Transformers Trailer Analysis
The trailer beings with a tracking shot of Sam and his dad in a car, the tracking shot following the movement of the car and picking up the conversation. This part of the trailer focuses on the storyline of Sam getting his first car with his dad, which most people in the audience can probably relate to which brings elements of emotion in. In the background there is a Non Digetic soundtrack playing, thus being “What I’ve done” By Linkin Park, Who are a very popular and well known band to especially to the younger generation, this draws them in.
The Trailer also introduces the theme of destiny as the car sales man says to Sam “ The driver don’t pick the car, the car picks the driver, it’s a mystical bond between man and machine” as the sales man is saying this there are midshots and close-ups of Sam checking out the car, then there is an extreme close-up of Sam rubbing his thumb against the emblem for the transformers on the steering wheel, this being an important part of the film’s narrative as the audience are intrigued as to why this is important. There a fading transitions between these shots also so the clips run smoothly one after the other.
The radio then suddenly switches itself on and the added Digetic sound effects of a frequency are apparent and then there are jump cuts between a few shots before the distribution and production film company logos appear on screen, thus being DreamWorks and Paramount studios, these match the frequency sound effect as they flicker slightly as they appear on screen and are very quickly advertised. It is important that the film companies are shown as this is major convention of a trailer.
We then see a shot of Sam's car which quickly jumps to a close up of the car switching on , there is then a high angled, medium close up of Sam awakening from is sleep from hearing all the car noises suddenly, making him believe that his car has been stolen , Sam then from his balcony, with an over the shoulder shot, showing what's going on from his point of view as the audience see a inside shot of the car’s gear stick moving on its own which makes the audience being to think what could be really going on with this car ? This is shown very quickly, his car then drives itself away with the Digetic sound of him shouting “ Hey that’s my car!”
The Trailer then cuts to a shot of flaming meteors on their way to crash on earth, this representing a connotation of the sci-fi genre. There is then a Birdseye shot of the meteors hitting the baseball stadium. The meteors hitting represent the common movie theme of threats to destroy planet earth. Digetic sounds of the meteors shooting down to earth is evident during the shots and then a black out intervenes the trailer which makes the audience wonder for a moment and guess what they could be seeing next.
The trailer then cuts to a shot of Sam’s car starting to transform with the non Digetic atmospheric soundtrack. The camera then zooms into a close up of Sam’s facial expression as he watches, he looks astonished, yet scared. We are then placed in a subjective position from behind Sam, Fade to black transitions are use between these shots to create an ellipses .we aren’t able to full see what’s going on with the car due to the effect of the bright lighting which reflects off Sam's face. The audience pick up all of Sam’s facial expressions to what he can see but are still not fully aware of what is going on, but probably have an idea due to all the clues.
The trailer changes to a different time and location, this is done using a fade up from white effect, there is then a non Digetic dialogue of a man saying “what you’re about to see, is totally classified” which intrigues the audience. This is alongside a shot of what seems to be a secret government building. The camera then shoots a pedestal shot of a gigantic robot like machine; this camera technique gives a more dominating effect to the denotation. The close up of who the audience guess could be the president of a man of high authority says “ dear God what is this?” this shows elements of fear to the audience, and thus making the audience begin to become worried.
“July the 4th” Then zooms quickly onto the screen on a black background with a silver blue font, but surprisingly it isn’t that large a size, which on mist trailers the text, tends to be attention grabbing due to its size. Also July the 4th is the day of American independence , the release date being on this date is it’s unique selling point because it’s the day where America celebrate their independence and this film is showing a threat to their independence. The Digetic dialogue of “Were under attack” is shouted worryingly from a guy and from his clothing we believe to he is to be in the military service.
The pace of shots then increase as there are more action packed scene with arm viechles exploding and gun shots being fired around then there is a cross transition to the sea with a huge navy ship and there is then a fade transition to the air forces, these shots showing that there is so much of the force needed to defeat this unidentified object that is threatening mankind.
There are shots of the transformers, which are mainly low angles to the viewer to portray the transformers dominance over mankind. The music becomes more jumpy and tense which brings tension to the audience, They have come to destroy us” Text appears on a black background before there is then a slow-motion shot of the horrible looking monster that is chasing the soldiers in the desert, the camera is in a point of view where we can see the predator and it’s pray, this being parallel l to the text that has just been shown.
Several shots of a truck coming towards Sam and Mikaela with action paced non digetic atmospheric music in the background which is in parallel to the timing of the jump cuts of the shots, the music then stops as the truck does at it beings to transform. The camera is located at a high angle from the transformers point of view, showing its dominating size when compared to Sam and Michaela’s.
There is then dialogue between Sam and Michaela this is shown with a medium close up and you can tell that they are both still focused on the robot in front of them as they are not making eye contact, this is because they are unaware of what the robot may dos o they have to keep alert. There are elements of humour in this dialogue when Sam says that “it’s probably Japanese or something”.
The Music kicks in again and the text appears again onto the screen between shots, this is a big selling point because Michael Bay is a well known director of over successful films such as Pearl Harbour and Bad boys. Shots of cram packed action scenes appear on screen in an urban city setting with sci- fi robots everywhere attacking civilisation.
Michaela then says to Sam “I’ll drive you shoot” which shows mixed gender roles as it shows how woman can take control of dangerous situations where men usually tend to. The shots begin to get even faster in parallel to the tempo of the music which really draws the audience in as there are lots of shots but the audience don’t know 100 percent what exactly is happening.
Resident evil trailer analysis
Sound
The trailer beings with the non digetic sound of atmospheric music; there is then a sound bridge of a voice over from the main characters point of view describing the story. The rain is falling and there has been an added sound effect which sounds like thin pieces of glass smashing onto the ground gently, this emphasis’s the rain drops. The main non digetic sound is the atmospheric soundtrack which has been edited to the trailer; it is of rock genre which is parallel to this films theme.
There are lots of dark and dull colours, this is in parallel with the film’s atmosphere and genre. There are very high tech settings that look very futuristic and scientific. The settings are quite dull and depressing due to the fact that there is very little life left on earth .
Editing
There are lots of straight jump cuts between scenes, this is because the film is a fast action paced one and needs this effect to give the audience the real action feel. There a slow mow scene during the beginning when the girl is standing in the rain and the camera focuses on her as the pedestrians walk by with a slow motion effect, this gives a spooky atmosphere, there is then a flashing effect added to the shot when the girl suddenly is seen to be attacking one the victims to make the scene and action really jump out at the audience. There are black fade transitions between shots that are parallel with the tempo of the music which creates a good effect.
Camera Movement
The trailer begins with a birds eye shot looking down on people walking in the pouring rain with all the umbrellas, and you cant really see the people, this shot is cleverly thought out as the main company that released the Zombie virus are called “Umbrella”, but people who are new to the resident evil trilogy will not realise but those who have already seen the previous films will instantly see the connection. There are a few wide Long shots to show the locations in the film, this is very important as these shots also show the deserted unpopulated areas do to the virus killing people, and the audience will instantly be intrigued by the abandoned locations and wonder where everybody is and what could have happened to them. There aren’t many used of angles in this trailer but a low angle is evident when the main character Alice Alice clones are falling backwards off a building as they still shoot at their target but the camera is at a high point
