Trailer Analysis

1. Unit 6: Critical Approaches
Trailer Analysis
Lauren Allard
Trailer Analysis
Trailer Analysis
Genre Theory
Steve Neil
Genre constitutes elements of repetition and difference.
Nick Lacey
 Setting
 Character
 Narrative
 Iconography
 Style
Spectre Trailer Analysis - Example
There was a variety of different locations shown throughout the trailer, the start of the
trailer was a shot of London with a stereotypical shot of the London skyline in full view.
There are a few main characters shown in the trailer, most of the characters showed the
connection of good vs evil. James Bond vs the main villain, except in this trailer there looked
to be more than one villain shown, there seemed to be a few against James Bond, the female
characters of the filmed were sexualized how they normally are during Spy/Crime/Action
Thrillers. The editing in the film was done at a very fast pace, a pace that makes the trailer
very exciting, it keeps the audience excited and entertained. They also included the very
noticeable and popular James Bond theme song that gives the audience a instant hint that
the film is a James Bond movie, the footage is edited to go at the same pace as the audio,
the music is in a fast pace and so is the the video syncing it all together.
Giving the audience more of a hint to the genre of the film is the props that are included in
the trailer, The Aston Martin cars which have always been a stereotype for James Bond
films, the guns and the massive explosions giving a very dramatic effect to trailer showing
that the film is very dramatic. The main character (James Bond) wearing a fancy black suit
despite fighting and doing very dangerous/dramatic scenes can show the audience what
kind of film it is.
Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YdgQj7xcDJo
The main location setting is in New York City in what looks to be in-between 1920 -1940.
The trailer starts with a startled man explaining that he had seen a magical creature that
had destroyed a building. The props that are used in the trailer already tell the audience
what kind of filmthis is; the characters are shown using wands which tells the audience that
this will be a fantasy filmincluding magic. The creatures that are shown are goblins, dragons
and many more that wouldn’t be shown in most fantasy films.
A lot of things are shown in the trailer that catches the audience’s attention, not just the
visual images but also the text and the audio, what the characters are saying such as “A
Wizard entered New York City with a case full of magical creatures”, the next “Written by
J.K. Rowling” grabs the audience’s attention since she is well known for creating the Harry
Potter series.
The colours that are used can help show the time the filmis set in; the colours have a
vintage tone to them showing the age. The props and costumes help to show the decade

2. Unit 6: Critical Approaches
Trailer Analysis
Lauren Allard
that the filmis set in such as the old fashioned cars, the costumes that the characters are
wearing. Also the way some of the characters talk, their accents sound like they’re from an
older period of time.
The music used in the trailer is suspenseful, when leading up to the big reveal, the start of
the trailer has a man explaining about a strange creature destroying a building, as he talks
the music becomes louder and faster picking up the suspense for the audience.
The text used in the trailer can bring the audience in:
“From Writer J.K. Rowling”
“A New Era of Magic Begins”
“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”
The music used throughout the trailer is a familiar tune that has been used throughout the
Harry Potter series, but altered a bit it would take a bit of focus to full recognise it, hearing
the tune already brings in an audience, the fans of Harry Potter would hear the tune and it
would be immediately obvious that this film is connected to the Harry Potter story, set way
before Harry was born and before Voldemort was at power and trying to take over the
wizarding world. It’s including the magic and everything that would bring the audience in,
but without having the original Harry Potter characters, keeping the focus on “A New Era of
Magic”.
- This is a clip from the trailer, the
colours have a very vintage tone
which can help show the audience
that the filmis based in a different
time zone, as well as the other props
shown in the background, such as the
old cars and the old fashioned
clothing worn by the people walking
around the street.
- This is a clip from the trailer,
during this clip a man is explaining
that there is another world that have
a secret society that has been going
on for years, looking at this shot you
can already tell that the woman in the
picture is an important character in
the film and her character holds high
authority, by the way the camera is
positioned, its looking up at her
showing in this situation she is in
power and she holds importance.
- The effects used in this part of
the trailer on the studio’s logo, can
help give the audience a hint towards
the genre of the film, the light blue and purple colours making a Smokey and magical
effect around the logo, give a hint towards a fantasy film.

