Then the question comes in, a birds eye view of a building is shown on a rainy and stormy night which is added to show the viewers that there is something dark and sinister going on, which will draw people in and interested about this ‘mysterious thing’.
A quote is added as a voice over,
‘Have you ever had a dream neo, that you were so sure was real?,’ this tells you that Neo is the name of this person and he is the main character of the film as the scenes are all focusing on him.
The next part may be the most confusing because it shows you what seems to be a dream, pictures of Neo falling from the sky, mouths merging together and what seem sot be an alien abduction, yet again these scenes are spilt up by a flash technique followed by a loud bang sound effect for the dramatic feeling, it then cuts directly back to the scene were the voice over is continued,
‘What if you were unable to wake up from that dream? How would you notice the difference about the dream world and the real world?,’ this is said while a scene is shown of Neo’s body being taken over by a liquid metal slowly covering his arm and travelling up to his face, at this point a sudden blackout is made after seeing Neo screaming. A second voice over is introduced straight after this event this time it is said by Neo, ‘what is happening to me?’ and cuts straight to another scene were he is seen talking to a the stranger you saw at the beginning of this trailer.
Questions are being answered by another question.
Stranger: ‘the answer is up there Neo, it’s the question that drives us’
This moment is suddenly interrupted by another sudden blackout but this time a telephone/static sound effect is heard followed by a green code, known as the matrix code, scrolling down the screen matching with the theme, it then quickly flashes you a picture of a guy sitting there in front of many computer screens with the same green code on them, this moment only lasts for one or two seconds before it whisks away back to another scene were Neo is seen asking another question,
‘What is the matrix?’ this question applies to the audience too as this is what makes them watch the film to find out what he answer is.
By now the viewer are drawn in by all those questions asked and make them want to see more as they suspect something weird is going on, music is not yet used in order to create that mystical vibe of the film that draws in the sci-fi fans. Language is very well used and carefully selected to give an impact on the audience this means if one information given that doesn’t fit or gives away too much detail will ruin the experience when going to the cinema to see this film. The lightning scenes, dark rooms, dark clothing and dark glasses worn at night time all have something in common; they are all associated with the mysterious atmosphere. Camera angles are also well used to show you certain events and don’t want to give away the entire film meaning the director cleverly flicks through he scenes at a fast pace so that the only way to see them proper is to watch the film but also makes them easy to remember the shots you just saw, although music is not used, sound effects are put in for example, loud bangs when screen blacks out for dramatic effect.
The next group of scenes uses more and different techniques , it starts off with another voice over by the same person but this time answering the question asked earlier while a sentence is shown on screen in the matrix theme telling you to ‘forget everything you know’ this text is also being read to you by the mysterious looking guy.
‘forget everything you known, pulled over your eyes to blind you from the truth’ this time shots of the city is shown, as soon as he says the word ‘truth’ the scene suddenly changes to an alien like pod, again, the matrix code is shown straight after and the characters seems to be falling from the sky again, this is repetition to remind you a certain event.
These scenes would really confuse the viewers and confusion is sometimes the best way to make the audience watch the film and find out what is going on. Another flash technique is used to change to Neo asking another question,
‘What truth?’ and changes again to what seems like police searching another voice over is added, ‘there watching you Neo,’ this suggests a conspiracy going on drawing in the sci-fi fans. Another text appears on screen adding to the earlier text,
‘Forget everything you’ve seen’ then a scene pops up showing three police men explaining that human beings are a disease and they are the only ones who knows the cure, this is carefully selected by the director which is very effective, suggesting a possibility to the plot.
As you can tell, the director makes the trailer really effective by not only including loads of techniques, camera shots and good use of sound effects but he makes them confusing, you’ll also notice that this film is different form others in the genre from the scenes shown.
The next part is were things gets really interesting as even more techniques are used very carefully and cleverly for the action packed section of the trailer, this particular section will be the main focus of the trailer as it is exciting and intense.
Neo is seen wearing a black leather jacket surrounded by weaponry, this suggests a stereotypical view of the character and a cool vibe about him, he is told that he is there to save the world; intense scenes are flicked through, fire, explosions and gun fights. This is were the music is finally put in place for the intense dramatic effect, a techno type track is used then it bursts to a sudden silence when Neo loads a gun and is told that no one has ever done something like this before, through out the rest of the trailer a wind sound effect is added on top of the scenes to build up the tension as the volume gets louder. As soon as the last word is said explaining that you’re going to be in for a ride, which applies to the audience too, the tense action explodes onto the scene, the music changes to atonal while the sound is being muted so the music is heard, the atonal music is placed for the extreme gun fight that will defiantly draw in the action genre fans. The pace is really picked up here as many images or fights and crashes are shown all the way to the end of the trailer. This is where the famous bullet time is introduced, which no one seen something like this before making them gagging to see more. The actors and actresses names are presented to show you the big hit movie stars taking part in this film, the trailer then ends with a voice over,
‘Unfortunately no one can be told what the matrix is,’ meaning you have to find out yourself, everything suddenly cuts off screen leaving you the last image, Matrix website.
The purpose of this trailer is to advertise a certain film, making it as effective as possible using many techniques and skills trying to draw in as many people as it can. Andy and Larry Wachowski, known as the Wachowski brothers and the directors of the film, made the trailer really well and effective, since this was made as a budget film, the film totally relies on the trailer to bring in the customers. In order to reach the criteria’s loads of effective techniques and suspense is used.
The Voice-overs are probably the most important part of the trailer as it gives you a insight of the film and its plot, the voice-overs are made by using questions asked by the characters in the film for example,
‘What is the matrix?’ and ‘you’re here to save the world,’ this gives you an idea about what the film is going to be about.
‘Unfortunately, no one can be told what the Matrix is, you’ll have to find out for yourself,’ this particular quote is clever as it is also applies it to the audience too; also it suggests that you should watch the film.
Neo is seen loading a gun and saying that it is going to work while wearing a black jacket and glasses, other people are seen wearing the same type of outfit, this gives you a clue that there will be many stereotypical characters in this film.
Sound is another thing that is cleverly used and well done. At the beginning of the trailer there is no music, you can only hear natural background noise, slowly the music comes in when the scenes gets more interesting. Also the volume of the music gradually increases and a loud band is heard to indicate a dramatic way of saying ‘stop!’ and the music ceases, this technique is very effective.
There have been loads of scenes thrown at you, one after another, constantly changing shots, returning to a certain scene to continue where it last left you at, scanning through the scenes in a accelerated pace and a huge use of the flashback technique, followed by sounds carefully and cleverly used.
The trailer is divided into four parts, the beginning, with the mysterious theme followed by the tension slowly building up to the final part, the action packed section drawing in fans of the action genre and the effective sudden ending showing the website for this film.
The four parts are divided by 3 interruptions, each showing you a certain text, in the theme of the film, asking the audience a question, the next interruption is after a speech from the person who appears from no were, this is interrupted by suddenly terminating the scene and the sudden burst of dramatic music. The parts have a certain type of lighting with it; all of the first part shows dark scenes for that mysterious deceptive view of this film and brighter scene for the energetic look in action scenes.
The bullet time attracts the most people as it is a new form of slow motion, the director purposely put scenes of people defying gravity and doing extraordinary things to give the vibe that this is a truly extraordinary film. Compared to other trailers, this is cleverly and well made, the impression it creates is that this film is exciting, action packed, intense and a plot so confusing that that alone will make you want to go watch this film.
