Legend Teaser Trailer Analysis

Genre

• Legend is a historical crime and gangster  thriller which is immediately obvious through the mise en scene such as 50's costumes, guns and classic cars. 

Narrative

• Only being a 30 seconds teaser trailer, the narrative gives the gist of the movie; the autobiographical story of the Kray twins and how the police worked towards their capture. There isn't much detail on any side stories or other characters other than the brothers. However Tom Hardy's performance shows a clear difference between the twins, that one is more violent than the other.

Unique Selling Points

• The unique selling points of the movie is firstly the fact that this is a movie about the twins and not a documentary, and secondly that Tom Hardy plays both twins. Usually two similar looking actors would have been chosen but to maintain accuracy, the production company opted to use one actors that could show two performances in one film.

Target Audiences

• These draw in a target audience of 18 to 50 year old white males, since this is a British historical gangster film. However Tom Hardy as a well known good looking actor will draw in female audiences too. Other audiences would not be as interested as this is a historical film and since there is indication that there will be violence through the stereotypes of Gangster film and imagery of guns.

Music

• The teaser trailer only uses one song which is an instrumental upbeat and contemporary song which contrasts the genre of the movie. The song continues to draw younger audiences and gives the film a sense of action and adrenaline opposed to the stereotypical vibe that a historical crime documentary gives.

Shots types/Camera Angles + Pace

• Since they have to show a lot to the audience to draw them in in time, the teaser trailer uses a wide range of shots and different pacing such as long shots and two shots. Some shots have been edited faster or slower than others too switch up the pacing which keeps the audience engaged. 

Dialogue and Voiceover

• The dialogue consists of mostly cliché gangster talk such as "we can handle it" with references to Western shoot-outs. The dialogue mostly overlaps the more interesting imagery as voice overs to fit in more information on the film narrative. The dialogue introduces the brothers, the man who gives them a 'muscling' job and the head officer that is trying to catch them. 
• Another voice over is used at the end of the trailer as a voice says "Legend" as the name of the film is simultaneously shown. This is used to keep the name of the film in the audience's head in case they weren't constantly watching.

Special Effects

• Special effects include a constant use of split screen to duplicate Tom Hardy into twins as both brothers are shown in shots together. Other technical effects include smoke and fireworks in one scene. Other than the use of split screen, other special effects are less likely to be used due to the genre of the film. 

Credits and Intertitles

• In order, at first the two logos for Studio Canal and Working Title are shown. 3 Seconds in a title card reading 'Based on a true story' is shown to entice the audience. 7 Seconds in a title card reads that the film is from an academy award winning screenwriter, and names 3 other thriller movies for explorers and reformers. 13 Seconds in a title card praises Tom Hardy's awards and shows 4 stars each from 3 different magazines to convince the audience into watching and to use Hardy as a selling point. 23 Seconds in 4 title cards flash in time to the music that say "Power", "Fear", "Family", "Legend" which sums up the movie as well as give a sense of excitement. Afterwards there is information on the date as well as "#LegendFilm" so that explorers can follow the film. All the title cards are their own shots; no information is shown over imagery. 

This trailer helps me understand that if I were to make a teaser trailer I would have to show the most enticing shots and cinematography as well as only show dialogue that gives a gist of the movie. It also shows where to place title cards and what to show on them. The use of lapping dialogue over imagery to save on time is also key to keep audiences engaged as well as fast editing shots. In the teaser their is not much action shown, only scenes leading up to action which entices the audiences to want to see what happens, which is important to keep in mind despite not wanting to make a crime film, but perhaps taking some of the thriller and drama elements from it.