Girl Interrupted Trailer Deconstruction

Part 1:

In this part of the trailer, establishing shots are used to set the context of the film and make it clear what historical events are taking place. Montage editing has been used to emphasize the changing times and gives the viewer an idea of all key events occurring. There is a non diegetic narrator on the opening half of the trailer, informing the the viewer of the exact year, 1969. When looking at the mise en scene in this part of the trailer, it has all been made to fit this era, the people seen in the establishing shot are all wearing bright colourful clothes, as well as those seen in the medium shot with a colourful backdrop. This tells us of the different ideas about at the time and general excitement and happiness. However, the green brown tinge which is on one clip of the war highlights that all is not so well, the green indicating corruption in the happy time.

Part 2:
The arrival of Susanne at the mental hospital is quite important as it marks a change in her life and also a change in her character. We see her emotions through medium shots used during the car journey to the facility, and also we get a glimpse of what it is like there via establishing shots. At this stage a very confident character is the dominant as she marches around and pushes others in her way. She has a very bold haircut and is shot with a slightly low angle shot, showing the hierarchy among the patients. The typography used when Susanna has arrived is very important, as the word 'Claymoore' is in red capital letters, which could suggest to outsiders there is some sense of danger, however the underlying message could be that the staff are taking action to help those inside. The diegetic sound in this part is made up of little dialogue, "Welcome to Claymoore, Susanna" - because it is all that is said it shows the big impact on Susanna that this is having on her and the change which is going to take place.

Part 3:
We get an indication of how 'sick' the patients are by the number of drugs they are given regularly, this is shown through an aerial shot of the tablet trays being filled. Patients do not seem to take their time at the facility very seriously and this is shown by the introduction of Lisa, who is wearing a bright yellow shirt and has a cat puppet. This shows a very childish nature, especially with the addition of her diegetic dialogue "Look at me!" Wanting attention and playing with the puppet, however the mise en scene suggests that she is probably happy if not excitable. An eye line match is used to juxtapose Lisa and Susanna, as she comes across a very dull and quite person who doesn't fit into the loud atmosphere she is now surrounded by. This is supported by her lack of dialogue in return to Lisa.

Part 4:
Linear narrative is used heavily at the end of the trailer, helping to increase the pace and add a little suspense just so that the viewer wants to find out more of the story. We see lots of medium shots of the characters who are at the mental hospital and visual effects have been used to slow down some scenes very slightly so we focus on them a little more and see how happy they are even if there does seem to be a prejudice against them outside. In this sequence there is also a very important scene between Lisa and Susanna. An over the shoulder shot is used from behind Susanna to show them looking at each other through the window on a cell-like door. This highlights the confinements patients are kept in to 'heal' them, we can see evidence of this by the white wall colour which connotes sterility and purity. However, white also connotes the idea of innocence but in this case it is acting as a negative barrier between Lisa and Susanna, showing their friendship and concern for one another. There is no diegetic sound at this point, however the non diegetic soundtrack which acts as a sound bridge for the entire trailer gives an important message of "Take a load for free... put the load on me" showing how patients are desperately trying to help each other, especially Lisa and Susanna at this point.

The idea that Lisa is quite isolated is conforming to the idea that those with mental illnesses are separated and cannot always mix with everybody else due to the prejudice against it. We should consider this greatly when filming our trailer as we need to get across the idea that our protagonist is different but it shouldn't mean they cannot mix with others as it may do more harm than good.