Rhetorical Analysis Report

Deadpool Trailer

Sossna Shumet DTC 355 Section 1

Table of Content Introduction…………………2 Analysis of Audience……………3 Analysis of Genre……………………..5

Example 1: Batman v Superman………5 Example 2: Suicide Squad…………………..7 Example 3: Victor Frankenstein……...9

Analysis of Design……………………….10 Conclusion……………….11

1

Introduction

For my text, I chose Marvel’s “Deadpool” trailer. The movie centers around the

character Wade Wilson, played by actor Ryan Reynolds, who is also known as

Deadpool. Audiences see that his name is Wade about thirty seconds into the trailer.

Originally a Marvel comic character, this film adaptation racked over twenty­seven

million views on YouTube; which is the medium for this video. Though there are a

plethora of different sites that give access to movie trailers, YouTube has popularly

been a mecca for trailer junkies. However so, I first came across this trailer in a movie

theatre...if one can even call it a trailer. It was more like a teaser. This prompted those

audiences interested to go out of there way to look for the full trailer themselves; or at

least wait till it became available. This was quite smart for the author to do because

while theatres show numerous trailers per movie, YouTube shows individual videos and

this gives the author a clear count on the number of people who are interesting in

seeing it.

2

At the time of the video, technology had been made available where trailers were

no longer just a sit and watch kind of clip. For example, viewers are given two different

choices for the “Deadpool” trailer; a redband and green version. Redband meaning

explicit and green the opposite. The explicit version added graphic scenes such as

nudity, gore and much more. The green version included phrases appropriately

humorous while the redbrand was more crass. Though the two had differences, they still

had plenty similaires when it came to the action scenes. Both epic and fast­paced. The

incorporated rap music added a nice touch as well.

Because this is a movie about a comic book character, it gravitated towards the

fantasy realm then reality; so this means lots of Computer­Generated Imagery

technology being used (CGI). Each also display a sort of interactive ending where

audiences are given a chance to see more info on Deadpool by clicking on a link that

takes you to its website. This trailer can be viewed on a smartphone, tablet, desktop,

laptop. It could also be viewed on the television but unlike the other three I mentioned

above, one could only wait for it to show up at random during a commercial break.

Analysis of Audience: Right away, the intended audience for this trailer is quite obvious­­comic book

lovers. People who flock to Comic Con like bees to honey...or other conventions of the

sort . Since this movie is a film adaptation of a comic book, it’s a given that those

who’ve read the comic are inclined to want to see the film as well. Nevertheless, the

3

intended audience could different as well. For example, people like me who first saw

this trailer in the theatres (while watching “Ant­Man”) are also the intended audience.

There are also more than one secondary audience for this trailer. Those who’ve

never read comic books but like the movie adaptations can be considered a secondary

audience and so would those who just like good CGI work. A third could also be those

who like certain franchises associated with Deadpool. For example, the X­Men

franchise is heavily incorporated into this film. About a minute into the trailer, audiences

see a (unnamed) man looking down at Wade on a type of gurney. Those familiar with

X­Men will probably put two­to­two together and realize that the guy is Dr. Kilburn (or a

variation of him); he started up the Weapon X program that turned Wade Wilson into

Deadpool­­the same weapon/program that turned James Howlett (aka Logan) into the

Wolverine. Of course the most obvious connection to X­Men is seeing Colossus and

Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Ellie Phimister) three minutes into the trailer with their

X­Men suits. Lastly, the secondary audience could be those who enjoy the breaking of

fourth walls­­which is notorious in the Deadpool series. He is popularly known to do

doing so as well as turning practically anything into a joke. You can see Deadpool

breaking the fourth wall around 2:25 minutes into the redband trailer version.

Either way, both the secondary and primary audience hold strong opinions and

values for this trailer/movie. For one, the primary audience who’ve read the comics want

the film to be as accurate as possible and the secondary want it to be a success and

their money’s worth. And from what I can see from the positive comments left for the

trailer, I’d say the author does indeed cater to those options/values.

4

Analysis of Genre:

I would define the genre of this text as a trailer. One of the genre conventions for

this is noticeably seen

in the beginning of the

video which you can

see from the image on

the right. Images such

as those usually

(always) indicate that

the clip one is about to see is a trailer for an upcoming movie. Another genre convention

is the length. Typically, movie trailers are set to be less than two minutes and thirty

seconds. However, studios or distributors are allowed to exceed this time limit once a

year if they feel it is necessary for a particular film (such as Deadpool because they

know what’s up). Other conventions also include music. Whether intense or not, the use

of correct music can sometime hypnotize or sway audiences to becoming quite

hyped/excited for the movies release.

