Avatar Teaser Trailer...

The teaser trailer for Avatar is another teaser trailer which uses almost no dialogue, but includes a huge number of small clips from the film in order to give the same level of detail away without spoiling the story for the viewers. The trailer is almost set in two halves, with every aspect of the trailer changing at the half way point. At the very beginning of the trailer we see a shot of a satellite like object floating in space, followed by a shot of a rocket from the satellite shooting through the air. The next shot we see is of the forest, and the man exiting the rocket. This immediately tells the audience that the film is not set on planet earth. For the first minute of the trailer we see short clips of all sorts of machinery, and we see the man in the wheelchair looking around and looking closely at the machines, as though he is as new to all of it as we, the audience are. There is a shot of the man looking at what is soon revealed to be his avatar, and then watch the process of him turning into his avatar. At almost the exact half-way point of the trailer, we see the only bit a dialogue said throughout the trailer, as the mans avatar says 'this is great'. This line is almost the trigger which switches the pace of the trailer. While all of the shots in the first half had been very slow and calm, the second half of the teaser sees everything speed up, as the content of the clips becomes more intense, aswell as the speed between clips. In terms of sound, the music used in the first half is more like diagetic sounds, and with just long lasting notes, which sound almost like a strong wind. This too is changed by the middle of the trailer, where he becomes his avatar, as the music becomes louder, and there is an apparent drum beat, which also increases as the trailer continues, the change in music plays in sync to the increase in action shown in the clips, as the further into the action the teaser goes, the faster, louder and more intense the music becomes. Another aspect of the teaser trailer that turns at the half-way point is the mise-en-scene. The first half is consumed by shots of technology and machinery, implying that they are dependant on all of the machines which they use. We also see clips of people strapping themsleves into robot like machines, which gives the audience a hint to what is shown later, that the humans are battling against the navi. Again, after the main character truns into his avatar, the clips shown are almost all set in the forest/jungle, showing a more natural side to the planet where the film is set. The mise-en-scene is also used to emphasise the battle between man and navi, as they differ totally in all aspects of life: the men have, robots, planes, and guns. The navi have dragons and bow and arrows. The editing of the teaser is especially important in this case, as it is the main factor in setting the mood and pace of the trailer. With so many short clips being shown, it gives a chance for interesting editing, which is used to the full effect. There is a mide variety in pace of shots, with them mostly being calm, and slow at first but turning fast and intense towards the end. Also the use of slow motion clips throws something interesting into the trailer, particularly in the shot near the end where the beast jumps at the mans avatar, which can only really be appreciated by being slowed down to give the audience a chance to see everything. With the trailer containing so many shots, the variety in camera angles is huge. We see shots from all levels, as the camera follows the dragons and planes in the air, and the robots and the horses on the ground. We also see shots of the battle from both sides (man and navi) which keeps the audience in the dark as to who are the 'good guys' and who are the 'bad guys'. One of the most important parts of the teaser trailer is the reveal that the film comes from the director of Titanic. Where Inception played on the fact that a big name was starring in the film to attract audiences, Avatar is able to play on the fact that a big name was directing the film. James Cameron had not directed a film since Titanic, and there had been alot of specualtion about what his next film would be, so by announcing that Avatar is Camerons returning film, this will undoubtedly intrigue lots of people, and therefore as well as people coming through interest in the film, the trailer will also attract audiences who have been eagerly awaiting James Camerons new film, be it a film they think looks good or not, they'll want to see it.

Overall, this film is unusually long for a teaser trailer, but the obvious question to audiences will be, who wins the battle, the humans or the navi? As this question is not answered through the trailer, it will not put many people off going to see it. Other aspects which have to be taken in to account for the length of the trailer is the slow pace of the trailer at first, spending a minute to set the scene, something few films include in their teaser trailers. Also, the length of the film itself is three hours, which inevitably means that it could show double the amount without spoiling the film, as it is twice as long as the average movie.