INCEPTION TRAILER ANALYSIS
This is the trailer for the movie 'Inception' that was released in 2010, it is a science-fiction, heist, thriller film starring Leonardo DiCaprio as a professional thief who manages to steal information from his targets by infiltrating their subconscious, and is offered a chance to have his criminal history erased by taking up an impossible task.
0:06 - PRODUCTION COMPANIES
Instantly, the trailer grabs my attention through the non-diegetic orchestral music that is present in the background, at this time, the production logos of the companies that produced the film show up, clearly in the theme of the film. This is something that I liked, they styled the logos in a way that people would link it to the film itself, sort of like a house style of a magazine.
00:16 - NARRATIVE VOICE, FAST CUTS, PROPS
The trailer opens with a narrative voice that leads from several scenes into the scene where the voice is heard; which reveals the main character talking. Fast paced editing is used with fast cuts in transition to speed up the pace of the film and make it more intense. We also see our first use of prop in the film with a gun, an iconic prop usually seen in the action-thriller genre connoting violence, death, or crime.
00:25 - DIRECTOR CREDITS
The directors name is revealed, as he is a prestigious director who has produced successful films before that people know, they have also made it clear that he had directed those films, perhaps to convince his fanbase to watch his new film, creating a larger audience and global appeal. The showing of his name also syncs up well with the music, something I have to keep in mind when creating my trailer.
00:35-00:39 - MONTAGE OF SCENES
These clips highlight a montage of scenes that are featured in the movie, showcasing what the movie could be about, the clips themselves are quite surreal, with high quality effects being used to show the characters "floating" in the air during the hallway lobby scene, but also a truck that is smashing its way through traffic. These scenes impose ideas into a watchers head, "Why are they flying?" "What happened to gravity?" "Why is the truck driving through those cars?" "Who is he shooting at?" These are questions that will entice the watcher to keep watching the trailer.
00:45 - CGI EFFECTS
This is just a scene that I really liked as it showed something that hasn't been seen before, away from the ordinary; that could open a few eyes and piques the attention of the viewer even more.
01:35 - HIGH ANGLE CAMERA SHOT
An example of the camera shots used in the trailer to emphasise the special effects, from this high angle, we can clearly tell that something about this scene is "not right" as the stairs appear to be disconnected, giving the movie more of a mystery vibe.
01:51 - EXAMPLE OF EXOTIC LOCATION SETTING
This is an example of one of the settings used in the film, these sort of locations are generally not seen in any films so an audience would be enticed to watch these scenes. These type of locations however, are hard to film without the budget, so for my film project, I will probably have to keep my filming around my local area and in the city.
02:10 - TITLE OF THE FILM
We can see that the title of the film is styled in the same way the logos were presented in the beginning, linking them together in the same theme.
02:17 - AFTER-CREDITS SCENE
Something I really like about trailers is having a scene after the title of the film is shown, it just closes out the trailer well and leaves the final impression of the watcher in a good taste.
02:19 - DATE OF RELEASE
The date of release, informing the watcher of when the movie is going to be coming out in theatres.
OVERALL
I thought it was a really good trailer with alot of key elements that I will be sure to keep in mind when creating my trailer.
1) - Ensure scenes sync up with music, it just makes everything look more professional and high quality.
2) - Have an 'after-credits' scenes to ease the watcher out of the trailer.
3) - Use a wide variety of camera angles to take advantage of the genre I am basing my film on.
4) - Fast paced editing will make the trailer even more intense, so use it during action sequences.
5) - Montages are an effective way of showing scenes from the movie without revealing too much.
6) A narrative voice leading into the scene of the narrator actually speaking is a good way to set up the trailer.
Inception is one of the best trailers I have ever seen, and although I do not have the budget to use CGI special effects or set scenes in exotic locations, I will be sure to take in what I can from the trailer.
