in the reverse zoom this is used as a change in the trailer. Eg. the first time it is used to show the introduction; the second time is used to show her and her romantic life and the third time is used to show her dance life and give the ending of the trailer.
• An establishing shot is used to show her in the dance school, showing how she contrasts the other people. This emphasises the possible ‘real-life’ struggle and how there is a change in her life, which is a clear point in the drama genre.
• A jump cut is used to show the different feet in the queue, this shows how she doesn’t fit in and could be a possible turning point for her in the story.
• The shot of her dancing is intermittently cut with varied other shots of her with different moods, eg a long shot is shown with her jumping into a man’s arms. This shows the change throughout her life, yet how dancing has stayed, showing a possible constant of dancing throughout the whole film.
• Finally the last thing we see is the last reverse zoom of the word ‘Flashdance’. This is cut with a voice over ‘Flashdance, if a dream comes true just one time, it can change your life for all of time.’ Hints how the film contains a major life change, which is a main concept of the drama genre.