Layer cake trailer analysis

CHARACTERSThe main character is portrayed to the audience as the anti hero of the film, as the intertextual narrator refers to him as a “good egg”. Throughout the trailer he is strong, calm and ruthless which indicates that, he has a back story, in which the trailer hints at, and so intriguing the audience to see the whole film.

This antagonist is shown to be the cockney thug that uses violence to sort out disagreements. He is conforming to the stereotype that rough gang men from London and brutal and intense, and so is displayed like this in a hyper reality manner, to add a comedic element to the trailer.

The main antagonist is seen as a more realistic gangster, almost like the American gangsters, as he is the “top dog” and is respected and feared by society. He is smoking a cigar, which is an icon for gangsters with immense power, and therefore tells the audience that he is the behind all of the crime that occurs within the trailer.

The trailer uses Propp’s character theory to introduce each character to the audience, such as the princess. She is very obviously the love interest to the anti-hero, within modern society. This meta narrative way of portraying her, shows that she is a promiscuous “party animal” who is considered as almost a prize to be won. The particular scenes within the trailer, of her dressing in lingerie immediately tells the audience that she is going to be sexualised through out the film.

This character is the helper, which initially helps and guides the anti-hero in his “mission”. He is of an older age, which is stereotypical of this type of character as they as seen as wise. He too is a cockney Londoner, which suggests that the film is going to be gritty and dangerous.

Although her role is very small, the clip of this character from the trailer, implies that she is challenging the princess type title, as she is seen as a strong violent antagonist, and thus going against the stereotype that females are not violent and are seen as sex objects.

NARRATIVE STRUCTURE• The trailer does not follow Todorov’s narrative theory of equilibriums, as it mainly focuses on trailer introductions.

• It doesn’t really show the audience any real plot, but only gives them fast pace and exciting scenes, in order to grab their attention, and therefore make it more likely for them to go and see the actual film.

• The trailer begins with a cooking show, in which he describes how to make a Layer cake. This reference to the title is very clever, as the presenter says lines that reflect the atmosphere of the narrative, such as “And top it of with a little sprinkling, of mindless freedom of expression”.

• The presenter who is describing the narrative style of the film is Marco Pierre-White, who is a famous Chef. This intertextuality of bringing a real chef into a British Crime film trailer creates a comedic side to the film, and is slight pastiche to the cooking industry. As a consequence of this, a wider range of audience may go to see the film, due to the humour used within the trailer.

MISE-EN-SCENE – COSTUME AND PROPS The anti-hero and the London Mafia gangsters all wear sharp suits to show their authority and professionalism in the

underground cocaine business. The posh room, with red plush armchairs and gold pillars shows the form of work that the characters are in get paid lots of money, in order to express this through luxuries. The trailer’s purpose was to show the glamorous side of the London mafia, as well as the violent and brutal side.

The “Princess’s” lingerie indicates that she is the sexualised character, as her revealing costume portrays her in an objectifying light. This would appeal to the male audience, who are more likely to see this film because of the extravagant costumes used to get across each characters personality in a high art an over exaggerated way.

The main prop throughout the trailer is the gun. Every character shown in the trailer uses one, which implies that this film is going to be very violent and relies on the heavy use of guns to sort out disputes between the protagonists and antagonists. This also tells the audience that the film is based in the Mafia parts of London where they can afford to ship guns in from America. It also highlights the fact the characters are so dangerous that they result in using illegal weapons.

This prop of the kettle is seen in a pastiche light, as this is a British Crime film, and the British are associated with always drinking tea. However the way that the boiling tea is used as a torturing device juxtaposes with the way tea is usually used. The fact that this kettle is metal and quite dirty, suggests that the torture is happening in a filthy place, thus showing the ruthlessness of the film.

MISE-EN-SCENE – SETTING AND LIGHTING

The trailer shows clear establishing shots of mansions to emphasise the amount of money that these underground criminals make, and the lifestyle that they live. It has clear and natural lighting to portray a positive atmosphere, which indicates to the audience that there are characters in the film that are not in danger.

On the other hand, there are multiple shots of low key lighting with a hue of blue, to create a nervous feel to the trailer. This Ariel shot of the office blocks demonstrate the business side of the drug profession, as it shows the audience that the drugs are also involved within mainstream businesses as well as the grungier parts of London, this meta narrative highlights the issues with drugs within society, and how it affects peoples lives on a large scale.

This scene of the trailer is extremely low key and is overwhelmed with blue hue, to suggest to the audience that something dangerous and risky is about to happen. It appears that the Lady in the frame is going off to deal drugs. The location is an alleyway, which is a stereotypical setting to do a drug trade, however the Lady’s costume and posture juxtaposes the stereotypical people who tend to deal with drugs, as they are seen (by society) to be teenagers of rough men from London estates.

CAMERA SHOTS, MOVEMENTS AND ANGLES

Throughout the whole of the trailer, several low angle shots are used to show a high amount of authority. For example the main anti-hero has a low angle shot to display his supremacy over his female interest, another example is the police action shots to portray their power over the criminals, and take control over the situation of the drugs raid.

This iron is in a master shot, in order to show some significance to the film. The audience at first glance might be find this prop quite ambiguous, however it brings a comedic feel to the trailer, as in society women are usually associated with household chores, whereas this film, dominated by males, deals with housewives’ props in a more “manly” manner.

This establishing shot is replicated via intertextuality from Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs, it pays homage to this film, as the charactersAre seen as successful gangsters.

SOUNDAt the beginning of the trailer, the music is contrapuntal lift music to create ambiguity for the audience, as they would be deceived into believing that the film is about cooking. However as the action progresses, the music becomes more pleonastic and upbeat to reflect the fast pace action of the trailer. There is background diegetic sound of shouts and gun fire to again emphasise the violence and manic atmosphere of the film.

AUDIENCE The BBFC has classified Layer Cake as a 15 because of moderate uses strong language, drug abuse and sexual references. This means that no one under the age of 15 should really watch this film.