3. Questions
1. How does the trailer begin and end? Was it effectively edited and why?
2. What studio is releasing the trailer? What might you know about them and their previously released games?
3. Do trailers always tell you everything you need to know about a game? (if not, where can you get more information?)
The trailer begins with a siren sounding off “Intruder Alert” which immediately catches the viewer’s
attention and creates a sense of curiosity. The trailer ends with a shot of the game box and the de-
velopers logo and game URL.
The trailer was created by Valve; the same team that created the game Team Fortress 2; and there-
fore had access and the ability to use in-game assets rather than pre-rendered custom footage.
However, some of the actions seen in the trailer cannot be performed in-game; the usage of the
Sentry Zapper, for example. In-game you cannot slide it along as seen in the trailer.
Valve are responsible for releasing a multitude of games including Half Life, Half Life 2, Portal,
Counter-Strike and Team Fortress Classic. They are also the creators of the digital distribution plat-
form known as Steam.
Trailers don’t show every aspect of the game as it would take up too much time and could possi-
bly bore the audience, trailers should be short and engaging. Good trailers leave a URL from where
people who are interested in the game can find more information. The TF2 trailer showed some-
what stylized versions of game mechanics. It included everything regarding the specific character it
was dealing with, the Spy, leaving it up to the viewer to go and gather more info if they were in-
terested. The trailer itself lacked information in regards to the fact it is an “online” multiplayer FPS,
something that is cruitial as the game is otherwise not playable. This is not important to existing
fans of the game series, but in terms of attracting new fans it is an unfortunate exclusion.

4. The Visuals
The aesthetics of TF2 consist of mainly cell shaded graphics with
soft shadows and somewhat flat colours. The overall style of the
piece is very theatrical, lots of dramatic shots, pans, close ups
etc. The exaggerated cartoon style is simple and not overly de-
tailed, yet enough to contain character, creating a comical feel
and making it more enjoyable while not being too serious. The
environmental surroundings keep in theme with the characters;
consisting of the same colouring, shading and so and so forth.
The Soundtrack
The soundtrack compliments the art style significantly. The mu-
sic starts out sort of fun and rushed, and begins to gets serious
to build the tension, then back to a more happy feel at the end
when it shows the title. The music featured is not something that
is grabbed from a range of sources; the piece is was written spe-
cifically for those within the trailer. The only voice-overs featured
in the trailer are those from the characters talking to each other,
there is no outside narration.

5. The ‘message’
The narrative of the short is basically, the base has been infiltrated
by a Red spy, and a small force of the Blu team gather up to pro-
tect the intelligence case (aka the “flag”). It turns out the spy was
among them the whole time. The trailer does a very good job in
putting across the distinct personality differences between each
character. The developer’s aimed at introducing a character along-
side the game itself, and they have done a good job.
Gameplay
The gameplay mechanics evident in the trailer include the objec-
tive of the game; to outsmart and infiltrate the other teams base
by killing and capturing certain objects (i.e. intelligence case) and/
or achieving certain objectives etc.
There are a range of characters (Spy, Sniper, Heavy, Scout, Soldier)
featured in the trailer that are playable characters in the game. The
players experience the game in 1st person, however the trailer is
shown in 3rd person.

6. Created By:
Lauren Ferro
Ben Taylor
Chad Toprak
Gan Wei Cheng