In-Depth Analysis of Teaser Trailers
The Dark Knight RisesDenotation - Clips of sequences from prior films in the trilogy and this film, paired with the the text 'Every hero has a journey, Every journey has an end'. Towards the end of the trailer we see batman with his hands raised and clenched into fists, facing somebody who's face we cant see.
Connotation - History; especially since this is a trilogy we know that this character has experienced a lot as 'The Dark Knight' and the result of this film is not only the end of the trilogy but the end of his journey - which tells us that he is either killed as a result of the fight he's in at the end of the trailer, or he finishes his duty as the guardian of Gotham city and hangs up his cape. This alone can be used as a selling point for the film as it makes the audience wonder what the future of this character will be through the suspense of the ending of the trailer. This shows that the film's tone will be serious and filled with tense situations that will fill viewers with anticipation for what happens next.
Denotation - Sequences of skyscrapers falling to pieces, Our main character climbing out of a pit and another character saying "we were in this together, and then you were gone. The batman must come back"
Connotation - The quote combined with the sequences of buildings falling (which i assume represent gotham) convey the idea that the batman needs to come back for the good of the city and that without him, chaos will ensue and he will be the only one able to stop it. We know that since he's climbing out of a pit and not using any kind of spelunking equipment (which he would be able to afford since he's rich) he's not in the pit out of his own choice and was perhaps put there by an adversary during the film.
Denotation - The text 'The epic conclusion to the dark knight legend'
Connotation - As this is the last film in the trilogy, the story in this film should be able to put brackets on the trilogy as a whole and end it with a a situation that gives leaves the audience without any questions.
This trailer uses low-key lighting as a theme with a dark filter, which helps represent the dark and gritty atmosphere throughout the film, helping make it an effective trailer as it helps not only promote and publicise the film, but it also helps represent the film as they use similar effects an lighting. In some teaser trailers a lot of footage which isn't from the film is used for effect - like the ending clip of this trailer which shows skyscrapers falling to pieces - however this trailer uses (mostly) film footage which builds up anticipation as it leaves viewers wondering what's going to happen next. This alone can help build up hype and publicity about a film when people start speculating about it, asking other people about it and sharing opinions about what they think will happen in the film.
The positioning of batman throughout the clips in this teaser pretty much always sets him at a high angle, which could be used to portray his power and him as an icon of fear and justice. Towards the end of the trailer we see him at a high angle backing away from Bane looking exhausted and disorientated; from this we can gather that the villain from this chapter of Batman's adventures really is a force to be reckoned with and somebody who can test him in terms of physical ability and fighting technique - something Batman is known for because of his affinity for martial arts and combat.
In an early clip in the trailer we see Batman walking up a mountain wearing old, worn clothes and a makeshift bag ad in another scene we see him climbing out of a pit wearing clothes of the same style. This paired with the text ' every hero has a journey ' could be used to portray how far he's come as an individual and how much he's developed as a character, as shown by the intricate batsuit he wears at the end of the trailer.
Avengers Assemble
In the first 20 seconds of this trailer, we see sequences of New York City (as shown by the skyscrapers and iconic buildings), cars and explosions, along with people running and hiding in fear (including police officers) and soldiers aiming and shooting upwards at an enemy we can't see, immediately informing us of the tone and the era of this film; we can see that there is a high-level threat which needs to be dealt with by the heroes in the film and that this film is set in the present - not only shown by the establishing shots at the beginning, but also the vehicles, the clothing that people are wearing and also technology and infrastructure we see. During that time, we hear the phrase "you were made to be ruled" in a british accent. The accent is important because a trend in recent films is that the villain is either british or played by a british actor; Tom Hiddleston in this case for the role of Loki. We also see his character seeming as though he has just arrived at a facility, to be surrounded by soldiers, in retaliation, he leaps, holding a scepter - presumably towards the soldiers - confirming that he's a villain - but we don't see what happens next, a staple in teaser trailers as it makes everyone wonder what happens next and makes them interested in the film.
We shortly after hear a character say "what do we do?" which is responded to with "we get ready" in a serious manner by Samuel L Jackson's character. This shows us as viewers that the threat in the film is something that america (in the universe of this film) hasn't see before or dealt with. in a shot before this, we see a helicopter moving in to land at a facility, in the background of this shot we see loads of people running out of it which could be the same place Loki arrived at - hence their fear and haste to get out of it. The two shots share the same colour palettes and lighting - dark areas and filmed with a blue filter. The dark atmosphere makes it seem more serious than your standard superhero or action adventure movie - even other scenes in this trailer use completely different styles of lighting with bright colours, possibly a nod to whether or not the heroes have the upper hand or not in certain situations in the film.
The use of the word 'Assemble' in the title connotes that the main characters in the film are divided to begin with and unite in order to eliminate the threat - Loki. This is also shown by how we see sequences of individual characters more often to begin with in the trailer, followed by more sequences of 2 or more characters. Until around halfway through the trailer we don't even see all of the characters in the same room together, and when we do, they're arguing. This shows how disjointed they are as a team together early on. We hear Captain America say "Big man in a suit of armour. Take that away and what are you?" with an angry look on his face. This again puts emphasis on the the aptness of the title's use of the word 'Assemble'. We see many clips of fighting and battle sequences during this film, some pitting heroes against each-other, again emphasising my previous point but also showing the conventions of action films - lots of fighting, explosions, guns, destruction and a battle of good vs evil.
At the start of this trailer we see the production and distribution company's logos in a metal effect, with a simple black background and deep humming sound. This gives the impression that this film isn't a family film through its use of dull and dark colours. This is followed by several conflicting quotes describing superman and his abilities during a shot of a statue of superman which is cross cut by sequences of his acts. We see him holding the head of a spaceship, looking as if he caused the destruction and landing in an alley with a group of soldiers who seem to be at his command. Another shot shows him hovering above a flooded area with some people reaching out to him - making him look like the bad guy in this film and setting up the narrative for it. This is backed up by the quotes saying "absolute power is corrupt", "is it really surprising that the most powerful man in the world should be a figure of controversy" and "Human beings have a horrible track record of following people with power". This is because it sets the tone for a 'Batman vs Superman' clash as Batman is obsessed with justice and feels that Superman has too much power.
Following this sequence we see Bruce Wayne angrily looking up at his batsuit with the voice of a British character - presumably Alfred - saying "A feeling of powerlessness. That turns good men cruel". This is a nod to how ruthless Batman feels towards Superman since he is incredibly powerful and can cause mass destruction and devastation if he so feels, and there's nobody who could stop him - even if they wanted to. later we see batman in another suit which looks to be significantly heavily armoured in comparison to his classic suit, looking up to a hovering superman and asking "Do you bleed? You will." This is all shot at night using low key lighting too, so the suit he wears and the glowing eyes from it stand out from everything else in the shot and just look truly menacing. The tone in his voice also sounds as though he has a personal vendetta against him- even though what he says is enough to give that away, his tone just emphasises his latent rage.
The text on the statue at around the 1-minute mark reading 'False God' shows that people feel the same way as batman does in that he's not using his power responsibly or as effectively as he could be. The sound of a mob shouting in the background has the connotation that this isn't just a few people but loads who share the same view. This is an effective detail in this teaser when combined with the voice-overs at the start can as they can tear audiences into two sides - those who side with Batman and those who side with Superman.
