Trailers
Research
For this unit, I have to research two different game trailers in the leadup to my own trailer. The first trailer I have chosen is Cyberpunk 2077’s E3 2019 cinematic. The second trailer I have chosen is Elden Ring’s announcement trailer, also from E3 2019. I have chosen these two simply because they are games I am fairly familiar with and thoroughly enjoy.
Cyberpunk 2077 — Official Cinematic Trailer | E3 2019
Elden Ring – E3 2019 Announcement Trailer | PS4
First off, I want to analyse the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer. It starts out with the text “CD PROJEKT RED PRESENTS” before the trailer begins.
The Cyberpunk 2077 trailer starts out with an extreme wide shot of Night City, the games setting. I personally like the scenery on display here, as it communicates the sheer scale of Night City very well. The viewer can obviously tell that Night City is some sort of Dystopian, futuristic area.
The shot then cuts to another wide shot of the taxi, which transitions into a closeup, revealing bullet holes in the side of the door. We see V stash a gun in his back pocket before walking into the dodgy-looking motel. At this point, the viewer may assume trouble of some sort is waiting for him.
After V walks into the motel, we get a medium close up shot of V knocking on a door. I like this shot because of the way V’s face is darkened and the moody lighting on display. There is also a strong depth of field effect in the background. It almost conveys to me that V is in this shady business too deep to back out. V then gets stopped by a security guard, who shortly lets him in. As soon as V walks into the room, we hear a voice. “V, my man. You made it. You’re blowing up all over the news! Are you alone?” I would like to point out that up until this point, there was zero dialogue, leaving the viewer with nothing but the ambience of Night City, which is in contrast to the rest of the trailer.
The scene cuts to an over the shoulder shot of V and Dex talking with eachother. V exclaims that he just wants the money. From this, the viewer can gather that V is or was working for Dex, doing some job(s) for him. The tension at this point seems quite low.
Dex asks V if he has the “chip”. V shows him behind his ear, which is where this chip goes in the body. I would like to quickly talk about how I like this aspect, as it alludes to how far gone this society is, in the sense that the people roaming the streets of Night City have more in common with robots than the average person. Anyway, after this, Dex tells another assailant, T-Bug to “start it back up”. Bug opens up a mysterious box, which the viewer would assume to be some kind of technology relating to the chip. Dex tells V to clean himself up, saying that his neck is a mess, alluding to the blood he is drenched in.
The scene cuts to a shot of V walking up to the mirror, before cutting to this shot of V looking menacingly at himself. This shot is incredibly badass. The blend of close up and over the shoulder, alongside V’s expression. It all comes together to create a great shot, in my opinion. The shot slowly zooms in, before cutting to an action shot, which is presumably a flashback, with V firing at forces unknown to the viewer. They could be the cops? A gang? Security?
V gets into the car. It appears to be some sort of special self-driving, automatic car with all sorts of fancy features. This is indicated by the car saying “initiating combat mode.” V then sticks his middle finger up at the enemies as the car drives off. He begins to celebrate, telling his partner that they will be rich and a part of the “major leagues”.
The scene cuts to a medium shot of V with his partner, Jackie, who appears to be injured. V Tries to help Jackie, even telling the car to get to a clinic. The car babbles on about how Jackie’s condition is critical. V punches the screen in a moment of pure rage, telling the car to go. He then begins to comfort Jackie, assuring him he will be okay, and reminding him to keep in mind how he will be rich after it’s all over.
Unfortunately, it’s no good. The scene cuts to a shot which is a blend of close up and over the shoulder. V has no choice but to watch as his best friends soul leaves his body. Jackie’s last words, “I’m sorry” will probably echo throughout V’s mind for the rest of his days. V looks down in horror as one of the few people he trusts is now gone.
As V looks down, he notices that Jackie had left the aforementioned chip in his hand. V is looking down at his hand, which is covered in blood and filth. This element works because of how it signals to the viewer that V is a violent person. It could suggest a lot about his past. V is no saint. No hero.
The shot of V’s hand holding the chip cuts to the V washing his hand in the sink. This whole bit was a flashback. During this brief bit of downtime, V was reminiscing about his friend’s final moments. This signals how much Jackie meant to V, again, as one of the few people he could trust. As V continues to wash himself off, he readies himself. The bathroom door opens. He is greeted by the same security guard from earlier, who swiftly punches V in the jaw, knocking him to the ground.
We get to see the world through the eyes of V, even if it’s just for a short moment. I like how this again reinforces the futuristic aspect of Cyberpunk 2077. The menacing red colours work well here too, indicating the hostility of Dex and the bodyguard. V tussles with the guard for a minute using his mantis blades, which are essentially blades that pop out of your arms.
After the guard gets the best of V, he begins to choke him out. The last thing V sees before getting knocked out is Dex speaking at him, telling him he didn’t need all the attention from the heist he and Jackie pulled off. I personally like the way the colour palette has changed to be more warm than earlier. It shows off the way that the curtains have been lifted, so to speak. No more lies or facades. This is the real deal. V’s desperate expression works well in this context, too. He knows that he is screwed. Dex nods to the guard, signalling to take V out. As the guard finishes off V, V gets flashbacks to Jackie laying dead in the car after the heist. He knows that he can’t give up. For himself, and for Jackie.
