Research Task - Analysis of Blade Trailer

From the start of this trailer, the main interesting feature is the use of a voice over almost immediately. It is used in this particular trailer to give an idea to the style of the film by explain portions of the narrative which is that our world is "just a sugar coated topping" while "the real world" is beneath it. This sudden idea of us needing "to wake up" and see the truth behind our supposed world is quite jarring for the audience as we are hit with this big wake up call that something mysterious and sinister lies beneath our accepted reality, made clear when we see the inhuman leap made by the titular character to connote the real world involves the supernatural.

This horrible feeling of that something has existed and we haven't noticed it is strengthened by the second voice over which says they have been around for thousands of years and among us creates a unique atmosphere to the film. Its not like traditional horror by literally showing us monsters etc. but instead plays on the rational fear we have of the unknown since "they are everywhere" and "we may have seen one without knowing it" in this film's universe. So the main technique employed by this film is the use of voice overs and dialogue to imply certain things about the world and create this rather frightful world where most humans are blind to the actual going ons in the world as they apparently have their fingers in every part of the world.

Half way through the trailer we begin to see glimpses of the main antagonist, Frost, who wants to rule the humans mercilessly, This represents him as actually more evil then the rest of the vampires as there power relies on them blending in according to one so this shows the audience a divide between the villains in this trailer. This portrays the world as even more bleak as if his plan to rule over the world comes to fruition then our whole species is enslaved by these monsters in the film.

Decon Frost (main antagonist in the film)

Yet we then see the introduction of the protagonist Blade soon after and this instantly makes the audience side with him, mainly down to him being the only one who can stop the vampires. However, we see an interesting him also that he is in fact half-vampire himself so the audience would be inclined to feel afraid of him also as he has this hidden monstrous side to him but the scenes of him taken out vampires without any difficulty easily make the audience side with this anti-hero of sorts. Mainly down to he seems to be the only one who can save the world from potential decimation and this flaw in his life makes him a much more complex and believable character which balances out the supernatural part and creates a darker more gritty down which will have a stronger feeling of verisimilitude so we forget that its based off a comic book like the recent Batman films which were made with this idea in mind. Also an interesting note is the colours used on the characters outfits which is predominately (if not entirely) black which has connotations of evil like for the vampires themselves but for Blade it is used to connote the damning secret of him being half vampire which he tries to keep to himself throughout the film as he himself does not to be associated with the things he hunts even though it is the thing that makes him able to hunt them in the first place.

Blade, half vampire protagonist of the film.

Another main factor of this film unlike in the others above is that is uses "name dropping" since Wesley Snipes plays the main character so fans of his previous films would be more likely to come see it and along with Stephen Dorff to ensure a larger audience. Also the fact it is not like traditional vampire films in terms of genre as instead of plain horror, it is much more action orientated through the use of quick cuts of action scenes particularly in the final shots of a sword fight and including of explosions which are all common signs of action orientated films especially the close up shots of the actors.

Another interesting feature is the final credits screen which has all the names in red writing, a very common feature used in vampire films as the colour red is a typical signifier of the vampire style since it immediately connotes blood and the atrocious actions caused by vampires in their pursuit for their only source of nourishment so this colour is basically a universal sign for vampires themselves.