Week 3_1/29/16_Humor, Fire, & Sex Appeal-Oh My!

The trailer that I analyzed rhetorically was Suicide Squad. Just one of the appeals I noticed right away was the film's attempt to use an ethical appeal. Ethical appeals add credibility, and I believe that these filmmakers added to their credibility by including several well-known and respected actors in the movie, such as Will Smith, Margot Robbie, Jared Leto, and Viola Davis. This is an example of ethos.

            In addition, I believe that this trailer uses the pathetic appeal by tapping into the audience's sense of humor. For example, at 1:42, a villain is loudly opening a soda can while trying to appear inconspicuous. This is humorous for the audience because it's strange to see someone as despised as this villain to be doing something so normal as opening a soda can. Also, feeling self-conscious about the noise the soda can makes when it's opened is a situation that almost everyone can relate to. It is also humorous how his loud interruption of opening the can interrupts the song of the trailer. Appealing to an audience's humor is a mode of pathos.

            Another example of this movie using pathos to appeal to their audience is by including a well-known song in their trailer. The song is Bohemian Rhapsody, which swells and slivers between and during a character's dialogue. By including this song, the scenes the audience are seeing has become more dramatic and enhanced by the emotion brought on by the music. An impressive trick that trailer does with the song is to match the movements of the characters. One can clearly enjoy the beat of the song empathizing the violent actions, which can be found starting at 1:51.

            The font and visuals included are also aesthetically pleasing for the audience. The font is large, bright, and decorative. Several characters sport colorful outfits and hairstyles. An example of a scene that is pleasing to the eye would be at 1:36 where a character is lying amongst thousands of knives and other tools. The way the weapons are organized and surrounding him in a pattern provides a satisfactory visual. Likewise, the ample amount of gunfire, fire, and overall destruction is fun to look at and will excite the audience.  

            Not surprisingly, this trailer also uses the most popular appeal used today. By showing Margot Robbie's character in a flirty but skimpy outfit, they are using sex appeal. The sex appeal in this trailer is mostly centered towards the female characters since none of the men are pictured with noticeably less clothes or highlighting certain desirable parts of their body. One of the other females featured is Cara Delevingne, who is a well-known Victoria's Secret model. Although she is not sporting a sexually appealing costume, perhaps, her mere presence is suggestive and provocative.

            Other tactics that this trailer employs have to do with perspectives, focal points, and backgrounds. The perspective is almost always pointed towards the character as if the audience is watching a real life scene play out, which emotionally involves them. However, I believe that the camera angle is not close enough to the characters, which provides a distance and detachment for the audience. In terms of the background, rain is seen several times throughout the trailer in order to give the scene a solemn, calming, depressing, and creepy feeling. Lastly, one example of a focal point that the movie creates is at :19. This focal point is Will Smith's character standing towards an open window amidst a dark prison cell. The feeling one gets from seeing him as the focal points really emphasizes how alone and isolated his character feels and is.