How The Dark Knight Trailer successfully

fulfils the purpose of a trailer

8

The way in which The Dark Knight trailer captures the audience’s attention is mostly through the use of action and the way in which it is presented. At the beginning of the trailer, there is not a lot of

action. Initially, we are shown a figure on top of a building, jumping off it. It is unclear as to who this character is, but most people would assume it is Batman. By showing the audience this mysterious shot, it captures our attention and pulls us into the trailer as we are now starting to question who

this character is. This is emphasised with the use of sound effects. A loud boom is used at the same time as the scene starts and so engages the audience by creating a sudden shock making them

aware that the trailer has started. This then leads on to the introduction of the story.

This period of the trailer does not contain a lot of action as it seeks to provide the audience with a foundation of what will happen throughout the film. The Joker states, ‘We kill the Batman’, and from

this quote alone, the audience is able to establish that the overall plot will be the Joker and his associates seeking to kill Batman. This short period of 15 seconds ends with an explosion to keep the

audience on their feet and prevent their interests from drifting away from the trailer.

The use of Action

We are then given an introduction to the main characters of the film. Initially we are shown the

protagonists of the story, Bruce Wayne, Harvey Dent and Alfred. This is a major point of interest to the

audience as the characters are the main features of the film that they will interact with. At this point, the trailer reveals which ‘A’ list actors will be playing what roles. By

displaying actors like Christian Bale, Michael Cain and Aaron Eckhart, the audience will get excited about how well these actors will be able to play the character roles they have been given and so would be more inclined to

go and watch the film because of this interest.

After this, we are given the introduction of the antagonist, The Joker played by Heath Ledger. With

this character being presented into the trailer, significantly more action is also displayed. This can

represent the disruption that this character will cause to the story and can be established as the main source

of why this story is unravelling in the first place. This increase in the amount of action being exhibited also increases the excitement felt in the audience and acts as a kick starter to the action to follow in the rest of

the trailer.

The use of Main Characters

The use of SFX and MusicFrom this point on, there is a significant change in various aspects of the trailer. As the action increases, the

pace of the trailer starts to become faster. The audience start to realise that the solution to the problem presented in the introduction will be revealed as a consequence of lots of action. Now that the synopsis of the film has been exhibited and the characters presented, the trailer can now show off some more of the

unique selling points for the audience to look forward to. Features such as special effects, lots of action and the use of interesting stunts will be exhibited here and will be used to give the audience more of an incentive

to go and watch the film.

The music also contributes to the pace of the film as it provides more effect to the feel of the trailer. As the amount of action increases, the music becomes quicker but also uses instruments such as drums and

trumpets rather than just violins that were used at the start. This creates an epic and heroic feel to the trailer and gives the audience goose bumps as it reaches a peak. This is a psychological reaction to the increased

levels of dopamine that the music has triggered in the audience. By providing this reaction to the audience, it can be established that the trailer has made them feel good and so after they have seen the trailer, the audience feel excited about the film and in turn will go off to watch it later because of this good feeling.

The use of the Final Frame

The last frame of the Dark Knight trailer is significant in providing the audience with the most important information about the film as it contains the release date, July 18th. This has been left until last to be displayed as the producers want to make sure that the audience remember the date so that they can schedule to go and watch it later. By positioning the date in the middle of the screen, it makes it more

prominent to the audience and so it is easier for them to read, and therefore more likely to remember. The other information being displayed on the screen is the official ‘dark night’ website and the producers and

distributors. These have been placed underneath the release date as this information is not as important to get across as the release date. This encourages the audience to watch the film as they have been given the necessary information to watch it. They do not have to search around and make a massive effort to do this.

The Conclusion

It can be concluded that the Dark Knight trailer was majorly successful at persuading audiences to go and watch the film that it is promoting. It received a box office value of 1

billion USD, proving to be majorly successful in its exhibition. However, there are other factors separate to the trailer that can contribute to the success of the film such as posters, magazines and interviews. Because of this, it cannot be totally established that the trailer

itself was the reason for this film’s success.