Gangster Squad trailer analysis

Gangster Squad (2013) 

The trailer begins with a establishing shot which pans over Hollywood telling us that the film is set in L.A. following a scene which establishes who the main antagonist is. It shows us a scene where the main boss is being ruthless and has no mercy on his enemies. Following a short scene where we can see him killing a person as well as setting barrels on fire. Suggesting that he will do anything to get his point across, in the following scene we see Ryan Gosling’s character say “This is Mickey Cohens town, you’re not going to change anything around here Sgt” this line tells us the basic goal of the films protagonists. Followed by logos of the producing companies; this is done to advertise the companies who made the film this convention are seen is any blockbuster movie. This also when the pace of the trailer changes. In the next several seconds we get to see more conventions of a gangster movie, some of these conventions include the use of guns, gambling in casinos as well as being in a bar/lounge. The subsequent scene introduces the protagonists; some of the mise en scene includes the characters being dressed professionally in suits as well as fedoras. You can also see that many of the characters smoke either cigars or cigarettes. The characters are introduced using close up shots of their faces, which clearly illustrates who is who. The story of the trailer clearly tells us that the policemen are working undercover in order to take down a notorious gangster. This can be seen the following shots where we see them preparing for the mission. This is also when the song “Oh My God” by Jay Z starts playing. I think that the song works well with the trailer as the shots become in sync with the beat. This creates continuity despite of the montage of shots. This also makes the trailer flow better, as the beat builds up so does the pace of the action in the trailer. We are then introduced to the love interest of one of the characters. The girl is wearing a red dress and appears to be rather seductive. The second section of the trailer appears to be high pace action with many gun shots and explosives which suggest that this film has lots of action in it. The gun shots also appear to be in sync with the music which also impacts on the continuity of the story.