The Jungle Book Trailer

A trailer that I want to talk about in detail, is Disney's new live-action The Jungle Book trailer. I chose this one because there's a lot to mention, like the range of sounds, images and how Disney have used similar styles to the old version of this film.

Firstly, I'll start with the trailer itself. It starts off quite dark, with small snippets of this wonderful rainforest to introduce the set of the jungle itself. Then, it goes to introduce certain animals - some we recognise but some have been altered, such as the Jaguar and the Bear are key in this film and that shows already as those animals have the most interactions with the small boy. However, the monkey in the older version now is giant and a bit more scary looking, and this adds interest to the audience as it shows that it isn't just a re-make of an old film.

There's many sounds in this trailer, too. There's a quiet soundtrack that plays most of the way through, but - at the beginning - you can hear clear dialogue asking questions such as 'what are you doing so deep in the forest?' and 'I know what you are'. This sparks interest in viewers who may not be familiar with the plot, and shows links from the old version for those who know the plot. There are also lots of animals sounds, like a tiger roaring, a snake hissing, and on. The trailer begins to pick up pace with lots of action, such as animal fights, and this is when the sound starts to become more intense and has more pace. Also, at the end there is a scene of the boy sat on the bear's front and the 'Bear Necessities' tune is being whistled. This clearly links the two films (old and new) together whilst looking completely different.

There's a varied amount of lighting and colour in the trailer. The trailer has gloomy looking lighting where the boy is venturing in the forest and with the snake, and this could be because he doesn't really know what is happening now - like the audience during the trailer. This lighting also happens when we see the giant monkey, which could present how we don't recognise that character straightaway as they have exaggerated him. Also, there's fully lit scenes using daylight dying scenes such as the jaguar and tiger fight scene, and this could be so that our focus is entirely on what is going on. Finally, there are scenes that are fake and lit by fire and flames, giving a scary mood. For example, the tiger appears in front of the flame the boy is holding and his entire face is lit up, showing the audience he is not a nice tiger. In contrast to, there's a dark scene where it is only lit by the moon so it is a lot softer, and the boy is holding his hand out to the jaguar. This is the a lot more friendly and it shows that the jaguar isn't there to hurt the boy.

In the trailer that are typical codes and conventions used to show us that it isn't just a child's film anymore. For instance, in the original film, it was all animated with talking animals and bright and vibrant colours. That showed it was directed at children as it had stereo-typical features such as the ones I mentioned. However, in this trailer, there's running scenes, paced music, bursts of colour (including fire, etc) and hardly any dialogue used. This looks like more of a stereotypical action movie, and shows the clear contrast of the original and re-make, as the new one is directed at older audiences.

Finally, there are limited props and costumes, and this gives us the feel the boy is in the jungle and living off hardly anything. This means when the bear and jaguar appear and seem to be friendly, the audience wave off the 'logic' of wild animals helping a boy, because he needs all the help he can get. Also, it's a Disney movie.

Overall, it's an amazing trailer and I totally recommend you watch it.