Comparing and analysing the matrix reloaded film trailer and the you’ve got mail film trailer

These two film trailers are hugely different. The overall impression that each makes could not be more dissimilar, for one is very fast paced and high impact whereas the other is quite slow and comforting. This suggests that each film is targeted at distinct audience stereotypes. The Matrix Reloaded trailer is just a blur of fast moving images and non-stop action. There is a voiceover from Morpheus saying that the war to end all wars is finishing tonight but this is a bit deceptive considering it is only the second in a trilogy. All the different images are totally unrelated and suggest that the movie is going to be full of action and fighting.

In the You’ve Got Mail trailer you see Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan over and over again and it doesn’t even mention any other characters. You see the two of them arguing and it shows Meg Ryan trying to shrug off Tom Hanks but he is madly in love with her. This trailer suggests that you are going to see these people fall in love and that it is going to be telling a long romantic story. One of the biggest differences is that YGM seems to be set realistically as if it is actually true whereas TMR seems to be set in another world and that even though the characters are still human they are not like us. You think this because they are dressed differently to all the other people in the movie.

In the YGM trailer the only people you see are Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan so this tells you that the whole movie is based very centrally on these two characters and it always shows them talking about love so you can tell they are going to get close. But in TMR trailer you see a lot of different characters but there is not a shot that does not have Neo, Trinity or Morpheus in it so this suggests that they are on the same side and that the film will be about them. The only exception to this is when you see a mysterious suited figure in the distance. Fans of the previous movie will know this is the agent Mr Smith and people that have not seen it will probably be able to guess that he is a bad guy from the way he is introduced all dark and mysteriously and you only see him from far away so it is almost as if the camera is scared of him. TMR trailer slowly builds up tension with rapid cutting until right at the end when you see four long images.

It does this to keep you in suspense because you cannot tell who the characters are at first since each cut is so short. The only people you see in the four long cuts are Neo, Trinity and Morpheus so again this implies that they are close. Also the only person to speak or stand still in TMR trailer is Morpheus which suggests that he is some kind of father figure or guru and that he has a different job from the other two because you do not see him doing any direct hand-to-hand combat. The cutting in the trailer also implies that Neo is still a more central character than Morpheus and Trinity because he is the first person you see in the trailer and also the last. By contrast for the whole of the YGM trailer each camera cut is roughly the same length and the only people you see in these cuts are Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan so it is obvious that these two people are both main characters in the film. The sounds in the two trailers are also very different yet have one big similarity.

Both the trailers have a piece of music playing in the background and although the music is totally different each has a voiceover as well, which shows that they both use the same methods to make the trailers effective and believable. But that is where the similarities stop, as the music on TMR trailer starts off in a sinister and gloomy way, then becomes more fast-paced. Morpheus says ‘ this night holds the very meaning of our lives’, implying that it is going to explain what the first movie was about as a lot of it was left unexplained, and that someone will probably die as it is destiny. The change in the music is also at the same time as the Warner Brother logo comes up so the logo grabs your attention. The music speeds up again and becomes really fast paced when Morpheus says ‘ isn’t that worth dying for?’ Which again makes your belief that someone is going to die even stronger. However in the YGM trailer the music stays the same all the way through and the tune is lively and upbeat.

TMR trailer is designed to make the audience feel sad and alone, whereas the YGM trailer tries to make them feel happy and warm. Another thing related to that is the colour scheme in the two trailers. The YGM trailer is all in very dull down to earth colours which makes you think that the movie is actually true. By contrast TMR trailer frequently has green colours in it which make you think of suffering and sickness which again makes you think of another world which is different from the one we live in. Another difference between the two movies is the camera movement because for a lot of TMR trailer the camera is actually moving and following the characters whereas in YGM it always stays in the same place.

So this lets the audience know that TMR will be a fast paced action movie whilst the YGM trailer gives the impression that it will be a slow and moving romance. The locations in the two movies seem to differ a lot as well. In the YGM trailer the locations always seem to be at their houses or places of work etc, but in TMR trailer there are all kinds of different locations like a highway, a grand lobby and even a Buddhist temple at one point. This suggests that TMR movie will be very exotic, with the characters travelling all over the world. The costumes in the two movies are also massively different as in YGM they are always wearing smart clothes, but in TMR trailer they are always clad in black and normally leather. This connects with what Morpheus was saying about how they are soldiers as this could be their uniform.

They also always have shades on which suggests that they have no emotion since you cannot see their eyes; this suggests that they are superheroes, since superheroes are normally portrayed as emotionless, for example James Bond. I think that the reason these two trailers are massively different is that they are aimed at two entirely distinct target audiences. The Matrix is mostly aimed at a mainly teenage male audience which is why the certificate is a 15, whereas the YGM trailer is mostly aimed at females, pre-teen and upwards.