The trailer I am analysing is one of Super 8, a
thriller film released in 2011. The total length of this trailer is 2:21. The
trailer begins by showing the three production companies that created the film:
Paramount, Amblin Entertainment, and Bad Robot.
One follows another through each beat of the
background song. What follows the production companies is an establishing shot
showing the era and location that the film is set in.
Next the trailer shows a range of shots (wide, medium
and close-up) of a character. Due to the earliness of the appearance, and the
amount of screen time the character gets this early in the trailer, we deduce
that he will be the protagonist.
Whilst these shots are being shown a piece of fantastical music plays in the background. The sci-fi/family genre is set up using this music, it feels like something from a Spielberg film. With the music begins dialogue from an adult male. A sequence of shots show us that this is the protagonists' father. The dialogue reveals a small conflict between the father and son. The use of the voiceover also reveals a few more characters that are on screen, explaining that these are the protagonists' friends.
The next thing we see is a caption saying "from producer Steven Spielberg", a tool used to generate a bigger buzz for the trailer since he is such a big name in film.
This cuts to a scene which takes place during the night where the protagonists and his friends are filming a scene for their own movie. The music also changes with the cut, becoming a more suspenseful piece. This sets up the 'thriller' aspect of the film. Along with the sound onscreen we see a train crash into something creating a huge fireball of an explosion. Some quick cuts follow creating a faster pace as the train creates damage over the location.
This fades to a shot of a container that was on the train. On the container there is a symbol with "U.S. Air Force" above it. During this shot we see something or someone trying to break it's way out of the container. This creates the enigma code of who or what is trying to escape?
This cuts to another caption, this time saying "from director J.J. Abrams", once again trying to create a bigger buzz for the movie.
Next there is a sequence of shots showing the army in the town, giving the audience more questions as to what is going on. We also find out that the protagonists' father is a police officer due to the uniform he is wearing.
More enigma codes rise as we discover some information amount missing dogs.
There is another voiceover from the father; making him seem like a key character to the film. The dialogue tells us that people are missing and through the shots used we can see mysterious damage being caused by the unknown. Once again more enigma codes are created.
The mystical music gets louder in unison with a shot showing something extraordinary; an inanimate object flies outside from inside the protagonists' room whilst he is watching. This shot along with the music bring the sci-fi element back into the trailer.
The music incresases in volume as seemingly random shots from the film are shown, these shots have been inserted to build intrigue. Towards the end of this quickly cut sequence comes a change from random to more action focused. There are explosions and terrified faces, with all shots being set at night, this brings the return of the thriller aspect.
The penultimate shot is of one of the protagonists' friends, he says "what the hell", and the final shot is of the protagonists' shocked face. Making our final thoughts be of the lead actor and how mysterious and thrilling this movie will be.
We finally see the name of the movie - Super 8, and the release date - June 10th.