3. Unit 6: Critical Approaches
Trailer Analysis
Lauren Allard
Blair Witch - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=girSv9UH_V8
The trailer starts with a piece of recorded footage from the original Blair Witch movie,
already telling the audience that this is the third movie to the original and sequel, so that
there is no confusion. The camera is shaking and already shows that the filming was done
through the characters recording their experience in the woods, this can be done to make
the story of the Blair Witch more believable to the audience. Throughout the trailer the
lighting is all low key, with the only source of light being the torch that the characters are
using. The trailer has a group of teenagers ready to film their experience in the woods
where the main character’s sister went missing in 1999 (In the original Blair Witch movie),
it’s set out like a scary documentary, with the characters starting their experience with a
question. “Do you really think your sister is still out there” the meaning for their night in the
woods is to find his sister and see if she is still alive after all these years.
The trailer includes shaky footage from both the original and the sequel, matching up the
two stories together.
The trailer includes stereotypical horror
movie settings, the location is a typical
horror movie location, in the middle of
a cursed forest that goes back centuries,
with a typical group of characters
staying the night to find out something
about the forest.
You can tell that the sequel is set 17
years later, in our present day due to
the technology shown, the fancy new
cameras, the drone used to get most of
the still shots shown in the trailer. The
only time in the trailer that had still
shots was to show the main location to
the audience, the story and the
locations tell the audience what genre
of film this is. The trailer starts with the
footage from the original Blair Witch
movie, then with the brother of the
main character (from the original), 17
years later watching the found footage
believing it to be his sister in the
footage. When the group go into the
woods there is bright natural light,
lighting up the whole forest, the colours
can help tell the audience when the
situation is going to go from good to
bad. There is a shot of the sun going down over the forest and the music begins to pick up
before the screen goes black, and the forest is now dark at night and this can help tell the
audience that the good has turned to bad.
The narrative in the trailer isn’t clear, other than that the characters are trying to find out
what happened to his sister, there is no full narrative hints.

4. Unit 6: Critical Approaches
Trailer Analysis
Lauren Allard
The trailer gives a hint to who the final girl will be, as the trailer goes on and on you notice
that a few characters start to disappear until towards the end only two characters are
actually shown alive, with the trailer ending showing one final girl crawling through the
tunnel, with the voice of one of the male characters crying saying “I’m so sorry”.
The trailer has a certain pace, it gradually shows the situation in the forest between the
characters getting worse and worse, it starts with the story, the group walking through the
woods and the sun going down which is when the music picks up which is already showing
the pace of the movie, with it getting worse and worse instead of it all happening at once,
the symbols held over the tents which can already tell the audience that something Is
coming, but with the pace of the trailer it helps build the tension and it creates a heart
pounding effect with the audience as they wait for the worst to happen to these characters.
The narrative isn’t too obvious
but the trailer does give a hint
to who the final girl is, the
trailer doesn’t have the
footage in an odd order, you
can tell by the way the
characters are acting and the
conditions that they’re in and
also the number of characters
decreasing throughout, that
the trailer is in time order. It’s
instantly telling the audience
that one will be left alive at the
end, and it makes the audience
want to know what happens to
these characters and why
more of them keep
disappearing throughout the
trailer. Before it the lighting
changes in the trailer, there is
a clip where the group walk
past a tree, which has a note
written on wood attached to the tree which says “No Entry After Nightfall”, which already
tells us part of the story, it’s already telling us before it gets dark that something will happen
to the characters when it turns dark.
There is text included in the trailer, it includes reviews by critics which can give the audience
another reason to see the film, based on what they see in the trailer, based on what they
saw critics say about the film. The ending of the trailer has the title of the film with the
familiar symbol in the background which could have a connection to the story, the
background is black but the title lights up, and glows with a fades bright colour. The symbol
tells the audience that it’s a part of the story by the way it looks, it looks almost like a
person with their arms and legs tied apart, with a look of anger/terror on their face.
The colours throughout the trailer are dark and dull, with the only light from a torch which
gives a more realistic feel to the film, the film is made to look like it’s being recorded by the
characters whilst they stay in the woods, they have to make the lighting as natural as
possible, especially at night, they want to make it look realistic, with the light coming from a

