| Man of Steel |
|---|
Theatrical release poster |
| Directed by | Zack Snyder |
|---|
| Produced by | Christopher Nolan
Charles Roven
Emma Thomas
Deborah Snyder |
|---|
| Screenplay by | David S. Goyer |
|---|
| Story by | Christopher Nolan
David S. Goyer |
|---|
| Based on | Superman
by Jerry Siegel
Joe Shuster |
|---|
| Starring |
- Henry Cavill
- Amy Adams
- Michael Shannon
- Diane Lane
- Kevin Costner
- Laurence Fishburne
- Antje Traue
- Ayelet Zurer
- Russell Crowe
|
|---|
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
|---|
| Cinematography | Amir Mokri |
|---|
| Editing by | David Brenner |
|---|
| Studio | Legendary Pictures
Syncopy
DC Entertainment |
|---|
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
|---|
| Release date(s) |
|
|---|
| Running time | 143 minutes |
|---|
| Country | United States |
|---|
| Language | English |
|---|
| Budget | $225 million |
|---|
I am going to discuss aspects such as sound, mise-en-scene, cinematography, editing, choice of titles, narrative, genre, casting and company credits in this trailer for the 2013 action film 'Man of Steel'. The reason I'm going to explore this trailer is so that I can have a better understanding of what elements an action film trailer consists of and what kind of structure modern film trailers follow.
The trailer begins and we hear tranquil, harmonious music that sets a sombre tone for the beginning of the trailer. It almost sounds like a chorus of angels and we see a still body floating on water which grabs the attention of the audience and is strengthened by the angel-like, almost heavenly music. Later in the trailer, as Superman clenches his fist and prepares to fly we hear an orchestra building to a crescendo, suggesting that something big is going to happen. As Superman propels himself into the air we hear a lower register voice with the tones of an opera singer which shrouds the imagery with a heroic tone, clearly highlighting that Superman is the hero of this film. Throughout the trailer, numerous shots of Superman in action are displayed but instead of hearing the explosions and punches they are silent and we only hear the operatic voice, ominously chanting in the background of them. This succeeds in making the trailer more dramatic and gives little information away to the audience, enticing them to see the film. The trailer ends on a low flat tone as the well-recognised Superman emblem fades onto the screen.
When we see Clarke Kent floating under water he appears naked from the top down and he looks very bedraggled suggesting that he is not very wealthy. We see a tracking shot of Superman walking in the snow with the wind billowing his red cape. We never see his face until later which creates a great deal of suspense. The red cape is iconic and immediately we recognise that this character is Superman. Not only does this cape represent Superman but we immediately understand that this is a Superhero movie. The cape also adds a great deal of drama and power to the character as we see it billowing behind him in the rush of wind as he flies. The Superman suit is a skin tight fit which defines the character's physique and shows off his abs and muscles which makes him a sex symbol and immediately draws a female audience to the film. Red and Blue are the colours used in Superman's suit, the significant thing about this is that red is associated with evil and danger, and blue is associated with good and suggests hope. If you explore the subtext of these colours then you can assume that although Superman is good and helps people he also has a dark side to him and is troubled. To complete Superman's attire we can see the widely recognised 'S' on his chest and back on Superman's home planet of Krypton the 'S' stands for hope. The 'S' on his chest is purely to show people who he is and what he stands for.
The camera uses a close up on Clarke Kent under the water which shows that he is oddly calm, telling us that there is more to this character than meets the eye. We then see a long shot of Clark Kent's body which goes on for a while building tension and creating suspense, drawing the audience in. Another close up we see of the object Clarke Kent holds with the iconic 'S' that we all immediately recognise stands for Superman, this finally reveals to us the character's true identity which reveals to the audience that this is a trailer for a Superman film. We also see a mid shot on Superman when he is finally revealed to display his world renowned red cape which is again stereotypically associated with superheroes and heroism.
