Schindler’s List and Saving Private Ryan are both movies taking place in the European Theatre of World War II; the former offers the story of a German business man desperately trying to save the innocent, while the latter tells the story of a group of soldiers fighting through Nazi controlled areas of Europe to save the one remaining brother of a war torn family. The trailers for both movies are similar yet different, possibly due to the fact that they share a director, Spielberg, and composer, Williams.
The trailer for Schindler’s List begins with displaying the hardships of the Jewish peoples during Hitler’s Germany. Some images, which remain in the viewers mind for some time after viewing, are those of the Jews being forced from their homes and onto trains to move them to new locations, and the ravaging of Jewish property by German soldiers. Besides the black and white images that give the viewer a historic and serious tone, the music also sticks out very much to whomever is watching the preview. Another attribute a viewer notices is the lack of voice. The only words are spoken are spoken in such a light voice that they are hardly noticeable, making the entire plot seemingly secretive. The director clearly uses logos and pathos as a ways to appeal to the audience. The logos appeal come from the historical significance of the film and the pathos come from the emotional attachment from the harsh treatment of the Jewish people.
In the second preview, Saving Private Ryan, again we see both music and images setting the significance of the movie. Again, music plays out a serious tone with complementing images to display the pain, suffering, and heartache of those involved in the movie. Unlike the preview for Schindler’s List though, In Saving Private Ryan we now see a dominant voice taking charge of his men and displaying his role as a leader to those around him. Again we see the director using the pathos and logos appeals to his audience much in the same way as he did in Schindler’s List. Both previews seem to appeal to the same basic audience.
David Scully
There seems to be similar elements between these two trailers and the two I chose, "Black Hawk Down" and "World Trade Center." The appeals logos and pathos appear through my two previews quite regularly and appeal to many of the same emotions: compassion, unity, and patriotism. Also, all four of these films are documents of actual events, giving the film historical significance. I also agree that these films are trying to appeal to the same group of viewers.
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