Detailed trailer treatment

The first scene of the trailer shows a mysterious character running down a dirt track in a forest. The shot used at first will be a long shot establishing the setting to the audience. Here we use the diegetic sound of panting and the characters footsteps, along with a close up shot of the characters feet running past the camera, to emphasise the characters panic. By using quick cuts here it not only moves the trailer on faster but again emphasizes the characters distress. Finally the scene ends with another character jumping out and attacking the first, this creates an enigma with the audience and will capture their attention for the rest of the trailer.
We then show the production titles in order to keep the audience hanging on for answers for just a little but longer. This also works as a good advert for the production companies as the audience should be at full alert after the shock ending to the first scene, meaning that the companies are likely to stay in their mind. An eerily calm non-diegetic soundtrack starts to play and is used as a sound bridge for the next set of scenes. The nature of the track means it is easy to synch the slower scenes, with a bigger emphasis on storytelling, to the music.
The next scene is shot in point of view from the main character ‘A’ in a car. The non-diegetic narration from A of “I was a normal guy once. Just a cop from Portland. Nothing special.” Connotes that this is possibly A on patrol in a police car and that this scene is happening in the past. This gives the audience a taste of the plot but still keeps them guessing at what happened to him. We use fading in and out here to slow the trailer down but also give the effect of a passing of time or trying to recall some sort of distant memory. By fading out from this to show A and his family and then fading back into the car scene it connotes that that was his everyday life, work, seeing his family only to have to leave them for work again etc. This makes the audience understand A as a character and allows them to connect with him. By using a mid shot of A and his wife we are able to clearly see the emotion on their faces but also with their body language and also clarifies to the audience that A is a “good guy” and our main character. The scene looks like it could fit into his everyday life but also connotes that it could be the last time he sees his wife as he walks off to face his destiny. We fade out of this to keep the pacing slow and back into the car scene. The final bit of narration “But one day that all changed” keeps the mystery going but also signals to the audience that something is about to happen.
The next scene uses an establishing shot along with panning to show off a mysterious looking building. This along with narration from a yet unseen character presents the audience with new questions as the narration hints to something bad happening “Keep him alive!” yet the audience can only see a building. The mise en scene gives connotations of secrecy and suspicion as if the building has something to hide; with a tall iron fence, the building being set far back from the fence and the lack of cars and people.
The next shot quickly fades in from the previous scene to show a close up of someone’s lower arm. The arm in shown to be robotic/ made of metal making the audience question who or what this is and if the previous dialogue related to the arm. The scene is incredibly short and shows the character cover up the arm with his sleeve, this shows that he is trying to hide it which connotes not only fear of how people might react to it but also superhero’s who hide their identity.
We introduce the character of Don DeVici. The mise en scene connotes that he is a rich, smartly dressed man in a position of power. The shot is an over the shoulder shot so A can be seen in the foreground wearing his blue hoodie and the nanotech/robotic arm can be seen on the table showing that it is in fact A who is the owner. The use of shot reverse shot here enforces the idea that they are having a conversation but also means that the nanotech arm, the object of desire, is in the scene all the time. The same non-diegetic music from the start plays but is lowered as diegetic dialogue is brought in. Don DeVici makes a deal with A , demanding his arm for his freedom, making it obvious to the audience he is powerful but definitely isn’t a ‘good guy.’ The audience will also question why he wants his arm and connotes that it has some sort of power or ability. The audience is also led to Question A and his motives as he seems to be willing to do whatever it takes to get his freedom. The final shot of the scene is an extreme close up on the mouth of Don DeVici, this emphasises the fact that he wants A dead and had no intention of helping him. As his speech trails off the shot fades and the non-diegetic sound shifts from the eerie calm sound played up till now to a fact paced heavy rock beat, a common feature of Action trailers with examples of Gamer and Transporter 3.
The change in music brings a change in pace of the trailer and plays throughout concluding in a dramatic build up at the end. The trailer now uses a lot more quick cuts and has an emphasis on action scenes then story telling. The first of these ‘Action’ shots is from a high angle showing A escaping down some stairs and fighting with a man in full military gear ( Lt. Kenneth). This shows the man has power and authority and also that A seems to be rebelling against all types of authority. Looking at Propp’s theory we can class Lt Kenneth as both the donor and the villain. He is the one that fits the arm onto A but is also the one who wants to claim A as a super solider to fight for him thus leading to conflict between the two characters. We then see A running , from the use of a long shot ,only to be apprehended by two men in basic military uniform. A has to fight his way past and dispatches them easily which for a simple cop against some soldiers goes against who the audience may think will win, furthering the idea that A’s arm has made him stronger. The use of the long shot means that all of the action can be seen clearly. He then continues running without hesitating showing his desperation to get to where ever it is he may be going.
Furthering the idea of A’s desperation to escape we take a break from the action to see A talking to a new character who tells him to trust him. A replies “I guess I’ve got no choice” This tells the audience he has ran out of options, has been betrayed by almost everyone and is still desperately trying to get home. It also makes the audience question the new character (Hector) and what his motives might be for helping A.
We give a short glimpse of the big fight scene to show the audience what to expect. This is filmed as a long shot to show clearly which two characters are fighting before cutting to a higher shot. This establishes were the fight is taking place and also shows the imbalance of the characters, with neither one being presented to be better than the other through the use of camera angles.
The non-diegetic sound begins building to a climax as we get the final scene of A firing a beam from his palm. This uses special computerised effects, and will finally clarify to the audience why everyone wants A’s arm. We then show the film title and release date as the music reaches its climax and begins to slowly fade out and reverberate.