Deconstruction of The Odd Life of Timothy Green

Deconstruction of The Odd Life of Timothy Green focusing on target audience

Shot type: Opening shot is a point of view shot, which tilts up to a mid-shot of a nervous couple sat at the receiving end of the desk.

This shot contains a document on a clean tidy desk and you see a pair of manicured hands touching it. The document it then shut firmly, all this connotes seriousness and a sense of professionalism, letting the audience know and understand that this is something serious. This is heightened by the fact there isn’t any non-digetic sound, silence is used to promote that seriousness. It also shows us that this is unlikely to be directed at a younger audience as they wouldn’t understand what’s going on. Especially when the dialogue comes into play and says “You couldn’t of tried harder” as the camera titles up to show the couple at the receiving end of the table in a mid-shot allowing us to see their estranged facial expressions, the fact it is a point of view shot and they are looking directly at the camera/the audience it makes us feel involved and helps evoke our emotions, making us feel slightly uncomfortable. The lighting is also quite dark and gloomy with simply their faces lit up so we are able to see their facial expressions, this all shows they are going through a hard time and things aren’t looking good or hopeful. Their clothes are also very dull and dreary making us feels as though they have no hope left in them and that they’re going through a particularly rough patch. This again revokes the idea that this is not a film for a child, but more aimed towards couples, but particularity as the dialogue continues it seems it is aimed at mostly women above the age of 25. This is something that some women have to go through, so they can find a sense of hope from this movie, it also appeals to women who have had children as it provides a sense of comfort.

Edit: The next shots are fast fades of shots to the house; these shots show the family car, the family house and the nice surrounding in which a family could be brought up.

 

This expresses to the audience the eagerness and desperateness that this couple have to become parents, the faster paced shots expressed the eagerness, but the fades help to add that softness taking away that initial sharpness of quick cuts, the fact that the shots themselves show vast fields, the big house and the car show that it’s a safe haven for them/a family, but the fact the car is driving away from the camera adds a distinct distance suggesting that there is no hope left and that they have built this life to suit what they have always wanted, a child, and yet things aren’t turning out as they have planned. This is something that would appeal to the target audience of women ages 25 and above, because this is something that they would be able to relate to, enabling them to feel comforted by this story and helping them to see things differently.

Edit: From these shots it then goes into a black out shot before there is a wide shot of them in their living room.

 Shot Type: Wide shot

This shot shows the inside of the house, the main area of the house, it is shown to be quite snug and homely; the colours are very warm although they are dark, and they come across in a friendly way. You can see the whole of both of the actors so you are able to analyse subconsciously their body language in order to understand the situation. Through their body language and dialogue you are able to see that they are having a discussion about what happened at the doctors, one is still hopeful even after what the doctor said, this is shown and enhanced through the open body language and desperation in the tone of voice, compared to the closed off body positioning of woman who has given up hope. This is again something that women aged 25+ will be able to relate to when watching this.

Editing: The next shots show another range of shots that are put together, beginning with them pouring a glass of wine and then writing on pads of paper about what their child would be like, it goes from different shots with black fades between; this is very conventional of a trailer and also makes it looks very professional.

The film gets more and more hopeful, this is shown through the distinct change in lighting, it becomes a lot lighter, they seem a lot happier, non-diegetic music gets added, it then shows them laughing with their child and so on, this is why it would appeal to woman 25+ plus, it gives them hope that they can have that too, but it also gives to comfort for people who have gone through this or know someone who has. Even though it is clear at the beginning of the trailer that the intended target audience is for women aged 25+, it then changed slightly when the little boy comes in; it feels like it is then more aimed at families as the fantasy element of the film plays into effect and the storyline becomes more unrealistic as Disney films tend to do, this is why it makes me think it is then not aimed at adults because they would prefer a story that was more realistic, because the fact it is so unrealistic diminishes the hope, however in some cases it could still work. I still think it was intended to be aimed at woman aged 25+ as I think the overall storyline could end up boring and hard to understand for a child.

The length of the trailer was 2 minutes and 7 seconds which is something I will have to think about when creating my own trailer.