World War Z Trailer Analysis

World War Z Trailer AnalysisA detailed break down of the codes and conventions displayed within the official World War Z Trailer

This trailer, like many other before it and after it, features the well known low pitched horn blast, originally composed by Hans Zimmer. The noise is often referred to as the Inception BRAAM due to its lucrative appearance in the 2010 film Inception. The noise is often associated with the Action/Thriller Genre, usually syncing with the editing in the trailer.

The entire colour pallet of the film, which is a mixture of dull browns, blacks and greens, is a classic convention of the Apocalypse sub-genre. This is used to create the impression that the world in dying, or that mans grip on the world is slipping, and nature is taking over, hence the green.Genre

The trailer itself builds tension as it progresses, opening in a calm scene, of the main character, and his family in a car, and swiftly escalating to the various tragedies that take place in the film. This is a convention of the Thriller genre, and an attempt to emulate the tension depicted in the full feature film, within the trailer alone.As is convention in recent thriller films, there is no voice over within the trailer. This is because the purpose of the trailer is to amerce the viewer in the tension as much as possible, rather than verbally sell the film to you, as other genres do. This is tied in with the fact that, for the most part, the trailer is in chronological order. The viewer can get an idea of the narrative, perhaps more so than they would desire to, hopefully enticing them to go and find out the ending, and the rest in between.Narrative

A red flare is used, not only as a prop, but a means of lighting, creating a strong red hue, representing danger, or immanent danger. This scene is enhanced through a lack of sound, which naturally contrasts with the following section of the scene that features very loud noise. The transition between these is filled with a throbbing noise, that connotes to racing heartbeat, which later is revealed as the sound of a helicopter. However prior to this the throbbing noise, is strong feature that creates tension in the mind of the viewer. The trailer illustrates the World element of the film through changes in colour pallet, and the use of wide angle shots, depicting landscapes within various arks of the film. This while the war element is depicted through the presence of guns, helicopters, and other military paraphernalia. This is a convention of the action genre, particularly in more modern films, when on this scale, because of the amount that can computer generated today.Representation

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