"Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure."
Tension is captured in the trailer by including a busy, fast paced atmosphere mixed with a few slower shots, giving the main character more screen time. The trailer entices the audience by revealing a bit of the plot but not so much so that it gives away the whole story.
At the very beginning of this clip, whilst the production credits are fading in and out to black, a voice over is heard from the main character of the film. His voice sounds harsh and upset like the person who the voice belongs to has been crying or stressed from something. "Nothing happened the way it was supposed to happen." These are the words of the voice over which has given off a negative effect to the viewer as the choice of words appear negative and upsetting. This instantly puts the viewer in an uncomfortable position, making them question and feel uneasy for the person with why they are feeling the way they are.
Straight after the voice over was played, a quick build up to a dramatic, non-diagetic soundtrack followed this. Included in this soundtrack is a choir and orchestra instruments to create a sense of boldness.
The clip starts abruptly after the voice over with an establishing shot of a crowded street. The busy feeling was created by the amount of people and cars that were positioned in the shot. They also all seemed to be heading in the same direction. Christmas lights are hung up on either side of the street that are subtly glowing giving a hint that it's winter, around the time of Christmas. This is also emphasized by the fact that all the people in the crowd seem to be wearing coats and dark clothes that represent the darkness of winter. The numerous dark clothes also contribute to the gloominess of the setting which creates a darker atmosphere. Talking and screaming is heard in the diagetic sound from the crowd shown on screen.
A fade out to black and fade in is shown to introduce a tilt shot up of the main character holding a child. This shot shows that he has some sort of power and emphasizes the fact that he's the main character because of the angle of this shot and the fact that he's shown this early on in the trailer. Also the fact that he's holding a child may emphasize how crowded the street is to try and get across that it's too busy to let the child walk on his own. As well as the fact that the main character will be seen as having a responsibility as he has a child to look after and could possibly is the father. This would interest parents to be the target audience for this as they could put their child into the situation being shown.
Another fade out to black and fade in is used to show a tracking shot of a helicopter. The helicopter is using a search light to emphasize the fact that it is set at night and also to introduce the idea that the authorities are looking for something.
Included in the diagetic sound is the propellers of the helicopter spinning which builds up the busyness of the scene.
Yet another fade out to black and fade in is shown of an establishing shot of a well known bridge in America known as the Brooklyn Bridge. This introduces the location to the viewers. The lighting on the bridge makes it look intimidating and powerful as well as the lights that surround this.
A brief close up of the main character holding the child is shown quickly to allow the audience to understand that he is in the middle of the surroundings shown in the other shots.
The character's voice is heard in a voice over, briefly describing what's happening without giving too much information away. A cross dissolve is used to link the shots together. This next shot shows crowd control barriers with many people struggling behind them. Men dressed in army uniform including helmets and weapons are shown running and giving each other orders. This is worrying for the audience as they may question why the army is in a main part of America and why the civilians are prevented by coming close by the barriers.
A panning shot is used to show the business of the scene. People dressed in the army uniform are shown in a tank whilst holding their weapons which can represent the seriousness of what's going on. The crowd in the diagetic sound appears to become louder when the crowd is shown to emphasise the busyness. The non-diagetic sound of the loud orchestra music is still being played in time with each shot for better aesthetics.
Another straight edit is used to show a woman turning around, looking equally as worried as the crowd shown before. Straight edits are now frequently used instead of fade to black and a fade in like the beginning of the trailer. This is because it makes the trailer seem to speed up when the straight edits are used. The voice over of the character speaking is spaced out so too much information is not shown at once. This also allows the viewers to concentrate on the footage being shown on the screen as well as the soundtrack.
A close up of a man screaming in a horrifying way is shown with a white flash to black to emphasise the oddness of the shot previously shown. This flashes to a negative effect to represent the oddness of what's going on.
