Teaser Trailer Analysis - Amy Gallacher

Prior to planning our own teaser trailer, each member of our group would need to individually research the conventions of teaser trailers for specific genres. This would enable us to have an individual understanding of what was the required conventions are within a teaser trailer. The presentation below shows my own research into teaser trailers.

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The Missing (2003)


When conducting my original research into teaser trailers, I came across a teaser trailer for the film "The Missing". After watching this trailer I felt that it was such a similar genre and plot to that of our own planned teaser trailer. Although I could only locate the trailer for this particular film, there are numerous styles that comply with the expected conventions within a trailer for this genre. The main features within this trailer that I picked out was its use of colour to create a mood and also the way sound is used. Graphics are also used extremely well within this trailer to give the audience an insight into the storyline of the film, and as we decided early on that our teaser trailer would feature graphics I thought it was important to analyse this trailer to get some ideas of different effects we could use. I made sure that I reminded myself that I was analysing a theatrical trailer and not a teaser trailer, as some conventions would be different between the two.

As the trailer begins, a sound bridge of eerie rumbling and orchestral instruments features as the institutional logos are displayed. The “Columbia” institutional logo fades and a dark blue overlay has been placed over the logo. This changes the feel of the trailer and creates a tense atmosphere. The figure becomes a silhouette, suggesting mystery and a concealed identity – two features that we have discussed in our group that could potentially feature in our teaser trailer.

The use of graphics features early in the trailer, showing the director’s name etc, in a partially hidden state – as if the words are hiding behind the trees. The blue overlay still features through this section of the trailer, showing the bright graphics as if they were lit by the moon which contrasts heavily with the shadows of the trees. Use of camera panning to transition between shots, one pan fades as another pan sequence appears in place of the previous shot.

Flashes of white are injected in the fast paced sequence that features an extreme close up of a “creature’s” breath in the cold, as well as flashes of different canted angled shots that creates a sense of confusion and a misplaced sense of direction. The sequence then slows again, using more camera pans along with fades to change shot.

A young girl’s scream is heard and after a fade to black, a female (Cate Blanchett) is shown to be peacefully sleeping on her porch. The use of the blue overlay (along with the young female scream) suggests all is not peaceful. After another fade to black, the female’s face appears again, her face is low-lit with the same blue overlay, but her expression is a sharp contrast to the previous shot of her peaceful expression. An extremely effective jump cut is then used to show the look of worry and fear on the woman’s face as she realises something bad has happened.

From here, the trailer picks up its pace as the mother runs from her porch to search her house for her daughter. The colour tone changes to a de-saturated tone of browns and earthy colours. The speed of the pans and shot transitions grips the audience as they try to find out what exactly has happened. Suddenly, the de-saturated tone changes to a vivid red overlay as a picture is dropped into some liquid. The colour tone then returns to its previous de-saturated nature as the trailer shows a figure running through the woods.
More graphics are used to formally introduce the fact that a loved one was taken from the mother. The pace slows when the mother is featured on screen, screaming and crying in desperation. Again, the plot is introduced as the mother talks to her other daughter and asks who took her sister. As she cries, the daughter replies through her tears, “He wore a hood.” This is typical costume for a villain as the hooded figure is feared by children. Also a hood can sometimes symbolises that something is being hidden. Other flashes of action within the film are shown in a fast paced sequence, introducing other characters, specifically the man played by Tommy Lee Jones, a well-known actor. This is something that would not feature heavily within a teaser trailer as a theatrical trailer gives away more to the plot and cast than a teaser trailer does. The only time a hooded figure is shown is after the title has been displayed, and even then it is just a flash of a low-lit shot of a male figure in a hooded cloak-like garment.

One of the final graphics of the trailer shows the title. This shot its dark, but the trees are well lit and the title appears in pieces, as if to suggest a puzzle will have to be solved in order to solve the disequilibrium. The graphics that feature afterwards are of institutions and cast along with the important staff (e.g. music and costume design). The last shot shows a website for the film along with logos of the institution. A sound bridge is used again at the end of the trailer to maintain continuity. The sound settles from the fast screeches that are used when there is a lot of action occurring on screen, and whistling winds are used to settle the speed and tone of the music. There are then slow beats and strums that repeat and fade out in time with the end graphic shots.