Man of Steel Trailer Analysis

The trailer begins the the production logos informing us on the companies that made the film. The colour scheme of the logos relates to the overall colour palette of the film, using colours such as grey and blue, relates to the realism approach the film is undergoing and help ground the film into reality. The grey colours and the metallic texture of the logos also is very simear to the space ship and materials shown within the film, with is one of the main iconography in the science fiction genre. The metal looking logos could also link with the film title ‘Man of steel,’ as the steel style logos could refer to the characters strengths.

The fist shot in the trailer is a med close up of Clarke floating in the water, amongst debris. This could be an enigma, making the audience wonder, what has happened to the character? and, what’s caused this destruction?  The angle of the shot and the position of the body makes the character look symbolic, with his arms out, and minimal clothing, the image could be referring the Jesus and religion. This is a theme running throughout the trailer with a voice over line be Jar-El ‘He’ll be a god to them’, clearly telling the audience from the beginning that he is like a god or Jesus like figure, being a super-human sent down  a fight for justice. This is also backed up with the way the lighting shines onto his body, like the heavens opening up to him.

The trailer has a dramatic slow score, as the a high pitch voice over begins. A woman’s voice saying ‘ follow my voice, pretend it’s an island out in the ocean’ trying the focus his mind off people’s thoughts. Her facial expressions shows that she feels sorry for the main character, knowing that she can’t do anything to help him. Proving his isolated from people and nobody really knows how to handle him. This part of the trailer shows more of a drama element, which isn’t as prominent in other superhero action films.

The editing pace of this part of the trailer is slow, which increases sympathy for the young Clarke, in his dark and depressing time in his life. The next shot is a side view of a school bus plummeting into the water, this looks to be a big set piece early in the film. It shows Clarke saving his fellow class mates, having to show his gifts and powers being a reluctant hero, which makes the character stand out from other superheros that become a hero to fight crime, Superman has powers forced upon him from birth and begins by hiding it from the world. There is a dialogue voice over of a child’s parent describing what a teenage Clarke did to save everyone on the bus. Music is still effective to create tension showing the drama element, and the feeling that he is slowly turning into Superman.

After the school bus events, we get a shot of Clarke talking to Jonathan Kent, his father, as he starts asking questions as we realizes he is different from the rest of the world. The dialogue shows that he doesn’t know whether he should tell people about his powers, while his father tells he that world is not ready. This is the introduction to Jonathon Kent played by Kevin Costner. This casting can help attract a different type of audience, being an well renowned academy award winning actor, he adds integrity to the film. Even though the actor is only shown in one shot early in the trailer, his voice over is present throughout the film, which suggests that he has a sufficient part within the narrative and Superman’s origin.

An inter-title appears in between shots, exciting the audience, appearing with a boom sound effect. The title ‘Next Summer’ informs us of the date of the film. A close up shot of a memory devise, which has the Superman logo, shows a significant period of the film, when Clarke discovers about his family and where’s he’s from. The devise is an updated glass crystal from previous superman films, allowing fans to reconnect with the character, and the appearance of the logo reinforces the brand recognition of the character and the story.

Superman is the USP as the character is the most successful superhero of all time, with numerous Hollywood feature films, a range of video games, television programs, book and a vast amount of merchandise. This film comes with a large built in audience with a young mainstream demographic of 18-25. Being a reboot of a big Hollywood franchise, Man of Steel, has a tentpole release and a guaranteed large audience. The superman symbol and costume allows people who are less familiar with the superman story, to quickly know what the film is.

Clarke centred in shot, walks over mountains, with a voice over by Jonathan Kent saying ‘You just have to decide what kind on man you want to grow up to be Clarke, who ever that man is, it’s going to change the world’. This bring up the morals of Superman, reminding us that this is his origin story and he gets to the point where he has to decide who he wants to become. This also connects to an underlying themes within all superhero genre films ‘with great power comes great responsibility’, which is when the characters learn what it is to become a superhero.

