Star Trek Into Darkness

In the trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness is typical of the Science Fiction Genre. It uses binary oppositions to provide the audience with a clear distinction between the futuristic Earth and Space. This is shown through the visual setting; at the beginning it appears to be set in a bar, during which Jim is told by the officer 'I believe in you Jim.' This is contrasted later in the trailer whereby they are multiple montage clips of spaceships flying through space in a chaotic fashion, which is vastly different from the familiar bar setting, which although is slightly futuristic, the audience can identify with it because it is a common and familiar place that most people have been to an experienced.

The scene in the bar is shot in close up of Jim, however in the montage set in space during the final few seconds of the trailer, it shows us multiple clips of spaceships, explosions and chaos and only a few shots feature Jim. This could be because on earth there is little action within the setting, therefore the most interesting thing within the shot would be Jim talking. However in space, the implication is, through the use of the wide shot is that it is so much action and that is what the audience needs to focus on.

The colour scheme used right throughout the trailer is silver, this has connotations of being a sci-fi colour, as well as red and blue, because we associate these colours with technology. As well, throughout the trailer, advanced technology is used and the colour scheme of it is the same, again this is typical of the Sci-fi genre, because currently we do not have that technology available to us.

Props character types are also used throughout the trailer and the characters are evident. Jim is our hero, we see this through the captain telling him ‘I believe in you’ which is a typical thing because in most films the hero does need moral support. Also the captain seems to be the donor, because he gives Jim his faith which would appear to make him believe in himself since following that line of dialogue, action shots of Jim occur. This line of dialogue also uses the functional approach to present a theme of ‘you can do anything if we believe we can’ because Jim is only human, yet later in the trailer he is in space, fighting; jumping off cliffs, in explosions and the implication is he is still alive. Therefore, he can do almost anything, because he believes he can.

We also assume that Spock is Jim’s sidekick because in many of the shots Jim is with Spock. We can also assume that Spock’s role is Jim’s sidekick because he is an iconic characters from the Star Trek series that were released in the 1960’s. Also Spock has the same iconic features that he did in Star Trek (Season 1) which are the pointed ears and the very sharp straight eyebrows and straight blunt haircut. Spock’s look reinforces the Sci-fi genre because he does not look completely human, and also he is also iconic for being a Vulcan, therefore he is half alien, which is a code and convention of the Sci-Fi genre.

As well, the uniforms that all of Star Fleet wear are iconic because they are the same as the uniforms that were worn in the original Star Trek series, the overall aesthetic look would appeal to Sci-fi lovers because it has many of the same features as the original Star Trek series, which was one of the first ever sci-fi shows aired.

Throughout the trailer there are multiple explosions and collisions involving spaceships, these are both codes and conventions of the sci-fi and action genre because there is lots of action involving technology that we in this current day have little idea of and does simply not exist.

The non-diegetic music that plays in the background is very orchestral and electronic, which has connotations of sci-fi because we associate electronic noises with technology which we also associate with sci-fi. Throughout the action montage a very heavy drum beat can be heard, this has connotations of the action genre because it creates tension which gets the audience tense and ready for something shocking and exciting to happen, which again is a code and convention and something we expect from the sci-fi and action genre.

Overall, most of the trailer uses the descriptive approach to present the sci-fi genre.