I have chosen to analyse the trailer for Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince because the series of Harry Potter films is one which draws a huge audience. These films attract a massively wide range of viewers to their showings simply by being released, and barely need trailers to promote them, however i plan to analyse exactly what it is about these trailers which draws the fans of Harry Potter books to the screens.
The trailer opens with a shot of a choppy sea, the waves are dark grey in colour, possibly representing the nature of the film, showing it is a lot more dark and mysterious than the previous ones. We hear the sound of the sea before the shot fades onto the screen, bridging the gap between the black screen and the first shot of the trailer. By starting the trailer with a sound effect rather than music, the producers are able to add to the realism of the film. As the camera pans upwards we see a single rock jutting out from the ravenous waves, the camera tracks around to the other side of this rock, zooming slightly to show two figures silhouetted against the cliff face, standing atop the rock which is stranded in the middle of a stormy sea. This immediately suggests to the audience, even those who are unfamiliar with the narrative of the Harry Potter books/films, that these men are out of the ordinary and possibly posses some magical ability. The weather shown in the vast sky as the camera moves around them is an exact reflection of the colour of the sea, again indicating the darkness of the plot. Tense music is then subtly faded into the background, building in tempo and volume as time goes on. The music then fades out for a second in order to make the dialogue "this place has known magic" audible over the top of it, confirming the viewer suspicions of a supernatural plot line. The close up of the two figures faces which follows show an elderly man and a young boy of around 16, this introduces you to what are suggested to be some of the main characters of the film after the long establishing shot which sets the scene. The shot fades to black, before cutting to a shot of what we assume is the characters just inside the mouth of a cave which could have been on the coastline we had just been introduced to. As the music again increases in volume we are shown a shot reverse shot of the characters standing beside a wide dark lake, what is at the center of the lake, and then their reactions to what they can see once the old man has cast a globe of light towards the island in the middle. Whilst this is taking place we once again hear the non-diagetic sound of him speaking at a different time, stating first that what they can see is "very dark", again confirming what has already been implied through mise-en-scene, he then states that it is also "very powerful" implying that what he speaks of is something to be feared. A "birds eye view" shot of the pair of them as they stand beside the lake and magically summon a chain to rise from the water, this shows them from a high angle and illustrates that they are vulnerable and susceptible to any evil that could be near by.
The camera then cuts to a quick montage of shots, showing sinister and frightening images which are too fast for the eye to focus on, disorientating the audience. However, the final shot is one of a skeletal and snake like face of an evil looking character, which anyone who has seen the last films will know is the face of the "bad guy" Voldemort. This memorable and familiar concept, after the showings of Harry and Dumbledore who are also very well known, is a reference to what film it is and will instantly excite any fans who are watching. The image quickly fades to black, barely giving any time for you to focus on the image, but by having his pale face as the last image you see before the black screen it effectively imprints the terrifying image on the inside of your eyelids, making sure that that is what you remember and emphasising the significance of this character in the narrative of the film. The way in which the fade to black is is cleverly synchronised with the finishing sound effect at the end of the background music makes the fade to the impenetrable darkness even more absolute, preparing the audience for the dialogue which is to come. A sound bridge is used to emphasise Dumbledores words which are whispered dramatically into the darkness before the next clip is flashed onto the screen to fit with the words already being played. We see a quick close up of Dumbledore's face as he finishes the sentence "I cannot hope to destroy it alone", we are then shown Harry's shocked reaction to this revelation as his face is eerily illuminated by a flickering light from somewhere just below the camera. This adds to the unsettling composition and further emphasises the danger the characters are in, making the audience also feel unsafe.
