Lucy - Theatrical trailer analysis

I decided to analyse this trailer because I found it interesting how they decided to subvert the stereotypes of the typical roles of action movie characters, instead of making the main role a strong, dominant male, they used a blonde woman who would usually be known as the weaker character in this genre of film as the blonde hair and clothing she wears make her appear to be innocent but that isn't the case. This character has been perceived as strong and knowledgable to fit in with the films plot. Most of the antagonists in this film are foreign which conforms to other action movies such as Taken and Kill Bill. 

We are introduced to many different locations when watching the trailer such, one of which is of the female character (Lucy) in a club which reflects again on the type of character she originally is at the beginning of the film. We are then taken to a foreign country where Lucy has been kidnapped and drugged; hinting the genre more to the audience. Many extreme close ups are used to make the audience as unaware with the location as Lucy, for example, 26 seconds into the trailer we are shown an extreme close up of her eyes which shows fear and then we are also shown her lips trembling at 28 seconds; the point of view shot used from Lucy's point of view also creates the same effect as the extreme close ups. Making these certain shots only around 1 second long builds adrenaline for whoever's watching which is conforming to the genre.

The dialogue at the beginning of the trailer creates many enigmas for the audience as well as showing that the female character doesn't know whats happening; the only dialogue is Lucy asking questions - "What happened? What did you do to my stomach? Whats going on?", the first two questions are used as bridge sound and overlay clips of Lucy in the club and then waking up somewhere she doesn't know. The final question is asked as diegetic sound as we see her saying it to a group of men in which she is looking belittled as she is shown lower down in a medium shot. There is a massive contrast in the characters behaviour and strength at the end and beginning of the film; she has been shown as unstoppable towards the middle and end but is presented as a weak, vulnerable person at the beginning.

A definite unique selling point for this movie are the actors; Morgan Freeman and Scarlett Johansen are very well known from other successful action movies such as The Dark Knight and Iron Man 2, giving this film benefits because of the likability of the two. The director (Luc Bensson) is also a unique selling point as he has directed a handful of films such as Taken 1 and 2; die hard fans of Taken would want to see 'Lucy' because of the director. 

The non diegetic sound and music gradually builds up and gets louder throughout the trailer to build suspense within the audience, you notice that the beginning of the trailer only plays music of a light humming, but then we are bombarded with the diegetic sound of the club which then goes after a few seconds, this sets a contrast between the past and the present time of the movie. It seems that the music gets more powerful as Lucy is presented as more powerful, the music and sound effects create this effect as her actions are in time with the non diegetic sounds, making it in sinc.