Analysis of The Company You Keep trailer

'The Company You Keep' is a crime/thriller. The plot follows a former weather underground activist who's identity has been discovered by a young reporter from whom he has to go on the run from. This is attracting an audience aged 15 and over which would probably be mainly male. It has a unique selling point that the plot is based on the consequences of a historical event so could attract a wide ranged audience.

The trailer begins with a black screen and the titles are done in a typewriter effect, these explain the historical context of the film and in between some contemporary clips are shown. This attracts more of an older audience as they may of heard of the weather underground demonstrations so could relate to the film more.

However, as the trailer progresses, it becomes clear that this film would not just be suitable for an audience interested more in the historical side. The trailer then goes onto show a woman being arrested, these scenes consist of the cliche crime scenes with the weapons being zoomed in on and the police cars being a major part of the scenes. There is then an establishing shot of a city demonstrating how the film could be fast paced as crime films set in big cities often consist of lots of action. There are lots of jump cuts whilst a news reporter narrates the woman's arrests, this introduces some of the main characters of the film and also raises questions for the audience as to who they are and the role they play.

We then see a policeman being told that if he can get something on this case then he can keep his job, this causes suspense in the trailer as it adds a challenge to the film. This further encourages an audience to go and see it as there are many unanswered questions and the result of his challenge wants to be known. There is then a mid shot of a man and a daughter, he read the news and the non - diegetic music becomes more dramatic indicating that he has a part in the story.

The trailer then shows the FBI investigation progressing and there is another establishing shot of a countryside raising further question for the audience. We then see the man with daughter has now been targeted by the FBI for information which further encourages the audience to go and see the film as they want to discover the part he plays in the plot. After this scene the first black screen title appears with the directors name on, the director is Robert Redford who is well known and regarded highly which entices more audience members.

The trailer continues it what appears to be chronological order where we see the man and his daughter escaping to Canada where the investigation into them continues. As is typical of all action trailers towards the end the action becomes more fast paced as the non - diegetic music becomes louder. This entices the audience into the film as the scenes of the action are only short clips so nothing is actually revealed so many questions still remained unanswered. The black titles continue to appear throughout which makes the trailer more dramatic as they break up the action and are put in at certain points when the music is louder.

The trailer appears to conform to the conventions of action films through the fast paced scenes and the short fighting scenes we see. It also conforms to the conventions of crime films as the main policemen is fairly new to the job and trying to prove himself to the wizened cynical policeman.