Fast paced but ominously sounding piano music begins quietly in the background as a dramatic form of the "Warner Brothers" logo appears on the screen. The camera then cuts into familiar shots of places fans of the films will recognise and relate to.The voice over of a familiar character to the films is then played over a montage of shots which match the speaker words. Following the dark nature of the previous scenes these short clips now add a suggestion of sports, romance, and friend ship, managing to relate to possibly every member of the audience in some way or another, hoping to tempt them into watching the film. This is followed by a shot which is clearly intended to be humorous, making this type of film very difficult to categorise. It cuts between elements of fantasy, romance, thriller, teen drama, and comedy, appealing to a much wider audience than it first appears. However, this mix of comical scenes and dramatic ominous sounding music can also be slightly unsettling, suggesting to the audience that the characters will not be safe and happy for long.
Familiar shots of area and situations we are familiar to are then shown in a dark light. As the voiceover anounces that evil from the fantasy world is going to pass from their world to ours the audience can begin to feel uneasy, caught up in the exitement and intriuge of the action and element of danger. The way in which the words "the darkest hour is upon us all", with emphasis on the word "all", implies that even us as an audience, are not safe from the horrors taking place on the screen, as streets are attacked and buildings are raided by this unnamed darkness which the producers avoid directly showing.
As the pace of the music in the background increaces the editing of the shots grows faster and faster, creating an adrenaline rush and makeing the audience tense up ready for the climax of the action. Desperate voices are played in the background over the mounting tension in the music causing even more unease as the audience is easily lead in the attempt to subconciously trigger there senses to react to the tense atmosphere. It is clear that the aim of this is for them to find themselves leaning forward to the edge of their seats, desperate for more. Once the trailer has reached the hight of tension, shot music at its loudest and fastest and the clips changing more regularly, showing familiar bridges collapsing and buildings being knocked down, the screen dramatically cuts to black and the name and releace date of the film flicker onto the screen. As the audience can finally relax and begin to calm themselves from the exitement they realise that this date is what the tension was building up to, and that date is something which they associate with the exitement they felt whilst watching the trailer, and so they associate the exitement with watching the film, meaning they are desperate for it to be releaced, and will go and see it when it finally comes out.
The typography in which the name of the film and the date it will be released are written in a very old style, mirroring the style of the world in which the film is set. The background behind the film title is again that of dark clouds which flicker with flashes of lightening. This could represent the way in which the films is veiwed as a whole, and is possibly an indicator of the genre.
The trailer opens with a shot of a choppy sea, the waves are dark grey in colour, possibly representing the nature of the film, showing it is a lot more dark and mysterious than the previous ones. We hear the sound of the sea before the shot fades onto the screen, bridging the gap between the black screen and the first shot of the trailer. By starting the trailer with a sound effect rather than music, the producers are able to add to the realism of the film. As the camera pans upwards we see a single rock jutting out from the ravenous waves, the camera tracks around to the other side of this rock, zooming slightly to show two figures silhouetted against the cliff face, standing atop the rock which is stranded in the middle of a stormy sea. This immediately suggests to the audience, even those who are unfamiliar with the narrative of the Harry Potter books/films, that these men are out of the ordinary and possibly posses some magical ability. The weather shown in the vast sky as the camera moves around them is an exact reflection of the colour of the sea, again indicating the darkness of the plot. Tense music is then subtly faded into the background, building in tempo and volume as time goes on. The music then fades out for a second in order to make the dialogue "this place has known magic" audible over the top of it, confirming the viewer suspicions of a supernatural plot line. The close up of the two figures faces which follows show an elderly man and a young boy of around 16, this introduces you to what are suggested to be some of the main characters of the film after the long establishing shot which sets the scene. The shot fades to black, before cutting to a shot of what we assume is the characters just inside the mouth of a cave which could have been on the coastline we had just been introduced to. As the music again increases in volume we are shown a shot reverse shot of the characters standing beside a wide dark lake, what is at the center of the lake, and then their reactions to what they can see once the old man has cast a globe of light towards the island in the middle. Whilst this is taking place we once again hear the non-diagetic sound of him speaking at a different time, stating first that what they can see is "very dark", again confirming what has already been implied through mise-en-scene, he then states that it is also "very powerful" implying that what he speaks of is something to be feared. A "birds eye view" shot of the pair of them as they stand beside the lake and magically summon a chain to rise from the water, this shows them from a high angle and illustrates that they are vulnerable and susceptible to any evil that could be near by.
