Forrest Gump Trailer Analysis

For my next analysis I chose Forrest Gump as the two main genres are drama and romance. The
trailer is unusually very long (3 minutes and 47 seconds). Therefore, the way they put the shots
and narrative together for the audience will be something that I would have to think about doing
in a much more concise way. Obviously, I will not follow exactly how this trailer is done but
from all these analyses I am taking in and learning how they all differ and what makes them work
individually. Since it is so long I will focus on the most important aspects of each heading and not
be as thorough as I have with other trailers as I don't feel the need to with a trailer of such length.

Settings/Locations

This film is set in Savannah, Georgia (this is very clear
through the strong accents heard in the main characters).
However, a large amount of locations are shown as Forrest
goes through his life. These locations are shown from a
good perspective, showing how Forrest enjoyed/enjoys his
life and possibly sees things from quite a innocent view. To
the right I have put together some shots of the different
locations as the trailer progresses.

A long shot of Forrest and Jenny sitting on a branch shows
the sunset of Savannah at its best, an incredibly romantic
location (hence the genre 'romantic').

Later on it cuts to a low perspective long shot of a ball (in
the game of American football). A little later on black and
white footage of Forrest with the president is shown. This
suggests we are watching what would have been broadcast
on TV, making the audience realise how successful Forrest
has already been.

The location then differs completely as Forrest joins the
army. We then see a close up of Forrest's back/side looking
at the scenery in front of him. A massive crowd of people is
below him suggesting he was of significance in the army.

An establishing shot of a large house in the countryside
implies Forrest has or is thinking of settling down. This
gives the audience the impression that Forrest is happy with
what he has achieved and feels ready to focus on a family
instead.

However, in contrast to this idea an extra long shot of
Forrest is shown playing table tennis against someone in a
massive arena. This massively appeals to the target audience
who enjoy the genre drama as this change of location is
unexpected and dramatic (therefore, conventional of drama
films).

The final location brings us back to the bench Forrest is
sitting on. Here he was telling his life story to these two
people the whole time. This location reminds the audience that he is just a regular person and
after all of the events in his life he can just tell them sat from a bench as if it wasn't a big deal.
Drama fans would see all of his life as a big deal and an incredibly spectacular and inspiring
journey. The almost constant change of location in this trailer really works well for the genre
drama as it keeps the target audience engaged and waiting on the edge of their seat for what they
will see next

Characters

It is very clear in this trailer that Forrest is the protagonist, and if anything you could go as far to
say that his own naivety and slow-wits are the antagonist or at least prevent him from getting
some of the things he wants (e.g. to marry Jenny). For all we know in the actual film Jenny may
marry Forrest but this is something that is left with the audience not knowing, again enticing them
to want to go and see the full film.

There are many stock characters throughout the trailer,
some more prominent than others. Mrs. Gump and Jenny
Curran seem to be the two people best thought of by
Forrest, so they are shown in a positive light in the trailer.
Other stock characters like Jenny's date and the teacher
only bring bad news for Forrest (the fact that Jenny has a
date and how Forrest is 'different'). From the trailer we
can see Forrest wouldn't have thought of them in the best way and the whole idea of the
target audience being able to get in the protagonists head is something that is really key to the
drama genre as it allows the audience to relate to them and hopefully root for them
throughout the film. These badly thought of stock characters aren't important enough to be
referred to as antagonists as they don't actively go out of their way to annoy Forrest. At 0:36
in the trailer we can see some boys chasing Forrest in a pickup truck so if anything we could
refer to these people as antagonists or simply bullies as they have clearly gone out of their
way to antagonise Forrest.

Genre Iconography & Themes

This trailer is incredibly conventional for the genre drama as iconography can be seen
throughout and a number of themes are used. It is a perfect example of 'an honest story of
human struggles' as Forrest had many human struggles which he had to overcome. Many
relationships are established (Forrest and his mother, Forrest and Jenny, etc.) which are
emotional and real. These relationships develop and with that Forrest himself does too. Many
people will be able to relate to the problems that Forrest has to go through showing that it is
likely these problems would have been inspired from real life problems.

The most iconic aspect of this trailer is how it shows his life story, in terms of time and in
terms of his emotions and feelings towards people. There are also themes of romance as both
genres (drama and romance) are present in this film but if anything, the romantic element just
adds to the drama as it seems Jenny and Forrest are destined to be together but there are also
reasons for them to not be together (two dramatic outcomes).

