Trailer Analysis - Action (x3)

Trailer Analysis

Spectre

The trailer starts with eerie non diegetic music which builds in tempo and volume adding suspense and drama before the dialogue can be heard, starting with a dramatic line "you had no authority" which pulls the audience in and ask's more questions than it answers. The scenes on the screen are more important than the dialogue at this point and the music simply adds to the action with dramatic pulses of sound to accompany the shots of bond on screen. Diegetic sound of a gun being reloaded reinforces the idea this will be an action packed, gun firing film drawing in the target audience, there is then silence before an explosion to add more suspense, the explosion itself also shows the audience more of what they hope to see in a n action film like this one and conforms to the conventions of an action trailer. The iconic bond theme is then heard to alert people if they weren't already aware that this is a bond film, the latest film in the long running franchise and means many people will already be booking tickets to see it without seeing anymore of the trailer purely because it's a bond film and people are invested in the franchise. This changes to dramatic music as a character states bond is "just getting started" - more action cliches in the form of car revs provide target audiences with even more of what they're after and again conform to action trailer conventions. A womans' voice can then be heard signalling a potential love interest or seductive villain for bond to face and gives the stereotypical male audience more of what they want to see in this type of film.. More pulses of dramatic music increase the tension and add more drama but leave the occasional silences for added effect.  A few more cliche bond lines, like "i'm your best chance of staying alive", are put in to add more drama and show some of the heart to the film and show their is a plot but these scenes are inter cut with action scenes so not to get too bogged down in 'emotions'. The music dies down a bit whilst the plot part of the film is covered so the audience can get a feel for what the film is actually about before it falls to silence as a dramatic revelation is made - the trailer stays mainly silent except for the dialogue so to add tension as the audience fear who bond has to face this time and how he will rain victorious. The music slowly builds as we finally get a glimpse of the villain before the dramatic music returns as there's one final action packed montage showing more cars, gun shots, fire, explosions, romance, and bond. Right at the end the dramatic music falls before bond tune is heard to finish.

An establishing shot of a city, tied with the music, at the beginning of the trailer indicates to audiences that this will be an action film of some sort before a close up shot of some villains (antagonist's) reinforces this idea and the dramatic diegetic dialogue also adds to the idea of good vs bad - commonly seen in action films. The first shot of Bond is a low angle showing him to be powerful and in control before a birds eye view shot makes him seem fairly small, a shot of great contrast to the previous and could possibly suggest something could happen that means he is no longer so big and powerful.A medium shot gives us our first long look at Bond so we can see it is him, and if we didn't already know we could now presume it is a Bond film therefore drawing in the pre-established audience who are invested in the franchise. Another long shot this time of London showing a new location and signalling again this is a Bond film, as Bond is a British franchise with films often set in London. A medium shot establishes Bond with his car - something stereo-typically the male audience will love, several close ups of him in the car give the audience more of what they want to see.Yet another long shot in a new location show how much will be jam packed into this film with completely unique location already established in the trailer - this time snow. A high angle shot of Bond in this new location could symbolise how he's out of his depth and is weaker, this is contradicted by a following low angle shot which shows him towering over someone we can only assume is linked to the villain (antagonist) and shows him to be powerful again. Another long shot of a new location this time at night adds suspense as you wonder what's going to happen here, several low and high angle shots of Bond are inter-cut during the dramatic montage possibly to symbolise his rise and fall of power or show how throughout this film he will alternate from being in control to being in the villains mercy. Several close ups and medium shots are used to show the action, the plane crashes, the explosions and the characters facial expressions whilst several more long shots are used to show posh settings that conventionally accompany the antagonist and the wealth that can be associated with it. More medium shot are used in the final montage to show car chases, explosions, gun shots - all things that the audience look for in these sorts of films and conform to trailer conventions.A final high angle shot of Bond is shown as he faces the antagonist suggesting he will be beaten by this villain or will at least come close to losing everything.

