Trailer Analysis: Charlie St. Cloud

‘Charlie St. Cloud’ is a film which is placed in the drama genre, for it includes a tragic loss which has a huge impact on the main character making his life constricted and depressing. However, it includes a love interest which helps him break through the traumatic experience and get back to his original life. This film is one that is quite equal when it comes to its gender target audience for it involves sports and a battle for life bringing in a male audience as well as having a love story intertwined with the emotional aspect of the film bringing a female audience. However I do believe that overall the female audience dominates the male.

It is a piece which involves the love between brothers which men can relate to whether they have always wished for that connection and love or they have experienced it themselves. This is a piece which is able to draw in its audience by relating to family issues and blowing them to the limit for loosing someone you love is an experience no one wishes to go through and yet some people upsettingly do.
The editing of the film starts quite fast paced with the sport of sailing and then slows when the accident happens but then speeds up again regaining its light-hearted atmosphere.

The non-diegetic music is once again the soul of this piece giving the emotion and atmosphere to this piece, for it begins with a light-hearted cheery piece of music sounding as though there is accomplishment and a future to this piece. However it drastically changes once they have the car crash for it becomes deep and meaningful having the emotion of loss and guilt as the main character, ‘Charlie’, looks down upon his brothers coffin and grave. It then immerses itself into a piece which sounds angelic as ‘Charlie’ talks to his dead  brother, telling us that he is unable to accept what has happened. It then builds back up to its upbeat music piece giving us the sense that after the tragedy there still may be some good which will present itself by the end. The music then descends back into a piece of music which intensifies the emotion involved, yet it is able to amplify every emotion whether it is happy or sad, plus the fact that it is a well known piece of music by ‘Snow Patrol’ called ‘Light Up’, portraying various emotions.
The use of dialogue throughout the trailer contributes to the emotional rollercoaster that is portrayed in the trailer, it also shows us that ‘Charlie’ has emotional conflict within himself; it’s as though he doesn’t know what he wants. The end line to the trailer I find gives so much emotion just from the way he says “We’ll always be brothers”, this short but effective line makes you think that he is moving on yet holding on to what he had but has figured a way to accept both into his life.

One of the unique selling points for this piece is Zac Efron for he is a teenage girls heart throb drawing in a teenage audience yet the sophisticated storyline brings in a wider audience varying from young teenagers too young adults.
I particularly take interest in this trailer because I find that this is film which I would have like to been a part of because I like the emotional conflict involved as well as the way it has been presented, for it moves me and makes me feel as though I wish I could be there with the character to help and that is what I would like to achieve with my final piece.