Sound
The dialogue in this trailer uses simple science terminology. This use of complicated words relates to the genre of political thriller, as the audience is meant to be unsure who they can trust. Because the terms are well known it makes the science accessible to the audience so the film will still make sense.
Screaming is used in two different points of this trailer. The first is a man screaming in an odd medical situation and the second is a crowd cheering at a political personality. The second use at first sounds like people are screaming in fear but then changes to celebrations, this puts the audience on edge and shows them that there is something not quite right with thew politician. politicians going off the rails or being involved in a power struggle is a convention of the political thriller genre.
Conversations in this trailer are shown to be urgent and fast paced. this sets the tone of the film as dramatic and action packed. This incorporates the "race against time" element of action thrillers. It also shows that the conversations are needed but not important as the situation has moved on from discussion to action. This is another common theme in political thrillers as politicians have gone so far away from what is considered ethical that they must be stopped by force.
Camera Angles
All of the politically involved characters are shown in a medium close up, low angle shot. This makes them appear more powerful and fearsome to the audience and it is clear that they are not the leader figures that they should be.
On the other hand the protagonist is shot from a high angle which makes him seem less powerful and in peril, another convention of political thrillers.
The trailer also shows a low angle shot of CCTV cameras which makes the audience feel uncomfortable as they are being watched. This follows the convention of figures in power abusing means set up to make the public safe.
The trailer includes a long shot of the protagonist running through some pigeons which all fly up. This represents the theme of one man disrupting the calm and causing a ripple effect that effects everyone.
Camera Movements
There are many cuts used in the trailer. This follows the conventions mainly of a thriller film, creating a sense of tension and increasing the pace of the trailer. Several quick fades are used as well, giving a sense of time passing, and giving it a quick pace too.
Pans are used too, to give characters a position and status in the trailer, a convention of the political thriller sub-genre.
A couple of seconds into the trailer, there is a 'night-time' infrared camera shot used, this connotes, very heavily, a military theme.
Mise-en-scene
At the beginning of the trailer, much emphasis is put on the army, with many props and costumes used to impose this concept to the audience.
The political themes are soon made clear, when a character leaves his car and walks into a building, there is a lot of red, white and blue hoarding all over the building, and crowds of press and the public surrounding him. This would normal suggest celebrity, but because of the red, white and blue colours of the hoarding matching the colours of the American Flag, these mise-en-scene naturally follows the conventions more of a political movie rather than mainstream.
Along with the sound, the audience is shown images of the American high class soceity, with a Rolls-Royce and large Federal-style house in large grounds (a typical image of Conservative America). When Meryl Streep's character talks about 'a plan' of some sort, the combination of the images with her dialouge start to connote the concept of conspiracy, which is a common convention of political thrillers.
It also follows convention with the large amount of different settings, such as a military base, Denzel Washington's character mentions Kuwait, the large house, a rally, and presumably a high-class party. This is typical of political thrillers.
Political Thriller Conventions
-Threat against a backdrop of power struggle
-Plots are designed to illustrate a possible power shift or give power to someone
-Opposing characters will try to prevent this person from gaining power
-2 sets of characters ranked by authority
-Often spans many locations
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