Analysis of The Dark Knight Rises trailer

The Dark Knight Rises is another action trailer rated a 12A. Similar to Skyfall and Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol it is not the first film this means that there is already a target audience of the film and this influences the content of the trailer as they have expectations as to what should be in the film. 

The trailer begins with the production companies, these are well known (Warner Bros, Legendary, Syncopy) these indicate to the audience the scale of production involved with this film and raises their expectations. The trailer begins with a young boy singing the national anthem, this draws the audience in as it has nothing to do with the previous film or doesn't indicate the trailers genre, this leaves the audience confused but encouraged to keep watching. This continues over the next couple of scenes which adds a sinister tone to the trailer which engages the audience. This is where the audience gets their first view of Bane, it is only a mid shot but it has been long awaited and expectations from fans are high of the character. This is a major selling point of the trailer as the character had been kept so secretive in the marketing campaign. There is also an establishing shot of a city which re establishes the setting of the previous film.

The first black screen title is then shown which says From Christopher Nolan this encourages the audience to continue watching as it raises expectations of the film as he is highly regarded as the director from The Dark Knight. The plot then begins to develop as Cat woman is shown, this is also another selling point of the trailer as she is a character of interest for the audience. She explains how trouble is coming but is very vague and no explanation is given this is effective as it leaves the audience with many questions they want answering, The action then begins to pick up with Bane's henchmen shown in a series of long shots and close ups, this gives the trailer more of a dramatic edge and engages the audience. 

The music then changes to the Bane chant which increases the sinister tone of the films but demonstrates how the trailer is going to become faster paced, this draws the audience in. There is then a scene of Bane walking towards the football pitch shown at the beginning and the football players are shown to be sucked into a hole on the pitch. This is effective as it is a shocking scene for the audience but a memorable one. Bane's voice is then heard for the first time which continues to draw the audience in. 

As the trailer starts to finish the non - diegetic music becomes louder and more dramatic, there are more black title screens saying The Epic Conclusion to The Dark Knight Legend and then the title of the film The Dark Knight Rises. This breaks up the audience and retains the audiences attention whilst still providing some information about the film. In between these titles more stereotypical action shots are shown of fight scenes, explosions and technology, the last shot focuses on new vehicles this excites fans of the films as they want to find out more about them. Finally there is the gradual zoom of the CG animation of the bat symbol made out of the shape of buildings crumbling. This is a memorable way to present the logo and keeps the audiences attention right till the end.

In comparison to other action trailers it is similar in the way that it plays on the music to add tension and the trailing becomes increasing faster paced as it continues. The font is simple, which is common of action films, however it doesn't feature as many fade to blacks as most action films do, this could be because the music plays more of a part in adding tension to the trailer than editing would.