Analysis of 'Confessions of a Shopaholic' - 2009 Trailer

‘Confessions of a Shopaholic’ (2009):

• Romantic Comedy

• The trailer starts with a voice over from the main protagonist introducing when she first started getting into fashion. The voice over is accompanied by shots of a little girl in a shop, looking around in wonder. This shows how she finds clothes ‘magical’ which she says in the voice over.
• Non-diegetic music starts in the background with shots of New York, which then goes into a mid shot in slow motion of the central character. There is a voice over, again by the actor introducing herself as the main protagonist.
• Text then comes onto the screen informing that the film is based on a novel, meaning that the film already has a pre-made audience of people who are a fan of the books.
• There is then a kind of repeat of the previous scene – shot of New York, slow motion on her walking – as the voice over compares falling for a guy with going into a store. This highlights her love for shopping and fashion, which is the main plot in the film.
• This is followed by a montage of her shopping and the look of delight on her face as she looks through the different clothes. Again, this highlights to the audience her love for fashion.
• The non-diegetic music then stops as there is a close up on a credit card, followed by one of the characters saying ‘credit card declined’, thus setting the rest of the film up for the audience.
• A close up of someone slamming a pile of bills down on a table. This suggests that the protagonist is in a lot of debt. This is confirmed by a close up on a sum of money of $9,412.25 and a close up of ‘Final Notice’.
• A voice over says that she is ‘turning her life around’ suggesting that the film will be about her doing just that.
• There are then a series of shots of her in board meetings, accompanied with a voice over saying that she took a job as a financial advisor.
• Her friend then says that it’s ironic that she’s advising people on how to save money when she’s in some much debt. This is highlighted to the audience by a montage of her frantically fighting over a Gucci boot at a fashion sale.
• Text alternates with shots of comedic moments in the film, as well as romantic moments, telling the audience the genre of the film to be a romantic comedy.
• Text with the name of the film then comes on to the screen, with a voice over telling the audience the name of the film. The title is at the end of the trailer so that the audience has to watch the whole trailer to find out the name of the film.
• A final comedic scene is shown after the name comes onto the screen.
  http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1093908/?ref_=sr_1