The Day After Tomorrow Analysis

The Day After Tomorrow (Doomsday film, similar in that sense to my own)

The trailer opens with the sound of a dog barking. Dogs barking generally means that there is something wrong, or there is something unusual that the animal doesn’t like. So, the audience interpret this a sign that something isn’t quite right.
There is a dramatic ‘boom’ sound often heard in scary or frightening trailers. The trailer then dissolves to a man looking upwards. The dog barking continues, and we then have an eyeline match to what the man is looking at: Hundreds of birds flying in unison away from the city. Such as sight is sinister and the audience knows this, yet, they do not know why and will perhaps wish to know more. The purpose of the trailer is to get the audience wanting more, so that they will see the film. The sky is also dark, storm-like and grey. We can also make out tall, city-like buildings which establishes the location of a city and perhaps to those who recognise it - New York.
The ‘boom’ is heard again providing a dramatic transition between each short sequence. The trailer now dissolves to a close-up of a man and a woman who look puzzled and dissolves back to the birds, which includes a pan of New York establishing the setting for those who weren’t sure on the location before. Eerie, sinister music begins to play to reinforce the idea that something isn’t right. The looks on the characters faces also suggests this.
The last clip of birds then turns ‘negative’ much like a sudden bolt of lightning with a fade to black. Now the scene changes to some bears in a cage and to some coyotes who howl and bark just the like the dog in the first scene, which now turns the non-diegetic sound diegetic. Again, another bolt of lightning appears to streak across the screen accompanied by the creepy angelic music. It’s known that animals always react strangely before a disaster happens, so the audience may realise that something terrible is about to occur because of the animals acting strange. Plus, the music gives this away too.
Now, bolts of lightning are seen on the screen followed by the well-known 20th Century Fox animation. Another fade to black and to a scene of an office. We cannot see anyone but we can hear them, and because the character is not visible, this makes us listen more intently to what they are saying. This is because the dialogue is important to the narrative, and provides the audience with a clue to as what the film is about. The scene ends with ‘I think it’s happening’ and the audience are left to wonder: what is happening? The creators of the trailer are giving little away to make you want to know more.
Then we see the same man from before on a plane. The lightning flashes inside the aircraft and makes it appear creepier, and the plane begins to shake. The trailer cuts to the signs of ‘please wear your seatbelts’ which is not a good thing to see on a plane, because it can be a sign of something going wrong or turbulence. Either way, it’s not a good omen and the creators are trying to get the audience to see something is wrong.
Now the editing becomes quicker, with only a few seconds of footage between each edit. However, dialogue from a man can be heard over all of these clips to provide a sense of narrative and to help the audience understand what is happening. The music becomes louder and eventually ends dramatically as seen in many trailers with a loud ‘ Mr President, if you don’t act now it’ll be too late.”
This is then followed by a man saying ‘save as many as you can’ and the audiences desire increases to find out what is going to cause this destruction and how possibly anyone can survive.
What is obvious in this trailer is that there is a lack of dialogue which has been replaced by non-diegetic music. This is so the trailer becomes more exciting and doesn’t bore the audience. Similar to The Tourist, only the important narrative information is kept in.
In all, this trailer is quite effective. It’s exciting and the audience are left constantly wondering ‘what’s going on?’, ‘will they survive?’ and this will make them want to see the film. There is a the right balance of narrative information and film information like the date of release and website, so the audience can find out more.