Media Research & Planning. Alien 1979

1. CHOOSE ONE TRAILER THAT YOU THINK
SUCCESSFULLY FULFILS THE PURPOSE OF A
TRAILER
Jordan Griffin

2. ALIEN
• The trailer opens with a certification explaining to the viewer that the trailer
has been approved for all audiences by the Motion Picture Association of
America. This reassures the viewer that what they are watching will be
appropriate, as well as showing that the trailer is official and has been
released by a legitimate company.

3. ALIEN
• Alien is a 1979 science-fiction horror film. The
title refers to a highly aggressive extra-
terrestrial creature that stalks and kills the crew
of a spaceship.
• In 2008, it was ranked as the seventh-best film
in the science fiction genre by the American
Film Institute, and as the 33rd greatest film of
all time by Empire magazine.

4. ALIEN
• The genre of the film is established straight away in the trailer. This is through
a twelve second CGI shot of space. The shot makes it clear that the genre is
science-fiction.
• Usually, similar establishing shots are used in various sci-fi trailers, it allows the
audience to easily recognise the genre of the film. This puts the audience in
a location that is not normally shown in films and it creates a new and
unique atmosphere, which enters the film into a niche market.

5. ALIEN
• The trailer cuts to a shot where the camera is flying through space, it presents
the idea that we are travelling through space. We hear sounds of whistling,
suggesting that ‘we’ or a spacecraft is travelling at a fast pace, the
audience feel like they are on a journey also.
• This shot is important for a number of reasons. It establishes the genre of the
film, by displaying generic codes and conventions of sci-fi and horror, as well
as the location in which the film is set.
• This shot lasts twelve seconds, which is a long time considering the trailer is
two minutes and ten seconds long. The reason behind this is that the length
of the shot creates emphasis on the sheer size of space and its endless
borders: There is nowhere to escape to in space, and nowhere to run.

6. ALIEN
• A very ‘bass heavy’ rumble fades in underneath the opening visuals. This
further emphasises the true power of the location and its sheer size. For the
time that this film was released, this film was a breakthrough in the use of
special effects. Having a film set in space was something that viewers had
never seen before, therefore by making emphasis on the films location
allowed it to suite a niche audience, making people want to see the film as
soon as it was released.
• At 0:19 seconds into the trailer, the letter “I” appears at the top of screen.
This is the first letter of what will become the word “Alien”. The camera tracks
backwards over an unidentifiable surface. Its grey tone and texture makes it
appear to be a rock surface of some kind, looking like a moon or a planet of
some kind.

7. ALIEN
• At 0:28 seconds, the trailer displays the first shot of an egg. As the camera
slowly moves down the front of the egg, it begins to fill the frame. The use of
a low camera angle this emphasises the egg’s presence and it creates a
mystery for the viewers to interpret. The egg is only very briefly shown as the
camera cuts back to the tracking shot of the rock like surface.
• A wider shot of the egg is shown, camera moves down the front of it. Its
taken 0:44 seconds so far to actually reveal the egg, creating more mystery
for the viewers. At 0:55 the egg cracks and a beam of light shines out. There
is no indication what so ever as to what is inside the egg.
• At 1:01, the frame moves to a character running through a corridor. This
intrigues the audience because we don’t know why he is running away, or
who he may be running towards.

8. ALIEN
• Neither the protagonist nor antagonist is revealed in the trailer at any point.
Although we become aware that there is a villain of some sort on the ship,
we never actually see them.
• Even though we see shots of something lurking in the shadows in the trailer,
there is nothing shown to indicate their motives and who the villain actually
is. By giving nothing about the narrative away, the audience will still be
asking questions, which is effective as they wouldn’t know what to expect for
the film, and they are curious as they don’t know what roles the characters
have.

9. ALIEN
• The trailer doesn’t follow the generic codes and conventions of other
science-fiction and horror films in the respect that they don’t give away the
best shots. By doing this, they would expect to give away the narrative as
well as revealing any surprises that the film has in store.
• This is effective as it only gives the audience a very small indication of the
narrative and what the film looks like

10. ALIEN
• In the trailer, we see a shot of a cat’s face briefly. Again, questions will be
asked of by the audience and they will wonder what relevance a cat bears
in a science-fiction/ horror film. Though, this is somewhat effective and
juxtaposition is created between the cuteness of the cat and the horror of
the villain/alien, which we do not yet see.
• Sounds in background are unidentifiable, which allows the audience to
create new meanings for them in their head subconsciously. The same sound
heard in the trailer is not used in any of the Alien films but it is used in the
trailers for all the five films. Additionally, not knowing what the sound is,
creates the sense of mystery which the trailer uses to entice the audience.

11. ALIEN
• The famous actress Sigourney Weaver was casted for this film. The audience
will instantly know that the film is going to be of high standard. Furthermore,
Weaver’s established fan base are likely to want to watch the film because
of her.
• The trailer’s style is an indirect address. There is no voiceover and no
indication of the trailer directing towards the audience, until the very end of
the trailer when the chilling tagline appears on the screen, “In space no one
can hear you scream.”, indicating bad things will be happening, linking
science-fiction and horror once more and revealing the genre.
• The indirect address is extremely effective. It is done to leave the audience
to interpret things for themselves, as there is bound to be a sense of curiosity
among the audience. The audience will want answers and explanations and
the only way they will get them answers is to watch the film, increasing sales.