Trailer analysis: 'No Country For Old Men'

‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007) is an American crime thriller which tells the story of an ordinary man who discovers a stash of heroin and $2 million in cash. This results in cat-and-mouse drama, as three men crisscross each other's paths in the desert landscape of West Texas. This film was directed by The Coen Brothers and stars Tommy lee-Jones, Javier Bardem and Josh Brolin. This trailer builds up a very sinister and atmospheric feeling towards the audience through its use of cinematography and unusual sound choice.

The cinematography in the trailer ranges from mid shots of the characters and long shots which convey the western Texas landscape to the audience. The main focus of this trailer was to clearly show the audience who the main characters in this film are by using multiple mid shots of their faces. This shows the audience that this film is very serious as none of the characters are smiling or look at all happy. Most of the time the characters had guns which also tell the audience that this film will include violence and death. This immediately creates suspense and anxiety for the audience as they will want to know what has caused them to want to kill each other. As all the characters look serious it is hard to distinguish who the heroes and villains are and this again builds up the anxiety for the audience as they will want to find out more about the characters. The trailer starts of quite slow and builds up which creates tension and excitement for the audience. The sound in this trailer is very distinct and does a great job of creating unease for the audience. Non-diegetic sound of music is absent at the start which creates suspense and also emphasizes the diegetic sounds of footsteps which is another cause of tension. The music in this trailer is quite similar to those in Western films as do some of visuals. A number of String instruments have been used in the soundtrack and combine to give a very suspenseful and uneasy feeling towards the audience. This sound track also matches the visuals well as they are both very mysterious.

This trailer is most probably targeted towards men between the ages of 18-50. The reason for this is partly due to the violence and serious atmosphere conveyed in the trailer. None of the characters smile in this trailer as well which tells you that this movie is not meant to be fun rather it is meant to be realistic and extravert. The film appears to be set in the 1980s which is also another indicator that this film will most probably appeal more towards the older generation of audiences.