Research: Teaser trailer analysis: The Assassination of Jesse James by the coward Robert Ford: Western

In the opening scene, there is an establishing shot of forest in winter in a medium long shot accompanied by a strong beat, immediately dramatizing the teaser and grabbing the audience’s attention. Under the mise-en-scene, the lighting is bright and there is focused lighting on the clouds, which have been sped up conveying time passing but could also link to the genre of the film as it is a western and there is a sense of nostalgia in this opening shot as there is for the western.

This shot lasts momentarily before fading out in order to keep the audience’s attention. The film company logo fades onto the screen, revealing who will make the film but also increasing the audience’s interest as Warner bros pictures is a well established film production company that have turned out high quality films before. A cross dissolve reveals another film company ‘Virtual studios’ who are less well known however this does not matter as the audience are already interested. Meanwhile, the music has intensified and along with the strong beat there are violins increasing in pitch to build excitement and a sense of mystery.

The next shot is beautifully cinematographed as it fades in to a medium long shot of a mysterious man. As he walks past the huge steam train, the consuming smoke falls around him and a tracking shot reveals he is wearing a black suit, black hat and a bandana revealing only half his face, conveying he is a dangerous man. The gun in his hand and other iconography show the reader that he is a cowboy. This shot is accompanied with a voice over telling the audience ‘Jesse James is bigger than you can imagine’. This short sentence has immediate impact on the viewer as the unknown voice gives the sense of Jesse James being a mythical creature, who is dangerous.
The shot then fades into a picture of the character ‘Jesse James’, who is instantly recognisable as Brad Pitt, engaging the audience as he is a very well established actor who is known for his roles in western films. The mise-en-scene of the photograph teleports the audience back to the 1890’s as it is of very basic quality, in black and white and has a worn out look to it.

The narrator continues to reveal ‘ you go to him wanting to be with him’ with the next shot of the other main character, played by Casey Affleck. The close up of Casey looking out of the window, anger and envy in his eyes accompanied with ‘wanting to be like him’ conveys to the reader that this character wants to be like Jesse James. The shot then fades to an intertitle reminding the audience of who is making the film. At this point the strong beat can still be heard and there is now a repetitive refrain of a piano playing, which gives an eery atmosphere.
The next shot of Casey reveals he is the one narrating the teaser as he is pictured in a medium close up finishing his sentence with ‘ and you come away always missing something’ which implies that Jesse James is some kind of celebrity and that no one can be like him.
The next intertitle confirms that Brad Pitt is the main actor, followed by a shot of him in medium close up marginalised to the left against a beautiful sunset, showing that there is more to this character than just a dangerous man.