Textual Analysis of a film trailer by Oliver Moran

24/9/12

The Avengers trailer-  What makes it effective?

The Avengers trailer sells the movie primarily as a super hero movie which means it presents all the basic connotations and imagery associated with super heroism such as caped costumes and fast paced action. What makes this trailer so effective is how well it works the elements within it work with each other, for example the narrative and themes help establish and support the genre of the film. The narrative at the beginning  along with the quick cut to people running away from a oncoming threat establishes and fore shadows a fore boding and dark fate for Earth helps pave the way for the heroes to appear.  This also helps tell the audience that this is a action movie. Shortly after this one by one the super heroes are introduced. All should be either instantly recognizable to everyone, such as Iron Man and Hulk and some should be only familiar to those who know the comics well, such as Hawkeye. This instantly establishes the feature as a super hero film as well as an action film, showing that the movie is multi genred.

The fact that the trailer presents the film set in New York City also helps reinforce that this is an action film as well as a super hero one, as a city is an ideal place to have large scale epic battles. Some of the imagery used in the trailer also states that the film is science fiction as well. For example Iron Mans suit is a clear indicator of this. All these genres coming together in one trailer helps the trailer succeed selling itself to its audience because it’s providing what the target audience likes. Super heroes complimented with sci fi and action.

Another major factor which helps in this trailers success is the characters.  The main cast are all iconic well known comic book characters that are heavily ingrained into our culture. Examples include Thor, Iron Man, Hulk, and Captain America. The reason why this makes the trailer succeed is obvious. These are characters the audience all know and love and thus they resonate with them. Also the fact that these characters have been introduced in their own previous stand alone films also helps the trailer succeed because it won’t matter if the audience isn’t familiar with the source material (comic books).

The pacing of the film is definitely a critical factor in the trailers success. It starts off with a slow pace but intensified by the ominous music. As the trailer progresses the pace is intensified by the music and dialogue. It goes from slow but fore boding but then as it goes into detail of the purpose of a super hero group called “The Avengers” and the characters are introduced the pace gradually quickens to a crescendo. This generates excitement and interest amongst the audience in the film.

The camera work in the trailer helps make the film look even more exciting. Very often it makes sure to show how that the protagonists are powerful people as illustrated by the lower upper shots of the characters (this is a technique often used to show the importance or power of a character). Also the camera work never reveals too much. It shows an intriguing scene of a battle but only for a few seconds, making the audience want more and make it more likely that they will go out and see it. Thus the trailer is even more successful

The music and sound effects in the trailer also helps indicate that the film advertised is a science fiction action film. For example near the beginning of the trailer a street in New York is under attack signified by the exploding cars seen and heard. And the off screen sound effects of lasers being fired is also a good signifier that this is a sci fi action film.

In the editing & post production of the trailer certain sounds were added to make the trailer more exciting. For example whenever one shot cuts to another in the beginning of the trailer, a deep, loud and ominous sound effect is heard which increases the tension and excitement in the audience, increasing their interest in the film and making the trailer successful in its purpose.

-Oliver Moran