Analysing Film Trailers - Answers

Dark Knight

1.       The story advertised is about a villain (Joker) who is destroying the city (Gothem), and the hero (Batman) must try and save everyone from him. This shows how there are binary opposites as there is a conflict between good and evil. The genre of the film is action/thriller, as there are many fighting scenes and a lot of the parts of the trailer show conflict between good and evil will keeps the audience at a excited pace and off their seats.

2.       Not much of the narrative is revealed, only the main and important parts of the film were shown. This was achieved through many short clips of action in non-chronological order and a voice over of the main narrative before the visual is shown to match on screen.

3.       The shots were not in chronological order. There were quick changes of shots when the action scenes were shown, the trailer starts of slow then moves fast and at the end slow again. This is different from the actual film.

4.       Around 48 shots were shown.

5.       The trailer starts slow and then then the pace quickens when the villain is shown, then becomes even faster at the action scenes and then the pace decreases again when the fights are finished and the hero is involved.

6.       Transitions such as flashes and high pace fading would be expected in an action/thriller film, this is because the high paced flashes can control the audiences heart rate and have them at the edge of their seats when watching.

7.       The trailer started off with the villain’s voice and how he introduced himself and the hero.

8.       The soundtrack was fast and showed the villain’s character attracting the audience. The dark music to0ld some of the story and built up tension between the two main characters.

9.       There were many close ups of the villain which showed his character and how he would act in the film. View shots were used to show the surroundings which tells the audience the location and what is about to happen or is happening.