Sound analysis - suicide squad trailer

To get an idea of how sound can be used to create atmosphere, I will be analysing a trailer to get into the right frame of mind about how this is done. The trailer I will be analysing is for suicide squad which was released on August 2015, and was distributed by Warner Bros. pictures and produced by DC entertainment;

This trailer uses hardly any diegetic sound and depends heavily on non diegetic sound such as incidental music and soundtrack. The use of diegetic sound is used in the first shot, which is an establishing shot which the sound effect of rain has been used. The use of rain creates a moody yet darker atmosphere which has been used at the beginning to set the scene for the audience without the use of dialogue.

There is a lot of use of diegetic dialogue in this trailer. At the beginning of the trailer, it is used to set up the narrative for the audience so they can get a brief idea about what is going on without revealing too much about the actual film narrative. The use of diegetic dialogue also is used throughout the trailer, and then at the end as the soundtrack fades out and the antagonist (the joker) is giving direct mode of address, as to emphasise the dramatic build up. 

The use of dialogue has also been used as non diegetic voice overs, so the dialogue would continue over different shot locations to give the audience the bigger picture of what the film is about, and so it also keeps them interested rather than having shot-reverse-shots of people having a discussion about what is happening in the narrative. It has also been used for creating a mysterious atmosphere in which by not having a face to the voice creates a mysterious and unnerving feel to the trailer.

The non-diegetic incidental music has been used to create a mysterious tension. It has also been used as a sound match or response to clips within the scene. For example;

In this long shot, the doors open and the clip fades out. In response to the doors opening, the incidental music creates a sound similar to one we would associate with the doors opening in a lift, except this sound is a part of the incidental music rather than sound effects. 

The effect of using incidental music for the beginning of the trailer is to set the scene and a mysterious atmosphere, as to gain audience interest. 

In this trailer, diegetic sound effects have been used for objects that wouldn't usually match that sound effect. This has been created for the ident, in which the ident revolves and turns around the screen;

The sound effect used for this matches the action on the screen, but is the sound effect of a gun revolver and although works in timing with the ident, it wouldn't usually be the sound associated with the ident. By using the sound effect of a revolver gun, it is iconic to the film genre and further tells the audience what the film is about.

Around 57 seconds into the trailer, the incidental music gets louder and then suddenly dies down. This is to create a build up of tension and create atmosphere, in which the incidental music then leads into a non-diegetic soundtrack. The non-diegetic soundtrack starts around 1:03 into the trailer, and like the incidental music is set out to create a mysterious atmosphere. The soundtrack used is angelic and mysterious, with a spooky and edgy feel to it as well. It works well with the editing as even though some of the shots are short and full of action, the editing itself is slow paced and uses slow motion and fade in/out on the clips to reflect on the soundtrack. 

As the soundtrack picks up the pace towards the end, the editing speeds up and the clips become shorting, whilst still using slow motion and fade, even though not all of the clips use all of this. The climax builds up and then fades out at the end, and then cuts off before the last shot of antagonist at the end (the joker). 

As shown from the evidence, trailers can use both diegetic and non-diegetic sound to create a mood and tension in which works along side with the editing and the camera shots provided.