LAW ABIDING CITIZEN
Law Abiding Citizen is a thriller film directed by F. Gary Gary, starring Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx which was released in 2009. The film took place in Philadelphia where it tells a story of Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler), whose family (wife and daughter) were brutally murdered and raped in front of his own eyes during a violent home invasion and how he brings down not only the murderers, but also the criminal justice system who had let him down when he demanded justice.
The opening shot is an aerial shot of the city of Philadelphia with high rise buildings and monuments which gives the audience an idea f the genre of the film, which might be related to high society corruption and politics.
The opening shot is an aerial shot of the city of Philadelphia with high rise buildings and monuments which gives the audience an idea f the genre of the film, which might be related to high society corruption and politics. The lead roles are performed by Gerard Butler and Jamie Foxx. Although both of them are quite well-known and famous, but according to me Gerard Butler is the USP (Unique Selling Point) as he has previously in films of the similar genre, such as, "300" and "The Gamer".
The dialogues in the trailer are very cautiously selected as each and every sentence is like a hint to the audience. The trailer is constructed like a puzzle where the director left hints and traces which would help the audience to make a general assumption of the character's personality and state of mind. For example:
Nick Rice (Jamie Foxx): You think your wife and daughter would feel good about you killing in their name?
Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler): My wife and daughter can't feel anything. They're dead.
Clyde Shelton (Gerard Butler): .....It's gonna be Biblical.
The usage of dialogues informs the audience on how and why Gerard is trying to bring the whole system down.
The editing of the trailer is very slow paced in the beginning and then gradually picks up speed and becomes very fast paced at the end. This is done to create suspense amongst the audience and to attract them to watch the film. Various jump cuts have been used and there were approximately 100-110 shots in a 2:33 trailer.
The title itself shows up at the end of the trailer and again keeps the audience confused as Gerard Butler "does not" seem to be abiding the law in the trailer.The non digetic music, again, is used to create suspense during the whole trailer as the music is very spooky and creepy, in other words, psychedelic.
No ratings or narrations have been included in the trailer. This may cause in the loss of audience as most audience look at ratings.
In case of narration, most audience cannot interpret the message in the trailer in which case, they prefer a narrator who might dictate along with the trailer and give them the message.
