'Little Women' Fans Did Not Endorse The Release Of Movie's Square Trailer
'Little Women' Fans Did Not Endorse The Release Of Movie's Square Trailer
The release of the Little Women trailer caused a stir on social media. Fans are upset at the version released on Twitter because of its square format, which left out much of the surrounding scenes.
MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST:
The trailer for one of the most anticipated movies of the year dropped this week.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LITTLE WOMEN")
SAOIRSE RONAN: (As Jo) I'm working on a novel. It is a story of my life and my sisters.
TIMOTHEE CHALAMET: (As Theodore 'Laurie' Laurence) This is Meg, Amy, Beth and Jo.
KELLY: As in "Little Women."
AILSA CHANG, HOST:
And as you would expect, the trailer is promising the movie will be full of period costumes from the 1800s, the rolling green hills of New England and a sweeping score and, of course, young love. Fans of the classic tale are so excited about this latest adaptation.
KATE HALLIWELL: I love the book. I love Greta Gerwig. I love everyone in this movie. So I've been waiting for this for a long time.
KELLY: That's Kate Halliwell. She writes about pop culture and movies for The Ringer. She was psyched to see the trailer, but something was not right.
HALLIWELL: So I turned on Twitter notifications for the "Little Women" official account because, as a true "Little Woman" head, that's what I had to do. So, you know, I got that notification. I was like, yes, it's here. I clicked on Twitter and saw that it was a square.
CHANG: Yes, a square. Movies are filmed to fit the wide screen of the theater, as in a rectangle, and to make this trailer watchable on mobile phones, Sony Pictures lopped off part of each frame, which made for a jarring moment for Halliwell as "Little Women" showed up on social media.
HALLIWELL: My first immediate reaction, immediate tweet, was like, why does it look like this? Why can I only see 2 1/2 of the little women in a shot where it's clearly supposed to be (laughter) all four of them. Like, it's such a silly choice just for this movie, specifically.
KELLY: OK, yes. We know square trailers are nothing new.
HALLIWELL: There are a lot of, like, Marvel trailers that are released like this. But it works when there's one person in the frame or there's, like, a focal point that you can, like, crop. When you crop the sides of the trailer or the sides of the frame, it doesn't take that much away from it. But, like, this is a period drama directed by a really well-known director.
KELLY: Halliwell says studios need to know their audience better, and in the case of this particular trailer, the audience is making its demands clear.
HALLIWELL: You want all four of the little women; you don't want two of the little women in the frame (laughter).
CHANG: And these two women totally agree. The film itself comes out in December.
(SOUNDBITE OF LEONARD COHEN'S "I CAN'T FORGET")
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