Tuesday 26 March 2013

Dead Island Trailer - A Short Review



It’s hard to describe the experience of seeing the dead Island trailer. At the time of its release the trailer left many people shocked at what they had seen. There have been many games released based around the subject of a zombie apocalypse, so what was it about this trailer that was so different?
In my opinion one of the problems with video game trailers is that they try to replicate the experience of playing the game, as opposed to trying to engage the audience with a coherent narrative. However the Dead Island trailer chooses to draw us in on an emotional level by showing us the experience of a young family during the zombie apocalypse. It does this in a very cinematic way, with its use of engaging orchestral music and non-linear editing.
Throughout the trailer are peripheral understanding of the situation is distorted constantly, leading us to only fully contextualize what has happened till the end of the trailer. When trying to deconstruct the footage it becomes hard to pinpoint a particular aspect that makes it so engaging. Personally though I would argue that it is in its representation of the good of humanity. The idea that even in times of great hardship people will refuse to turn the other cheek and help out their fellow man. On my first viewing of the trailer I failed to realize that the young girl in the film was the daughter of the young couple. However even on further viewings I think that in a way this cheapens the film, giving it a distasteful Hollywood cliché, which I believe wasn't necessary.

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