The trailer begins with the company that is producing the film.

The trailer begins with an establishing shot of a room where it is obvious to the viewer that there is a ‘party’. This could also be classed as a long shot of the character in the doorway – however at this point the viewers do not know who this character is and what importance they are to the film.

The following shot is a close up of the same character from the previous shot. This allows the audience to assume that he is of an importance to the film – a main character.

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Cloverfield teaser trailer analysis

The camera pans around the room to reveal people (possible recurring characters) having a good time and enjoying themselves. This scene leads the viewer to believe it’s all ‘fine and dandy’ and does not lead them to suspect anything is going to go wrong. The mise on scene in this scene is light and warm which has the connotations of happiness and celebration.This is a close up shot, being filmed by a hand held camera. This ties in with the film later on as the idea is that someone is filming all that is happening themselves.

This is a medium shot of another possible character.

In this long shot during the trailer, the lights flicker on and off as people begin to scream as they are frightened and not sure of what has happened. This scene brings an anti-climax to the ‘party feeling’ shown at the beginning. The mise en scene in this shot, being dark and gloomy, has connotations of evil and allows the audience to presume that something terrible is going to happen.

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The next two scenes are in the dark and reveal characters being frightened. The mise en scene in these scenes are dark, gloomy and miserable. The mise en scene creates an ‘on edge’ feeling. The shots are a long shot first of all, and is followed by medium shots, which pan, from character to character to reveal their expressions. The effect of this is that is allows the audience to see the terror in their expressions.

The mise en scene consists of terrestrial noises.

This scene is created by using an over the shoulder shot. It allows the audience to see what it is the characters are looking at and also gives an idea as to what it is that has happened – ‘an earthquake.’ The effect of the shot is that it leads the audience to believe all that’s happened is an earthquake and leaves the unexpected completely unknown. It also allows the audience to feel involved.

The following shot is a long shot and allows the audience to establish where about it is roughly, for example the tall, lit up buildings are iconic features of American generally, places such as New York.

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This is an establishing shot of the city. The mise en scene in the shot show an explosion happening in the distance.

The camera then zooms in on the explosion to reveal a clearer picture to the audience.

The camera then dollys the explosions dispersed balls of flame. The effect of this is that the audience are the unaware of what is next to happen.

In this scene the camera is dollying the characters. The camera also seems to be hand held (Steadicam).

(Including all shots clip lasts 0:11 seconds in total.)

These shots reinforce the effect of the steadicam. It also has the effect of making the audience feel involved in the action as if they’re there as it’s not a steady picture – it’s almost as you’re looking through someone else’s eyes, from their point of view.

It also creates a sense of rush and panic

These two shots are dollying the main character and also reveal the havoc in the streets to the audience. The mise en scene in the shot, especially the sound, create a sense of panic and fright. The lighting in the scene is dim, At this point in the trailer we are still unaware of what it is that is destroying the city – whether it’s an object such as a plane crashing or something more along the terrestrial side.

The next four shots are from a 15 second clip taken from the teaser trailer.

In the first clip, which is a long shot, the mise en scene is the is a strange stereotypical terrestrial noise mixed with the screams of pedestrians.

The camera then pans and zooms to the flying object in the sky before it hits a building. The object at this moment in time is not able to be identified by the viewers.

The camera then tracks the object that comes hurtling to the ground and along the street. The object is now a little more clearer to see however still not completely clear to make out what it is.

In the last shot of the clip we can make out that the object is the head of the statue of liberty. This allows the viewers to make a final decision on where it is they are – as the statue of liberty is an iconic

statue in New York.

The mise en scene in the clip consists of sudden loud noises, mixed with the screams of pedestrians. The lighting is dim, which has connotations of evil however also has the connotations of hope (as hope is often symbolised by light).

(Including all shots clip lasts around 0:15 seconds in total.

The trailer ends with only revealing the release date of the film – no title – no actors – everything is entirely left to the imagination of the each individual in the audience.

The trailer reveals the producer of the film – but not the title, any actors/actresses names or the title of the film.

This is a close up of who the audience assume is the main character due to the reoccurring shots of him throughout the trailer. In this clip he is saying ‘It’s going to be the best night ever.’ This clip appears to have been filmed on the steadicam before anything began to go wrong. The effect of showing this at the end of the trailer is that it contradicts the narrative as the audience have seen in the previous clips that something is currently attacking the city of New York.

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