Analysis of

Teaser
Trailer for

Transformers
: Revenge of
The Fallen
DreamWorks and Paramount are big production companies in the film industry.
They are known to make big budget blockbuster films such as A.I, Saving Private
Ryan, Deep Impact, Collateral, Eagle Eye and Disturbia.
 The sequence
begins of a low
angle shot of what
presumably seems
to be missiles, this
captures the
audience attention
as seconds before
everyone in the
scene was
minding their own
business.
The audience attention is focused on the missile due to the
diegetic sound of the two missiles, all other sounds which
should be heard in a public place is not heard by the
audience hence the main attention on the two missiles
because this is not an everyday occurrence.
The sequence
continues with a low
angle shot of the
missiles hitting a
building, we then
hear diegetic sounds
of crowds screaming As well as the sound of people screaming there is a
indicating that a diegetic sound of rubble falling down and hitting the
floor. Whilst this occurs, a black cloud of smoke covers
catastrophe is at the screen which then fades into a next shot. The
hand. cloud of smoke fills the screen making the audience
feel as if they are being trapped under the smoke.
Just as the smoked filled the screen, there was a crackling sound as if
there was a technological interference connected to the missiles being
launched towards buildings. This has an affect on the audience because it
stays on the black screen for 3 seconds staying silent, which adds
suspense.
The scene then cuts to a long shot of a lone
character in Egypt, the audience can tell this scene is
set in Egypt because of the pyramid. The director
uses an long-shot to put more emphasis to the
location than the lone character.

The non-diegetic
sound is one bang
of a drum this
builds a solemn
feeling amongst
the audience.

The character looks very isolated and vulnerable next to the

pyramid. We believe this because the character is by himself
next to the pyramid. As the pyramid is so big and the character
looks so small, he is shown to be insignificant in this shot whilst
running away from the camera.
The Scene then cuts to a high angle shot of a navy
ship. Another non-diegetic bang on the drum is
heard; continuing the solemn mood.
It then cuts to a tracking shot (moving
towards a fleet of fighter planes) of
presumably the same navy ship we
saw in the previous scene.
We see missiles being hurled towards a town in
Egypt. Diegetic sound is heard again with the
missiles keeping the audiences attention solely on
them, as there is no source of where the missiles are
coming from. The audience is being left in a state of
suspense and shock as random attacks are being
made without any reason why this is happening.
The scene cuts to an ariel shot of six naval ships,
but the audience attention is on what is thought to
be missiles. However, they seem to be fireballs,
this is identified as fireballs due to the diegetic
sound of crackling of fire as well as the look of
them. Again the source of the fireball is not shown
in this scene but its very obvious that it is not from
a countries army; it gives the impression of a
supernatural event.
You hear a non-diegetic crackling sound just before it cuts to a black
screen. It stays this way for 2 seconds, this was there to place
suspense on the audience because before this cut, there was fireballs
of some sort heading towards ships.
A panning shot of the naval ship is shown as it is
being hit by the fireballs. Diegetic sounds of the
fireballs hitting the naval ships are clearly heard,
highlighting the intensity of the destruction.
It fades to a black screen for 2 seconds,
to let the audience digest what they have
just seen.

There is then a low angle shot of

the destroyed navy ship along
with the ruined fighter jets. This
shot shows the true level of
destruction caused by the
fireballs in which the fighter jets
and navy ships are seen sinking
to the bottom of the sea.
The scene cuts to a medium shot of 2 men; one reading a newspaper
and the other eating, something smashes into through a building, the
man reading the newspaper flies off his chair but the man eating stays
motionless.

It cuts to outside the house and within a span of 1 second the screen is engulfed in
a massive explosion.
 The shot then jumps to
a large life like
machine jumping out
of the building. This
machine has red eyes
highlighting that it
could be an enemy.

The robot then turns into a fast car, this is concluded by

the loud diegetic revving noise in which this car drives off
of the screen.
We then see a black title screen with the words “FROM DIRECTOR
MICHAEL BAY” who directed the previous transformers film and is well
known as a great director. The title is shown for a few seconds.

Michael Bay has made such as Armageddon, The Rock, Pearl Harbor,
Bad Boys, Bad Boys II, all bug budget action films.
The scene then cuts to a high
angle shot of a Robot lifting up its
mechanical arms and destroying
buildings. There is a diegetic sound
of rusty metal being rubbed
against metal as the robot starts to
move. There is artificial light
surrounding the robot, by doing
this they are putting more
emphasise on the robot.
Another black title screen is shown stating Steven Spielberg as
the Executive Producer. This is shown for a few seconds as
Steven Spielberg is known for the production of quite a lot of
major blockbuster films. A quiet sound is played, which seems
to be coming from a distance. This creates the feeling of
emptiness.

