Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer Analysis

This is a trailer for 2015 summer blockbuster Avengers: Age of Ultron. 

The opening shot of the trailer is an establishing extreme long-shot showing the skyline of a city and the surrounding areas on a summers day. A male narrator says over the shot "I'm gonna show you something beautiful..." This initial shot sets the audiences expectations up for a feel-good film, however the sharp cut to black and the following shots instantly subvert these expectations. An enigma code is created by showing a strange cloud of yellow smoke along with the narrators following line, "...everyone screaming for mercy." This makes the audience wonder what the yellow smoke is and why it would cause people to scream. The audience will also question who the narrator is and why he takes pleasure from people suffering, although it is made pretty clear that the narration comes from the antagonist. This is also a subversion from normal narration over trailers as it is commonly the protagonists viewpoint that is shown to the audience, not the antagonists. The audience are already given clues suggesting that the plot is on an international scale by the opening shot of an American looking city and the french flag held up by one of the protesting people.

The protagonists/heroes are then slowly unveiled to the audience without giving them too much screen time. One hero is shown in mid-shot from behind, the next in close-up but with a lens flare and a quick shot making it hard to make him out and another in close-up but only on the bottom half of his body and cape. This teases the audience who want to see more of the heroes, as well as the slowing pace and the scenes of destruction and chaos the characters are pictured in adding enigmas and increasing the drama. The audience is then given their first look at the antagonist in a couple of low-angled shots to make the character dominant and more threatening to the audience. The villain looks like a worn-down robot but the audience is shown his strength by how he crushes the head of another robot.

The exotic locations that are an integral part of all Superhero/Action films are then showcased in a short montage that include a castle in a mountainous area, a town in a sandy desert and a snowy forest. The montage further teases the audience of the multiple set-pieces you would expect from a film of this genre and furthers the idea of the international scale of the plot. The non-diegetic background music to this part of the trailer is interesting, as it is a slower, creepier version of the I've Got No Strings song from the kids film Pinnochio. Using a song popularised through a children's film and playing it over scenes of guns, explosions and general chaos is a heavy juxtaposition of tones and it has a largely unsettling effect on the audience. This makes them feel more uneasy about the antagonist as well. 

The trailer comes to an end on a shot of one of the most well-known props of the franchise, Captain Americas shield, torn into 2 pieces with what is supposedly Captain Americas limp hand lying next to it. This suggests that the villain is formidable and can beat the protagonists and foreshadows dark things happening in the film. This will also make the audience want to go and see the film to find out if one of the heroes actually does die or not, meaning it is an effective shot.