Similar Film Trailer Analysis



Here are two trailers of the same genre that my film will be, namely Touching The Void and 127 Hours. I have chosen to analyse these trailers in particular as they were the two most favoured films amongst my target audience (results in previous post, questionnaire).

 

These trailers share many characteristics and as a result are constructed in a similar manner. They both have real narratives as they are reenactments of true stories and present the narratives chronologically. The first minute of both trailers is spent on allowing the audience to engage with the narrative. At first establishing shots are used to show the location, then a sequence of clips to allow us to understand what the character(s) is/are like. This helps audiences, especially those who do not undertake the activities that feature in the film, to easily understand the context and setting. In touching the void we can identify the harsh nature of the particular route the team are taking and in 127 Hours we are thrown straight into the action whilst several foreshadowing elements are exposed. This foreshadowing technique is not used in Touching The Void due to its editing nature of switching between chronological events and interview shots of the real people in the story. However, foreshadowing is extremely effective in the 127 Hours trailer as the audience may notice particular things such as how he forgets his large knife and how he doesn't tell anybody where he is going. By acknowledging these elements of the narrative the audience is somewhat flattered when they work out what is going on later in the story. More to the point the audience may realise dangers and anticipate problems before the character does, creating a somewhat sympathetic or stressful effect which further enhances the experience.

 

Touching the Void has a much greater sense of abyss and tragedy which is signified by its slow pace, use of low-tempo music and fade-to-black transitions. 127 Hours on the other hand utilises a more dynamic atmosphere and uses fast paced footage in conjunctions with straight cuts between shots, high tempo music and enhanced diegetic sounds. By doing so the shocking effect on the audience is more potent at the climax, around half way through the trailer, thus making the trailer a gripping experience. Touching the Void also climaxes half way through the trailer and eventually uses a crescendo of events, music and fast-paced clips to create a similar shocking effect to 127 Hours, just using different techniques.

 

In both stories, as my target audience have shown to prefer in my questionnaire, we are not given the entire story. Rather, we are left with the climax of the story followed by continually 'dooming' events. This style of editing makes us as an audience want to discover the answer to the 'age-old question' "What happens next?". These techniques are critical to a film trailer and must feature within my production.