Treatment of Without A Paddle Trailer

The trailer begins with the production company logo, in this instance the Paramount logo. It then cuts to a close up of a man with a surf board from a low angle, whilst a soft male voice over begins telling us the persons name is 'Jerry' and that he 'can't commit', cutting to a long shot of him surfing and significantly cuts to a mid-shot of a woman slamming a case onto a bed as the voice-over says 'commit'. The mise-en-scene connotes a warmer country, with an indexical reference to the States from the Surfing, sea and sand. Accompanying this is non-diagetic sound in the form of a song, that cuts out as the suitcase is slammed onto the bed and resumes after the argument has finished. During the argument the woman states that she will 'not play the role of nagging girlfriend' prompting the male protagonist to reply 'would the role of nagging wife make you any happier', thus informing the audience of their situation, this is done with mid-shots of both characters whilst they speak.
The trailer then cuts to a different character altogether as the music begins again. The first shot is a mid to close up of the new protagonists whilst the voice over announces his name, 'Dan'. This is followed with 'is a little timid' and two different shots showing this. The first is a mid-shot of Dan sat in his car taking his inhaler, leading the audience to believe he is asthmatic and probably the "hypochondriac" character that will get laughs through his frequent panicking. It then goes to a close up of the side of his face as he announces he is affraid of celephane. Here the music quiets down and the camera zooms out to show three male characters, two of whom we already know, in a low angle mid-shot. The mise-en-scene shows them in a wooded area and there is a deep cut on the unknown characters arm, leading us to believe there will be action. At this point the scene transition changes, and the next shot slides down from the top to introduce the last protagonist, 'Tom'. The shot is a mid-shot of him riding in between grave stones on a motorbike. Portraying him as the "dare-devil". The voice over states his name and decries how 'Toms not afraid of anything' as the camera cuts to a mid-shot of a funeral party turning round at the sound of the bike's revving engine. Tom then procedes to make the situation worse by shouting 'Is this Billy's funeral? Is that the corpse of Billy Newwood?' as the camera cuts to the party again in a long-shot then to Jerry and Dan at the front of the party facing away from everyone else, clearly embarrassed. The music cuts out completely as the camera cuts to Jerry and Dan again, now facing Tom, in a long shot shouting his name. He replies by asking 'where did you guys park?', then the music commences again.
The scene changes to the three protagonsits, from a high angle mid shot at night looking up at something. By now the music has started again and the shot cuts to a birds eye close up of map whilst the voice over informs the audience that they are 'three childhood friends'. This is interupted by Jerry stating that they should take a trip, then the music cuts out and the shot changes to a long shot of all three characters and Dan shouting that he has 'responsibilities'. This is where the sotry is realised by the audience, as they figure out that their friend has died and they are planning to take some trip that they would have planned when they were 'childhood friends'.
A jump cut, accompanied by a non-diagetic ‘swoosh’ sound, then shows the back end of a car driving across the screen then away from the camera, the initiation of the trip. We then get another jump cut to inside the car, where there is a mid to close two shot of Dan and Jerry in the front seats of the car, with Jerry laughing and Dan stating ‘I hate you guys’ connoting to the audience how the others like a laugh at Dan’s expense. Meanwhile, the Voice over is informing the audience of the direction the guys are heading, ‘out there’ in the forest as the car drives away in a long high angled shot.
Following this is a jump cut to a mid shot of the three friends in a canoe on a river. The mise-en-scene helps to add to character representations, as Dan is dressed head to toe in camouflage style hiking gear, whilst the other two are in normal attire. The music stops as Dan points out ‘a deer’ and the camera flips to give a point of view shot of the deer, with non-diagetic sound that shows the deer growling after a zoom to a close up, thus adding to the comedic theme of the film. The shot is then focused back on Dan in a close up looking surprised at the deer. There is then a jump cut to more titles stating, parallel to the voice over, ‘from Paramount Pictures’ in a bright bold text that connotes adventure and fun. There then follows a jump back to the action and a mid shot of a police man approaching the three friends, inquiring if they are ‘passing through’. It cuts to Dan as he states ‘just taking a trip’ in a close up, which is followed by a jump to a long shot of the canoe on the river from two different perspectives as outside action whilst the protagonists can still be heard talking. The Police man states, after a jump cut back to a close up of him, that if they ‘make mistakes out there, you’re gone’, foreboding to the audience that something will go wrong for the three on their trip. In response, there is an over the shoulder shot of the three protagonists as Jerry asks Tom if he was a ‘boy scout’ to which he replies ‘No. But I had a Brownie once’, further indicating the genre of comedy, as the music recommences.
