Rhetoric of Space

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Ariela Guerrero: 50 Shades of Grey


50 Shades of Grey

I watched the trailer for 50 Shades of Grey, a movie that has not come out yet. Although the trailer does not have almost any writing or speaking, I could still determine several rhetorical devices. The producers of this film and trailer included very few devices of ethos, for example; including the name of the film producer, Bamford Watch Department Film. Furthermore, the special effects they included in the film are very professional, which makes the film credible. These special effects include scary parts where it turns from one object to another in a blink of an eye, also a man’s face that shakes in a scary way. However, I feel that the fact that this film has no popular actors in it makes it less credible, because as Gianetti said in his book Understanding Movies “[Stars’] influence in the fields of fashion, values, and public behavior has been enormous.” (Giannetti, 251) By watching the trailer several times I could determine that this trailer attempts to target adults because the colors are always dark and serious. Furthermore there are several scenes that could be rated R, and not allowed for kids to watch. For example; there is a scene in which there is a woman in provocative apparel, dancing sensually in front of a businessman who is sitting on a couch. This is a rhetorical device of logos because the fact that the man is well dressed and has a woman dancing like that in front of him depicts he is wealthy and powerful. Another example of logos in this trailer is in a scene where the woman is sitting at a bar drinking a martini, this depicts elegance and that it is aimed at adults. Furthermore, the fact that there are several Rolex watches and a Porsche car depicts money and wealth.  As Giannetti has also said, “Color tends to be a subconscious element in film. It’s strongly emotional in its appeal, expressive and atmospheric…[people] tend to accept color passively.” (Giannetti, 22) In this trailer there are very dark colors all along, everything is dark, the atmosphere (there are dark clouds), the attire, the watches and the car. This gives a sense of scariness, which makes people think the movie will be about horror or suspense. Furthermore, the fact that the woman is wearing a doll like dress makes it really creepy. Another device of pathos is that as you are watching the trailer you get a sense of desesperation, as if it is not possible to escape from something. I got this feeling because there where two scenes with corridors that appeared to have no exit. To conclude I can say that this trailer is very well done if you watch it several times and analyze it, however I don’t feel like they did a good job depicting what the movie will be about. The fact that there are no words, and you can only hear the characters say about two sentences makes it unclear what the movie is about. However, it does create a sense of suspense that makes you want to watch more. But personally, I didn’t like feeling as if I didn’t know what was going on. Also, I expect more for a movie based on a book so popular as 50 Shades of Grey. 





Ariela Guerrero 

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