The camera then cuts to a quick montage of shots, showing sinister and frightening images which are too fast for the eye to focus on, disorientating the audience. However, the final shot is one of a skeletal and snake like face of an evil looking character, which anyone who has seen the last films will know is the face of the "bad guy" Voldemort. This memorable and familiar concept, after the showings of Harry and Dumbledore who are also very well known, is a reference to what film it is and will instantly excite any fans who are watching. The image quickly fades to black, barely giving any time for you to focus on the image, but by having his pale face as the last image you see before the black screen it effectively imprints the terrifying image on the inside of your eyelids, making sure that that is what you remember and emphasising the significance of this character in the narrative of the film. The way in which the fade to black is is cleverly synchronised with the finishing sound effect at the end of the background music makes the fade to the impenetrable darkness even more absolute, preparing the audience for the dialogue which is to come. A sound bridge is used to emphasise Dumbledores words which are whispered dramatically into the darkness before the next clip is flashed onto the screen to fit with the words already being played. We see a quick close up of Dumbledore's face as he finishes the sentence "I cannot hope to destroy it alone", we are then shown Harry's shocked reaction to this revelation as his face is eerily illuminated by a flickering light from somewhere just below the camera. This adds to the unsettling composition and further emphasises the danger the characters are in, making the audience also feel unsafe.
Fast paced but ominously sounding piano music begins quietly in the background as a dramatic form of the "Warner Brothers" logo appears on the screen. The camera then cuts into familiar shots of places fans of the films will recognise and relate to.The voice over of a familiar character to the films is then played over a montage of shots which match the speaker words. Following the dark nature of the previous scenes these short clips now add a suggestion of sports, romance, and friend ship, managing to relate to possibly every member of the audience in some way or another, hoping to tempt them into watching the film. This is followed by a shot which is clearly intended to be humorous, making this type of film very difficult to categorise. It cuts between elements of fantasy, romance, thriller, teen drama, and comedy, appealing to a much wider audience than it first appears. However, this mix of comical scenes and dramatic ominous sounding music can also be slightly unsettling, suggesting to the audience that the characters will not be safe and happy for long.
Familiar shots of area and situations we are familiar to are then shown in a dark light. As the voiceover anounces that evil from the fantasy world is going to pass from their world to ours the audience can begin to feel uneasy, caught up in the exitement and intriuge of the action and element of danger. The way in which the words "the darkest hour is upon us all", with emphasis on the word "all", implies that even us as an audience, are not safe from the horrors taking place on the screen, as streets are attacked and buildings are raided by this unnamed darkness which the producers avoid directly showing.
As the pace of the music in the background increaces the editing of the shots grows faster and faster, creating an adrenaline rush and makeing the audience tense up ready for the climax of the action. Desperate voices are played in the background over the mounting tension in the music causing even more unease as the audience is easily lead in the attempt to subconciously trigger there senses to react to the tense atmosphere. It is clear that the aim of this is for them to find themselves leaning forward to the edge of their seats, desperate for more. Once the trailer has reached the hight of tension, shot music at its loudest and fastest and the clips changing more regularly, showing familiar bridges collapsing and buildings being knocked down, the screen dramatically cuts to black and the name and releace date of the film flicker onto the screen. As the audience can finally relax and begin to calm themselves from the exitement they realise that this date is what the tension was building up to, and that date is something which they associate with the exitement they felt whilst watching the trailer, and so they associate the exitement with watching the film, meaning they are desperate for it to be releaced, and will go and see it when it finally comes out.
The typography in which the name of the film and the date it will be released are written in a very old style, mirroring the style of the world in which the film is set. The background behind the film title is again that of dark clouds which flicker with flashes of lightening. This could represent the way in which the films is veiwed as a whole, and is possibly an indicator of the genre.
Lucy :)
This trailer can be found through thew following link:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnooUEuyn_M
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