Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince trailer

In the Harry Potter and the Half blood prince trailer transitions are used for various different reasons. Throughout most of the trailer fade to black is used to show a passing of time, and also to represent uncertainty and mystery within the film. When Tom and Dumbledore are in the orphanage straight cuts are used to show the reality of the orphanage and the reality of magic. This contrasts with fade to black so the audience get a sense of variety, and so they also pay more attention to the orphanage as it varies with the other transitions. At the beginning of the trailer an establishing shot of the train is used, this sets the scene and shows the audience that Harry goes back to Hogwarts. Then there is an aerial shot of buildings, this is very dark which contrasts with the establishing shot, which is brighter. Snow is falling in the aerial shot which gives the audience the immediate idea that the film is going to be dark. The high angle shot of the person walking under an umbrella leaves the audience which a sense of mystery and suspense, as they do not know who's under the umbrella. It also suggests that because they're hidden it gives them a disadvantage as they are seen as the smaller person. There is a high angle shot when Dumbledore and the orphanage worker are walking to Tom's room, this shows Tom as being a more powerful character than Dumbledore, and also shows the audience that Dumbledore is not completely in control of the situation as he usually is. There is a mid shot of Tom and Dumbledore when they are talking, this shows them both as equals. It also shows normality as it could appear they are just having a normal conversation. This contrasts with the rest of the trailer where there are scenes of extreme magic. There is a close up of Harry near the beginning, the memory is by the side of him and looks the same size as him. This suggests that the memory is just as powerful as Harry. It also shows Harry's reaction in detail to viewing someone else's memory. There is another establishing shot of the orphanage which shows the audience what it looks like on face value. There is a low angle shot looking up at Dumbledore when he is standing on flames. This shows he has a lot of power, it also leaves the audience in suspense as they do not know what happens to Dumbledore after. The non-diegetic music at the beginning immediately creates suspense, but at the same time makes the trailer seem peaceful. When the Warner Bros sign comes up there is a loud bang, which makes the film seem creepy and dark. There is then the diegetic sound of rain, which adds to the dark feel, but also adds in the bleak feel. The diegetic sound of the voices are all low, as if there is nothing to talk happily about. A key example of this is when Tom says 'I can speak to snakes'. The non-diegetic sound of the typical Harry Potter music is at the end makes the trailer instantly recognisable. The last diegetic sound is where Dumbledore says 'No'. This leaves the audience in suspense, and makes them want to see the film, as they want to see what comes after. The costumes are dark, which shows nothing happy is happening. Most of the costumes are also simple except Dumbledore's, this suggests he is more important than the other characters. The prop of the memory cabinet is light, which contrasts with the rest of the room, this highlights the importance of it and shows it contains happy things, which is different to the most of the trailer. The orphanage is dark and bleak, this is represented through the simplicity of Tom's room, and the darkness of the walls. This gives the audience the first impression that Tom as a child was surrounded by darkness and depression. The prop of the long grass when Tom is talking shows mystery as Tom isn't sure on why he can do what he can, and it's also a mystery of what's hiding in the long grass. The prop of the fire which Dumbledore is standing on is light, but it a scary light, rather than the bright light of the memory cabinet. This shows that even at the lightest point in the film, it is still surrounded by darkness. This trailer attracts it's target audience(teens and Harry Potter fans) because it has the typical Harry Potter music, so people instantly recognise it just by sound. It also attracts it's target audience by none of the characters needing to be introduced, it shows dark/action straight away, which shows it is going to be a dark film. The conclusions i have drawn from this analysis are that sound has a big effect on trailers as it can impact what genre the trailer is seen as. I have also concluded trailers do not need to be long as a lot of information can be shown in a short period of time.