He has done films such as Jaws (1975), E.T. the Extra-

Terrestrial (1982), and Jurassic Park (1993), Saving Private Ryan
(1998) all very successful films.
This is an over-the-shoulder-shot of one of the main
character from the previous transformer film he says
“You don’t stop, you don’t hide, you run, you hear
what I‘m saying“ highlighting that they are in a middle
of a war, you can also see the stern look on his face
which the subject makes emphasising on how serious
the situation is.
Another over the shoulder shot is shown; this may
have been a reaction shot “we are all going
together” is heard coming from the subjects
mouth and an element of passion is seen as he
grabs presumably his son. This conjoined with the
previous shot makes a sequence of shot- reverse-
shot.
We are then shown a close up of the leading female character played
by Megan Fox, who has her hands held over her mouth, looking
scared. We hear the sound of a moving robotic object in the
background and a slight shriek of shock from the girl. This suggests
that she may be trying to hide her presence from this ‘transformer’
by making no sound at all.
A close up of the subject face is seen of him holding an object which can not be identified, we see his eyes moving around as
presumably diegetic sounds of footsteps are heard. This raises question amongst the audience of what the object is and it’s
importance within the film. The extreme close up shot of the Lebouf character, looking around nervously, with the diagetic sound of
moving robots in the background suggests that he is hiding.
 A black screen is shown for a couple of seconds
which leaves the audience in awe and suspense,
this is because just before this cut the boy and
girl are both trying to be quiet, because there are
robots looking for them.
A shot which zooms out from the character is shown
as he is pinned down by a robot, this shot shows the
weakness of the character. This shot also shows that
the character will be in great danger in the film.
The audience then sees a car crash through the shed and turn into a
robot which starts shooting at another robot which soon appears in
the clip. The robot has blue eyes whereas the previous robot had red
eyes, which suggests that red eyes could be the bad guy and blue
eyes could be the good guy.
A low angle shot of
two robots fighting.
From here on, the
scenes start coming in
thick and fast.

There is a close up
of a robotic animal
on a long stretch of
desert. This animal
like robot is shown
in both a long shot
and a close up.
It then jumps to a close up shot which is barely
visible but can be made out to be two of these
great titans clashing. Here we hear a louder non-
diegetic beat of a drum. One of the robots has
blue eyes which can just be seen, again
suggesting that this robot is the good guy.
We hear diegetic screaming and the boys facial expression is
that of fear and terror which raises the intensity of the trailer.
The screaming also tell the audience that the characters are
scared and are in fear of what is happening.
There is a pan shot following a helicopter which the
robot smashes to the ground, we hear diegetic
sounds of screaming. This gives the audience a
sense of panic and catastrophe.
This fade to a black screen lasts for 2 seconds. We believe
that this was done to let the audience react to what has just
happened.
A long shot of a robot is seen crashing through a
bridge in a busy city completely destroying it.
Also, you can see another robot running towards
the evil one trying to stop it by jumping on it.
We see pieces of metal on a black background
forming together to create the words “revenge is
coming”, which tells the audience that this may
be a sequal of the first transformers film, where
evil could be coming to avenge against the good.
“Revenge is coming” shatters into small
pieces to form the transformers logo, which
is superimposed on the black title screen
certifying this as a Transformers film,
without actually stating what the title is.
This could be because that the transformers
brand is so well known world wide that they
believe this logo/symbol alone will let people
know that it is a transformers films.
 Overview & Analysis
• 2:17 Minutes
• 7 Seconds is the longest shots
• 54 Separate shots
• 2 Title shots
• 2 Production Company shots
• No music played
• A lot of diegetic sound mainly robotic sounds and them
destroying buildings.
• 4 voiceover sections taken from the film 2 of which are
talking ones and the other 2 are screaming ones.
• Non diegetic sound came when the screen blacked out and
an interference sound was made as well as a crackling
sound. Several times a loud drum sound is made.
• Before all of the cuts and fades to black screen
there is a crackling sound like there is a
technological interference happening as well as
the screen for a millisecond goes fuzzy. This is
done so that the whole teaser trailer will stick to
the theme of robots attacking earth.
• The teaser goes from slow to fast several times,
but when it is going fast and the big action
sequences happen they slow it down by
cutting/fading to a black screen for 2-4 seconds.
This is because they want to keep the audience
interested so by making so many cuts after big
action scenes they let the audience digest what
has just happened.
• In one of the scenes in a matter of 5
seconds a big explosion happens and
a robot transforms into a car. The
scene is so quick that getting
pictures for that scene took over 30
minutes. We believe that the editors
made everything so quick because
most people like big blockbuster
action packed films, so by making it
so quick people will be really
interested in watching it.
• We believe that the director Michael Bay
wanted the good and bad guys to stand
out from eachother, so a way he did this
was to give the bad guys red eyes and the
good guys blue eyes. In most films red is
more often than not associated with bad
people, this because in popular culture
red is known for evil or the devil, so by
giving the bad guys red eyes we, the
audience can tell that they are bad
without even hearing them.