Deconstruction 1

Dunkirk (2017)

The teaser trailer begins with an up close shot of the beach with an odd substance on top of it, almost looking like foam. This technique is used to draw the audience in and almost make them confused so they keep watching. The text appears “BY CHRISTOPHER NOLAN” which will also entice the audience as he is well known famous director whose films are a success. Then a landscape view displaying the beach is portrayed, introducing the audience to the setting gradually. The grey, and nude colour scheme portrayed within the first couple of seconds gives an image of a melancholy and dull beach, obviously because of the context, therefore this is presented accurately and makes it seem authentic for the audience. The ambient noise of something ticking in the background suggests they are running out of time, and the drama/thrill is about to be revealed. This sets the audience up to expect a sense of fear and excitement.

The mid shot portraying the dead bodies covered over by sheets suggests the genre is partly a thriller, as deaths/violence/injury are a common occurrence within thriller films. The humming noise that can be heard increases and through the mid-shot of the soldiers the audience can see their faces gradually turn towards the sky out of curiosity. The costumes worn by the soldiers and all forest green and authentic of that time, which makes the trailer seem as realistic as possible as they are re-enacting a famous moment in history.

As the noise increases it appears as though it is directly above the soldiers, which increases the fear factor for those watching, as we recognise the soldiers as the allies and obviously want them to survive. As the soldiers duck down and try to get as low as possible, through the same mid-shot as before, the noise is suddenly cut short. This is conventional for a teaser trailer as were not supposed to see the climax, as it’s only a teaser. The text then appears reading “DUNKIRK” and when the release date is, and this is all we need to see within a teaser trailer.

As the trailer was only a minute and six seconds long, it simply gave some background information enough to draw a mass audience in and stopped us from learning too much about the film. Furthermore, as we know famous stars such as Tom Hardy and Harry Styles act in this film, the fact that they aren’t shown is deliberate. It’s by a means of attracting people to see the film because of it’s sentimental value towards British culture and the pride we should have rather that persuading an audience to come and watch because a few A-List stars are taking part. This is a clever aim by Nolan, and an inspiring one. This is why we don’t see the actors within the teaser trailer.