Tokyo Drift Analysis

Sound including: Music (Soundtrack)/Voiceover/Dialogue/

Sound EffectsThe first sound that the audience hears in the trailer is of Japanese music, this instantly sets the scene for the movie ask being in japan; from the city like surroundings and the name of the film it is also then apparent it is Toyoko. This gives the audience the indication that the things that they are about to see in the film do not aspire to be culturally the same as were they are watching the film from.

After the scene has been set for the audience there is also a description of “drifting” this then provides the audience with the main subject of the film being about drifting and racing. Within the first 30 seconds of the trailer the audience can already understand the films name and therefore have gratification for gathering this knowledge. There is also a general rough set of narrative that the audience have now gained just from the sound in the first 30 seconds.

As the trailer progresses there are brief clips of speech which further explain the narrative and explain that there is a new face In town who gets involved in the drifting business and soon becomes the centre of a lot of trouble and violence. Throughout the film there is also a reinstatement of the idea of “fast cars” and “!racing” from the constant sound of engine and tire. The idea of fast cars is attractive to the audience (especially the males) because racing gives them a sense of further manly hood and a feeling of danger which men conventionally seek. These feelings that the main target audience (men) will get from watching the trailer will encourage t hem to see it to feel the thrill of racing ect.

There is also a diegetic sound of a voice over which gives more information about he story line. Such lines of “of the other side of the world, of the wrong side of the law” are spoken, this gives the audience a sense of excitement and wonder because what the film is based around is breaking the law which gives the audience a further rush.

As the trailer comes to an end there is powerful and climaxing music which gathers as the trailer progresses. When the trailer finishes the trailer the music ends with a bang. This techniques gathers the audience excitement and then drops it at he end of the trailer to give a thrill to he audience. This connotes to the audience that the film is existing, dangerous, fast and full of thrill. All of these things are attractive to the target audience (men).

Editing including: Pace, Special Effects, Transitions, Shot-Reverse-Shot, Match-

on ActionThroughout the trailer the editing pace is fast and short, this connotes to the audience the speed and skill of the drivers which are “drifting” in the trailer. In the trailer is mostly using a “cut” transition to move as fast as possible from one scene to another to again intense the audience in feeling like the cars and the film is fast passed and fast- like the cars in the film, again this is attractive to the mainly male audience who enjoy.

Many shots including areal shot, match on action and POV shots are used in the trailer to show the audience that the cars are traveling faster than they really are. This again gives the audience the feeling of danger and near death which is attractive to the target audience

Nearer the beginning of the trailer there a few transitions between shots of the city and of the main character who has moved to japan, A fade effect is used to shows the transition of the American moving to happen and to show the audience that he is not in his usually environment. This idea of him being away from home gives the audience a reason to form a relationship with him because they to are not used to the culture and sights of japan night life. Therefore the audience can relate to the character as also not knowing what to expect. This relationship will stay with the audience and give them a sense of excitement and worry for the character.

Towards the end of the trailer there are a few statement which come on the scene, behind them is a black background with yellow streaks, these represent the lights passing the car window when at speed, this is the only special effect used in the trailer. The lack of special effects gives the trailer a more real feeling and shows the audience that the cars I the film are really traveling fast and really are being shown drifting and driving at high speeds, the sense of the film being more “real” is also attractive to the audience because it gives the feeling of them not being far away from the reality of drifting and cars driving fast.

Credit, Intertitlesand Institutional Reference

There are very few credits and intertitle in the film. Towards the end of the film there are a few slides which say things like “speeds needs no transition” these just reinstate that the film

involves a lot of speed and dangerous driving which is the norm in this culture.

Once the trailer has shown the audience that that the based around an underground culture of pimped up car which race using a technique called “drifting”, the institutional reference appears. A “Universal studios” logo appears which is on screen for one second. Universal

studios is a highly regarded production company which spends a high amount of money on it films expecting a high amount of profit to be returned. This production company with high

reputation had made various other films attracting many different audience which will lead to many people recognising the logo and therefore recognising the high amount of money and time that will of gone into any film that they have made. Therefore showing this logo to the audience shows them that this movie will be of high quality, this gives the audience a sense of trust for the film and therefore are more likely to go and see it if they think that it s going

to be worth the money.

Shot Types/Camera Angles and Movement

Throughout the trailer many of the shot are fast moving shot which follow the cars as they continue at high speed. These fast moving shot show the audience the high amount of speeds and precision that the cars are traveling at. At various parts in the trailer there are a range of POV shots from the perspective of the driver, this shows the audience a taste of the thrill and excitement that the driver must feeling, however, it also shows the danger and near death experience it is driving these cars at these speeds.

40 seconds in to the trailer a voice over begins which explains the underground culture of “street racing”. As they talk about japan there are a variety of Arial shots of the city to show the size and life of the city. This connotes to the audience that this happens on the other side of the world and is a completely different culture to any other country.

During various car races that take place in the trailer there are a number of shots in a matter of a few seconds which show many different angles of the cars and the race, this range of different shot types connotes a high level of speed, intensity and power that the audience then understand and want to experience more of.

In the trailer there a variety of fast zooms which connote the film consists of a lot of speed and fast moving cars which are fast moving and do not stick around in the same place for a long time, all of these speed connotation are there to attract the specific type of speed junkie audience who enjoy watching cars go incredibly fast speeds.

Mise en scene including: lighting, costume, props, location, make-up,

hairIn the trailer the costumes for many of the Asian characters are very colourful and vibrant, this could represent there existing and joyful driving which they have embedded into the Japanese culture of street racing. The clothes and hair of the America “stranger” are plain and bland compared to the Asian extravagant hair style and clothing styles, this shows the difference in the culture of Japanese and American cultures and gives the audience further indication.

Throughout the trailer the shots are taken in the night-time, this is to show the audience that the underground street racing culture only happens at night time.

The cars in the trailer all coloured according to characters personality, for example the “bad guy” has a full black car while the “good guy” has a bright orange car. This connotes the characters personality and the audience can already start to make clear assumptions about the characters and there personality's.