I remember watching this trailer and this movie is going to be a great action movie or an over-the-top CGI heavy VFX boring time. The definitely got me exited especially because it built up so much tension, but I still have doubts about the movie. However, I will say the trailer of
Word War Z did exactly what it set out to do, get the attention of the audience.
With the use of a dialogue sequence in the beginning of the trailer, the trailer manages to set up the back story on the relationship between Brad Pitt's character and his family and explains to the audience why we should care about this guy. The family is just sitting in their car just like thousands of other people stuck in a traffic jam in the city and they try to pass the time by playing some sort of "I Spy" game. We can see that the reason the characters are not worried about this whole situation is because they are not aware of the danger that is yet to come. Very quickly, the mood changes and things begin got change for the worse. For the most part, the trailer tells the story in the order those sequences occur in the film. This is primarily done through dialogue that juxtaposes with the family's struggle to go from a scene of peace (for them) to escaping a hoard of zombies on rooftop. Then it really does become a CGI showreel illustrating some of the major action scenes in the movie. The basic story line can bee seen but none of the big plot points/twists are given away.
Survivalism and destruction can be described as the Mis En Scene. I suppose the filmmaker took the term "wave of zombies" too literally when creating this because it somehow adds a dark humorous overtone to the whole trailer. To me, this literal wave of zombies seems just too much. Maybe the filmmakers were going for this, but again everyone has their own opinions. The film does appear to have a theme of fear and uncertainty as seen through the emotional performances on the rooftop scene and the line the Brad Pitt's character says "I'm coming back."
Cinematography shown in the trailer consists of incredibly quick medium shots, close ups, and POV, but action shots consist of low angles, light angles, long shots, and extreme long shots. For example, when the characters are in a what seems to be in a powerful dialogue shot, the camera is very uptight and personal. This adds a sense of intimacy and shows that the characters care for one another and therefore we, as an audience, should too. In contrast, the camera is placed far away in action shots such as when a truck tips over or a hoard of zombies are trying to climb of a wall. Also, the camera is always moving in these action shots. Even if it is a low angle, the camera will keep moving back as to the say to the audience to be as far away from the zombies as possible, just like the characters have to.
The quickness of the shots help build more tension to the every scene. The editing plays a huge role in setting up the mood for the film through this trailer. It is obvious that the filmmakers want to heighten the need for survival and they do this through quick shots during action sequences. The dialogue scene in the beginning seems it would flow slowly in the film, but for the trailer's purposes it appears to be sped up yet it still retains its initial reason to be in the film--set up the relationship between the family members. Only long shots and extreme long shots are held for more than 4 seconds. This is done to let the audience sync in all the new information being thrown in front of us.
Finally, the sound design plays as in important role, if not more, than the edit. It has a hint of that
Inception large ship horn throughout the trailer. The trailer's music begins out almost non-existent. As more information in revealed though the images on the screen, the music begins to get louder and louder. The tempo increases until it finally hits the peak and there is quietness. At its peak, the visuals also are either incredibly calm or at the height of madness. Where the music is quiet, the actors are given the opportunity to deliver lines. Having no distracting music while the characters are delivering important lines emphasizes the importance of those crucial dialogue scenes.
