Analysis Trailer - Prometheus

This is the analysis for the brand new sci-fi horror film that is Prometheus. Prometheus is a new hopeful film directed by Ridley Scott who is linked with the alien franchise. The movie is set for a mass audience in social bands between E-C due to the films nature.

The trailer starts with lined distorted image of the creators and producers logos these are 20^th century fox. We have an non-diegetic sound of a  fearful woman’s voice stating she was wrong this is also distorted and fuzzed like the logos and the current footage we have on screen. Then a beep happens and the noise is silence this raises tension and automatically sets the scene this is when we first see the directors name this is something that would interest certain audiences due to the directors history in this type of genre. The silence is broken by the same woman before saying that she is so sorry this depicts and states that she has done something wrong the act and consequences is unknown to the audience at this part in time. Women are commonly used in the horror genre to depict fear; this trailer does not act differently. A sci-fi bass sound appears from nowhere and echoes after this we see four blue thrustsers attached to a large spaceship and a small graphic starts to appear on screen also new atmospheric noise also accompanies the now quite bass   . This would definitely interest audience that are fans of the directors work as the sci-fi links with the spaceship nicely and the atmospheric music also adds to it being a horror film meaning that the link is quite clear between the style of the film and others such as Alien.

A shot of a moonlit landscape which features lots of fog is shown this sticks and keeps it depicted within the genre it is set as this is a very out of this world feel which is obviously sci-fi linked. The next part opens with the same noise as before linked with a flame appearing from a guy in the bottom right hand corner this sticks with the genre the attire of the man connotes sci-fi as it isn’t common clothing such as jeans and a hoody or a suit but instead a large biome around his head and a shiny all in one this is a bit like a space suit. A large shot of a door opening onto the scenery we saw earlier is shown this just gives a setting for the film as we now as a audience know that is the location of the base film.

A fade into and then straight out of a scene is used as a transition from the longshot of vehicles into a over the shoulder shot giving a landscape in representation to the during the transition more pieces of the graphic are added to the screen this provokes curiosity in the audience and in turn also promotes the genre as sometimes the most scariest things are the things that are unknown to us. This scene turns into a match cut of same person entering the room this just elaborates on the setting.

The next scene uses sharp cord music along with diegetic screaming and a scene  where by a man appears to be being burnt by acid or some other form of liquid. The sharp cord music connotes to the audience that something scary is happening the sharp chord music also changes the previously slow tempo and works to create more tension this would interest and audience because it keeps them entertained and hooked watching as appose to bored.

The tempo of the scenes dramatically increases as each scene fades into the next a lot props and other sources are used to keep the audience interested. They show certain things that would interest someone that enjoys sci-fi films such as orbs that scan areas there is also a small scene with a man inspecting a foreign specimen. A shot of women is used running down a hallway towards the camera she is “pretty” and takes up the screen she is showing some flesh not a lot however this is so far the only distinguishable character implemented into the trailer. This could connote that they are aiming prudentially at the male audience as there first featured character look as almost to be a damsel in distress. More graphic also appears on screen and it appears as if it is wording to something. More fast paced scenes of action and sci-fi gadgets are used increasing in tempo as does the non-diegetic music this increases tension and interests the audience as it plays on stereotypes common to what the audience supposedly want.

All music goes silent the screen is black apart from the graphic that has been progressing since the start of the trailer it is clear that it spells out “Prometheus” which is the name of the film. This is just information that people need to know in order to want to watch the film this also works well to remove previous tension build up.

The next part uses diegetic sound and a close up of a distraught woman to increase tension and create interest again. The woman does not look to be erotized this breaks Laura Mulley (75) theory of the male gave as she is not emplaced into the trailer for sexual interest but instead to create fear. The trailer finishes with prompts to the audience for the story line saying they went searching ect this Is most likely emplaced to give the audience background to the story as the clips don’t give in much detail what the film could be about this is just to interest the audience.

The trailer is only 1 minuet and 10 seconds this is most likely because this allows it to be used in cross platform advertisement. For example this could be played before a YouTube video or could be playing as an advertisement on a normal website.