1. The Watcher
Trailer
Sarah Olivo

2. Overview
• The Watcher is the trailer I
made.

3. Narrative
• The narrative begins with a man on the beach.
He stands at the edge of the sea and has
flashbacks of his dead relatives as he ponders
about how someone “took” them from him.
“God will forgive them. I won’t.”
• The narrative then switches to a new
character sitting on a couch, explaining that
he is “The Watcher” a sort of guardian angel.
He is here to help the man get revenge.
• The trailer then becomes quicker and less
linear.

4. Shot Types used in this Trailer
• Close-up
• Mid-shot
• Establishing shot
• Two-shot
• Long shot
• Over-the-shoulder shot

5. Close Up
• Used to show emotion on characters’ faces.

6. Close Up
• Also used to show important
details/items, etc.

7. Mid-shot
• Used to denote position, action among other
things.

8. Establishing Shot
• Used to introduce a new place, scene, etc.

9. Two-Shot
• Used to denote more than one person in a
frame. Shows interaction between characters.

10. Long Shot
• A shot that shows most or all of the character.
A large amount of background is visible.

11. Over-The-Shoulder Shot
• Commonly used when characters are
conversing.

12. Title Screen
• Title screen is in same style as the
captions, with the same colour scheme –
keeps continuity with the rest of the trailer.

13. Post Title Screen
• Again, in the same style as the captions.
• Provides additional information (director) and
a clever finishing caption.

14. Credits
• There are no credits at the end of my trailer as
it is a teaser.

15. Cuts
• The first cut in the trailer is a fade in, the second
a cross dissolve. The cross dissolve was used to
show a change of distance between the two
shots.
• There are long shots, occasionally interrupted by
quick flashbacks, after this – all are clean cuts.
• After this point, the cuts become quicker to
reflect a change in narrative, but slow down again
towards the end to finish on a sinister close up.

16. Use of Ident
• My ident is the first thing that appears
onscreen – this is a convention I observed in
many of the trailers I watched. It makes the
audience immediately aware of what
company the film is connected to.

17. Use of Captions
• My trailer features three captions. These are used along with
the change of narrative to set a new, more violent mood in
the second part of my trailer.
• They continue the religious theme.
• To maintain continuity, they are the same font as the title
screen and date of release.

18. Use of Colour
• The movie begins with a rather idyllic looking beach – blue sky and calm
sea. However, this is juxtaposed with the dark musings of the character.
• When the second character is introduced, the vividity of the following
scenes is far lower, with everything looking darker to reflect the general
mood of the trailer.
• The flashbacks are shown in black and white as this effect has
connotations of nostalgia and the past - I saw this used in the trailer for
Dead Man’s Shoes.

19. Setting
• Use of the beach – a place where one might
wash away one’s sins.
• Graveyard – obvious connotations of death.
• A flat – red couches symbolise anger and
blood.
• An area by a church – religious theme of
redemption and forgiveness which main
character rejects.
• Urban area – the scene of a crime.

20. Costuming
• The main character wears a long black coat in the majority of
scenes – this makes him look dark and mysterious, as well as
recognisable.
• The titular character wears a white shirt – angels are, of
course, associated with the colour white. However, the colour
white can also be associated with madness.

21. Music
• I chose to use a foreboding ambient noise for
the first section of narrative, so not to disturb
the quiet of the scene.
• However, when the second section begins, I
use a discordant soundtrack I constructed on
GarageBand to up the tension and violence of
the scenes.

22. Non Diagetic Sound
• Two different character voiceovers – rather
unconventional, but necessary to my trailer’s
narrative.
• Crash/bang noise at the very end of my trailer
when titular character swings cane at the
viewer.

23. Diagetic Sound
• There is no dialouge, though the titular
character chuckles towards the end.
• Sound of waves lapping during beach scenes.

24. Representation
• All characters are white – none are from an
ethnic minority.
• Three adult males, one adult female, one
young adult female and one young adult
male– males have the most screen
time, females only appear as victims, so
gender representation is unequal.
• Character backgrounds ambiguous.

25. Review
• Two character voiceovers – splits trailer into
two parts.
• Starts slow and calm then becomes faster and
more threatening.
• All voiceover, no character dialogue.
• Reveals some plot points but does not fully
explain anything which leaves audience
hungry for more.