The trailer opens with an establishing shot of a sunset behind the city to set the scene. In stark contrast, a woman is then shown talking to the camera and saying 'Nobody comes back late at night anymore'. This immediately suggests to the audience that this film is going to be scary and will also intrigue them as to what it is about.
There is an element of mystery, especially at the beginning as it doesn't have a voice-over narrating what is happening as commonly used in some trailers. Instead, it seems to be much more of a documentary-style as people are being interviewed and talking directly to the cameras. Titles are inserted throughout saying; 'They are not welcome... They are not accepted... They are not human'. In between these three titles, short clips are shown of people voicing their opinions on what is happening.
There is non-diegetic music played up to this point which suddenly gets faster and louder when the title saying 'They are not human' is shown, which helps to build suspense and also informs the audience that something significant is about to happen. The music starts off fairly high-pitched and sounds almost dream-like but then builds up to create a more dramatic feel. There is silence for a few seconds after and non-diegetic music is then played again which sounds much more darker and lower-pitched in order to flow well with the action being shown on the screen of helicopters flying around a spacecraft and damage being caused in the city.
'Peter Jackson presents' then comes into play which immediately suggests to the audience what kind of genre this film may be and what kind of style it may be filmed in as he is well known for being behind the Lord of the Rings trilogy and King Kong. By including a famous name in the trailer, they are also gaining a wider audience as people who are fans of his other films may then want to come see District 9 because he is involved with it.
A first look at the alien is then shown in an over the shoulder shot in a dimly lit room. The man is asking 'Why are you here?' 'Why don't you just leave?' Subtitles are put up to inform the audience that the alien is saying they mean us no harm and just want to go back home. The camera then zooms in to a close-up on the alien to allow the audience to see facial detail and to convey that the alien plays an important part in the film. This tells us that the genre for this film is most likely going to be sci-fi/ action as it includes the generic conventions associated with those genres; aliens/fantasy characters, sharply cut together shots, dramatic fast-paced music and special effects.
The title of the film then comes up, followed by a short clip of the silhouette of a man walking towards the sunset and saying, 'I just want everyone watching this right now to learn from what has happened.' This leaves the audience in suspense and wanting to find out more about the film.
Alice In Wonderland -
The trailer opens with 'Walt Disney pictures' which tells the audience that this is going to be a family film and also appeal's to the fan base of other Disney films. After this we see a shot of Alice's shoes and then her running through the woods. The music starts off calm and then gradually gets quicker when Alice fall's down the hole. 'From Director Tim Burton' then comes into place which will appeal to the audience as he is a well-known name and also fan's of his other films may then want to come see this film. The trailer doesn't contain much narrative of the film, but it does give us a few ideas as to what the film is about by showing Alice falling into another world. We see an overhead shot as she is falling down the hole and then she drinks the potion which makes her shrink. Some teaser trailers shoot footage specifically for the trailer but this features footage from the actual film. The trailer builds up tension to Johnny Depp to draw in the audience as he is a very famous and popular actor. We hear a voice-over saying that the place could make you go "as mad as a hatter". It features all the well-known characters from the story such as the mad hatter and the white rabbit, this will help draw in the audience who have seen the cartoon version or read the story book. The trailer also includes the line "You're late for a very important date" which is from the book. The actress who plays Alice in the film seems a lot older than the age Alice is portrayed to be in the book, this may be to draw in an older audience or to sex up the film. It keeps the audiences attention because it is very visual and uses lots of CGI, but only shows short clips which makes the audience want to go and see the film to find out more. The trailer also builds tension by using the Cheshire cat and playing on the cat's eyes and creepy smile which is typical of Tim Burton.
V For Vendetta -
The trailer creates enigmas throughout which provides the audience with lots to talk about and gains interest in the film. It doesn't give away much direction of what the film is about except at the end, 'Remember remember the 5th of November'. We also see a guy wearing a Guy Fawkes mask which gives us the idea that it has something to do with Guy Fawkes but is left unsaid. The shot's are sharply cut which is typical of a teaser trailer to keep the audience's attention and gain suspense. This also tells the audience that this film may fall under the action genre. Some longer shot's are also used which provides more enigmas and ensures that the audience will want to find out more about the film. We also hear a woman say " Look what they've done to you, they've made you a monster", this appeals to people who know the comic and are interested in seeing how the character of V is portrayed.
'Created by the makers of The Matrix Trilogy' is used to draw in fans of that certain director to come and see their latest piece of work. The trailer does not tell us who plays the character of V, but they provide us with a famous actress' name; Natalie Portman who stars as Evey.
The Da Vinci Code -
The trailer doesn't show any footage from the actual film but uses footage shot specifically for the teaser trailer, this may be to keep up the suspense. If you did not know the story of the Da Vinci Code before watching the film then you would not know what kind of narrative the film uses, so in that respect the trailer is very clever as the voice-over says "Men have died to protect it" and " There are those would kill to expose it" which makes the audience want to find out what it is and creates suspense. Because it is a film adaptation of the book, fans who have read the book and enjoyed it will want to come and see the film so there is a definite audience. The teaser builds up suspense throughout and starts with long flowing tracking shots of what appears to be craters and rocks but then zooms out to show the painting of the Mona Lisa. This builds up suspense because the audience is not quite sure what they are seeing, while the dramatic music adds tensions and the voice-over makes dramatic statements. We can see that the genre of the film is going to be a mystery/thriller type as there is a secret running throughout the trailer and the voice-over saying, "will change the face of mankind forever". We are provided with the release date, the name of the director and some big names in the cast such as Tom Hanks. This is to draw on the fan's of that particular actor/director and convince them to come and see this film because of who made it and who star's in it as they think it will be good.
Fame -
The teaser trailer starts off rather slow with long shots of a young girl singing and playing the piano. We see a shot of the spot light which gives the audience the impression that they are performing on a stage. The theme song is then played, which is instantly recognisable from the TV series. As the shot's start to speed up, we are shown titles in between short shot's of various characters but no big names are shown. They don't give anything away about who the characters are and what they are like which encourages the audience to want to go and see the film to find out. From the teaser trailer we can immediately tell that this is going to be a dance film, as well as from the soundtrack music and the characters dancing and singing. Rather than most trailers which use big Hollywood star's in the trailer to draw in the audience, this trailer plays on the previous following of other successful dance films such as High School Musical and the previous Fame. Throughout the trailer it carries a theatrical theme with the title 'Fame' being written in lights and it saying in theatres, not cinemas everywhere September. The titles also have glittering gold lettering to add to that idea. From this we get the idea that the film is going to be of a musical/theatrical genre.