The scenes keep cutting back and forth from this older man with a beard and a bus which eventually crashing into what seems to be a lake. This effect reveals to the audience that what is happening in the scene is that this older man is having a flashback and he experienced crashing into this lake with his peers from his school! The pace of some scenes slow down so that the audience can get time to see Superman before the storm e.g. when superman fist is on the floor and the ground starts to move around him before he shoots of into the air...showing his sheer power and strength.
Half way through the trailer "NEXT SUMMER" is shown, this lets the audience know when the film 'Man Of Steel' is coming out, plus it creates anticipation having the trailer out a significant amount of time before the film is actually going to be in the cinema. Also having the title in bold means that it will grab the audiences attention whilst informing them when the film is coming out. Next we see in bold "FROM ZACK SNYDER" and "FROM THE DIRECTORS OF WATCHMEN & 300". Firstly 'Zack Snyder' is world renowned for his spectacular productions such as Sucker Punch, 300, Watchmen etc... Secondly the audience will straight away be drawn into watching this movie 'Man Of Steel' because they know how good Synder's films are! Lastly by showing the previous films that these directors have done, it means the audience can trust this film to be amazing!
In this trailer of 'Man Of Steel' straight away we are shown a male muscular figure lying on top of the water, which instantly intrigues the audience because we can see the aftermath of a man who looks to be dead, and yet the viewers have not been shown the conflict. Then the viewers keep on seeing scenes changing from a young dark brown haired boy and a man with dark brown hair...the audience can relate these two people together giving off the impression that this is a flashback and this young boy is this man that we keep seeing. This young boy looks distressed so we can tell he has had a troubled child hood leading to what type of a man he has turned out to be now. Then we go on a journey with this young man for him to find where he comes from. Then we see scenes of this same man in fighting scenes showing his significance that he is needed to fight these battles and showing that he has to fight his way through life! But because the viewers are only shown short clips of these fight scenes it make them want to watch the rest of the film to see what is going to happen.
The genre of this film 'Man Of Steel' is action/sci-fi. Knowing this genre, the viewers can already predict that the film is going to have a significant amounts of conflicts/fights, explosions and going to be very action orientated.
In this trailer we meet Superman, he is a physically strong, chiselled jaw and handsome looking young man, this is the stereotypical casting of the main character for Superman. We are shown this younger kid, he looks really cute and this is to show how Superman was innocent as a kid. We are shown Superman's mum, she looks very kind and soft showing the audience that Superman comes from a good and caring family letting the audience gain a bit of information on his relatives.
A voice over of a child's voice is heard "the worlds too big mum" followed with a soft mothers voice saying "then make it small" giving the child advice. This adds a story to the film of a mother and child, getting the now intrigued audience to watch the trailer. A distressed womans voice is heard saying "My son was in the bus, he saw what Clark did!" creating suspense and mystery around Clark (Superman) and what he done that this boy had seen! We hear an older mans voice saying "You've got to decide what you want to be Clark" this gives the audience the impression that this is Superman's father creating a lot more importance to what has just been said. Also this informs the audience that Superman has a dad. At the end we hear Superman's voice asking a question to the audience "What do you think?" which gains the audiences attention and makes them want to watch the rest of the film.
Warner Brothers Pictures appears at the start of the trailer, this is to show that the movie is going to be good because Warner Brothers are world renowned for their spectacular movies and that the film is always enjoyable. More Company Credits are shown such as; 'Legendary, DC Comics and Syncopy' and all of these companies are famous for the great films they produce and the movies that they are involved in, showing promise for the film that the viewers are going to watch.
For our trailer Me and Dan have both chosen to play the two characters 'Joey' (right) & 'Danny' (left). The reason for this is because we struggled to find actors with good availability and we are always available to film so we just thought it would be the best choice. The character 'Joey' which i will be playing is known for being a bit of a 'lad' when he goes out with his mates...but recently he has settled down as he has got himself a girlfriend called Sophie (character for Sophie has not been decided yet). Danny is a single guy who just wants to have fun and haas had enough of Joey spending all his time with his new girlfriend and feels left out, pushing him to take Joey out and tries to make him like he used to be and not this boring 'whipped' boy. The three main character go on a journey and tests Joey's friendship and his relationship.
