The trailer opens with a non diegetic sound of a piano, the start of this sound is synced with the introduction of the intro for 20th Century Fox. This is effective to have this at the start because the 20th Century Fox is symbolic of a huge variety of films. This immediately gives the audience an impression of what the quality of the film will be like. In addition the gentle piano nice gives an overall calm vibe to the trailer denoting that this section is the equilibrium of the film.
Following this a mid shot of a female is faded in from a black screen; the fade is smooth and at a relatively slow pace which continuous the relaxed tone to the trailer. The next 2-3 shots are different points of view of the people smiling and being happy on what looks to be a futuristic ship. In the dialogue the female character first introduced says “you have all sacrificed so much to be here, and be apart of this thing we are doing”. This connotes that this could be some sort of mission that includes risks and danger. The script creator did this effectively because it is ambiguous and doesn’t give anything important away initially which could persuade the audience to want to watch further into the trailer.
The next shot is introduced synced with a new non diegetic score. This score is still relaxed with some higher pitched more frequent piano chords. This continuous the theme from the last few shots connoting that we are still in the equilibrium of the film. The shot is of a futuristic ship in space heading towards a planet, this further suggests that this film is based in the future. As the next shots of the couples are introduced the voice over states “this is the first ever large scale colonisation mission”. Colonisation meaning “the action or process of settling among and establishing control over the indigenous people of an area.” This connotes the the audience that they are trying to move into or settle down in a new planet to start a new life with the “couples” on board the ship.
The following shot is a extreme long shot of the ship entering this new planet. Denoting that they are no loner on earth, this is supported by the dialogue from the voice over “everyone back on earth is really grateful”. Following this a mid shot of the members of the crew walking off the ship together. This connotes that they need to be together in order for them to be successful in their mission. The score is still the gentle piano sound which keeps the same mood to the trailer.
A sequence of long shots and extreme long shots are shown to match the dialogue of one of the female protagonists, “you hear that? nothing. No birds, no animals. Nothing”. This immediately changes the mood of the trailer as it becomes more of a suspenseful thriller type of trailer compared to the previous mood of being gentle and light heated. This change of mood is supported by the switch in non diegetic score going to a heart beat and a snare with some demonic harmony going on as well. This score foreshadows what the rest of the trailer entices.
In addition to this, 4 titles are shown onto a black background when the trailer is transitioning into the next shot. The first title states “Ridley Scott”. This is effective to the audience because Ridley Scott is a iconic director in the alien franchise. This is effective because it gives the former audience of alien an idea of the quality of the movie and could potentially excite them for the whole movie as they have been informed of the director. The next three titles together state “the path to paradise begins in hell”. This not only sets a tone for the rest of the trailer but also for the rest of the movie.
A few seconds later a midshot of one of the female protagonists is shown. In the shot the character appears to be crying and looking at something in fear. Following this a black screen is shown and all non diegetic and diegetic sound is cut of for 1 second. Then the audio activates again with the introduction of a mid tracking shot of another character running in distress from something. This is followed by multiple fast action shots of multiple events representing the intensity of the film.
A few seconds later a cut is used to transition into a midshot of a character saying “where is it”. The word “it” suggests that it is an entity that they are attempting to escape from, something that is unknown to the human race. This works well with the plot as they are on another planet. Then a long shot looking down a futuristic tunnel is shown with a creature travelling down it connoting that this creature is what the character was referring to by saying “where is it”.
To end the trailer the titles were shown. The conventional font of the alien franchise was used as it is iconic and it will attract the same audience as it did for the previous films. Additionally the text saying “Alien” was coloured white and the text saying “Covenant” was green. Green was used because it is the iconic colour when people think of aliens.
Overall the creators did a really good job of promoting the film with a trailer, it had a mixture of action and peace and also a great variety of non diegetic score to keep the audiences emotions spiralling.
Klein Shelton 