Analysis of the film trailer Taken (2008)Taken Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tz9tQr1Zgo

The film trailer for Taken, begins firstly with clips of happy moments of when the girls are excited for their first holiday without parents. The horrifying moment of when Kim sees her best friend being taken, instantly reacts to her dad and he tells her how she is going to be taken. The trailer mainly focuses on Kim’s dad because, he is the protagonist and the one trying to fix what has happened.

Mise-en scene

Towards the start of the trailer the lighting is very high key as everything is splendid and fine with their lives. Represented in this scene, Kim is seen hugging her Dad implying that they have a close relationship. This is effective and it is foreshadowing to a later event that her dad does everything in his power to try and get her back to safety.

As the trailer progresses, the lighting becomes very low key. This is to show suspense and tension it also is to, emphasise the impact that something bad is going to happen. Low key lighting focuses on shadows and the image presents a lot of shadowing in the room. It creates a mysterious and dramatic feel as you don’t know what Liam Neeson is going to do next.

The costumes used in the trailer are rather dark. This is to create the impact that, the characters are quite mysterious and have a dark side to them. The colour black symbolises secrecy and the unknown as a result of this, it creates an air of mystery. Black covers and hides things from the world.

At the beginning the choosing of costumes used were very bright, this sets the scene that everything is grand and nothing is going wrong. The bright colours show happiness and joy.

Camerawork

Throughout the trailer, they use a range of close up shots. This emphasises the emotions on his face and you are able to see how he is really feeling. It focuses on a specific area it also exaggerates their facial features. The audience are able to see how much distress the character is in. They are also able to see his reaction to the circumstance what has just occurred this therefore builds up tension in the scene.

They also use an establishing shot in the trailer of Paris. This is foreshadowing of a later event of when they get taken in Paris. It sets the scene and shows what they are in for. It is to show the audience where the action is taking place. It implicates a very wide shot as well so you can see everything taking place.

Another main shot used would be an over the shoulder shot, this is used to show the audience an insight of what the character can see from their perspective. It adds realism to the shot as the audience adopt the same view as the character. It also allows the audience to know what the other character is instructing them. It allows you to see the other characters emotions and body language in the same way as the other character.

Another shot used, is tracking. This is significant because, it brings the suspense and action to the scene. By having the camera follow him whilst running it allows the character to stay in frame and be the main focus of the scene. It emphasises the impact of the scene to the audience because, it creates a sense of realism and sows how tense the moment is and how thrilling it must be.

A final shot what I noticed was a two shot. His is significant because, it shows how close the relationship is with the two people in comparison to how close they stand within the scene, therefore these two girls are very close. It also shows the importance of the two characters in the scene, the girl on the right is also standing taller showing she is the more important figure out of the two people.

Editing

An editing technique used in the trailer would be, split screen. This is important because, it shows two important parts of the film in one, instead of just being able to hear the dad on the hone you can see both characters emotions and expressions therefore it creates a bigger impact. It shows other characters emotions as well and what they are doing whilst on the phone.

Another editing technique used is, fade in and fade out, this is used from one scene to another, this creates a bigger impact because, it is getting the audience engaged into the trailer more, by cutting to different scenes of the film. From fading to a blank screen, it

creates tension as you don’t know what is going to occur next. By jumping to a new scene it brings excitement and makes people want to watch the film.

Another editing technique what I noticed was, action match. This is when he is beating someone up in the car then it cuts to him beating the same person up outside of the car. It shows more of an impact as, it shows how thrilling and

action packed the scene is. It also shows how fast paced the editing is as it is switching from one scene to another. The fast paced editing is significant to the trailer because of how action packed and hard hitting it is.

Sound

The type of dialogue used in the film trailer is quite monotone, this is because, the dad is very tense and frustrated therefore he’s not going to sound very cheery. The monotone voice creates the emphasis of the character coming across as dull but we come to see later on that this is not the case. The girl’s dialogue is very subtle and calm in the beginning, she is very cheery and she is very content with how life is going.

At the start of the scene there is a sound motif. They begin to use subtle music to set the scene to show that everything is happy and peaceful their life is. It then shows that as soon as she leaves the country the music stops showing that chaos is going to erupt. The use of

music links in with the characters, Kim the girl is shown as a sweet innocent girl and the music is very sweet and calm.