The movie trailers for Schindler’s List and World Trade Center both use visual arguments to appeal to the audience’s emotions. Schindler’s List uses almost exclusively images and music to make their argument, while World Trade Center uses a combination of images, dialogue and music in their trailer.
The trailer for Schindler’s List begins with images of Jewish men and women being displaced from their homes. Slow, sad music plays in the background while German soldiers ransack Jewish homes and take the Jews away. Throughout most of the trailer, there is no sound other than the music being played in the background. This, along with the images shown in the trailer, forms a powerful message that elicits sympathy for the Jewish people. One of the most shocking images in the trailer is the girl who yells repeatedly the words “goodbye Jews.” This invokes emotion and shows how seemingly everyone is against the Jewish people.
The trailer for World Trade Center is similar to the trailer for Schindler’s list in that it aims to evoke an emotional response. The trailer begins with images of what seems to be a normal day. People go about their business as usual. The mood changes after the attacks, and the trailer shows various people’s reaction to the event. The shock shown on their faces mirrors the shock and disbelief that many Americans felt on September 11, 2001. The trailer then shows several policemen volunteering to help evacuate the towers. This scene gives hope in the face of a terrible event like the September 11 attacks. The trailer ends with the message “The world saw evil that day. Two men saw something else.” This further emphasizes the message of hope.
Russell Bowles
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I think you are completely correct when you say the preview for World Trade Center evokes certain emotions. When I compared this preview I also found that it did start with a normal day then turn to panic and shock. And to add on I would like to point out how they show families as well as go in more detail with certain characters, its not so much the police force as a whole anymore. It is about the couple brave people who went in that building.
ReplyDeleteMusic does play a major role in all these trailers. I chose World Trade Center and Black Hawk Down, and like you mentioned, the music pulls us into the movie and initiates emotions. I like how you brought out the whole idea of that there's still hope. Just like in World Trade Center, at the peak of Black Hawk Down when everyone was getting killed, someone says "no one gets left behind," giving out that gleam of hope.
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