Birds of Prey – Trailer Analysis

Birds of Prey – Trailer Analysis

There are multiple filming techniques that will be discussed in this analysis of the Birds of Prey trailer, along with the comparison to the first film, the prequel, to this – Suicide Squad.

A striking thing to focus upon when looking at the Birds of Prey trailer is its specific use of colour and how it relates to the character and also how it contrasts with the overall subject matter within the film.
  So, the first point to make about the use of colour in this trailer is how they use pink in particular in relation to our anti-hero Harley Quinn. The connotations of pink, when putting them in relation to the character is that Harley Quinn is a passionate character and also a flirtatious and romantic character, which are clear indicators to why the director would use different shades of pink throughout the trailer to represent Harley Quinn as passionate and flirtatious. Along with these connotations, a darker pink and red indicates the colour of blood and danger, which fits alongside the shots of action and violence we are shown, as an audience.
   Another striking use of colour is the funfair bright colours, an entire spectrum we are shown in this trailer. A particular use of this is when Harley Quinn is at a dangerous site after leaving her previous lover, well-known character, the Joker. There is an explosion, but the colours are a spectrum of bright, happy colours, contrasting with the violence. This indicates the lack of care that Harley Quinn has for the violence that she is displaying and also that she can be a fun character, despite the violence, which is shown throughout the trailer, which is comprised heavily of contrasting tone to content.
    Lastly, while looking at colour, is the clear difference of its use within this trailer (Birds of Prey) in comparison to Suicide Squad, the previous film that inspired this one. Suicide Squad, while light in tone at times, remains rather muted and dark when looking at the colour. When looking at Birds of Prey, in comparison, it is clear that there has been a shift in overall tone, and the use of bright and, seemingly happy, colours indicates that this film is going to be more fun (while still being action-packed, like the first film). It also fits well in a comic book sort of setting, which DC, as a company have clearly improved on over time.
  This will likely be a positive for the film from a marketing perspective, as audiences (especially big fanatics of the comics) were initially disappointed on average of Suicide Squad, which also received a lot of negative press from critics and didn’t receive the predicted positive praise.

Another aspect of Birds of Prey that was used well was the use of sound. First thing to mention on this topic is the choice of song, All So Quiet by Bjork. It is a clever song to choose, when looking at Harley Quinn as a character and also the development of the trailer as a piece of media.
   The trailer uses the sudden shift in this song to its advantage. It manages to set the tone and establish the synopsis in the slow start to this song, showing Harley Quinn and using her voice and personality over the top of the song, to show quite a delicate woman, when the song changes after the lyric ‘Til they fall in love’, which is not only applicable to Harley Quinn’s previous relationship with the Joker, but also then increases the tempo of the entire trailer, as the action kicks in and we are shown more of the violence that the audience will see if they choose to watch this film. The soundtrack is a perfect accompaniment when looking at trailers as a whole concept of media, as it manages to slowly create a build up until there are quick cuts of the film shown in quick succession, by which time the audience are already invested in the story.
    Similar to this, Suicide Squad uses a very similar song to create the same sort of effect by using Queen’s ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’, which once again has a slow build and then a quicker tempo ending.

When analysing the mise en scene of this trailer, it first uses a series of close ups, to build suspense, rather than fitting the stereotypes for a trailer, which usually use establishing shots to establish the audience to their setting. However, Harley Quinn then says on voice-over ‘Oh, shit, I told this all wrong’ which may indicate that this use of close ups first was purposeful. The close ups still allow us to establish the character of Harley Quinn, who wears white boot heels, which may show to the audience her cold and calculating nature, which is then quickly shown with her firing a gun.
Then there is a series where Harley Quinn explains her story on voice-over with imagery to suggest exactly what she is explaining. Some of which shows her at home, bringing some more reality and personality to her character, when we had only previously seen madness and violence. This establishes the whole tone of the entire trailer, showing that she is a human being, which makes her actions all the more poignant.

Overall, when looking at this trailer, it shows what will be a fun film, mostly concentrating on Harley Quinn as the protagonist, or more of an anti-hero. There is darkness within this film, however the cinematography, colour, sound and dialogue indicate that the film will be light-hearted, a story of the emancipation of Harley Quinn, in her own words. It seems that DC are going back to their roots for this film, using bright colours and short expressive dialogue, as if it were a comic.

 As this film poster shows, it demonstrates many points that were previously made. A smiling, but possibly quite disturbed, Harley Quinn on top of a police car with a smashed windscreen. She is wearing pink, which could be said to be her trademark colour, along with blue. These colours are also on the police car, as the emergency lights, which indicates her relationship and rather careless attitude to the law, her appearance almost inviting them. The number plate also says ‘BOP HQ’, clearly an acronym for Birds of Prey Headquarters, a group of women looking for emancipation, that Harley Quinn is putting together – the central plot of the film.