The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies Trailer Analysis

The first thing that the audience see in the trailer are 3 big distributors , Warner bros , Metro Goldwyn Mayer and New Line Cinemas, this shows that it’s a big budget film and therefore will probably be very successful. The transitions used to show the distributors was done very dramatically by moving slowly closer towards the audience also giving the 3D effect. The first character shown is Bilbo, those of who haven’t seen the rest of the films would assume naturally that he is the main character because the audience gets to meet him first. From what he is wearing it looks like the movie could be set in the past due to the dull colours and cloth looking material but if you look closer they have characteristics that humans do not have such as massive feet, this gives us the impression that he is a different creature and therefore may live in a different world. The next shot is a close-up of him with him saying ‘One day I’ll remember’ due to the close-up shot it seems like he is talking to the  audience which means the audience can straight away build a relationship with this character. The next shot is of a female this gives us the impression that she could be a love interest which subverts the stereotypes of the fantasy genre because normally the main interest of the storyline is to find or save something.

For the first 25 seconds of the trailer the non-diegetic music is very slow paced and soft this makes everything seem very dramatic and in some ways sad. Small pieces of footage are shown to give the audience an idea about the plot but also show them what type of place they live in. One of the shots consist of a dragon breathing fire all over the town the diegetic sound is played over the music showing the dragons full potential of power .This then cuts to a long shot of a mountain range with dialogue from Bilbo making it seem very personal. The location looks very similar to earth which means that there is only a slight barrier between fiction and reality meaning that the audience can fill connected to the characters. A title then appears with a soft transition stating ‘THIS DECEMBER’ in golden letters and dark green background, the gold letters are used throughout the Lord of the Rings saga and continues in The Hobbit making them recognizable to fans of the movies.  The colour gold represents wealth but also fantasy and the dark background mirrors the mood of the film.

Titles appear throughout the trailer but not in full sentence which creates suspense for what they will say next. One title states that it’s the same director as the Lord of the Rings saga , this a unique selling point and proves that the  film will be very successful.Junxtaposion is used is between the clips and the music, the music is very calm but the clips show anger and pain this emphasises the sadness of what the film portrays. Although the era is unknown from the clothes they are wearing which includes fur, armour and men with long hair this gives us the impression that it could be set in 19^th century. The film conveys to most stereo-types such as fight scenes, mythical creatures and an adventure to find something.  The last shot of the trailer is the date the film comes out; having it at the end means the audience are more likely to remember.