It's Kind of a Funny Story

The equilibrium phase begins with areal shot of a clinic, which suggests the plot will consist of dealing with mental health illness. It then cuts to shot reverse shot between teen male protagonist, as he is given prevalence, and older male character having a conservation. To ensure the audience get a clear idea of the story line there is no diegetic music in the background. This is because the genre drama and the topic “depression” may not always be easy to identify, which may cause confusion to the audience.

Upbeat music suggests the movie is targeted at teens, as it’s creates light atmosphere of the suicide attempt of the teen protagonist. This conforms to the sub genre of drama mental illness and youth rebellious.

Then medium shows the older male character again known as Bobby .His character is portrayed as immature and funny, adding aspect of humor. He also conforms to prop’s character theory the donor as he helps and supports the protagonist.     

To show the disruption phase the upbeat music is soft and quite. Long shows a teen female and the dialogue “who is that?” indicates she is the love interest. Furthermore, informs the audience the male and female teens will bond over their similarities and develop a romantic relationship. This appeals to the target audience of the film, as it shows life real issues the teenagers deal with e.g. first love, school, stress, and depression.   

The recognition phase is shown in the narrative when the male protagonist learns to accept who he is and learns to stop being negative in order to live a fulfilling life. Montage of the male protagonist enjoying, laughing and having fun shows the audience the movie will have a happy ending following Todorov narrative theory. The trailer ends with name of the title and website where audience can research more about the film.

Throughout the trailer the audience are left with enigmas for example:

What is the cause of Craig depression?

Why is Bobby in the clinic?