DECONSTRUCTION: The Bourne Legacy



Before the 'Bourne Legacy' trailer begins, a 'green band' rating card is shown to demonstrate that the following material is suitable for all age groups. 

The trailer starts with showing the Universal studio credit, which is quickly hidden by several black bars travelling across the shot until eventually forming total black.  Once the screen is entirely enveloped, dramatic slow violin music (non-diegetic) begins to play.  This evokes feelings of anticipation and tension in the audience - aspects typical of a thriller trailer.

 

The black bar transition occurs on a small section of the screen, revealing a variety of close-up shots of Jeremy Renner's beaten face (high key lighting).  This immediately creates an air of mystery around his character, with the bar transition implying that he has something to hide.  Whilst this occurs, a conversation between him and another character takes place.



The same transition continues, gradually introducing the film’s cast through close-up shots and dialogue without revealing the characters identities (low key lighting creates mysterious shadows).  The transition also hints that these conversations are taking place somewhere extremely confidential, developing a suspicious atmosphere.

 

The black bar transition then occurs once more, but this time revealing the shot of Jeremy Renner‘s face in it’s entirety through a close up with high key lighting.  This reveals the famous actor starring in the film, which will therefore attract an audience from his fan base.  The musical score builds to a climax before stopping abruptly, giving the audience a sense of suspense as to what will happen next. 

 

The words 'there was never just one' are shown, whilst an unknown character narrates, 'Jason Bourne was just the tip of the iceberg'. These statements refer to the franchise of the previous Bourne films, consequently creating interest for previous fans.



A variety of rapid, dramatic action scenes then occur, demonstrating that Jeremy Renner's character is constantly surrounded by danger and must fight to survive. Whilst these scenes are shown the tempo and volume of the music quickens, mimicking the fast-paced editing (basic cut transitions).



One of these quick shots is a high angle close up shot of a file with an attached photo of Renner, highlighted through high key lighting. This demonstrates that Renner is of key importance to an unknown group/character, as they have spent the time to access 'restricted' detailed information on him (shown through the 'restricted label on the cover'.



Another of the shots of a long shot of a wooden cabin suddenly exploding in a snowy location, illustrating the dangerous surroundings Renner is involving himself in and creating an air of excitement.



Another of these shots is a low angle long shot of Renner jumping from one tree to another.  This shot type emphasizes that he is not only powerful, but also abnormal due to his extreme athleticism.

The scenes climax once more with a close-up of Jeremy Renner taking a gun shot with a calm expression.  This loud and sudden action has a shocking effect, immediately cutting off the trailer's score and all other sounds. 

 

The shot is then instantly cropped to show Jeremy Renner's determined eyes in black and white.  Combined, these effects bring back the air of mystery around his character, making the audience question as to whether he is a cold-blooded killer.  The bar transition from the beginning of the trailer then occurs, slowly wiping the final image from the screen and taunting the audience to find out for themselves.



A variety of still shots from the film are then shown, which gradually move backwards in a disorderly fashion (potentially mimicking the main character's mindset)

All of these images are tinted with white, so that they eventually come to form the film’s title: The Bourne Legacy, on a black background.  The word 'Bourne' stands out in a bolder font, once again stressing the franchise that was created by the previous films (therefore attracting it's fans).



The teaser trailer finally ends in revealing what season and year the film will be released, helping to create anticipation and interest from the target audience.