Dead Island Trailer Analysis

Dead Island

The trailer begins showing the two parallel strands of the narrative development. One being the dead girl and the other is the family attempting to save her. At first the audience would speculate that the trailer is non-linear, as the shots are not shown to be linked in order of time, however this adds to the emotional response, as the endings connotations change due to the order. As the trailer is played in reverse order, the two narratives meet at the same point, but the meaning behind the meeting shot changes. If it were played in order of time, the girl would be picked up and taken into the hotel room by her father, but as it is played backwards, it conveys the father sacrificing his daughter to the zombies, as she has already been bitten.

The trailer starts by tracking back from an extreme close-up of an eye, once we are able to see the face, the audience is able to see that it is a little girl lying on the floor. This would cause the audience to have enigma codes, as they will want to know what happened to the girl and why. The close-up of the eye allows the audience to create a bond with the young girl, as it is her story we are following throughout the trailer.
The shots that are played in reverse are shown in slow motion, as this draws out the emotional response from the audience, as they are forced to watch for a longer period of time, whereas the shots going played forward are without slow motion, this is due to the fact that in these shots there is still a slight chance of survival, whereas in the reversed shots she has already died. Supporting this, in the reversed shots, the audience are unable to hear any diegetic sound. Slow, sad music is played over the top which works as a contrast to the heavy breathing and zombie grunts. This acts as an aural signifier of her life, as we are able to hear as she does when in the narrative of her family trying to save her.

The trailer shows multiple conventions of a zombie survival game, as there are certain aspects that the audience have come to expect when zombies are involved. Such as the heavy use of gore and violence, and the use of the typical zombie appearance, which involves open jaws and ripped skin, as this conveys that they are no longer alive.
Throughout the trailer the audience are placed in a position of observation, as this allows them to see everything that is happening. There is one shot in which the audience are in the position of the zombie's point of view, which causes the audience to feel more connected in the narrative. This shot also conveys the helplessness as the audience are unable to do anything to stop the inevitability of the girl's death happening.