Analysis of Skyfall trailer

Skyfall is an action film, so by looking at the trailer we can look at what is effective which can help us with our trailer. It is rated a 12A so is attracting teenagers, however James Bond films are very popular among all ages.

The trailer begins fast paced, with loud dramatic music and with fight scenes and car chases, this immediately indicates to the audience the genre of this film. It also is effective in drawing the audience in as the loud music catches their attention. Fade to blacks are used which is typical of many action trailers as it makes the trailer seem more dramatic. The institutions are then shown which are Metro Goldwyn Mayer and Columbia, these are successful, well known production companies which further draws the audience in. In the first 50 seconds of the trailer we could recreate a similar effect as it doesn't feature all the stereotypical technology and gadgets, fade to blacks are still common and the music still continues loudly, this adds to the dramatic effect of the film further drawing the audience in.

As the trailer continues the plot develops as the outline of the film is introduced, this is only vague as it is in most trailers, this leaves the audience with lots of questions which they want answering which encourages them to go and see the film. Throughout the trailer slow paced clips are contrasted with fast paced clips in order to maintain the audience's attention and to keep them interested. Establishing shots are used throughout which are mainly of big cities, this is common of action films and something we could recreate in our trailer. Two shots are used to show to the audience who the main characters are, however not much is revealed about which leaves the audience with the option to go and see the film if the want to find out more. High and low angle shots are used, especially between the hero and the villain which establishes who has authority and makes the rivalry between the two characters more effective to the audience.

Towards the end of the trailer, the music becomes a lot louder this re gains the audiences attention and makes them continue watching. As is typical of most action films the end of the trailer becomes increasingly faster paced with frequent shots of car chases and explosions. This is effective as it shows the audience parts of the film without explaining how this happens which encourages the audience to go and see the film to find out. However, for our trailer we would not be able to have the explosions due to our low budget. The sounds of the gun shots are incorporated with fade to blacks, this is effective in the way that it changes the pace of the film through the sound and editing techniques which has a dramatic effect on the audience, we could recreate something similar in our trailer.

The trailer ends with a fade to black then a black title screen with the name of the film on, it gradually zooms in on the title which makes the audience remember the name of the film. This trailer is different in respect to the fact that this is the only title shown throughout the trailer apart from the production companies, this could be that the actors are well known for these films now so they do not need to be advertised, although it could be because by having no titles it keeps the audiences attention on the action.