As so many themes and icons are present in this trailer it greatly increases the chance of it being
appealing to the target audience (fans of drama). This has made it very clear to me that if I want
to produce an effective trailer then I need to follow some (if not most) of the conventions and
themes of drama in some way to attract the audience I plan on targeting (teenagers and young
adults).
Sound

Non-diegetic music and diegetic dialogue comes in as the Paramount Pictures ident is being
shown. The non-diegetic incidental music is heard throughout the whole trailer, maintaining the
curious, innocent, light-hearted aspect of the film. Later on it gets more dramatic to suit the
changes in the narrative of the trailer. In addition to this at points in the trailer we hear Forrest's
voice, as if it were a voice over, explaining the events taking place and justifying to the audience
the reason they link together. This is a voice over when other shots are being shown, however, as
it cuts to Forrest on the bench, the audience can see he is the one talking (thus changing the
voice-over to diegetic dialogue).

Ambient sounds are heard throughout particularly on exterior shots. For example when Forrest's
Mother tells Forrest he is 'no different' the audience can hear natural sounds (birds singing, etc.).

Sound effects are also used that would have been added in post-production. An example of this is
when Forrest runs too far during American football and hits into some of the band. This sound
would have been re-created in a studio to get a high quality recording of it. The idea of this is
incredibly appropriate for trailers with the genre of drama as the kind of target audience that
watch these films like and expect to hear exaggerated sounds with the attempt of making the
source of the sound more noticeable (and possibly more funny).

Lighting

Most shots seem to be exterior and it is likely that no lighting would have been used in some of
the wider angle shots. However, high key lighting would definitely be used as this gives a natural
effect by flattering the characters using a three point lighting system.

Below are two shots. The extra long, establishing shot would not have had any lighting as there is
no focus on any character (so there is no need to reduce shadows on people's faces). In contrast
the medium close up on the right would have had high key lighting as we can see the how the
light hits the characters in a flattering way.










Editing

Many styles of editing are used in this trailer to provide contrast
and help keep it intriguing and interesting to watch for the
audience. The first shot is a long shot of Forrest on a bench with
two other people. This is followed by a cut to Forrest as a young
boy, therefore the narrative has gone back into the past (a
flashback has taken place). Montage editing is used a lot to show how Forrest and Jenny's
relationship developed over time. Mixing this in with the cut between them growing up and
Forrest talking on the bench makes for a complicated but attention-grabbing editing pattern.

For the main part of the trailer the audience doesn't see the cut to Forrest on the bench although as
I mentioned before his voice-over continues so that the shots come together and we can hear it all
from his point of view.

All the shots are cut to (with the exception of the titles fading in) even when
the scene changes. It is common to see a prop that links to the cutting of the
scene. For example to the left there is an over-the-shoulder shot of Forrest
looking at a leaflet for the army. This is soon cut to a medium close up two
shot of Forrest and a Drill Sergeant (therefore implying that Forrest joined
the army). The technique of foreshadowing what the shot will cut to seems
to be quite a typical one as it spoon feeds the audience information about
what will happen (e.g. the leaflet) and then shows the event happening (e.g. Forrest in the army).

At 1:55 the shot cuts back to Forrest talking on the bench, this is a gentle reminder to the
audience that he himself is telling us this story (his 'life story') which obviously means a lot to
him as he can remember so many details of it.

From 2:59 montage editing is used a lot to various shots of Forrest when he was a young boy and
a young adult. These shots are not shown for long and there are many of them to show the
audience how dramatic and impressive his life was. These are aspects that fans of the drama
genre love to see, and in this case the more that happens, the more interested and immersed in the
trailer they are.

An extensive amount of camera shot, angles and movements are used. This is essential for drama
films as it allows the audience to focus on certain things in different ways (close up, long shot,
etc.) and makes it more appealing for this target audience who will want to not be seeing various
things/events in a similar way.


Typography

The trailer begins with the Paramount Pictures ident. This is incredibly
conventional of trailers as it gives the company credit and is a good way
to let the audience know a trailer is coming so that they know what they
are about to watch.

The typography throughout the trailer is very basic and not many are shown. When they are
shown the shot cuts to black and the blue text fades in. The next shot is then cut to. Below are the
three intertitles that are shown. The first two are blue which then fades up into the colour white,
making it more unique and interesting to look at. The black background is dramatic and makes
the typography the main focus of the screen. I believe this typography works well with the two
genres, drama and romance, as it is simple and dramatic but the touch of blue makes it seem
warmer (subverting the idea that blue and white colours represent the cold) and more romantic.