FILM TRAILERS

Trailer Analysis

American Sniper (2014)

The trailer opens with the company logo followed by the sound of the clicking of a rifle that is synced with the opening shot, this signals the genre of the film to be a war/action film. Inter titles are also used in the trailer to convey the genre of the film as a documentary truth. An extreme close up introduces the main character of the film, this close up invites the audience into the mind of the protagonist and allows them to access his inner thoughts.

This is followed by an inter title that uses director power by stating that the film is directed by Clint Eastwood, this encourages audiences to watch the film as it is directed by a well known and successful director. 

The central conflict is introduced when the protagonist is faced with a difficult decision, which is then followed by the man's colleague saying "They fry you if you're wrong", this increases the pressure and creates more tension. There is a transition edit to flashbacks that introduce the emotional backstory of the protagonist that could reveal why the decision is difficult for him, it teases the audience but without revealing too much. The different colouring of the footage contrasts to the scenes at the beginning of the trailer which could suggest his emotions and how he feels. This cuts back to the current scene, the audience can hear his heart beat, this creates suspense and invites them inside of his head as we feel and experience the beating of his heart. Rapid editing is used throughout the trailer through many cross cuts between the flashbacks and the current action scene, these cuts and the pace get faster to build up to a dramatic crescendo. Along side this, the non-diegetic music builds up and increases in pace as the cross cuts get faster, this helps to create tension and suspense to make the overall trailer more dramatic and engaging to the audience. Dialogue from other scenes as well as the dialogue from the current action scene play over the footage throughout the cross cuts, making the trailer move more continuous and engaging to the audience.

The ending is left on a cliff hanger when the suspense is at its peaked, the music suddenly stops as the screen goes black and then the film title appears; this is followed by the release date, the names of the famous actors that star in the film (star power) and finally the film's social media pages.

Gravity (2013)

The trailer for Gravity opens with inter titles of white coloured text on a black screen, it provides the audience with information about space, this makes the following scene more intense as suspenseful as the audience now knows the high amount of risk and danger the astronaut is in. The trailer also opens in silence which is very impactful as it creates suspense, this silence is followed by sudden contrasting diegetic sounds that can be heard when the first scene starts immediately create tension and action that catch the viewer's attention and interest. Through the inter titles and the opening shot a sense of genre is created that conveys the film to be a sci-fi/thriller. The wide opening shot is fast paced and contains a lot of action, it introduces the central character who is constantly moving which distorts the viewer, it also immediately introduces the central conflict of the film which is for the astronaut to try to make it out alive.

As the astronaut falls the scene cuts to black, this teases the audience as well as creating tension and enigma as they do not know what has happened to her. Following this, the production company logo is shown which helps the film to gain a more superior and professional reputation. As the astronaut falls the diegetic sound of rapid breathing can be heard which creates anticipation,  a heart beat can also be heard; at the same time the screen blacks out for a few seconds which helps to build dramatic effect. 

Inter titles appear that use both director and star power by stating the famous director of the film Alfonso Cuarón and actors Saundra Bullock and George Clooney, this would encourage audiences to watch the film as they would recognise the well known names.

Rapid cross cuts are used that increases in pace, this acceleration builds up to a dramatic crescendo where in the final scene everything is about to crash. The music also increases in pace and volume to build up for dramatic effect. Dialogue from the film is used over other cross cut scenes, as the protagonist says she has a daughter scenes of her daughter are shown, this adds to the central conflict as the astronaut has to live so she can make it back to her daughter. Finally the film title appears followed by the release date and the names of the people involved in the making of the film. 

 

The Birth of a Nation (2016)

The trailer opens with the production company logo, followed by an inter title that shows the awards that the film has won at film festivals, this gives the film a type of prestige that would encourage the audience to watch the film as the awards suggest that it is worth seeing. Another inter title states that the film is based on a true story, this shows the genre of the film and allows the target audience to be reached. The establishing shot pans over cotton fields, the scene is very engaging due to the landscape, it also suggests that the film is historical; therefore creating a sense of genre. From the start and throughout the trailer the sound of chains dragging and clinking together can be heard, this links to the genre and history in the film, making it more emotional.

The use of a character narrator helps to explain the historical issue to the audience in an engaging and emotional way. The audience later see that the narrator is the protagonist, they get an insight into his life through short scenes and see that he is the central leader fighting for equality. Voice overs and dialogue from the film used over other scenes is used to explain to the audience and make the trailer more continuous. 

The trailer starts off slow, using fading transitions between longer scenes, this approach makes the trailer more emotional and engaging due to the powerful historical truth of how slaves were treated. As it progresses the cuts get faster as the scenes get more intense and reveal the conflict and scenes of action. The music is very important in the trailer as it is truly empowering, particularly due to the lyrics "I will rise up" which links to the plot of the film and the fighting journey that Black African American's went through before slavery was eradicated. In the beginning the music starts of quiet however as the trailer progresses it becomes louder and the singing begins as the slaves decide to join together and fight back for equality. This acceleration in pace of the cuts and music builds up to a dramatic crescendo in the final scenes where the slaves are rebelling, this is engaging to the audience and leave them wanting to continue watching. As the song ends the film title appears followed by the name of the director, release date and the hashtag #standwithus.

Cloverfield (2008)

What makes the trailer for Cloverfield effective and successful is its use of camera angles and editing, by maximising the showing of this unique selling point of the film in the trailer, the audience is able to get a sense of the genre and the type of film that it is. The genre of the film is conveyed from the start through the glitchy transitions that appear when the production company logos are shown and the inter title at the beginning that states the 'area formerly known as' which immediately gives the audience a sense of the film genre to be a sci-fi/apocalyptic/thriller. All of the shots are filmed to make it seem as if the whole film is made up of hand held found footage, the camera shots are jolty and shaky and use POV angles and positions to show that it is being held by the characters. It also adds to the thrill and suspense as the angles do not allow the audience to see fully what is on the screen, therefore teasing them and adding to the excitement. This effect is enhanced by the editing which makes the footage more broken up due to the intense cross cuts and the added glitches to transition between scenes; the added non-diegetic sounds such as the static and glitch sounds also add to this effect to make the trailer more telling to the audience that they are watching it through the camera. The use of dark lighting and a variety of other effective added editing techniques used including the use of the tape rewind at the beginning and the flashes of inverted colour also all add to the sense of genre being created. 

The central character is introduced through a self recorded clip of himself speaking to the camera (and audience), he states his name ands speaks about what is happening in New York City, he introduce the conflict when he says "something attacked the city". 

The audience are teased through the short clips of action that are intense due to the quick cross cuts that build up a dramatic crescendo. The diegetic sounds of explosions, guns firing, alarms and people screaming add to the intensity of the trailer making it more suspenseful and action packed. At the end of the trailer the film title appears in glitches which is effective as it matches and fits the rest of the trailer and the genre, this is followed by the release date and the names of the producer, actors and director.

Nocturnal Animals (2016)