The trailer for Alien: Covenant uses a variety of editing techniques like montage edits, jump cuts, and changes in music to build tension and atmosphere. Shots showcase the characters and setting while also giving some plot details. Dialogue and shots indicate something is wrong on the planet. A crashed spacecraft suggests others have explored before but failed. The trailer uses intertitles, sound design, and a climactic scare to generate excitement around the film.

1. Alien: Covenant (2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svnAD0TApb8
● The trailer begins with the age certificate slide, informing audiences of the appropriate age rating.
● Non-diegetic soft piano music begins to play as the idents for the film begin to role, each one lasting
less than a second.
● An L-cut is used from the first shot to generate a sense of emotion among a number of shots in a
montage edit.
● The montage edit displays the characters and setting of the film and gives a small amount of plot
information.

2. ● The non-diegetic music then abruptly ends as we see a close up of a foot stepping in the mud, the
enhanced sound used helps draw attention to this shot and highlights the start of a change of pace in the
trailer.
● The dialogue “You hear that” “Nothing” help to emphasise the fact that something seems wrong, and the
light-hearted tone at the start has shifted and the atmosphere is now uncertainty.
● An intertitle “From Ridley Scott” is used to help generate excitement. The title then slowly fades to black, as
an intense non-diegetic sound drone, accompanied by drum beats are used to create a sense that
something is wrong.
● A long shot of a crashed space craft is then shown, covered in vegetation, highlighting to the audience that
humans have explored this planet before, and obviously failed - creating tension.

3. A fade to black into another intertitle is then used and gives more information on the narrative.
A montage of shots, now contrasting the shots of the first section of the trailer, as they are much darker and
faster paced.
More intertitles are used to demonstrate narrative, and enhanced sound is used to heighten the intensity of
the shots.
As the last intertitle of the montage appears, the non-diegetic music stops, and there is a silence.
The next shot is then a jump scare in which the shots prior have been leading up to, the enhanced sound of
the “Facehugger” is extremely loud and is aimed at scaring the audience to build excitement.

4. A montage of shots then begin, over a loud high pitched sound drone, creating an intense and heart
racing edit of fast paced shots.
A J-cut is then used as the tension of the shots dies down a little bit, however then begins to increase
again as the non-diegetic music builds up again and the shots increase in pace each cut.
The trailer then reaches a climax when the “Alien” jumps at the camera and the shot cuts to black as the
title appears.
A coda is then used to display a few shots from an intense action scene. Then the trailer cuts to the
release date of the film - increasing anticipation and excitment.

5. The Dictator (2011)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYplvwBvGA4
The trailer begins with the age certificate slide, informing audiences of the appropriate age rating.
The trailer begins with a montage of shots displaying speeches of world leaders talking.
Between each change of the speakers dialogue there is an intense non-diegetic drum beat, to build tension in
the trailer.
There is then a increasingly louder sound drone that quickly builds in pitch and volume and then the shot
suddenly cuts to black.

6. Silence in the next shot, creates an awkwardness - funny - as “The Dictator” sings.
An intertitle then appears “From the creators of Borat” - a comedy film - so that audiences will know that this will
be funny.
Non-diegetic Indian music begins to play, the song is remixed with modern rap music which adds to the
comedic screenplay.
Intertitles continue to appear among a montage of comedic shots.

7. Whenever a joke is said or something funny happens, the scene is met with silence, which makes it more funny.
The use of wipe transitions reminds the audience of the light hearted tone of the film.
A coda is used after the title appears, this shows the audience the level of comedy and nature of the jokes in
the movie.
The trailer ends with the appearance of the release date to increase excitement and anticipation.

8. Kong: Skull Island (2017
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=44LdLqgOpjo
The trailer begins with upbeat non-diegetic rock music. The shots showing the idents of the production
companies show up with the beat of the drum.
The next few shots are close ups of buttons being pushed and twisted, doors being closed and levers being
twisted, all timed perfectly with the music to add a beat to the non-diegetic music.
A J-cut is then used as a character is shown speaking, and then narrating over a montage of shots. This
creates the tension building up in the trailer as the audience are shown the setting of the film and all of
the dangers involved in it.

9. In this sequence there is playful non-diegetic music in the background, this adds a light-hearted tone and
juxtaposes what is being said and shown.
Next we are shown a sequence of shots as the characters are flying over the island in a helicopter and
seeing all of the creatures. The non-diegetic music begins to grow in volume.
The next shot shows one of the characters looking upon “Kong” in this moment the music is completely
silenced and enhances the dramatic moment.
A segment of fast paced shots and quick takes is matched to the beat of the music and adds suspense
to the shots. A lot of slow motion is used in this sequence as well, to illustrate the tone of the
characters and their emotions.

