GTA V trailer analysis

After almost a 2 week delay (due to hurricane Sandy) Rockstar released their well anticipated 2nd trailer for GTA V on the 14th of November. As expected from Rockstar, their new trailer has a film-like feel to it, with opening credits and sweeping establishing shots, showing the skyline of Los Santos. We can see from this screen shot how the usual distance fog that appears in games does not appear here - the graphics seem superior, which makes it seem more than a game (which was definitely one of Rockstar's intentions). The natural lighting and bright colours contrast with that of the darkness of GTA IV, however, there are some clues that there will be aspects of GTA V that have been in previous games.

The trailer opens with the Stevie Wonder song 'Skeletons' which may be symbolic, as many of GTA's song choices are. It may reinforce the violent content of the game, which will inevitably end with many deaths (skeletons  symbolise death). After the initial establishing shot, the credits appear, and we are introduced to the first of GTA V's protagonists. This scene shows his lavish and luxurious life style, with shots of his mansion and a low angled shot of his very expensive car - a grey F9 (Audi R8 Spider). All of these shots expose the amazing amount of detail that Rockstar have put into this game. It also begins with some dialogue, some diagetic dialogue from the first character's family, and also some non-diagetic narration from the character himself. Dialogue throughout this trailer allows it to flow properly as a film trailer would, with characters almost explaining the scene as it is portrayed on the screen.

After several more establishing shots of the city, we are introduced to the second protagonist, who seems to have a fiery temper. The camera edits speed up to show the difference in his personality from the first man, and shots are shown of him slamming another man's head against the bar, and even him blowing up a house. These are all shown in quick jump cuts to show the typical fast paced and action based content that is expected of GTA games.

Then, the last protagonist is introduced. After a quick jump cut of him and his girlfriend arguing, even more jump cuts are shown of high speed car chases, a scene where a bank robbery is involved, a train scene and even a scene with a dog is shown (animals have never been in previous GTA games, which caused a lot of discussion in on line chats about the trailer). A scene is shown with a quad bike and motorbike chase, and a scene which could have been from a Hollywood movie is shown, where a Jeep falls from a plane and is seen falling towards Earth. We can tell from this trailer that Rockstar definitely wants this to seem more than a game. All the while, the music is getting louder and more fast paced, again, following the speed of the edits and action in the frames. Near the end, all 3 characters come together, and after a quick introduction and more jump cuts of action from a nightime helicopter/jet chase, they seem to form the pose of the three wise monkeys - see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. Again, this is very symbolic.