Sherlock Holmes - Trailer

This trailer for the 2009 adaptation of Sherlock Holmes ticks many of the boxes in regards to what makes a successful trailer through it's mixture of fast paced editing and a careful balance of comedy and action. The film already had a fan base from when it was first conceived, as there were already many fans of the Sherlock Holmes books, and Sherlock Holmes is a household name. Immediately the audience would know the lead characters and the genre of the film. This is established in the first few seconds with the voice over of the antagonist asking to see Sherlock Holmes. Whilst the audio presents the lead character, the opening shot begins to offer the audience the new interpretation of the Sherlock Holmes stories. It seems to evoke a darker, more gritty interpretation, focusing on the dark areas of London, as opposed to the conventional, fun murder mystery that is often associated with the stories. It does first of all by fading into the opening shot from black, which makes the shot seem much darker and makes the shadows more prominent. The arch in the foreground is particularly dark, so it seems like the audience is looking into a particularly dark and threatening place. This establishes the setting of the whole film - through the threatening arch. Even the angels above the arch look threatening as they are wreathed in shadow and almost seem like angels of death. Meanwhile the voice over sounds very threatening and his voice is immediately associated with a deadly antagonist. The result of this combination is that the trailer opens with a very dark feel and the rest of the trailer plays out with this in mind.

At 0:12 seconds in the trailer starts to pick up the pace from the long, slow moving shots. There are two incredibly fast shots in a row, followed by a third longer shot, which are all in time with a distinct drumming sound. Although the shots don't add much to the plot or show much of the film, they are key in conveying the mood of the film and speeding up the action. The film at this point seems to be moving further away from the traditional idea of Sherlock Holmes and now seems more action-packed. This would appeal to a very wide audience; the older generations may watch it because it's a new Sherlock Holmes film whereas the younger generations may watch it for the action sequences. Appealing to both of these demographics is the comedy element. At the end of the trailer there is a punchline after the title has appeared which ends the trailer on a lighter mood and leaves the audience feeling excited. This is a common technique in many trailers and I think that it is a very effective technique. It also makes sure that audiences watch the trailer until the end, so they don't miss the title of the film.

Much of the editing in this trailer is timed to the epic music in the background. On more than one occasion there are punches and hits in time with the soundtrack, which adds to the dynamism of the trailer and makes it seem ever more intense. This is a technique which we will probably try and include in our trailer as it makes the trailer seem much more exciting. It would also seem very strange without this technique, as the music and the visuals would not match up, leaving it looking thoroughly unprofessional. I particularly like at the end when the letters spelling out 'Sherlock' appear one at a time with short, snappy clips in between. This both makes the title more memorable and also makes the ending much more fast paced than just having a simple title at the end, reflecting the tone of the film. At the end of this short sequence the letters come together in the main title 'Sherlock Holmes' which again makes the title more memorable. The audience would have been following each letter in turn to try and work out what the film's title was, so when it is revealed at the end they don't forget it.

The trailer as a whole appeals mainly to a male dominated audience through the violence and male protagonists. It exploits the need for escapism, as the story offers the chance for people to watch someone else's problems so they can escape from their own. This, however is generic for all films, but what appeals to people are the ways in which the person manages to overcome their problems. The way in which the protagonist in this film escapes their problems is through adventure and fighting, which makes overcoming problems seem exhilarating. People would go and watch this film in order to escape their problems and watch someone overcome their problems in an exciting way.