Trailer Analysis: Little Fockers

THEATRICAL


Little Fockers Theatrical Trailer


Title
The title 'Little Fockers' isn't shown until the end of the film and is in festive red writing on a creamy white background. We are invited into the film and introduced to the characters but I think the title is displayed at the end to conclude it. It is third in a sequel and all the titles relate, 'Meet the Parents', followed by, 'Meet the Fockers' and finally 'Little Fockers'. The film is based on 'The Fockers' having kids, therefore 'Little Fockers' sums up the main storyline.
Genre
I would class this film as a family comedy. The first two films were comedies but as they have now created a proper family and it is set at christmas time, it has more of a festive family feel. There is plenty of humour throughout the clips in the trailer, much of which is similar to the other films and the audience will enjoy referring back to them and feeling as if they already know these characters well. 'Dina Byrnes' refers to the title at the beginning of the film and as she says "...little fockers", a clip of the children is played to introduce them as the 'Little Fockers'. Throughout the trailer, text is displayed on the screen, which at one point, refers to the characters as 'Old Friends', which increases the family feel as the audience is personally invited in. Only one part of the story is properly revealed to the audience through breif clips to attract them to want to see it, and it has comedy written all over it with mild disasters that we, as the audience, can humour. 
Starring
The trailer begins with the introduction firstly of all the characters we know, followed by the new ones, many of which are also well known actors and actresses. Many of the characters are already known and recognised from the earlier films and are shown right at the start of the trailer, along with the kids or the 'Little Fockers' who are introduced as that by Dina Byrnes, their grandmother who has played a fairly big part in the first two films. The familiar faces are also shown altogether as a family quite early in, as they prepare to eat christmas dinner together. This is followed by brief clips of each character being displayed with their real names, which is were stars such as Jessica Alba are introduced. By showing these fairly early on in the trailer, it is likely to attract the audience to watch further as many of them are easily recognizable.
Action
We are first shown a few short clips of the familiar characters from the previous films without revealing any of the actual story-line, other than the introduction of the 'Little Fockers'. The comedy genre is clear throughout these and the audience can refer back to the previous films through the characters and similar hysterical disasters. New characters are introduced accompanied by a small clip of them from the film to give us a slight insight of their character. Part of the story-line is put in place half way through which adds humor and attracts an audience, without giving any main part of the story away.
Music
Festive christmas music is played from the beginning of the trailer to set the christmas theme, which may suggest family getting together, as this is a main part of the film. As the idea of this being a happy time is subtly contradicted by 'The Byrnes' coming to town, the music comes to a stop and is replaced with something which sounds more doubtful of parents coming to town for christmas being a good thing, it also accompanies the actions better by pausing occasionally for emphasis and "give a little love" being sung as the characters are shown happy and with family, although this could be seen as ironic. 
Voice-over
The voice-over is only heard at the beginning for once sentence and at the end for the title, the rest of the trailer contains dialogue and music to accompany the clips. When the song 'Santa Clause is coming to town' is playing at the start, a deep but friendly voice says, "This christmas, Santa isn't the only one coming to town", implying 'The Byrnes' are also coming, which is confirmed through dialogue and clips from the film. The voice sounds as though it has been made out to be Santa, an old friendly man with a comforting voice, aimed to be this way for children. This is relevant as this film is about 'The Fockers' having children. The voice being Santa, also sets the theme of christmas.
Pace
The pace of the entire trailer is fairly slow and calm, and the montage of clips are at a normal speed, as they are likely to be in the film. Although during the usual disasters it speeds up to a more frantic pace, this is shown through screaming and a faster montage of clips. 
Information
We are told and shown the theme and basic story-line of the film through the voice-over, dialogue, text and clips in approximately the first 20 seconds of the trailer, which is 'The Byrnes' visiting 'The Fockers' and their children for christmas. A few other events are put in place using dialogue and clips, which attract and audience through comedy and similarities to the previous films. 'Universal' and 'Paramount' are displayed at the start with logos. The trailer ends with text displaying cast, producer, writer, director, website, etc, and finally 'Christmas' which is the time of release.
Audience
The genre is comedy, and it is based on a family at christmas with the parents, in-laws and kids, So it can be easily related to by people of all ages as it is for the family and comedies usually attract a wide and varied audience. 




CONVENTIONS


This follows quite a conventional structure for a theatrical trailer. The setting, characters and main features of the story-line are established at the start. This is done using a voice-over, text, dialogue and shots from the film. Events and complications from the film are briefly put in place without revealing to much of the main story but adding humor and similarities to the previous films. There is a cast run with a shot of each main character and their name, this is a great selling point as many of the stars are well known and even award-winning. The title is displayed at the end, despite being mentioned at the beginning through dialogue of Dina Byrnes, this is a common convention of a theatrical trailer. The entire trailer is made up of a montage of clips from the film which are accompanied and emphasized using music and text. Usually dialogue is cut down to one-liners but this trailer contains more conversation between characters, though they are still brief.