Trailer Analysis

Avatar is a film from the adventure genre featuring Sam Worthington. Adventure films come along with

subgenres which include Survival film, Western film, pirate film, Disaster film, and Historical drama. This

genre of films are popular to combine with other movie genres such as, science fiction, fantasy, horror and

sometimes war films or explorer films. These films are known as cross-genres. In the case of Avatar is

combined with science fiction and fantasy due to the fact that it is set on the moon Pandora and the main

protagonist changes into a unique creature.

NARRATIVE

The main protagonist Jake Sully is a paraplegic marine whose brother was killed in a robbery. He decides to take on his brother’s unique mission on the moon Pandora and becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home. To explore Pandora, scientists working on the mission use Na’vi-human hybrids called ‘Avatars’ which are genetically matched by the human. Head of the mission Dr, Grave Augustine considers Sully as a replacement but accepts his assignment as a bodyguard. While protecting the avatars Jakes avatar is attacked and he flees into the forest where he is rescued by a female Na’vi.

UNIQUE SELLING POINT

A unique selling point to Avatar is that the avatars are na'vi hybrids, which mean that they link to the human mind. This is unique because it hasn’t been done before, the film is mixing and showing how a human mind can be manipulated into different body.

Another is that, Avatar was a world mythology, and notice too that it was a type of goddess mythology derived from nature and mankind's link to the natural world rather than a set of myths separating mankind from the natural world. Avatar's mythology was something founded in the roots of our own understanding of myth and of the world, and as such it connected with people everywhere and with the most fundamental aspects of our other myths that still in some way touch us, while reminding us of the precious elements we've lost from our modern mythologies. It also teaches the audience as well as entertains.

TARGET AUDIENCE

The primary target audience for film Avatar is people who like adventure/sci-fi films and people who have anticipated the release of the film. The secondary audience is probably people who have seen the film being advertised in some way and got interested and younger people.

The trailer opens up with a big close up of a man opening his eyes under a blue light. From this shot us as an audience seen to think that this character is our main protagonist, Jake Sully who could be the films hero. The shot then fades to a black screen. The shot then fades into a wide shot of a space craft in outer space with a feature of a non-diegetic sound of a digital like engine starting and heating up.

As the camera zooms into the space craft another fade to a black screen immediately occurs to then cut to a different shot. A view of the space craft in a worm’s eye shot is shown following it through dark clouds. This could represent how powerful this aircraft is to take them into space yet how dangerous and dark the mission could be, which we get the impression off the dark clouds. The shot then fades to black again; however, this black shot lasts longer than the others. This could give the audience an idea that we are now being taken to a darker out of space destination which may build up tension in the films atmosphere as well as the audience’s point of view.

The camera cuts to the landed air craft on Pandora. The protagonist exits the air craft in a wheelchair and an oxygen mask strapped to his face. This shows that they have arrived at their destination and that they’re on another world as humans cannot breathe in Pandora's atmosphere.

The camera pans around the protagonist to show helicopters hovering in the background, trucks rolling, gun like soldiers and human soldiers standing. This shows that the film is set in a dangerous and intense place. The audience is meant to fear the outdoor setting.

A wide panning shot of the soldiers sat in a large machine with the doors lowering into place. This shows that the outer side of this planet could be rather dangerous and they need large strong machines to protect them.

A close up of a male character is shown at eye level. He had three scars running down the side of his face which could represent his strength and ability as a soldier. He is able to defeat what’s on the outside. The camera cuts to follow sully in his wheelchair into a room with other machinery. The pace of this shot starts at a normal rate and when he begins to look around him the motion of the camera then has a slow effect.

A wide shot of what almost looks like the back of a silhouette of sully glancing at an avatar floating in a huge tank of water with wires connected. This is the audience’s first glance at the ‘Na’vi’ and it could be Sully’s too. The camera tracks the whole tank until it cuts to a close up of sully and another male smiling at the avatar. This is used to show that they like what they see.

A wide shot is shown of sully led down with blue lit wires around his head. This shows that he is being examined. A panning shot of what seems to be the scientist is on a computer screen which is a panel of glass is examining what seems to be a 3D human brain while it slowly rotates. As an audience we assume this is defiantly Sully and we assume that this is part of him mission

A close up on Sully’s face is shown while he is still in the capsule. His eyes open and a flashing blue light appear. This gives the audience the idea that his mind is elsewhere. Due to the flashing light being blue it gives the impression that he could now be an Avatar.

A point of view shot from sully sees two blue arms and hands. Here we know that he has become an avatar. A window is also shown in the room with the examiner behind the glass.

A wide shot of the avatar is sat up on the lab table while the camera partially pans around him. This is Sully as an avatar. He has pointy ears, blue skin, a long black ponytail. In comparison to the humans next to him he is very large while they are very small. He also wiggles his toes, as he is paralyzed in the real world this is a big boost of confidence for him.

An establishing shot of a helicopter about to touch the floor of what seems to be jungle like. This is establishing the location of the world in which the avatars live.

Further on in the trailer a wide shot of the armed human soldiers are running towards the camera with guns and masks. This gives us the idea that war between humans and the avatars may occur.

Various fast pace shots which flick between what seems to be a war between the humans and avatars are shown. This shows the conflict between them both and highlights why Sully was sent there for a mission in the first place.

TRANSITIONS

At the beginning of the trailer black transitions appear between each shot. This could be that they represent the fact that the film is set out of space or on another planet as black is associated with space as it is always dark. The shots then turn sudden with no transitions. As the trailer continues the black transitions appear once again.

TITLES AND INTERTITLES

The intertitles in this trailer are blue which are made to resemble the colour of the avatars. They are shown on black backgrounds which then fade onto the following shot, whether it being establishing the location or a human/avatar.

CODE OF ENIGMAFirsly, during the teaser trailer we do not know why there is a space craft being shown or what relevance it has to the film. This is because when we hear the word avatar we automatically link it to a computerised person or image. We have not yet seen the films version of an ‘avatar’ to relate it to anything involving space.

Secondly, we do not know where they are or why they’re there which would also interest the audience. There are men in large unique machinery which are unusual to be seen in reality. This leaves the audience in question as to what could be in their surrounding that are dangerous.

Another is when they discover the avatar for the first time along with the main protagonist, Sully. Due to it being in a large tank filled with water the audience may question what it is and why it is so important to be maintained in water.

You see sully as an ‘Avatar’, this may question the audience on how he is throughout the rest of the trailer. The audience do not know if he is a permanent avatar or if he is awake when he is one or how he can walk due to him being permanently in a wheel chair.