The trailer uses narrative techniques which are commonly used in mature themed movies.According to Props theory, Precious is shown as the main protagonist as she has initial thought of positive things in the future. Precious is continuously shown in the trailer showing that she may be the leading character or even the hero.

The trailer does go through Todorov's theory of equilibrium. At the start of the trailer, there is positive scenery with lively music- this maybe the equilibrium of the trailer as it starts off positive. The disequilibrium appears as the mother of precious nearly hits her daughters head. From that scene on, the main people who surround Precious are seen in either a moody or aggressive state.The new equilibrium then takes place as the people surrounding Precious are happy and so is she. The new equilibrium is typically shown in movies based on depressing topics to show that all problems are resolved in some way.

Barthes action code is clearly shown as Precious' mother misses her hit towards Precious with a frying pan. She then looks at Precious with an aggressive look which is then cut off to another scene. This may intrigue a lot of people into thinking what could have happened, having a lot of thoughts. An enigma could be where Preciousheads towards a gate with a child in her arms. This may question the audience as to why she might be there when it is clearly locked for some reason.