The Dark Knight Teaser Trailer, Deconstruction

The Dark Knight, Teaser Trailer:

'The Dark Knight' is an Action film, other sub genres within the film include, thriller, crime and super hero. It was released on the 21st of July in 2008, the second in The Dark Knight trilogy, which is 'Batman Begins', 'The Dark Knight' and 'The Dark Knight Rises'. The teaser trailer is fairly short conforming to common conventions/features of these trailers, being only 59 seconds.

The trailer shows no characters, just a dark screen slowly fading into the famous Batman logo. Only three of the main characters voices are heard. Which is really affective, since it allows the audience to know of certain events, but also creates a lot of mystery, since next to nothing is given away, but they have still managed to making it interesting and enticing.

Teaser Trailer script:

'(Batman/Bruce) I knew the mob wouldn’t go down without a fight, but this is different, they crossed a line. (Alfred) You crossed a line first sir, you hammered them, and in their desperation they turned to a man they didn’t fully understand. Some men aren’t looking for anything logical, they can’t be bought, bullied, reasoned or negotiated with, some men just want to watch the world burn. (The Joker) Starting tonight people will die, I’m a man of my word, HAHAHA.'

The trailer begins with loud/tense music, which is very affective. Although no footage from the movie is shown, the audience knows straight away from the diegetic soundtrack that there are going to be tense, sudden and violent scenes.

As the diegetic dialogue between Alfred and Batman (good characters) is shown we see the light coming from the dark, showing the bat logo, representing the good. However as soon as the villain comes to speak, the logo starts to disperse and fall apart. Representing his attempts to destroy the good and cause destruction. It allows the audience to further understand what to expect without giving much away. How this character causes suffering, from the visual aid and the words spoken from Alfred, 'some men just want to watch the world burn'.

To further represent the destruction 'The Joker' causes, as the bat logo has been completely destroyed one of the pieces is thrown out, and a playing card of a Joker is shown. Representing the villain within the film, and further displaying how he will be the cause of the sinister actions within the movie, therefore foreshadowing the events which are to come.

The typography is fairly simple, once again creating a sense of mystery.

Conclusion:

• 'The Dark Knight' teaser trailer overall was very effective.
•  It had common features of teaser trailers of being fairly short (less than a minute long) and not giving a lot away.
•  The use of not physically showing any characters and just dramatically showing the logo adds to tension and helps build up audience excitement.
• The use of quickly displaying a joker card also reveals the villain within the film, without giving too much a way and is also a clever use of foreshadowing, since the logo is broken presenting how he will cause disorder within the film.
•  Overall the soundtrack and method used is very well done and is effective and appropriate for the genre.