Dystopian Film Trailer Review/Critique

V for Vendetta . James McTeigue . R. 2005
When Great Britain becomes a totalitarian nation, a rebel, by the name of V (Hugo Weaving), starts a revolution, calling on the people of the country to help him revolt. He rescues a woman, Evey (Natalie Portman), to later find her to be a useful partner in crime.

A dystopia, by definition, is "an imagined place or state in which everything is unpleasant or bad, typically a totalitarian or environmentally degraded one." (Google). V for Vendetta is a trailer that contains these aspects of a dystopia: a totalitarian society and a nation where many citizens were unhappy. The director conveys these ideas through the use of a speech given by the head of the government (1:16), and the use of montages displaying the government's power (i.e. 1:27).  The trailer is edited with a dark, grey/blue tone to show the dreariness of the situation. The language throughout the trailer is all very powerful and emotion-provoking. There are many quick flashes to keep the viewer on the edge of his or her seat, nervous for the people of the the nation in the movie. There are also many scenes of violence and chaos showing how horrific the place the dystopia takes place truly is. The director uses these and many other techniques to provide the qualifications for a dystopian story.

In my own dystopian trailer, I plan to use many different filming techniques to communicate the dystopian theme. I hope to color correct the footage to cool colors and darken and sharpen it to give it a grungy feel. I also want to film in contrasting environments to show the difference between the high and lows of society in our dystopia. I will use dramatic voiceovers of the main character to keep the viewer's attention through listening closely, as well as watching carefully. With these different techniques and others, my group's trailer has a lot of potential.