Both trailers provide minimal information about their respective films' narratives. The Super 8 teaser shows a train wreck but no characters, while The Dark Knight teaser features flashes of light and dialogue from Batman and the Joker. Neither trailer reveals details of the resolution, focusing instead on teasing audiences with early footage and hints about the stories.

2. • The Teaser shows a train wreckage after a truck crashes into
it.
• The production companies are shown
• There are title overlays giving a background into the story
(1979, Area 51)
• Director JJ Abrams and producer Steven Spielberg also have
title cards.
• Little narrative, and is likely to be early footage.
• Title shown through a graphic of a Super 8 camera
• No character’s are shown, and the only sound is diegetic
relating to the wreck.

3. • The Dark Knight Teaser features nothing
onscreen but flashes of light, which is revealed
at the end to be behind the iconic logo.
• However, there is non-diegetic dialogue
between Bruce and Alfred. Towards the end of
the teaser we hear the Joker speak and laugh.
As this happens the logo is destroyed by light
and a joker card appears

4. Similarities Differences
Both under 1 minute 45 Super 8 uses video footage, the Dark Knight
is just a graphic
Neither use music in the trailer Super 8 uses diegetic sound without
dialogue, the Dark Knight uses voice clips
Both use graphics and title overlays The Dark Knight introduces its characters in a
way, Super 8 does not
Very little narrative given Super 8 talks about the involvement of JJ
Abram’s and Spielberg, the Dark Knight
makes no mention of Chris Nolan
Show production company

5. A TYPICAL TEASER TRAILER
• A normal teaser trailer will do that: tease the
audience. Very little information is given, and is
usually between a minute and a minute 30,
although some are slightly longer.
• Characters are not normally introduced, and
footage will have been filmed early on or new,
because these trailers are made while the film is
being made
• They often reflect the directors style (Abrams
have unseen monsters, Nolan never gives out
much information about films)

6. • We see shots of different locations
• The Theatrical trailer shows us clips of the main characters,
but we do not learn their names
• There are title overlays for Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams
• Introduces the agent of change and the problem: A train
wreck occurring while a group of children are filming on a
Super 8 camera.
• The threat is referenced but not seen, keeping some mystery
• Music taken from the soundtrack
• Logo and tagline are shown at the end

7. • Opens with a location shot of a city, either Gotham or
Shanghai, where we see Batman glide away
• The music is composed by Hans Zimmer, who also
composed the film.
• Introduces the majority of main characters.
• Much of the focus is on Heath Ledger and the Joker, partly
because he is an iconic character, but also due to the actors
death before the films release.
• Not much of the story is given, but we know that the Joker
is causing chaos. Harvey Dent is not shown as Two Face.
• The final shot of the film is used (the Bat-signal being
smashed) but it’s not in any context.

8. Similarities Differences
Discover the films location Super 8 does not reveal the threat, whereas the
Joker is the main part of the Dark Knight trailer
(however the secondary villain is not revealed in The
Dark Knight)
Introduced to most of the main Most if not all of Super 8’s characters are revealed,
characters whereas the Dark Knight trailer does not feature
either Jim Gordon or Lucius Fox.
The Problem is shown, and quest The Dark Knight uses the final shot, although not in
referenced, but resolution is not given context, whereas Super 8 only uses clips from the
opening/middle of the film
Quick cuts are used to get information Super 8 makes references to famous crew
across (Spielberg), but The Dark Knight has no credits other
than the title logo.
Music is used either from the
Soundtrack or by the composer.
Use logo’s

9. A TYPICAL THEATRICAL TRAILER
• Theatrical trailers will give characters, part of
the narrative and details of the film. Unless
there is no context to the shot, we will not see
part of the resolution.
• This is sent out after the film has finished
production, so actual film clips will be used,
and it will be at least 2 minutes, normally up
to 3 minutes 30

10. NARRATIVE OF TRAILERS
• The narrative of trailers will vary, but neither will
normally go past the beginning/middle of the
quest, and teasers normally have no narrative,
unless its a prequel to the main film (like Super
8).
• Character archetypes like the hero, helper and
blocker are often introduced in the theatrical
trailer, but not the teaser.
Hero
Problem Quest Resolution
Agent Of Change