The war of the worlds trailer begins with the paramount institutional logo that appears on screen automatically grabbing audiences who will have heard of the renown filming conglomerate that has released prior films that have dominated box offices of the likes of the terminator, transformers, star trek and godfather series'. The sting of the bass note as soon as the teaser trailer begins sets a tone and mood for the trailer of being quite dark and almost sinister. the prolonged drone of the note even creatively links to aural and visual aspects of the film itself with a drone note being used aurally, and drone machine monsters used visually. Diegetic sound begins as soon as the trailer commences with prestigious actor Tom cruise filmed in a snippet of a scene of the film with his dialect dominating the narrative of the teaser trailer. Tom cruises profile fades in from a black screen and this fade editing technique combined with the bright spotlighting glow from behind his head creates an aura of prevalence around Tom Cruises character so audiences already begin to familiarize themselves with the main character. This is a technique we could interpret into our own created movie as it is a key tool in ensuring audiences find similarities and relationships with characters which entice audiences deeper into the film along with making it seem more realistic. The color usages of the blue tones and hues around Tom cruises profile create a dark, sinister and almost cold tone and mood for the movie as the connotations of blue relate often to coldness and solemn moods. A flare overlay has been added when editing over Cruises face to reinforce the power of the light behind him aswell as giving the shot depth. As the light is behind Cruise it is difficult to examine all of his features in high definition however the light allows shadow and brightness to express his emotions and mood. The way that Cruise is talking straight into the camera creates an audience connection automatically, as well as creating an enigma and suspicion as to why he is talking to the camera with direct mode of address in such a stern manner. The blurring and adjusting focal length used to frame Cruise gives the feel that we as an audience are actually in the film alongside Cruise and he is talking to us as the filming feels natural with the blurring and differentiating focus as if it is through a human eye rather than a camera. The low voice tone Cruise is using creates suspense which is exaggerated by the absence of any loud ambiance or artificial sound affect additions alongside his voice which ensure the focus doesn't deter from Cruise, a higher pitched drone however does sound alongside Cruises diegetic speech which raises in pitch and volume reinforcing the suspense.
The next shot we see is an eyeline match of who Cruise is talking to, which appears to be a young girl. This eyeline match is more effective then perhaps using a shot reverse shot which would suggest the film may be more about the intimacy and relationship between the charachters making the plot of the film more about them rather than their surroundings (the alien beings that have taken over the world). The way the camera looks down upon the young girl from a high angle shot ( the girl being dakota fanning) belittles her and makes her seem inferior which shows the lack of power, strength and ability she has faced with the current futuristic alien happenings in her world. It also almost creates a plot twist for when audiences actually see the film itself after watching the teaser trailer as they will be surprised after this high angle shot looking down on her to discover she has many strengths and is a determined and capable character in the film. The way that she looks directly up to Cruise (who we presume is a father figure to her assumed through his loving and caring dialogue to her) shows the connection between the two characters and how she almost looks up upon him as her safety and security. it also suggests that the plot of the film may revolve around how Cruise persists to save this young girl from the cruel and ruthless world around them. The dark lighting that engulfs Fannings profile rather than their being any visible background creates an enigma around her as a character as well as not giving too much away about the film as after all its only a teaser trailer. it also ensures all focus is on Fanning and her emotions, which is especially important as she has very limited screen time in the beginning of this teaser trailer.
The fade out into the Dreamworks institutional title gives the film prominence in the film industry as this is a renown film company that have had numerous box office hits, however the institution behind the films creation may come as a shock to some viewers of the teaser trailer as Dreamworks are particularly known for children and family movies whereas the title of war of the worlds alongside the trailer connote a more dark adult theme behind the film.
A montage of different shots from a mid line view and long shot angle show different scenes of chaos, riot and uproar suggesting the film has a dystopian and warped futuristic focus. This montage is particularly effective in the teaser trailer as it doesn't give to much away and the snippets of scenes from the film gives a more fragmented viewpoint of the film which will make audiences want to peice of it together by seeing the film for themselves. The diegetic sound of the bell alongside the shots connotes order and commencing of something, which alongside the high pitched human sounding droned e note makes the snippets seem sinister and dark...this is because the slow paced and high pitched sounds alongside the bustling fast paced film clips do not seem to match creating a sense of confusion for the audience which relates to the confusion attempted to be portrayed of the characters in the film itself attempting to evacuate places creating an interlinking relationship and premature attachment between the movies characters and the audience. It also portrays a completely different and dystopian world to our world now which fits the films thriller/horror genre.
The overlay text 'On June 29th' is a simplistic font and gives away very limited information which is typical of a teaser trailer. The fast paced action happening behind this overlay seems to almost be disrupted by the text making it stand out more and its noticeable appearance will stick as a reminder in viewers heads. The bursts of light that illuminate the on screen text make it even more prominent, and these light bursts additionally help to highlight key parts of the teaser trailer- for example high frequency lighting and saturation in the filming of the american flag which secures the setting for the movie in america, as well as the high aperture and bold lighting used in the snow clip included in the montage to give audiences a sense of time and when the action is taking place.
The soundtrack used for the trailer of human voiced orchestral sounds makes the film seem eerie and based on humans and life despite its alien theme. The high note that seems to be continued throughout the trailer increases in volume building tension throughout. about halfway through the trailer this high droned note is completely picked up by a fast paced orchestra made sound bridge which is louder, lower pitched and acts as more of a theme tune for the movie as the rendition is catchy and fast paced fitting exactly to the movies plot. At this point when the sound interludes the action show in the trailer begins to involve the aliens which are the film and war of the world books main attributes. This therefore could act as a sound motif for the aliens in the film.
tactically, producers have used some of the most visually appealing special effects shots in the teaser trailer for example cgi shots with aliens arising from water, the earth appearing to split into two etc, this is cleverly done to allure people into watching the movie.
Mention that the film is a 'Steven Speilburg film' is a unique selling point because of Speilburgs continuous film box office success. This too will draw people into watching the movie. another unique selling point of mentioning Tom Cruises name in the trailer will also grab the attention of fans of his from previous successful movies.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xi6-TYIWbCU
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