Trailer analysis – Mission Impossible III

This particular shot is an establishing shot as well as a dolly shot. This shot basically sets the scene and the location of the film, which is based in the city. The camera movement for this particular shot could also be a POV shot from a helicopter, as the camera movement looks like it is coming from one. This particular shot fits in the genre of Spy/Action, because of the way the camera is hovering around the city, as if there is something to look out for.

The two particular shots are both extreme long shots, which fades into a full body shot. They are both put together with a fade which shows that there is something strange about this man who we know is Ethan Hunt. The Mise-En-Scene is the man’s clothing which is very suspicious, as he is wearing black in the middle of the night, and being on the rooftop could also indication that he is about to do something. Also, this again fits into the whole Spy/Action genre.

This is a medium close up shot of the man on the roof, Ethan Hunt. This introduces the audience to the main character of the film which is starring Tom Cruise, who is a very well-known actor.

This is a very interesting shot, as it is an extreme close-up of someone’s eye, but it’s not just about the eye, but the red laser line that goes over it. The colour read connotes many different emotions, and moods, such as love or passion, but could also symbolize death, horror, or blood. But considering it’s a Spy/Action film, I will connote as this red laser line to symbolize danger, as that’s what most Spy/Action films include. The red laser line also indicates that this man is important enough to need to have his eye scanned. This immediately tells the audience that it is a spy film, as most spy films have advanced gadgets.

This shot is a text-on-screen where they have confirmed the protagonist’s name, which advices the audience that this is the name for them to remember. Text-on-screen makes it look like his name is part of some kind of important place, which again fits in with the Spy/Action genre. There is non-diegetic sound being used whilst the text-on-screen is shown, which says ‘Agent Confirmed’. This again tells the audience that this is a very important character in this film.

The next couple of shots are also important as these particular scenes introduce the supporting actors in the film ‘Mission Impossible 3’. The first two characters are most likely to be important throughout the film, for example ‘Phillip Seymour Hoffman’ and ‘Michelle Monaghan’ are most important, as we find out that Phillip is the villain and Michelle is the damsel in distress. Most of the scenes with the supporting characters, the actors are shown through either a big close-up, close-up, or a medium shot. This is to ensure the audience is able to be familiar with these characters. The editing in these shots are fast paced with cuts, which indicates that this film is full of action and drama, it could also indicate danger. During these shots, there is non-diegetic sound which counts down to zero. This indicates that this movie is fast paced, and also something is going to happen. The countdown could also symbolise a bomb which is about to go off.

The next couple of shots are put together to make the audience want more. When the countdown has reached zero, the editing put in place is a fade to black, and then goes on to the next scene, which is where the audience has established that this man is the villain. The camerawork is a close-up which shows his emotions which is clearly nothing. The diegetic sound is used and the man says ‘Then I am going to kill you, right in front of her’. Then another fade to black is there, which is making the audience wait for the action to happen.

The next scene after the fade to black is where the audience has established that the woman is the damsel in distress, from what the last scene showed. This particular scene is very quiet and the only thing you hear is her speaking, saying ‘What are you not telling me?’. This tells the audience that she doesn’t know about Ethan Hunt and what he does for a living. This indicates that she is in the dark.

The next scene after the fade to black is very important as the scene before is not connected to this scene at all, but putting them all together gives the audience excitement, as the damsel in distress located the question to him. The next scene is where the camera is at a medium close-up, where he also has a serious face and not saying anything but in the non-diegetic sound adds effect, and makes the audience suspicious of Ethan Hunt, and asking questions to themselves, as ‘Why doesn’t he tell her?’, ‘What is he hiding from her?’. During this time, the audience hasn’t seen any explosion or gun fire which also tells the audience to wait and keep them on their toes.

The next scene after the fade to black is a text-on-screen which is very important as this tells the audience when the film is coming out, which is in the summer. The formatting of the text and the colours connote action, because of the colour red. Red is often used in action films as they symbolise danger, love, passion and death, which sums up the type of genre the film has attained. There is non-diegetic sound used which sounds like a heartbeat from a machine. This also connotes that this film is action-packed and full of danger.

This particular clip is very important. This is because the audience are waiting for the explosion and gunfire to happen. So this scene basically tells the audience that it’s going to happen. The diegetic sound that the protagonist character says is ‘Execute’, which means to carry out or to accomplish, which also instantly tells the audience that something big is going to happen.

Then this is where the audience is finally getting what they were waiting for, which is the action such as explosions, car chases, etc. This camera angle is a long shot which shows the intense of the explosion. This gives the audience the thrill of the explosion. This is also where we hear the official theme song, from the soundtrack, which is non-diegetic.

We also see the same explosion here but in a different angle, which is a dolly shot or a crane, where the audience can see the car flip over and how high this explosion is, and also the colour contrast between the water which is blue, and the orange/yellow as the explosion.

This particular shot is a long-shot with the camera movement of a tracking shot. This indicates that the protagonist is running away from something or trying to find something or someone. Then the tracking shot instantly turns into a fade and brings up the same scene but to a medium shot, which shows that he is carrying a phone which implies that he is trying to reach someone.

These particular shots are put in these sequences because it raises questions that the audience will think about, such as ‘Why is Ethan Hunt in Thailand or an exotic place? And why is he running?’. However, besides the fact that he is running, the scene immediately cross-cuts to the two shot where the guy is also on the phone, which could imply from the last scene where Ethan is running that he could be possible talking to this particular man who seems to be wearing a suit, which could connote that he is part of the government or some agent organisation.

This shot is an overview shot (Or birds-eye-view shot). This basically emphasises how far the man is falling down. It also emphasises the danger that the man is in. This shot also shows how skilled he is, and that he has done this before.

This is also a low angle shot. This shows how the scene is very dangerous and how strong the main character is. This also makes the audience feel fear as they don’t know if he is going to make it, and putting slow motion gives the audience tension and anticipation of what is yet to come.

This is a text-on-screen shot. This tells the audience what the film is called, which is ‘Mission Impossible 3’.

By Flavio Alves 13I