Trailer Analysis: Cloverfield (2008)

 

Cloverfield is an American monster film and the trailer depicts a party being interrupted by an unknown threat. This trailer precisely shows the terror and confusion generated by an unknown explosion taking place and gives the event enough mystery to entice and audience to come back and watch the whole film. The trailer is unique in its style, as it is shot entirely handheld from what seems to be a video recorder or mobile phone. This style is known as cinéma vérité and its effect is use the camera to imply that truth is being revealed, by suggesting that the camera is observing real events in a ‘fly on the wall’ method, almost a documentary. This lends a historical feel of authenticity to the events shown as if they are being recorded. This is reinforced by the ‘testimonials’ apparently recorded on the camcorder. The director, J. J. Abrams is no stranger to these Sci-Fi genre films, having previously directed films like Star Wars, Star Trek and Armageddon. 

The genre of the film is almost instantly defined through the clever manipulation of the idents. Both Bad Robot and Paramount Pictures have iconic idents, so by changing them to appear more glitchy and distorted, already puts emphasis on the type of film its going to be. The glitch has connotations with Sci-Fi / apocalyptic film. This tells the audience that something bad has happened and not everything is how it should be, this will in turn cause the audience to be put on edge as confusion sets in. This is a constant theme throughout the length of the trailer as glitch-like, distorted sounds play in the background. To further add to the sense of confusion and the apocalyptic nature of this film, there is an inter-title which reads "formerly known as central park" this reinforces the idea that a catastrophe has taken place and the famous landmark of New York has had something happen to it. This inter-title also helps give context as to the location of the film. 

This trailer is full of action, which can be shown through the constant hard cuts to new locations and explosions taking place. This is stereotypical of 'Big Six' films as the budgets for the films tend to be much larger and so more money can be spent on CGI. The constant hard cuts give the trailer a fast pace, so the audience is never truly at rest with what they are seeing on their screen. The explosions are also cut short, so the audience can never see the aftermath of the events that take place, this will further entice an audience to want to watch the film and find out what happens and what has happened, as the cause of the explosion and disaster never is disclosed. The action aspect of the trailer can also be reflected in the colour grading of each frame, tending towards cooler blue tones. This is stereotypical of actions films and is a key identifier.  Some of the action that takes place isn't direct which is also very effective. There is a scene where someone is held back by Hazmats behind a screen and all the camera can see is their shadow, which shows the detained person attacking them with alien-like features. This will further make the audience question what is attacking the city and the trailer hasn't given away what is causing the disaster.

Sound is also very important in this films trailer, as many of the video transitions and the action that happens on screen is synced with the building suspenseful music. This is important to help pace the trailer and to build anticipation to the crescendo of the trailer. The diegetic sound of screams, explosions and the roar of someone or something is also heard throughout the length of the trailer. The owner of this roar is never revealed, so this will also add to the mystery pull factor for audiences wanting to find out what made that sound. It also helps to add a threat factor to the film and make it seem as though the lives of the characters are at stake. 

Dialogue also plays into the immersion of the film, it doesn't give any context to the film unlike other trailers, which plays in its favour. A key line would be "If you are watching this, you know more about it than me", this will work as a pull factor to make the audience want to find out what is happening in the film and what has happened. A close-up shot is also used effectively as it helps to exaggerate the facial expressions of the distressed man. All of the dialogue used in the trailer helps to build up the trailer to fit in with the cinéma vérité style.

There is also a lack of inter-titles during the middle of the trailer, this is also effective as it doesn't break up the action of the trailer and keeps the audience immersed in the trailer. This is an aspect I would like to utilise in my own trailer as it keeps the flow of action constant.

This trailer appeals to me as it has an unknown threat. This mix of Sci-Fi mystery and action really appeals to me and is the type of trailer I would like to do. I would also like to reflect the realism and immersion aspect of this trailer as i think it manages to show it very effectively.