The voice over further informs the audience of the theme of friendship as the mise-en-scene, of edited in text shows the word ‘Journey’ in relations to the words ‘Friendship is a journey’. To which there is a mid shot of surging water falling over a water fall, with diagetic sound connoting the loud noise and so fear that this would evoke in the characters. This is followed by a jump cut to three protagonists travelling down the rapids and Tom shouting ‘I’m in over my head’ to which Jerry shouts ‘Don’t tell me that!’ thus reiterating the theme of comedy as a mid shot shows theme getting hit by a big wave and it soaking them. We then get a low angle shot of the protagonists falling over the water fall whilst screaming, as they hit the water the scene jumps to a mid shot of the soaking friends on the shore as Dan states that ‘it is over’. In the mid shot that follows we see Tom reply ‘I agree. Let’s just swim up that waterfall, back over 20 miles of river and wait for a rescue boat. Hey a beer.’ The Non-secquiter helps to add to Tom’s laid back character and again show the genre to be comedy; it also helps depict the genre of action as they have just fallen over a waterfall. The music commences again as the voice over states ‘And life is a trip’ as the scene cuts to a number of shots with ‘trip’ written brightly and boldly on them, as has been seen before.
This then jumps to a mid shot of the three friends at the bottom of a tree, with Jerry suggesting they should climb it to ‘find a way outta here’, suggesting to the audience that they are indeed lost. There is then a long shot of a small figure at the top of the tree, which is followed by a close up showing the audience that it is Tom who climbed the tree. The scene jumps to a mid shot of Jerry and Dan stood at the bottom looking up for Tom trying to find out if he can see anything. After this, there is a close up of Tom again, looking through binoculars, with a diagetic sound of him going ‘ohhh’, followed by a jump cut to a mid shot, shown through binoculars therefore point of view, of two girls washing each other. Another piece of music commences as the camera jumps back to Tom still staring at the girls. This is followed by an ellipsis to a shot that depicts the girls trying to ‘nurture’ the protagonists. Their brightly coloured costume helps illustrate their bright characters to the audience. After this we see an over the shoulder shot of one of the girls looking coyly at Dan as he states he gives a good calf massage, followed by a mid shot of the two, helping to suggest to the audience that there may be romance a foot.
After a short jump cut to a close up of Jerry, we are back to Dan who is asking the girl to ‘roll down those stockings’, to which she replies ‘Stockings? I’m all natural’ in a close up of her legs. This helps to reiterate the comedy to the audience further, as we see a close up of Dan looking quite disgusted. The original music recommences again and the voice over, as the camera cuts to a shot of the protagonists walking through the grass, then a jump to a worm’s eye shot of them falling through the ground into a hole, as the voice over reveals that the film will be out in the summer. We then get a low angle shot of the protagonists riding a quad bike over the camera and then, after a jump cut to another low angle shot, we see them drive of the edge of a cliff into the river. Meanwhile, Dan is stating ‘after everything we’ve been through’, there is then a shot to a close up of him as he ends his sentence ‘I’ve finally ran out of things to be afraid of’. This is followed by a slide transition to a low angle shot of a bear growling, with a high angle shot of Dan looking terrified on the floor, thus leads the audience to believe that Dan gets attacked by a bear. As Dan screams, there is a jump to a close up of Tom and Jerry trying to comfort Dan telling him to ‘stay calm, it won’t bother you if you’re in the foetal position’. This is accompanied by a close up of Dan getting into the foetal position and then a mid shot of the bear sniffing at him. We then get a jump cut to Tom and Jerry again, with Tom shouting ‘abort the foetal position!’ which helps to re-enforce the comedy and action genre to the audience. Mean while, the voice over has been stating that ‘whatever doesn’t kill you, will make you stronger’ as we see a mid shot of Dan being carried away by the bear.
We are then introduced to a new character with a jump to a close up of him lecturing the protagonists, with a cut in between to the protagonists walking out of a building and being swarmed by journalists. This is followed by a quick mid shot of Jerry hugging his girlfriend as the unknown character states ‘you better go out and get it’, leading us to believe that Jerry fights to get his girlfriend back. As the shot fades back to the unknown character, with the mise-en-scene showing a dark room and a fire, he states ‘right now’. At this, after a shot of lighting, there is a shot of the protagonists slowly getting up in nothing but blankets, to which the stranger says ‘not right now you idiots’, again re-enforcing the comedic value of the film.
Now the music starts up again and we are introduced to the actors, with close ups of each with their names written alongside them as the voice over introduces them. There is then a jump to a mid shot, with Jerry in focus in front of the other two, stating that he has ‘learnt a lil summet summet the past couple of days’ as there is a shot showing a highlight from the movie that depicts his ‘two of the best friends anyone could ever ask for’. After the shot has climaxed, the voice over re-enters as the texts reappears showing the film’s title, ‘Without A Paddle’ in big bold text. The shot transitions into a dark shot of Jerry in the rain as lighting and thunder commence, this is followed by a jump to Dan stating that their only hope is to ‘huddle together for warmth’. At this point it has become apparent to the audience that they are naked in the rain, part of the comedy genre. A mid shot shows that all three are in the same position and are standing under a protruding rock, this then jumps to a close up of Jerry stating that he chooses ‘death’. At this point the song ‘bump and grind’ begins, with the opening lyrics ‘my minds telling me no. But my body. My body’s telling me yeah’ and we see the protagonists slowly join together in a mid shot. There is then a close up of the lower part of Tom’s stomach with hands clutching it. The camera pans, stopping as it reaches Tom’s face, as does the music as he announces that ‘this never leaves the cave’. The music starts again as we see the protagonist’s lay body to body in a bird’s eye shot. The shot then cuts out and is preceded by titles as the music ends.