5. Unit 6: Critical Approaches
Trailer Analysis
Lauren Allard
torch so you can see what is happening to the characters but from how they would be
seeing it, causing a more realistic feel to the film.
Narrative: In the trailer the beginning, middle and end to the film is shown. It shows the
beginning which shows the characters starting their journey into the Blackhill’s forest and
why they go there, the middle when all the scary and unexplainable events start happening
and also the end with the
‘final girl’ crawling
through the tunnel.
The colours used with the
characters can give hints
to different parts of the
story, the colours black
and red are used a lot,
which would show
danger, blood and death.
Bridget Jones’ Baby Trailer Analysis - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mJsvmscPY9w
The trailer starts with the main character Bridget Jones sitting on her bed, writing in her
diary like a teenage girl. With a voice over of her telling the story of how she met this new
man at work, then also how herself and her ex-boyfriend got back together for the night.
Then a shot of the camera looking down on her, showing that right now she is in a
vulnerable position of finding out she is pregnant with no clue of which man is the father.
Throughout the trailer it has really up beat and modern day music, that’s happy and lively
which shows that this is a happy and energetic film.
The genre to this movie is immediately obvious with the upbeat music, the clips shown from
the movie and the dialogue used. It tells the audience that this is a Romance Comedy.
The trailer could immediately attract the audience to the film, with the amount of very
popular and recognisable faces, from the previous two films and also many stars that are
recognisable from many other
popular movies.
The plot to the film is obvious
throughout the trailer, it’s about a
woman called Bridget who ends
up being with a new man called
Jack and also another man who
happens to be her ex-boyfriend
called Mark, she ends up getting
pregnant and has no clue who the father of her first child is. Which brings a bit of
competition between the two men on who can win Bridget’s heart. During the reveal of the
pregnancy to the two men, the background music fits the situation by playing a very popular
pop song about competition, which just adds to the comedy part of the genre.
The other Bridget Jones movies were released in the early 2000s, and you can tell instantly
that this third movie is set in the present day which is over a decade since the sequel, by the
new technology, Bridget is sat in her bed at the start of the trailer on an IPad writing in her

6. Unit 6: Critical Approaches
Trailer Analysis
Lauren Allard
notes like a diary. It shows the audience that she now works in the media industry and
during that shot you can see all of
the recent high tech camera
equipment.
There are some parts during the
trailer when a character does
something awkward or something
awkward happens to them, and
the background music would stop
at the awkward moment. There are some heart-warming moments during the trailer, that
just show that there is a lot of happiness, a moment in the trailer when Bridget is at an
ultrasound appointment and she’s looking at the baby on the screen with a massive smile
on her face and she says “You’re the best thing I’ve ever seen”.
The bright colours throughout can show that there isn’t a lot of sadness in the film, it’s
mainly happy and heart-warming.
The trailer is already showing bringing the audience into the film, by including them in the
plot. There are two men that have a massive possibility of being the father to Bridget’s
baby, which can include the audience since they will have their own opinion of who they
want to be the father. The audience get that excitement throughout the whole film, with
that agonizing tension, the waiting to find out who is the baby’s father. Which is obviously
something that they have to wait for and they have to watch the entire movie to find out
who the baby’s father is, which is another way of bringing the audience in, making them
want to know, making them need to
know who the baby’s father is.
During the trailer the colours purple
and pink keep showing up, both
colours could represent Love, Lust
and Romance. Which could be a
hint to the audience about the
gender of the baby since both
colours are very feminine colours.
But the colours shown in the trailer could also be a way of showing the target audience that
this is a very feminine film, and that the target audience would be women and people who
have followed the Bridget Jones
series.
Throughout the trailer pieces of
text keep appearing showing which
time of year the filmwill be
released. “This Fall”. “Two
Choices”. “One Big Decision”.
“Endless Possibilities”. When the
title of the movie is shown it shows
Bridget Jones, then the word “Baby” pops up, showing that this is a new addition to the
Bridget Jones series. Then at the end it shows that the filmis Due in 2016, giving more of
the baby hints in the choice of words. With the social media placed below, and the many
studios and companies that helped bring it all together.

7. Unit 6: Critical Approaches
Trailer Analysis
Lauren Allard
There are a lot of familiar famous faces shown throughout the trailer, which could be a big
reason for the target audience to want to see the film, based on who is included in the film.
The music throughout the trailer tends to change a lot, it starts with some fast quirky music
to introduce the movie, which then changes to a fast pop tune when it shows a clip of
Bridget finding out she’s pregnant, and also when she is telling the two possible fathers, a
pop song that shows the competition between both possible fathers. There are some funny
awkward moments which shows some of the films genre.
There are some establishing shots shown in the trailer, mainly above shots of London,
showing the audience where the film is set.