Film Trailer Analysis - Reservoir Dogs

 To get a better understanding of film trailers, I picked one and decided to analyse what made it different and what made it appeal to an audience. The film trailer I have decided to analyse is the trailer for Quentin Tarantino's movie, Reservoir Dogs. (you can watch the trailer here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvoKT481EmU)

The title is revealed near the end of the trailer so it stays in the mind of the viewer.

I chose Reservoir Dogs not only because it is a film I was interested in, but also a film I drew inspiration from in the early stages of my planning, meaning the trailer should give me some good ideas for my own as they are of the same genre. The premise of the film is a diamond robbery goes wrong, the thieves meet up at the rendezvous point and begin to suspect one of them is an undercover cop. Reservoir Dogs was Tarantino's debut film, and as a result the trailer needed to catch attention.

The first frame we see in the trailer. Hints at the title of the movie.

The trailer grabs our attention with the first frame. "EVERY "DOG" HAS ITS DAY". The fact that "Dog" is in quotation marks makes the audience begin to ask themselves questions. Could "dog" stand for something? Is the film literally about dogs? Could the film be about ugly people? The trailer is relatively dialogue dependent, which is typical of both crime films and Tarantino's films. Tarantino often has lots of humorous anecdotes that don't advance the plot in an obvious way, such as in Pulp Fiction when Vincent Vega tells Jules Winnfield about a Quarter Pounder with Cheese from McDonalds being called a "Royale with Cheese" in Paris. The first words heard in the trailer are just after "EVERY "DOG HAS ITS DAY" fades out. The words "Freeze! Put the gun down!" are shouted out with no indication as to who says this or in what context it is said because all we can see is a black background. This further grabs the attention of the audience and makes them want to carry on watching. 

A lot of focus is on these men throughout the trailer, indicating that they are main characters.

After the first words "Freeze.." are uttered, the music starts. The song they have chosen for the trailer is "Stuck in the Middle With You" by Stealer's Wheel. The song is lively, upbeat and perhaps slightly comical, which is reflective of the film, slick, fast, with elements of dark humour. When we hear diagetic sounds such as the gun 26 seconds in, the music stops and we hear a bit of dialogue "What happens if the manager won't give me the diamonds?" "Cut off one of his fingers. The little one." It then cuts to a scene of the main characters laughing and the music starts again from where it left off. This is an effective technique that is used throughout the trailer to keep the audience interested.




When we hear the gun, the music stops.