Example 1: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WWzgGyAH6Y)

Though not a Marvel creation, this DC­comic movie has caught the attention of

many, many action movie/comic book lovers. So like Deadpool, this trailer has racked

over millions of views and their main objective is to of course have viewers see the film

once it becomes out in theatre. The genre for this text is also a trailer with similar

5

conventions mentioned above. Length is longer than typical trailer but like Deadpool, it

is given for its popularity. The five modes and multimodal designs incorporated in this

trailer are as following:

Linguistic mode: As far as word choice go, the trailer integrated impactful words

as well as phrases. For example, the first words to be seen in the trailer was “from

director Zack Snyder” (all capitalized). It was delivered literally with a bang (thunder?)

and all in caps because the director is quite famous; he also directed the movies “300”,

“Sucker Punk”, “Man of Steel”, “Watchman” and many, many other famous action films

(all found on his IMDB). So in other words, the emphasize tied to his popularity. Other

words are also emphasized in similar matter, bolded and colored white to bring more

emphasis to the otherwise gritty scenes.

Visual mode: The visual mode blends in quite nicely with the linguistic aspect of

this trailer. While the layout scenes are dark, giving it a gritty style, the word choices are

contrasted drastically­­tieing in with the dramatic theme that is seen throughout the

video.

Aural mode: This mode also ties in nicely with the dramatic theme I mentioned

previously. The music, sound effects, and noise fluctuates between dramatic booming

(like thunder) and complete, utter silence (regardless of how action­y the scenes play

out). So when there is sound, it’s quite loud and when no sound...well that pretty self

explanatory. Other than sounds from music, the tone of voice from spoken language is

clear and concise. Unlike the booming music, this contrast here is here to show some

slight seriousness with the dramatic theme.

6

Spatial mode: The arrangement and organization in this video is very clear and

neat. Starts off with displaying that it’s a production from Warner Bros as well as a DC

Comic. The clear voice talks and scene changes from dramatic (cue in dramatic music)

then as the volume increases, it quickly silences and the serious voice begins to speak

once again. This pattern happens repeatedly throughout the video.

Gestural mode: Plenty of this mode happening throughout the video. Because it’s

a trailer that showcases actual people, it would be quite tedious to name each facial

expression, hand gesture, and/or body language seen in the video. But to name a few,

the facial expressions are usually marred faces, with furrowed eyebrows (seriousness)

and hand gestures are usually flailing (running from crumbling building or rioting against

Superman because of their crumbled city). Body language is also quite hostile because

this is an action movie and the interaction between people are also hostile.

Example 2: Suicide Squad

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLLQK9la6Go)

Like “Batman v Superman” this trailer is a DC comic creation...but it also racks up

a high view count on YouTube and fits the genre for Deadpool. “Suicide Squad” is a

villain's POV movie. So audiences get to see how each famous DC villain came to be

(not all but the popular ones). The five modes and multimodal designs incorporated in

this trailer are as following:

Linguistic mode: word choice is also impactful in this trailer. The spoken voice is

very eerie and dramatic which ties in with the dark, gritty theme throughout the trailer.

The bolded silver written text, ‘justice” and “has a bad side” contrasts with the darkness.

7

Notice how the word “justice” comes first and then “has a bad side” this is organized to

bring emphasis that this is no usual superhero movie. This type of movie interests those

who actually want the bad guy to win or for those who want to see the good in villains.

Visual mode: Color and style is again, dark and very gritty. It’s as if it were filled

through a dirty lense. This makes any color, like the Jokers green hair or red lips, very

vibrant and jarring (which fits his character).

Aural mode: every aspect of aural mode is present in this video. The music fits in

with the eerie spoken voice. While the trailer is about villains, the music is a lullaby. This

contrast ties in with the insanity theme that is associated with most of these villains

(Joker, Harley Quinn etc). Also, scenes that are usually loud are somewhat muffled. For

example, there is a scene with a tumbling helicopter, crashing violently onto the ground.

While such a thing would create a deafening noise, that scene was organized to be the

complete opposite. It was deafening quite literally­­completely silent and overlapped

with that consistent lullaby. That theme of insanity again plays here.

Spatial & gestural mode: Each scene seems to fade in and out, creating a sort of

effect like one coming in and out of consciousness (or sanity?); which ties in with the

facial expression and hand gestures. Because most of these villains were once in

insane asylums, the expression and gesture would be like one who resides in one:

crazed. Those who aren’t villains hold serious, authoritative expressions. This contrast

displays the split between who is who.

