This teaser trailer is for the third instalment of the Transformers film series. Transformers: Dark Side of the moon is an American science fiction action movie and it was released in 2011. It performed well in the box office and has now grossed $1,123,746,996 however the film was not received well by critics, who panned the film for focusing its attention more on the 3D technology and action sequences, instead of the script. Michael Bay directed all three Transformer films , both his impressive directorial record and experience contributed to the success of all three films. The young cast suggests that a young audience is part of the target audience along with science fiction action movie fans.
What I found the most intriguing about this teaser is the absence of the main protagonist Sam Witwicky played by Shia LaBeouf because it demonstrates that the Paramount Studios have not decided to use him as the unique selling point in this teaser trailer. Instead the teaser trailer focuses more on the narrative, it begins with a montage of the american moon landing. Slow transitions are used to build up tension which increases with the atmospheric soundtrack playing in the background. This lets the viewer know that there might be approaching a pivotal moment in the narrative. The pace of the editing slows down down even more half way through the trailer. The narrative is now diving into some conspiracy themes with the astronauts being told that they have '21 minutes' and 'the mission is a go'. Suddenly there is a shift in the soundtrack to a more up tempo beat which lets the audience know that the pivotal moment in the film has only just begun, this is reinforced through the use of fast fade to black transitions. The screen remains black for 3 seconds leaving the audience in suspense.
The 3 seconds of the black screen along with the shift to a more epic soundtrack is an effective method to build the suspense and toy around with the viewers curiosity because they're left hanging with unanswered questions. The action resumes, after a couple dolly shots of the astronauts walking around a ruined spaceship, one of the astronauts utters the words 'no sir we are not alone'. At this point the audience will feel engaged because they what to know the rationale behind the astronauts statement.
The soundtrack continues to stay up beat to gain momentum. The title credits showcase both Michael Bay's name ( the director) as well as Steven Spielberg's (the executive producer) name, this is the unique selling point of this teaser trailer. Steven Spielberg is a universally acclaimed director and producer, showcasing his name is the perfect opportunity to raise the awareness of Spielberg's massive fan base to watch Transformers: Dark side of the moon. This increased the likelihood that transformers was going to perform well at box office, which it did. Another dolly shot is used at the end of the trailer revealing a big transformer, the camera zooms into his eye and through some animation it reveals the title of the film.
Although trying to emulate some scenes in this teaser would be too ambitious (due to our low budget), I did find the constant shifting of the soundtracks very interesting because it had a profound effect on me while I was watching the teaser trailer, for example when it shifted to a more suspenseful soundtrack It was successful in making me feel that suspense. I will definitely try to incorporate this use of sound to move my audience, making them feel suspense and the other emotions that I want to convey like sadness and shock.
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