Knowing Trailer Analysis

 

After watching multiple trailers, we came across the trailer for the 2009 Mystery/Drama The  Knowing which represented a similar storyline to our original idea. The first thing that you notice is the family house, and the intimacy of family life the dad shares with his son, told through mid shots and shot reverse shot between Nicolas Cage and his presented son. The piano music in the background of the scene - non-diegetic sound - is eerie and slow, causing anticipation that something bad is about to occur. Another thing that stands out is the distinct colour palette seen in other films such as Fight Club, with dark hues and green/blue shadows dominating.

Later, the narrative is introduced through the use of a montage, where clips are shown using fade transitions so that fade in and out of one another. The colour scheme here is also slightly lighter, with the use of yellow balloons to lure the audience into a false sense of security. At 0:43, the music completely stops leaving a second of silence as the main prop in the film (a list of numbers) is held up by Cage's screen son in a close-up shot, revealing it to the audience for the first time. The silence easily connotes that there is something ominous and strange about the piece of paper, giving away part of the narrative as is required in trailers to lure in the audience and target market.

At 0:47, the music suddenly changes, sounding a lot more sci-fi than the slow music before. The first title screen 'There is a pattern to predicting the future' is effortlessly a visual aid to the storyline, and creates a sense of mystery. Once again, the colour palette darkens and the shot durations start at a slow pace. At the end of the trailer, the sound of an alarm is used in the climax, where shots are used to fit in time with the music. The use of the alarm, and something that usually causes panic in the real world, can automatically rile an audience member, denoting the genre of the film. These distressing beeps build up, and the shot duration significantly decreases to show that things are spiralling out of control, matched but shots of natural and human disasters. The use of establishing shots in the trailer is highly effective, and easily establish the setting. Furthermore, the theme of family - which is easily relatable to just about anyone - is hinted throughout the rest of the trailer with multiple shot-reverse-shots of Cage and his son to show the closeness of their relationship.

This trailer conforms to the typical conventions of theatrical trailers, due to the green screen at the beginning, and a music change at 0:47. Moreover, logos of the production companies are shown early on in the trailer (0:13-15), which is something we would look to replicate in our own original work.