Teaser Trailer Analysis - I Am Legend

Product Research: Analysis of Teaser Trailer for I Am Legend

The teaser trailer begins a rotating zoom into an unnamed character curled up in a bath with an alsation. This is a very striking image that immediately wins the audiences attention. The character is recognisable as played by high profile boxoffice star Will Smith. The soundtrack features a mournful, string orchestral piece, immediate overlaid with the voice of, presumably the character we are watching saying “nothing happened the way it was supposed to happen” The feeling of foreboding is very quickly apparent.

Here the soundtrack increases in intensity as loud drums join the wailing strings.

The next shot is a title shot, completely black except for the words “in five years”, capitalised in a serif font. This indicate to the audience that although potentially science fiction, the film is set in the near-future.

We see the Smith character getting out of his car in a hurry. He appears to be a military officer. The pace of the trailer has picked up immensely, there is a sense of urgency.

The soundtrack, both mournful and urgent, continues over a montage of what appears to be the Smith character and his family (wife and daughter) fleeing something.

Towards the end of the montage it becomes apparent that Smith’s character and his family are not the only ones fleeing.

Another black title screen, same font and capitalisation as before, this time the words are “mankind’s struggle for survival” This raises immediate questions for the audience, especially in the context of the shots of people fleeing and their prior knowledge of disaster / invasion subgenres of films. Loud choir-type vocals are added to the soundtrack, given it an epic feeling.

As the choral vocals soar, the camera pans over a mass of people, moving urgently, clearly trying to escape. There are flashing police lights. The sense of excitement and tension is expertly created.

The drums have increased into tempo and the pace is not very urgent.

Another sweeping pan shows five or six boats leaving jetties. The film’s scale seems very impressive.

In marked contrast this is followed by a very tender close-up of the Smith character kissing his wife. The audience assumes this is a parting kiss.

The strings on the soundtrack are no longer mournful, they are urgent and exciting, matching the drums.

A third black title shot appears, similar to the previous two, but with the words “will be lost”. Therefore, “in five years time, mankind’s struggle for survival will be lost.”

A very fast sequence of shots now shows a formation of military jets firing a missiles and destroying what we now recognise as the Brooklyn Bridge in New York, locating the film for the audience. The explosion and destruction of the bridge are the first diegetic sounds we hear. Adding to the urgency felt by the audience.

The Smith character looks on in despair, the fear and sorrow in his eyes suggests to the audience that his wife and child have been killed. The epic scale of the film is reduced to a very human and tragic story.

The screen fades to black and remains so for a full five seconds, which seems a very long and dramatic period of time. As this happens the soundtrack stops completely: silence.

The pace of the editing slows dramatically. A three shot montage of a deserted and broken New York City is shown. The soundtrack remains silent

The first movement we see for 10 seconds are deer galloping through an abandoned street.

A voice over begins, it is Smith: “My name is Robert Neville. I’m a survivor living in New York City. I’m broadcasting on all AM frequencies. If you’re out there; if anyone is out there...please…” There follows a much slower montage of the Smith character alone in New York. Each shot slowly fades into the next and the shots linger, often tracking their subject. The sense of loneliness is very apparent.

As this montage continues, rising up almost to overpower the voiceover, music begins. It is a single note, played on string instruments. It gets louder and louder through the next sequence, building to a crescendo to create tension. Alongside this at first, though soon overwhelmed, we hear the second piece of diegetic sound in the trailer: the whining of a car engine.

The longest shot of the trailer is a tracking tilt shot beginning behind Smith’s car and tracking up while tilting down, following the car as it races through the canyons of New York’s deserted streets while reverse-zoom pulls the camera position further and further back, revealing just how empty New York is.

A heavy drum beat and then silence again, and another black-backgound title shot, this time with the words “the last man on earth”.

We see Smith entering a very dark room with a torch. He seems anxious bordering on terrified.

We hear more diegetic sound: Smiths urgent, frightened breathing and footsteps. There is an overwhelming sense of fear generated by this.

Again, a black title shot: “is not alone”. Therefore: “The last man on earth is not alone” This is connected by the audience both to the previous voiceover and to the situation Smith is currently in. A low, fearsome nondiegetic boom is heard.

There is a final, short, frantic cut back to Smith’s face, illuminated only by a torch in otherwise pitch black we hear his frightened breathing and then cut straight back to black.

As the title rushes in from ‘behind’ the camera in the same font as before a terrifying, loud, screeching swish is heard. A trope of the horror genre. The title fades away to blackness.

The title shots.

Overview • • • • •

1 minute 90 Seconds 45 separate shots + 6 title shots. Longest shot – 10 seconds 3 pieces of diegetic sound 2 voiceover sections (one very short), by both a character and taken from the film. • Three different pieces of music used.