Textual Analysis of 'Pan's Laberyinth' and 'Volver' Trailers

Pan's Laberyinth Trailer

The Trailer for Pan's Laberyinth displays many codes and conventions of Western/UK film trailers, it is most particularly noticeble is how the pace and editing increase speed towards the end of the trailer, somthing that is seen quite often in todays trailers particulalry those of suspense, thrillers or action films, bearing in mind that this is a Spanish film.

It must also be noted how the trailer pays more attention to the Fantasy elements of the narrative and plot rather then the Civil War contextual drama, with the choice of this most likely being that this will (and certainly has) catch the attention of the target audience, fans of Harry Potter etc. A feature that may give away the film's Spanish origin and roots is the fact that theres no narration throughout the trailer, though there is text, narration however is a common feature in Western fantasy films.

The trailer also notes the film's director Guillmero Del Toro who had previously directed Hellboy and Blade II, two films that were not only targeted to more mainstream audiences, but also have roots in the Western comic book industry, this also helps to draw in UK auidence members to see Pan's Laberyinth as they may have possibly seen the films mentioned above. Another convetion used for the film's trailer is that use of a classical/orchestral score,which again builds up along with the pace and intensity towards the end.

Overall, for a Spanish film, Pan's Laberyinth's has a very traditional UK/Western trailer, its obvious that there was intention for the target audience to be wided to larger UK auidences as well as more local or focues Spanish and World Cinema auidences.

Volver

For Volver, I was able to compare both the original Spanish and UK trailers. As I expected, the two versions do have a few similarities and a couple of differences when compared to one another. The Spanish trailer gives away alot of the film's entire plot, where as the UK trailer only explores one side of the film's plot (the fact that the mother of Raimunda ,played by Pene'lope Cruz, has seeminlgy returned from the dead) though in fairness, this was mostly likely done due to the fact that this is the film's main plot. Both trailers indicate to the audience that the film is a piece of world cinema, rather then a mainstream Hollywood blockbuster, as seen through the English subtitles.

One particular noticeble difference between the two trailers is how they open and introduce the film's story, with the Spanish trailer opening in a more calmer and slower pace compared to the UK trailer, which opens much more in the style of a suspenseful thriller.

The UK trailer also shows then intention of the film being marketed to serious film fans , with several awards, achivements and praise that the film has recived, such as a reviews from several London papers, this causes to influence the audience to go and see it with the expectation of it being a good film.