The Dark Knight Trailer Analysis

Set within a year after the events of Batman Begins, Batman, Lieutenant James Gordon, and new district attorney Harvey Dent successfully begin to round up the criminals that plague Gotham City until a mysterious and sadistic criminal mastermind known only as the Joker appears in Gotham, creating a new wave of chaos. Batman's struggle against the Joker becomes deeply personal, forcing him to "confront everything he believes" and improve his technology to stop him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y2szViJlaY&feature=related

• The trailer begins with the producers logos Warner Bros, DC Comics and Legendary Pictures. This is very influential becasue these production companies have chosen to support good films in the past so we therefore trust there judgement.
• The only typeography used in this fil is for the title and release date the rest is done through images and dialouge.
• There are many visual enigma codes created duing this trailer wheres he going? whats being blown up? who has done it? why has this happened? why when givent he chance did batman not kill the joker? and who is the joker? all of these create a greater interest in the film as the more questions you are left with the more you want ot get them answered and to do this you will go and see the film.
• This trailer unlike others gets imidiately into the action and unusualy used fades between shots rather than cuts, this is becasue the whole trailer consists of action shots so they have to slow the trailer to make it eaiser to take in using fades to switch shots.
• The trailer begins with thunder as the distributor logos appear, the sound of thunder automatically triggers bad feeling within peoples minds imideately setting the atmosphere for the trailer. Dramatic drums are used throughout the trailer this technique is often used for thrillers to build the tension and lead to a climax like this one does where the horns and other string instruments join being played witht he main action shots. Diagetic sounds are also used in the trailer like explosions.
• There is no seperate narrative voice over only dialouge from the film, it begins with the joker talking this isn't used in the scene it is in in the film but to narrate over other scenes. In other shots the dialouge is used from with in the scene from the film itself. The dialouge in this trailer creates more enigma codes leaving the audience questioning whats changed? why? who? what choice? endure what? what plan? The ends with a creepy laugh from the joker which really enforces at the end what genre the film is.
• The penultimate frame is of the film title and the batman symbol, this is the penultimate frame so it is fresh in the aiudiences minds when the trailer ends.
• The final frame is the release date and other information like the distributors and the films web address.
• There isnt alot of narrative used in the trailer, a little is done through the dialouge, however becasue of how well known batman and the joker are becasue of the comics and previous films not much narration is needed.