Trailer Analysis - Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - Released in United Kingdom on 18th November 2016

Audience Appeal

• The hidden magical world in New York is heavily featured in the trailer, since the audience would find this appealing through the escapism it provides from the audience's normal lives
• The inter-title "J.K. Rowling invites you" uses the famous name of the writer to remind the audience of previous successes - namely, the 'Harry Potter' franchise
• Action/chase scenes are shown in the climax of the trailer - they make the film look exciting and engage the audience
• POV shot at 1:25 deliberately included to hide the cause of destruction - mystery element as to what this thing that no human could match is.
• Short comedy scene at the end of the trailer - tells audience that the film still has its comedic moments despite the fact that "no human could do what this thing is capable of."
  

Genre Signifiers

The audience is made aware of the film's fantasy genre through:

• The use of wands/magic CGI throughout the trailer
• And also CGI animals, e.g. mole-like creature at about 1:28
• The lighting and colour grading are quite warm rather than being desaturated like an action film would be
• Settings that do not exist in the real world, e.g. large, ornate room at 1:02
• Majestic-sounding music to accompany the visuals, connotes fantasy

Character and Representation

• First dialogue heard tells us the name of the main character, as well as a shot of him from above
• He is definitely the main character as he is the subject of the opening dialogue, as well as being shown the most
• He arrives by boat, on his "first trip to America". We know from his accent that he is from England
• He was kicked out of school, although it is suggested that this was not justified as a teacher "argued strongly against his expulsion". So we don't think any less of the main character despite the fact that this has occurred.
• He is clearly part of the magical world that the film presents, as he changes the contents of a suitcase before its examination
• Another main character seen at 0:24, who is clearly one of the main characters due to the way she is centered in the frame
• The person speaking at the beginning's suggestion that there is "more to [Newt Scamander] than meets the eye" is reinforced by the fact that we don't see Newt's face clearly until 0:29.

Branding

• Warner Brothers logo at beginning of trailer
• The film logo appears at the end of the trailer, so that the audience knows which film they have just watched a trailer for.
• At 1:18 and 1:37, the Harry Potter theme tune is included in the music, which brands this film as being part of the pre-existing universe