In this shot a close up shows Clarke, facial expressions looking relaxed and calm, showing that we are watching the part of the film where he now understand who he is and what he has to become. As he prepares to fly, we get a close up shot of the character putting his fist on the ground, as debris flies and the ground starts rumbling, portraying his power and strength. The music at this point is very dramatic with heavy synths and drums, building up the audiences anticipation as something significant and iconic is about to happen.

Superman is an American cultural icon, an inspiring force within the public eye. Portrayed within his costume with iconic blue costume and red cape, showing the two main colours of the American flag. A mid shot of him flying into the camera, also portraying the force of his power, as the whole area around Superman cracks and crumbles. The flying of character, is a good example of the high budget special effects in the film, being a blockbuster effects like these will be used regularly. This is also a iconography of the super hero genre. As the music reaches it’s climax, we see a shot of Superman flying supersonic through the air, centred on screen as he passes through the clouds and around the earth.

Another inter title appears, telling us of the director ‘Zack Snyder‘ and shows other films he has being part of ‘Watchmen and 300.’ This brings an built in audience, fans of the successful blockbuster films. The films ‘Watchmen‘ and ‘300‘ are also adaptations of graphic novels, similar genre to Man of steel, and attract fans of the green and reassure existing fans and ‘promise of pleasure’ that Superman is being adapted by a successful director.

From this point of the trailer there is a significant change of energy as the editing speeds up, presenting quick montages of different shots, suggesting that the film starts off slow and emotional as the main protagonist grows up but after a sufficient moment there will be a shift in tone, as he feels compatible with his powers. This includes a shot of Superman’s parents kissing him before they sent him to earth. We are introduced to Jar-El, superman’s father, playing by Russell Crow, who similar to Kevin Costner brings a different, older type of audience.

A quick shot of superman topless on fire, adds to the sex appeal for the audience and attracts female attention, this also connects with the hero iconic muscular look of the classic comic books. Within these shots we also get key iconography of the sic-fi genre including shot of spaceships, which reminds the audience of the origin of Superman and the fact that he is an alien. The next shot gives the audience the first look of General Zod, a mid shot of his chest and head, with light from his spaceship behind him, as he is portrayed as a powerful dominant character. His black armour clothing engorges the idea of the character being an antagonist, and there is an enigma of, why is he bad? What has Superman done to make him angry? Michael Shannon plays the character, known for independent cinema such as Take Shelter, brings in different type of audience that won’t normally watch a big blockbuster. This links with the independent, art-house look and design that the film is portraying.

The music slows down, and more depressing, showing Superman going through a struggle with the introduction of General Zod. A shot shows Krypton (Superman’s home planet) blowing up with his mother watching as she approaches death. Which is another enigma of, what’s happened to the planet? The music continues the downwards spiral as we see everything good getting destroyed. Another inter-title appears, presenting ‘Christopher Nolan’ ‘Director of the Dark Knight Trilogy’ coming of the back of the recent mega blockbuster batman films, Nolan adding as a USP he carries a big built in audience, the fact that his previous critical acclaim films were DC superhero films, also put faith into Man of Steel.

In the final shots of the trailer General Zod and Superman flies towards each other at super speed, shot on an angle, showing the chara height over buildings. This seems to be the final action sequence of the film, connecting to third acts of hollywood action film, where he get a climatic action sequence, which helps to attract the demographic of 13-20. Through these shots we also see the L.A set where the film is set.

We then get one of the most significant shot as we see the suit up close for the first time, a symbol of the ‘S’ stands  out as a prominent feature, showing the iconic logo. A close up shot, of Superman holding a woman’s hand, proves that he is comfortable in society and is not an outcast anymore. This hints at the renowned relationship between Superman and Louis Lane. With the final voice over ‘My father believed that the world wasn’t ready, what do you think?’ This direct mode of address could work on an intertextual level asking the audience if they are ready for a new and improved superman film, after the flawed previous recognition of Superman.