Synopsis: Jake (Sean Faris) moves to Orlando, Fla., with his mother (Leslie Hope) and brother (Wyatt Smith). He feels like an outsider in his new school and frequently lets his temper flare out of control. But Jake wants to fit in, and he decides to go to a party with his classmate Baja (Amber Heard). There, Jake is pushed into a fight and humiliated. Another classmate (Evan Peters) sees what happened, and encourages Jake to visit martial arts trainer Jean Roqua (Djimon Hounsou).
The opening to this trailer is very unique compared to many films, where it uses a fade to white and an extremely quick camera tilt upwards showing a street, the music is also startling as it starts as soon as the trailer does, this emphasizes that it will be an action film since it is fast paced and many films of that genre have upbeat music, are fast paced and reliable in the fact that they will get the audience off their feet and intrigued to see what will happen next. The camera then fades to black followed by another panning shot showing a bunch of sports cars, which could suggest that there could be some sort of event going on, however we are then introduced to a narration just as this shot is introduced to us, where the voice is dramatic and personally i think it doesnt fit along with the trailer, since the music is upbeat and lively, the narration is extremely deeply toned, so it creates a fair amount of contrast. This is followed by a sequence of panning shots showing a party of some sort going on, also connoting to the audience the stereotypes of the young generation where they are unruly and rebellious. Following this we are introduced to a two person shot in which they are given prevalence over all of the other people in the party, since the camera focuses on them and blurs out all of the other people it would make the audience wonder if they were any special character of some sort. The camera then changes from long and mid shots to close up shots of people clapping their hands, but it is all blurry. The purpose of this shot was to allow the audience to further delve into the trailer and feel like they were there, but the use of the panning shot also connotes that there could be some confusion.
After the sequence of shots, the narration states, '' The real action begins.'' This suggests to us that there is another event going on which is more important than the party. However straight after that shot there is a fade to black, leaving a slight pause in order to build up tension for the audience, also, the audience would be wondering what the real action is, as well as the use of the fade to black they would be impatient yet eager to find out what it would be. However we are then introduced to a over the shoulder shot of two fighters, along with a complete change of lighting, where the party has finished and people are getting ready for a 'fight night'. Straight after the over the shoulder shot the camera cuts into a low angle shot showing the detail of one fighter punching another, however this shot was fairly clumsy since it doesn't fit too well and makes the trailer seem awkward. Also in this shot the camera focuses on the two fighters and slightly blurs out the audience watching the fight as well as the background, so the audience are forced to focus their eyes on the fight going on, emphasizing the point of view. The camera then cuts straight back into an over the shoulder shot of the aftermath from the punch. The music starts becoming louder and louder along with a faster pace as the trailer progresses, purposely increasing the tension. the lighting also changes from bright lights to fairly dull lights, however the spectators are in a dark spot yet the fighters in the middle have the spotlight on them, so a change of lighting also helps the audience find where to look at. Whilst this is happening the camera uses a sequence shot panning around the fight until eventually changing into a tracking shot from a diagonal angle showing a take-down between the two fighters.
Another change of scenery, where the camera uses a tracking shot which follows van travelling down a road, we are then introduced to a new character who we can presume is one of the main characters, where we see him at a mid shot at his eye level, the character is wearing a t shirt, stating that he is a simple character, not upper class but could be middle class or lower class. the lighting also changes to be more bright and cheerful where the sun is out. The narration then tells us who this character is, so if the audience were wondering what his name was, if any enigmas were left then the audience could assume that there would be an explanation or a description. As the narration states the characters' name, we see him through a slightly low angle shot, where the character has a smirk on his face, which could suggest to the audience that he could be a cocky character. Then suddenly we are introduced to two of the main characters, (who ironically end up hating each other) meeting up at a party, where the antagonist tours the protagonist through his home, with a cocky expression, also wearing a tight fitting top and chinos/ jeans. However in this shot the camera focuses on the antagonist (closest one to camera) and blurs out the protagonist, since we have already been introduced to the protagonist sitting in the truck, but it was possible that the antagonist was seen during the beginning of the trailer fighting someone, where we were shown to see him win several fights. This tells us that he is a skilled fighter. Some props included in this shot are plastic cups, a saucepan and a kitchen along with a pool and several other items. After that another character is introduced, since we know she is going to be a main character the camera focuses on her, whilst blurring out all of the other characters. We are able to see that she has a white dress and a golden necklace on her, which could signify that she is upper class. Following that shot we are shown the protagonist to be looking towards her direction, signifying that there could be a love interest between those two characters.
The trailer then fades to black, building up tension along with the music suddenly stopping, which then changes to a slightly high angle shot of the antagonist saying, '' Are you ready?'' with a deep focus on his face. The camera then cuts to a high angle shot facing downwards towards the antagonist and the protagonist, suggesting that there is going to be a fight about to happen between them, the use of this shot was to show us a point of view from one of the characters in the trailer looking down at them, increasing the involvement the audience have with the trailer. Following this the camera cuts to an over the shoulder shot from the antagonist's shoulder looking towards the protagonist, where the protagonist says, ''I'm not fighting.'' This proves to us that the protagonist is either a kind person or that it proves his innocence, since we do not know what has happened between the two characters, the audience would assume that the antagonist is bullying the protagonist into a fight, the female character who was given prevalence earlier could have possibly had an impact in the fight, for example the antagonist caught the protagonist looking at the girl who could possibly be his girlfriend, and wanted to fight the protagonist, but many mysteries are left unanswered so that the audience have to assume things. Another reason why the audience could assume the female has a big impact on the film is because she is given prevalence over many of the shots, along with those two characters, which could signify a love complex or a love triangle, which would attract more of a female audience, however this film is mainly focused on a male audience since it has a lot of fighting and fast paced action.
About half way through the trailer the music changes to a rock song, along with a montage of the protagonist learning how to fight, from the use of mid shots and the clever use of camera focuses the audience is able to analyse what he is doing and are able to understand what is going on, whilst the narration has stopped and is overtakes by diegetic sounds like the characters talking to another, the martial arts teacher of the protagonist says the title, ''Never Back Down.'' whilst he says that the camera is at a close up shot of his face showing sweat on his face, suggesting that he has been training hard. Towards the end there is a short conversation between the protagonist and the antagonists' girlfriend, using high and low angle shots along with shot reverse shot. The trailer then finishes with a point of view shot from the antagonist where the protagonist is round house kicking him, suggesting that there is some revenge, since earlier in the trailer we are shown the opposite event, stating irony. The music then slowly fades whilst the title screen pops up, which is not all shown at once, instead it is shown word after word along with a loud thumping sound emphasizing the arrival of that word, the title screen is also very colourful compared to most trailers.
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