10. In the segment where “Kong” smashes the helicopter out of the sky, there is a sequence of shots that cut to black in
between each shot, simultaneously to this, when the shot cuts to black, the music/sound also stops. This helps to
build the tension of the trailer.
After this segment the release date of the film flashes up as an intertitle, generating excitement within the middle of
the trailer.
There is then an array of shots from different dramatic moments in the movie, they each fade to black after appearing
for a few seconds. - This is matched with the intense non-diegetic music.
As the tension is building, there is then a short sequence of shots within a scene that stands out from the pace and
nature of the rest of the trailer, the scene has a small element of comedy in it, and also there is no non-diegetic
music. This helps to break up the trailer so the audience can see there is elements of comedy in it that everyone
can enjoy.

11. Immediately after this the music begins again and the short takes and fast pace returns.
The shots build up the tension in the trailer and climax at a still shot, where a silence is used to draw out
the tension, and gives the audience a brief second to guess what is going to come out of the fog
they are looking at. As the “monster” jumps out of the fog, creating a jump scare, the loud music
then returns.
The trailer then builds up a segment of shots that increase in pace until “Kong” roars at the end, and
then the title then appears.
A short coda is then used to show a small action scene from within the movie, and then the intertitle with
the release date on it appears at the end.

12. Hostel (2010)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4d5_lrn9v-g
The trailer begins by showcasing the idents of the companies that produced the films, this creates an element of trust
as the audience know that the film will be good as it is made by known companies.
Slow, non-diegetic violin music then begins to play as the first shot fades in from black. The first shot is very dark and
matches the tone of the genre; horror.
The next few shots all fade to black, all the shots use enhanced sounds to create an ominous atmosphere, while
showcasing the inside of a run down building.
Next, the intertitles appear, they flash up in synch with a lightning sound effect. They all fade to black and in between
each one there is another shot of something ‘creepy’ to create the atmosphere in the trailer. There has been no
dialogue or voiceovers so far in the trailer, this is common in this genre of film as it helps keep the tension high as
it relies more on sound and music rather that voice.

13. The intertitles are describing small plot details, and some of them, such as “sickest fantasies” are paired
with a shot afterwards. In this case after the intertitle fades to black, a shot of a load of tools and
weapons appears, with this the enhanced non-diegetic sound effect of a knife.
In this trailer lots of close ups are used, so as not to give away to many plot details, and also make the
audience feel uncomfortable as well as intrigued in what they are looking at.
One close is on a finger inside a clamp, after the shot fades to black we hear the enhanced sound of
crushing bones and a scream.

14. There is then a sequence of shots that increase in pace. Showcasing more ‘horrifying” scenes from different
parts of the movie.
A few intertitles are used to display, “From the brilliant minds that brought you…” and listed a few other horror
films, so that the audience understand that this will live up to their expectations.
Another intertitle shows “Quentin Tarantino presents” This is common in trailers where the director is world
renowned and known to be a very good director. This creates excitement as fans know that the film is in
good hands, and could possibly sway people to want to go and see it more.

15. The title then appears, “Hostel” and a voiceover says the name of the movie.
Lastly, no release date appears, but “Coming soon” is the last title to come up. This could be used to
generate excitement and anticipation as people who want to see the film will be constantly looking
for the release date and therefore the movie will gain more exposure from people researching when
it is going to be released.

16. The Mountain Between Us (2017)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3we98dCD7qY
The trailer begins with the age certificate slide, informing audiences of the appropriate age rating.
Non-diegetic piano music begins to play as the idents of the production companies appear.
The trailer then proceeds to show short takes from the first few scenes of the movie, setting up the story and
giving a little bit of plot and background detail.
This also introduces us to the characters and the setting of the movie.
The pace of the trailer changes when the plane begins to fail.
The non-diegetic stops and is replaced by the diegetic sound of the plane falling out the sky, and the alert
sounds coming from the plane.
The shot then quickly fades to black - to indicate that the plane has crashed - perhaps to not show the plane
crashing so it can be saved for the movie.

17. As the characters wake up from the crash, canted angles are used to display the distress and
severeness of the situation.
J and L cuts are used as the protagonists voiceover plays and a variety of shots show the new setting
and the dangers of the environment.
Intertitles are then used to give more plot information, and help build the tension growing in the trailer.
Intense non-diegetic music is played to increase the growing pace of the trailer.
The intertitles display the name of the actor and actress, also showing the awards they have won. This
generates excitement.
The trailer then ends with the title appearing, and “coming soon” after it.