The trailer uses sound and visual techniques to quickly immerse viewers in the action and intrigue of the film. Diegetic drums at the start set an urgent tone and introduce uncertainty about Bond through a close-up of his eyes. Quick cuts between scenes maintain this pace. A voiceover from M establishes her as a powerful yet challenging of gender stereotypes. Bond is later shown fighting and being shot, contrasting his usual power through his helpless position in the water. The trailer builds climax through increasingly shorter shots, establishing characters, conflict, and intrigue to interest viewers in the film.

1. SKYFALL TRAILER ANALYSIS

2. Diegetic sound is cleverly used throughout the trailer with it often intertwining with
non-diegetic sound. This is used at the very start of the trailer with the sound of
drums repeated twice to increase the pace of the scene. The drums partnered with a
medium close up of Bond’s eyes create a sense of uncertainty as the shot only allows
the viewer to see his eyes and nothing else due to the low key lighting.
This is then coupled with a series of quick cut scenes which appear on the screen at
the same pace of the intense drums, thus creating a sense of urgency in the scene.
Alongside Bond then remarking “It’s gone.” a few seconds pass after this line and the
viewer is shown other scenes all while the drums continuously play the company is
giving the viewer time to wonder what is gone. Clues as to what it gone are shown
through mise-en-scene with the prop of foreign money and a empty disk drive. With
this all happening in the first 0.07 seconds it is made clear to the audience that this
film is an action movie.
All of these things in conjunction together allow for the audience to become
intrigued, which is necessary for a trailer to make the audience interested in the film
itself.
Sound + Mis-en-scene + Lighting = Interest the
audience

3. Mis-en-scene + Sound = gender stereotypes
• Further on into the scene a car chase is shown just to assure the viewer this is
in fact an action movie, a typical Bond movie. The car chase then leads into a
train scene this is transitioned by a fade in which only the words of ‘M’
though a voiceover says “We both know what’s at stake here.” Through
diegetic sound it is clear to the audience that M holds quite a powerful
position as her tone is quite threatening; clipped. Her dialect sounds very
much like received pronunciation this shows the audience that she is very
educated and is in a position of power.
• Furthermore, her voice and the scene greatly contrast each other with the
pace of the scene getting faster and faster and M steady but sharp tone. M
challenges stereotypes that women often have in films as being quite
hysterical and over-emotional and she is the exact opposite in this voiceover.
This gives the audience the impression that the film has very modern views
about gender stereotypes.

4. Sound + Costume = helplessness
• The scene then continues with Bond fighting a villain on the a moving train.
Bond is then shot through the orders of M, the loud diegetic sound of the
gunshot and the silence that follows Bond falling into the water build up
tension. Bond then falls into water after being shot of a moving train going
over a bridge. Parallel sound is used when Bond hits the water with the
sound of silence.
• Bond’s costume a grey suit has connotations of money, power and
knowledge this greatly contrasts the position he is now in this helplessness
juxtaposes him falling into the water after being shot. This puts the message
across to audience that although a seemingly untouchable man Bond is in
fact human, I believe this clip was included in the scene at the very start
because it foreshadows what the rest of the film will be about and gives the
audience much needed information.

5. Editing + Mis-en-scene = Character
development; Climax
• The shots are longer at the beginning of the trailer in contrast to the build
up to the end as the longer shots help the audience to initially gather
information on the narrative before being swept away and hit in the face
with loads of explosive action packed short shots to build up the climax.
• The characters shown in the trailer are all of quite high importance, they are
also easily recognised actors this further helps draw the audience in. Binary
opposition is used when shown James Bond and the villain promoting the
idea that there will be a stand off, this links in with Vladimir Propp’s 7
spheres of action with Bond-Hero, Q- the helper, M- the dispatcher, and the
girl shown in trailer- the princess. In the trailer it is made clear that Bond is
the main character with him taking up much of the screen time.