8

Example 2: Victor Frankenstein

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vqNOZIbIRM) Unlike the two example, this is not a film adaptation made from a comic book. Instead,

it’s a film adaptation made from Mary Shelley’s famous novel, “Frankenstein”. However

so, the genre conventions in this video is similar to those mentioned above and in

Deadpool. The five modes and multimodal designs incorporated in this trailer are as

following:

Linguistic mode: word choice is quite climatic in this video (both text and spoken).

Spoken words overweigh text in this video. It’s delivered in a clear, accented voice

which creates a sort of omniscient atmosphere. Unlike the spoken, the text is contrasted

and seen as drastic and fast­paced. This effect tied in with the dramatic, quickened

music in the video. The text was also all in caps, which emphasized its significance in

meaning. For example, some of the texts (in order) were “witness the origins”, “of a

monster”, “and his creations”. The text teases audience with a light summary of the

actual novel and the interactions between Frankenstein and his monster.

Visual mode: color and style contrasts with each other. While the layout of the

video is neat and precise (showing one scene to the next in the order of the voice), the

colors are differentiate between greys and bright colors. For example, while the scenes

seem clearly in color, the clothing are lively in color.

Aural mode: the music contrasts with the time period of this video. For example,

the setting of this film is set in 1700’s so it’s interesting to hear modern­day rock

incorporated into the video. This contrast would appeal to those who appreciate the

9

classics and rock n roll. Like I mentioned above, the spoken language (though English)

is in a European accent. Both main actors in this film are British but since the film is not

set in England, it is unknown exactly from what country this accent origins from.

Spatial & gestural mode: This film seems to be arranged through key words.

Since this is a film about Frankenstein­­a creature created by lightening­­the theme of

life is consistent throughout the video. For example, the word “life” would be mentioned

and a scene of a baby would be seen. The word “cripple” would be mentioned and a

scene of a man stumbling to walk again would be seen. This pattern is consistent. The

facial expressions are quite gruesome since this movie falls through the crack that is

between life and death. This contrast is emphasised by the body language of the

characters in the video. For example, Frankenstein is at one point in the video

“awakening” his creature and his face and body is taunt in trepidation.

Analysis of Design:

Like the trailers mentioned in the examples above, the Deadpool trailers exudes

all five modes and most design choices. These aspects draws in interested (and

targeted) audiences into wanting to see the film. The linguistic mode in Deadpool is

bare minimum for text but the abundance of spoken text makes up for it. Because

Deadpool is notoriously known to bring humor in the most darkes (inappropriate times),

the constant theme of humor in this action film creates a comic relief that many viewers

would appreciate. The proximity between a serious scene and humor practically

10

overlaps. Also like the previous mentioned trailers, the color scheme of Deadpool

contrasts between dark and vibrant cinematography.

The music is also quite contrasting. For example, there is a scene when

Deadpool is sitting on the edge of highway bridge, doodling a picture with a crayon all

while listening to rap on his walkman. His choice of tone in spoken language is also

quite light compared to what he does for a living. For example, near the end of the

trailer, Deadpool manages to kill three people at once with one bullet. The scene is

qutie intense and while dramatically from his kneeling position, he takes a strong wiff of

his still smoking gun, looks directly into the camera and says, “I’m touching myself

tonight” (I apologize for the crassness). This type of humor is also seen consistently

between the interaction of characters in this trailer. For example, under his mask,

Deadpool’s appearance isn’t quite appealing and one character tells him this quite

bluntly (in fact he says, “you look like an avocado had sex with an older avocado”).

Instead of reacting violently, Deadpool takes it in stride and replies “thank you”.

Conclusion:

Though I had some fun watching these trailers and learning more about my

chosen text, there were some things that was a bit muddling. I found it easy to address

the five modes for each example but it was a bit challenging when connecting it with my

chosen text. Though I’m very sure that there are strong similarities between the

examples and Deadpool, I’m not sure I displayed them properly. I’m pretty sure I could

highlight a bit more for the design concepts as well (for all examples especially and

Deadpool too). While dramatic music was incorporated for all trailers, I don’t think I

11

addressed it the way I wanted so maybe next time, I could focus on such concepts (as

well as spatial and gestural modes).

I found the Deadpool trailer very effective but I think it could have been even

stronger if it had writen text. Unlike the other examples, Deadpool did not have much (if

any) written text. No blurbs to drawn in the audience.

12