Trailer Analysis: The Notebook Theatrical Trailer (2004)

The Notebook trailer, a popular romantic drama starring Ryan Gosling opens with non diegetic high pitched music, music that replicates a piano playing. This immediately sets the tone for the film, suggesting the tranquil and solemn feels that depict the drama element in in the genre. This music is played over a birds eye view shot of two characters on a rowing boat, a romantic thing to do, therefore this supports the genre. Furthermore, the sepia effect that has been used to colour the footage gives the audience a indication to the era this film was set in, in this case being the 1940's. This adds to the realism of the film, emphasising the innocence of the sincere love they felt for each other. This is something that will attract the primary audience of the female gender. Yet the fact that this is a film that is set in the olden times, this may attract a secondary audience of the elderly as they may be interested in reliving their childhood.

We then hear the diegetic sound of the bell on the bicycle and the long shot of the two couples on the bike. This makes the characters seem childlike and innocent, appealing to the target audience who would be able to identify to not the lifestyle of these characters due to the era it is set in, but the experiences they are going through. 

The voice over is present throughout the majority of the trailer, summarising the plot and giving a overview of the characters relationships as we see them on screen. This is effective way of enticing the audience as they are hearing the narrative as well as seeing the visuals. The voice over is of one of the characters who plays the elderly character Noah in the story, therefore the audience would be engulfed by this factor and will want to watch the film in order to hear the rest of his story. The voice over says "Who will she choose?", this engima code will excite the audience into wanting to find out the answer to this open question, an effective way of enticing the audience to watch the film.

The credits are placed at the end of the trailer like in many trailers, this works as a USP for the film as this includes the actors, the production company etc. Therefore the followers of the production company who have produced similar films of this genre are going to have an interest in watching this film. None the less, the followers of established actors such as Ryan Gosling are going to be within the targeted demographic of this film.