Submarine Trailer

Submarine, which was always going to be more of a cult indie film than an international blockbuster, doesn’t shy away from capitalising on this in its trailer. There are no real wide, panning shots; the location is immediately established as a bleak, working class town somewhere in the north of England. Like the films of Working Title, this location immediately makes it appear more attractive to a series of specific target audiences, one of which being the American’s who the film producers hope will be naturally drawn to the aesthetic and the atmosphere of early 80’s Britain.

Quirkiness is obviously a major selling point in this release and one that, again, the producers deliberately emphasise in the trailer. Not only is this film written and directed by the much loved but, by his own admission, eccentric Richard Ayoade (best known for his role as Moss in the cult series the IT Crowd), but the clips shown in the trailer are deliberately the films strangest. More than giving us an idea about the film’s narrative, this makes the movie appear more ambiguous and intriguing to the audience which is one of its major selling points as, realistically, the kind of storyline explored in film rarely comes across exciting or especially attractive in trailers to audiences not specifically looking out for that particular genre.

However, easily the biggest selling point of the film was the soundtrack – written and performed by Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys. Strangely though the songs he wrote for the film are barely featured in the trailer until the end. Turner’s voice is distinctive enough to be classed as instantly recognisable and the image of the Arctic Monkeys, from the industrial hub of Sheffield, perhaps contributes as much to the trailer as clips and voiceovers themselves, implying that the spirit carried through in many of the songs and the persona associated with Turner, will somehow find bearing with this title.