The appeal of this as a Sci-fi film was that it boasted realism and was set entirely on iconic space stations. It was held in high regard for it's ground breaking special effects and featured both Sandra Bullock and George Clooney. The trailer begins with a black screen with facts about space fading onto the screen. The sudden noise combined with the chaos of a spinning space shuttle and Sandra Bullock spinning as she reaches for the audience drops the audience all too suddenly into the film. The arm on which Bullock is standing brakes and she begins spinning closer to the camera whilst George Clooney is telling her to detach. This is one continuous shot and shows the high quality of the special effects with a Geographically correct earth sat in the background.
The Camera begins spinning with Bullock crating a nauseous if not helpless feeling as we are unable to focus on any one thing. Sound plays an important role in setting the scene here with only diegetic sounds being used right up unit Bullock detaches from the arm. When this happens the Warner Brothers logo is shown and a synthetic heart beat styled noise is played under heavy breathing.
Another disorientating tracking shot is used as we following Sandra Bullock while she spins and screams "I don't know, I can't" in a fashion causing her and the audience to feel helpless and lost. The screen keeps randomly cutting to black with the speed of these cuts increasing until they are perfectly matched with Bullocks gasping breaths. It shows some of the most dramatic moments of the film and again showcases some of the phenomenal special effects.
An example of a hybrid action sci-fi film is 1984's Terminator
This film trailer follows many of the conventions of an 80's action film complete with grizzly voice over, narrative portrayed through the trailer and action spanning from the entirety of the film. Being a sci-fi however there are some minor differences. The trailer makes use of P.O.V. shots in order to ensure we know that the terminator is a robot. It also ensures this point by showing the terminator with parts of it's skin missing and referring to it's construction as a machine wrapped in human skin. The film features Arnold Schwarzenegger well known for other films he had made before terminator and a key reason in which people went to see this movie. This was James Cameron's first major film and his name was not yet synonymous with greatness. Arnold had already featured in smaller films as well as Conan the Barbarian and Conan the Destroyer in which he won awards. Michael Biehn had also featured in some much smaller projects such as an extra in grease and acting in a made for T.V. movie. The success of this film therefore was purely based on 3 things special effects, the trailer's ability to spark interest and finally Arnold. The trailer features elements of a conventional action trailer but it is hard to say that it has the conventions of a sci-fi trailer as sci-fi is generally a hybrid genre.
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