A pause of blackness is shown to slow the trailer down again and slowly fades into a close up of the character we saw before. The different use of transition, a fade in, represents that he’s in a different location. The shot shows that he’s in a building talking to the camera; documenting his words. The quality of the camera decreases, as well as the sound, in comparison to the previous shots; this shows that it's a recording the character is creating himself. Viewers can also see this as he is talking into the camera. This helps to involve the audience. The character looks tired making the audience question what has happened to him. These factors add up to create a feel that this is either in the future or past. As the voice over used previously has been talking in past tense, it tells the viewer that this shot is in the future. Also the speed of this shot is much slower than the previous shots. This is to break up and spread out the tension included in this trailer. When this shot is shown the non-diagetic sound quietens so the attention is drawn to what he is saying.
A straight edit is shown of a few people in the crowd pushing another person into the control barrier, making it fall over. This is odd behaviour which adds to the intriguing feeling.
A screeching sound is emphasised of the barrier falling down. This creates a sense of urgency.
Another straight edit to an over the shoulder shot of what looks like someone jumping from the crowd onto the leg of the flying helicopter. The helicopter's propellers are heard again alongside the sound of an engine about to crash. This sound is created by a gradual high pitch sound.
A straight edit to a close up of the main character in astonishment is zoomed in on to catch his expression.
Yet another establishing shot of the Brooklyn Bridge is shown in the darkness of the helicopter crashing into it and blowing up. As the helicopter hits the bridge it creates a 'bang' sound in result to the explosion shown. This is emphasised by a slight jolt of the camera to create a dramatic effect.
A tilt shot up of the explosion is shown to exaggerate the famous bridge being destroyed. This shot is shown from a first person shot as the camera is shaky which adds to the drama of the whole destruction of the bridge. More screams and engine noises are heard as the bridge falls down. The non-diagetic climaxes at this point.
A straight edit to a blurry shot of the main character positioned at the front left corner of the shot with the army and rest of the crowd behind him. The positioning of this shows the importance of this character. The shot is also slowed down which contrasts with the other fast pace shots. This gives the audience more time to look and take in the expression of the characters face when he reacts to the situation. As well as this, the blurry effect relates to the explosion and helps the viewers put them in his position easily. To link in with the slowed down shot, the non-diagetic soundtrack also quietens down and becomes muffled.
What sounds like material quickly flapping once is heard in the non-diagetic sound and quietens to nothing. A straight edit to a black screen is shown which gives a pause for the audience take in what’s happened. A fade in of white writing is shown of the date followed by some more words linking into the trailer but not giving away much about the film. The colour of the writing is used as it contrasts with the background, making it stand out more and easy to read. The words are spread out so that it does not look like too much to read as this is not what people want to do too much of in a trailer. The font is bold in capital letters to stand out more. It is talking about a man whom links back to the character shown previously before. A slow, non-diagetic build up of a muffled sound is played whilst the text is being shown.
The non-diagetic that was built up in the text abruptly stops when a straight edit is shown of a peaceful, daytime shot of the Brooklyn Bridge after the explosion has taken place. The damage is shown which is contradictory as it's mixing good with bad in the same shot. This could be to show that there is no way out of the city. Non-diagetic sound of a beating drum, that is echoed, is built up.
The non-diagetic, beating sound is emphasised when the next shot is shown to create more suspense and a bigger shock to viewers.
This shot fades out slowly to black to a straight edit to overgrown, rundown, empty looking streets in the centre of America. The fact that this shot is shown in broad daylight is also contradictory as American streets are stereotypically seen as ‘alive at night time’. This is shocking even more so for the audience as America is always busy. A high pitch, non-diagetic sound is built up gradually. Like the last shot, this shot fades slowly out to black with text in the same font as before is shown. Also the beating of the drum is emphasised when the text is shown. The text is talking about the man again to keep the audience knowing that he’s the main character, even though he has not had much screen presence. These words about him are more positive than before.
A tilt shot down, of a long shot of the character from behind is shown sneaking through the ruins of America. The tilt shot down on the character emphasised how small he looks. The previous words ‘ONE MAN HAS SURVIVED’ fades out whilst the character is shown, giving a relation that ‘he’ is the man the text is talking about. Also shows that this man is the owner of the voice speaking in the voice overs. This shot introduces the character properly, helped by the voice over telling the viewers his name and who he is.
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