The first location is shown and is inter-cut with scenes of  Bond being told off to which he responds with humour - this is to set the scene for the whole trailer and whole film and shows the audience there's equal mix of emotion and storytelling as well as action and explosions with Bond present in all of it. As the audience now goes to London and we see  Bond "just getting started", he gets his car, he's all set, London can be fairly boring though so to keep the momentum of the trailer up we switch to yet another location, and we are yet to see the villain though we do see several shots of the "bad guys" setting the scene for who Bond has to face. Some medium and close up shots of the female lead, possible love interest give the audiences more of what they want and conforms to action trailer conventions that along with explosions, planes and cars there has to be a woman. The first of two fast  paced montage's is interrupted by a sequence of "serious parts", giving the film a plot and something to pay attention to alongside the explosions, cars, guns, girls etc. To add drama the trailer falls to silence with a single shot of Bond before a montage of slow paced editing adds more suspense. After we finally get a glimpse of the villain  there's the second of the fast paced montage with a pause mid way through for dramatic effect where Bond delivers a witty line before the dramatic climax. Bond, as the protagonist and the one constant in all the franchise films, of course has prevalence.

The establishing shot has an orange glow of sunlight connoting new beginnings as well as warmth, it could suggest Bond will find a new warmth (love) in his life or simply be symbolising how this is another beginning of another Bond film in the long franchise. High key lighting can be seen which is conventional of action film trailers, in one of the first scene Bond sits whilst the man stands, towering above him suggesting Bond is in a weak place or simply that this man is senior to him. An explosion could symbolise how Bond's life is going to 'explode' as this new villain comes into his life -  the film production titles are the shown giving audiences a clue, if they didn't already know, to what sort of film it's going to be, as they are a bit later in the trailer then other genres who sometimes have them right at the start this suggests that they're not as important in indicating the sort of film or for drawing in mass audiences as this is a franchise film so already has a pre-established audience. London looks very grey and bland suggesting as soon as Bond came home form his 'holiday' his life wasn't all that exciting and that London doesn't hold exciting times for him, he'll have to travel to find them. As always Bond is in a suit showing him to be very smart and high in power but it subverts from conventions as it's usually the villain in a fancy suit and the hero in more simple clothes usually because the villain is wealthy and so wears a suit to symbolise that but the hero is more ordinary and so his clothes reflect this. In  a following shot, yet again Bond sits whilst a woman stands which subverts from conventions as usually it is the men who are powerful and the woman who are beneath them, it also reinforces the idea that Bond is not as powerful as he once used to be. The dialogue is key at this point as the woman who is stood says Bond is "just getting started" which causes a change in the trailer as Bond seems to regain his power and goes out to face evil once again - as he stands alongside the new car the audience know Bond is back. The white snow of the new location could suggest the innocence of the new woman that is accompanying Bond, a following scene of Bond show's him standing whilst a man (associated with the villain) sits - signifying that the tables have turned. Soft orange lighting present in scenes to do with the villain connote a soft, precious world that the 'bad guys' live in and how Bond is going to tear it apart. Later on in the trailer Bond is seen in black clothing which is much more conventional for the hero as it's not as fancy as the suit he usually wears, it could suggest his more sinister side as he may do something later on in the film that defines him, alternatively it could also be signifying the difference between the harsh white background he's in and him suggesting he sticks out and will be noticed and unable to keep his cover. It could also represent how he and the woman are similar to each other when put in this environment as they're both wearing black, even though they seem to be complete opposites, also could show how they end up being a team working together against evil. James Bond is written in red connoting danger and blood suggesting someone close to bond may die or his life may be destroyed so much that he feels like dying - the colour red is conventional in action trailers.. A shadow is cast over the villain's face meaning it's hidden which adds suspense and is conventional as the villain remains part of the mystery, alternatively it could suggest part of the villains 'team' are hidden and are not who you would expect them to be which could be a plot twist later on in the film. Bond switches back to a suit later on in the film but this time it's white and he is only seen wearing it when with her suggesting she brings out his better side, his innocence - in contrast to the dark black he was wearing earlier. She is also wearing a white dress so they are matching like earlier suggesting they both help each other become the 'better versions of themselves' and that they are still a team. The villain wears grey, not black like Bond did suggesting Bonds worst enemy is himself and this villain will only force him to become this worse version of himself. The bullet through the title at the end makes is visually exciting and something different - interestingly there were no reviews, no tag lines in any parts of this trailer suggesting they wanted to focus on the action above everything else and because this is part of a very long running franchise there's no need for reviews as people know it's going to be good.