Keeping it Reel: Blog 1

I chose the Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl movie trailer. I chose this trailer because it is one of my favorite movies and will most likely be one of my favorites for the rest of my life. I mean, who doesn’t like pirates, damsels in distress and sword fights? No one. I could go on about how much I love this movie, but I must describe the use of rhetoric devices that are shown during the duration of this trailer. Let us begin with ethos.

Ethos, as we all know, has to do with the credibility of something. In a movie sense, it is the credibility to the actors, actresses, producers and directors. If you are an avid movie watcher and you know actors/actresses, right off the bat of this trailer you notice a very familiar actor, Orlando Bloom. But the cool thing about this trailer is while it is showing one famous actor, another voice is speaking in the background who happens to be another well known actor… Johnny Depp. So as you are watching Orlando Bloom act in the trailer, you are hearing Johnny Depp speaking in the background. It kind of makes you think a little as to who is in the movie. Orlando Bloom is portrayed as the “knight in shining armor” due to his, “We must save her,” line. So right then and there you wonder, “Who is this damsel he speaks of?” Well, I’ll tell you. It is another well known actress… Kirsten Dunst. To a middle aged teen boy, that is an automatic spark plug of interest because lets be honest, she is blessed with beauty. But I digress. Along with theses credible actors, as the trailer is picking up, a flash of the producer, Jerry Bruckheimer, flashes on the screen. Again, credibility at its finest, Jerry Bruckheimer is very well known to movie goers and his talent in creating magnificent movies. So, within minutes, you see all of these famous actors, producers and directors. Talk about catching your attention.

Regarding pathos, one’s emotions may go up and down during this trailer. As I said before, Orlando Bloom wants to save Kirsten Dunst because he has a crush on her… Who wouldn’t?! But, Johnny Depp (Jack Sparrow) is the key to Orlando Bloom’s (Will Turner’s) heroic rescue because he is the only one who knows how to find the ship Elizabeth was kidnapped on. As this is all happening, you are seeing flashes of action. Sword fights, guns blazing, front flips! So you automatically know this will definitely have an action packed sequence in the movie. Saving the damsel in distress shows that there is some sort of love story that is going to happen, but at the same time, Will Turner is going to have to fight his way through vicious pirates who by the way are cursed by his father… So, they can’t die. Buzzkill. The reason they can not die is because the curse has to be lifted from the sacrifice of Will… But, I don’t want to ruin the whole movie! Romance, action, betrayal, the list goes on and on! You get this feeling in your stomach of, “What’s going to happen?!” That is exactly what the trailer wants. Boom.

Lastly, logos. This refers to the logic of the movie/trailer. Is it worth seeing? Well duh. Famous actors, sword fights, romance, guns… Seriously? Go watch it if you have not already. I think it is very logical to see it. Period.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z1XpfbuZOA