Trailer Paper. Analyzing Trailer Rhetoric – Spiderman into the Spider-verse

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April 15, 2020
Analyzing Trailer Rhetoric – Spiderman into the Spider-verse
Trailers are perhaps one of the most common forms of advertising for movies these days. It allows the general public to have a "preview" of what the film contains and what they should expect in exchange for the money that they will spend on the movie. However, creating a capable trailer presents different circumstances that must be considered by the creator. This includes factors such as conciseness (time limit), effectiveness (scenes to be included), and truthfulness (similarity or relevance of trailer to film), among others. In this paper, I would be analyzing the trailer of the 2018 Spider-man into the Spider-verse, in relation to Kernan's idea of the 'trailer rhetoric.' All in all, the author believes that the film can benefit from utilizing the effective elements of a trailer.
Using Appeals
Appeal to Genre
According to Kernan, one of the most essential 'appeals' that any trailer should take into consideration is the appeal to 'genre.' Notably, she noted that some of the most successful trailers give the audience a sense of "familiarity and novelty" CITATION Ker04 \p 43 \l 1033 (Kernan 43). Mainly, in both the trailer and the film, it is clear that the creators know what young audiences would want to most, without jeopardizing its tendency to cater to older generations. For example, in the trailer, the creators piqued the audience's attention by combining an animated film with elements of mystery, action, and sci-fi, which by itself is a familiar yet unique genre that everyone loved. The very same genre was highlighted in the movie as the audiences were able to see each element consistently through the whole film.
In addition to this, they also utilize the use of comic-book graphics (i.e., realism) in drawing the characters as well as portraying some of the elements of the scene. In both the designs of trailer and the film audiences are able to see how the drawing style was similar to comic books, especially with the frequent use of “speech bubbles” or “word balloons”
Lastly, upon analyzing the contents of both the trailer and the movie, it was clear that the genre itself was suitable for all ages, based on the use of vivid graphics, sounds, and non-offensive language. As early as the trailer itself, the creators have established that the film is suitable for all audiences based on its genre. This was proven during the film as the la...