Case Study: Sex and the City

Film Magazine

Sex and the City is an American situation comedy which ran for 6 series. In addition, after the series 2 films were made where the lives of the 4 girls which star in the series were shown and how their lives have moved on from the series. Sex and the City follows the romance of the girls and fashion places a huge part in how the girls develop as characters.

After much research into magazine covers for my chosen genre, i found that there arent many film magazines that cover the theme of romance. However I did find one poster which is from the Turkish Total Film magazine. The image shows Sarah Jessica Parker,who plays the main female, Carrie Bradshaw, within Sex and the City. She is seen to be looking very provactive and it is not clear that Sex and the City would be revolved around romance. She is clearly dressed is a stylish way, sporting a 'little black dress', this item of clothing seen as a must have in any females wardrobe. As this front cover is pretty simple and bland, the fact that Sarah is posing in a stong way, adds depth to the magazine and would make the audience wonder what the films are about. Also the colours of green do not show the girlyness of the actual film. So this representation of the film is not very clear.

However i was not happy with just analysing this magazine cover as this does not show the true beauty of what Sex and the City is about. So after some more research into magazine covers I found one that shows some more feminine traits especially as it uses the colour pink.The aspect of fashion is clearly shown in this magazine cover as they girls are all dressed up, all in similar colours but all have completly different styles. This shows the difference in characters and personalities between the girls. Sarah Jessica Parker is more prominent within this poster than the other girls, showing that she is the main character, just as on the other cover. However this cover has pink within it showing the more girly side to the film. The theme of romance still cannot be seen in this magazine cover, I think maybe you have to have seen the series to understand the romance aspect of the film.

Glamour is definatly something that can be seen within this magazine cover and I think this is something that may help with the selling of the magazine especially with females as they may feel as if they can relate to at least one of the women.

The huge letters of 'Sex and the City' will clearly show to the audience who is featuring within the magazine and the sub headlines show that the whole magazine front cover has been dedicated to 'Sex and the City'. Meaning that fans of the show will definatly buy it.

Film Poster

The movie posters for 'Sex and the City' have a completely different style to them compared to that of the magazine covers. It has a lot more pink and glamour to the poster, showing the feminine traits to the film. The sparkly letters make up the words Sex and the City, this taking up over half of the poster. However even though the poster is simple the colour and glamour that is added within the poster compensates for the fact that their isnt much detail to the poster. Clearly from the poster and colours within the poster show that this film is aimed at women. The pink and glamour will attract any girly girls eye and also those who are fans of the series of SATC. As a girl myself I love this film and couldnt wait for the second one to come out.

Again the theme of romance can not be seen within this promotion of the film, we just see a very happy Carrie dressed in pink, walking in a very content manner. We see Carrie dressed in a very stylish way and has been made up to look extremely glamorous. 'Get Carried Away' This play on words incorperates the name of Carrie and is a very catchy slogan to add to the film. As the film is mainly based on the character of Carrie, this is made clear as she is the only female and the only character to appear on the poster. However their are 3 other girls which are crucial to the whole SATC film but they are not shown within the poster. Also after analysing this poster i realised that the producers of this poster hasnt used the actress's names. So anyone that isnt a fan of SATC may not get the whole 'get carried away' pun that has been incorporated within this poster.

 

Trailer

An opening establishing shot shows exactly where the movie is filmed. New York City is easily identifiable when watching films and this one is no exception. Panning shots of New York lit up at night shows a bit of glamour as is seen in the posters and film magazine covers.

The next shot shows Carrie and Mr Big kissing, this is the first glimpse of the theme of romance that is shown throughout the magazine covers, film poster and the trailer. The words 'last single girl kiss' show that the couple are about to unite in marriage which ties in with what happens at the end of the SATC series. The trailer then moves on to show a shot of the 4 girls looking glammed up and walking down the street, an iconic thing as it shows the girls reunited after the series finished.

Clips of the girls are then shown, all looking happy and each looking 'loved up' in their own little family, each extremely different. The most distinct word that stood out to me whilst watching this part of the trailer was the word 'Fairytale'. This gives the idea of the girls living happily ever after and how the princess in the fairytales fall in love with Prince Charming!

We then see on the eve of Carries and Mr Bigs wedding night, all the girls are sitting around reminicising about past events that have happened between the girls and their love life.

However the happiness theme of the trailer turns around and the words 'but real life... always has a twist' This pushing out the theme of fairytales and showing that they dont believe in 'happily ever afters'.

A statement then fades into the shot to describe something that happens in each of the girl life throughout the film. This adding to the suspenseof the trailer making the audience want to go and see the move at the cinema or buy when released on DVD.

The high key lighting keeps an upbeat theme to the film, even though some dark goings on happen in through the film. The colouring of the trailer is mainly pink or very girly colours, this being the only consistent and continual thing that stays through the movie poster, trailer and magazine cover.

The iconic SATC theme tune is also used through the trailer, any fan of the show will recognise the SATC film by just hearing this tune.

Sex and the city (2008) official trailer