Analysis of the Film Trailer "Inception"

Analysis of the Film Trailer "Inception"

I analysed the film trailer "Inception" because of the genre. It is an action film and it would allow me to understand what aspects of the trailer I would need to include in my film trailer. 

Tension is the main thing trying to be built in this film trailer. A lot of this is done through the use of camera angles and camera shots. A lot of the male characters are framed in low angles to start with to connote their dominance and to show how they are feeling towards the situation they are in. As the trailer continues, they begin to be framed in high angles to show their vulnerability towards the situation and that the tables have turned. The female character was framed in a high angle as soon as she was in the trailer to portray her vulnerability and weakness to the situation she has brought upon herself. This could be connoted as a regressive stereotype of females being weak. However, it could be connoted that she has joined a risky situation.

Moreover, canted angles were used a lot through the trailer. This is to portray the distortion the characters were experiencing and help the audience understand what they were going through at that moment in time. 

A lot of the camera shots were long shots to establish the change of setting. This would allow the audience to see the variety of places the film is based in the trailer. This was also done through the use of pan. This allowed the audience to see the whole setting. 

The editing in this trailer was very key in creating tension. There was a lot of quick cuts used to make the audience members heart race. To do this even further, flash cuts were used a few times. This created an atmosphere that was on edge. Doing this really emphasised the genre of the film. It allowed the audience to understand the pace of the film trailer and the pace they're expecting if they watched the film.

Furthermore, special effects were used a lot during this film trailer which clearly showed the genre of the film. These included a lot of explosions, moving objects and levitating people. 

Moreover, the text on screen was often a black background with white bold letters. This connoted a loud and strong film. This was through the use of colours, black connoting violence and death, and white, connoting vulnerability and innocence. 

The use of sound was a major as factor in building tension in the trailer of "Inception". 

To start, there was fast paced non diegetic asynchronous music to build the tension. Over the top of this was a breathy, fast paced diegetic synchronous voice over from Leonardo DeCaprio. This emphasised the genre of action by how out of breath he sounded. This portrayed the pace of the film.

Another way that sound portrayed the film genre was through pleonastic sound. This was often used when a gun shot was fired or an explosion happened. This was to shock and scare the audience into watching more.

Mise-en-scene was also key in building tension. 

The use of lighting was very key. Most of the lighting was very low key which created mysterious elements and made the audience want to know who the characters were. This left enigma codes for them which entices them to continue watching. 

Natural lighting was used in the establishing shots of the new settings.

Props were also used to shock and scare the audience into watching the film. This was done through the use of the size of the guns and bombs used. They were supposed to make the audience scared, just like the people in those situations would be.

I think after watching an action film, I would consider it as the genre for my film trailer. This is because I think some of the aspects are quite easy to include which would really help emphasise the genre of the film trailer.