V opens his eyes. He regains his strength and tussles more with the guard. In the end, V manages to get the better of the him. V heads towards Dex after finishing off the guard, presumably with the intention of killing him too. Dex calls to T-Bug, to which she responds by jamming V’s mantis blades. This is in contrast to the way V was quite literally tearing up the guard in the previous scene. It signals to the viewer that we all have weaknesses, even in this dystopian, futuristic hellscape. Dex manages to grab his gun and shoot V in the face, presumably finishing him off for good.
The scene cuts to the logo of the game forming itself. However, there’s more. The screen shows the message “SYSTEM REBOOTING” before cutting to a wasteland. The scene shows a close up of Johnny Silverhand, who is played by Keanu Reeves appears, telling who we can only assume is V to wake up, exclaiming that “we have a city to burn”.
Not only was this scene hype and inspiring, it left a lot to the imagination. What happens next? How did V survive? How did he get to the wasteland? For those who know the lore, they would know that Johnny has been dead for some years. What is he doing here? I would also like to talk about the lighting and time of day in this scene. It looks like morning, which indicates that it is a metaphor for the coming of a new dawn for V. A revolution.
Cyberpunk 2077 trailer summary
If I were asked to describe this trailer in two words, I would use emotional and intense. From the depressing image of Jackie’s lifeless body to the hype of Johnny Silverhand, this was a great trailer, in my opinion. The lighting throughout the whole trailer was very moody, which fits into the theme of the game too.
Even beyond the game world, this trailer was so incredibly hype. It united gaming fanbases to come together for this monumental occasion. The reveal that Keanu Reeves was going to be in this game was incredible and unexpected.
Elden Ring trailer
Next up, I will be analysing the Elden Ring trailer. Keep in mind that I’m not an expert on the lore of Elden Ring, but I will try my best.
The trailer opens with a blinking light, surrounded by darkness. The light slowly gets bigger with each blink.
In the final moments of this shot, we see what appears to be a mysterious figure sitting by the light. However, it is hard for the viewer to tell what or who exactly this is.
The scene cuts to an introductory shot with fog in the background and the names of a couple of key figures involved in the making of Elden Ring. Hidetaka Miyazaki and George R.R. Martin. The latter wrote the popular Game of Thrones books, whilst the former is synonymous with the souls series and hard games as a whole. I bring this up because viewers who are even aware of these two figures will have their interest piqued by this. As a popular comment on the trailer put it: “George R.R. Martin will kill the characters you love. Miyazaki will kill the players. A perfect combination.”
The scene cuts to a medium close-up shot of a figure who is unknown to the viewer holding up a severed arm. Several arms emerge from the background and begin to grab the figure. This shot gives off very mysterious and unsettling vibes. The lighting is moody and has a very cool colour scheme. This combined with the lack of context behind this scene and the void-like area this shot is set in creates an unnerving aesthetic and mood. Not to mention the unsettling imagery of this old looking figure holding a severed arm. It all comes together to create a shot that is frankly very strange, yet effective.
The mysterious figure begins to lift his face from the hand, however we still can not see what he looks like. This further adds to the unnerving nature of this shot.
The trailer cuts to black, before quickly cutting to a close up shot of what appears to be a hammer or mallet. It appears to be attached to something by some sort of strand. It almost looks like a spider web, or something along those lines. Anyway, I would like to talk about the colour palette of this shot. The background emits a warm glow in contrast to the cooler colour palette of the surrounding area. This contrast might create a comforting feeling for the viewer. Almost like a winter night, when it’s cold out but you’re sat by the fireplace relaxing.
This scene cuts to an extreme wide shot of the same area. It is a blacksmith. Those who know the story of Elden Ring will know that this blacksmith in particular is bound to smithing for eternity. He has nothing except his anvil and hammer. It all comes together when you take into account the context. The comforting colour palette of these shots makes sense.
The scene cuts to a medium shot of Malenia, Blade of Miquella. She is an important character in the Elden Ring lore, which is signified by her badass looking design. The background of this shot appears to be a gloomy-looking sky with an orange/red tint. To me, this combined with the pose of Malenia signifies that something important is about to happen.
She attaches a metal arm to herself. The viewer can clearly see that what we presume to be her working arm appears to be… decrepit? Old? Which is weird, because with what we can see of her face, she looks quite young. This might be someone else’s arm? This theory would line up with what we saw earlier, with the arms surrounding the mysterious figure. However, later on in the shot, the arm does appear to be attached to Malenia. This leaves a lot to the imagination, which lines up with the actual game itself.
The shot cuts to a medium shot of the back of the blacksmith from earlier. Other than a different angle, this shot gives off similar vibes as the previous shots of the blacksmith. He continues smithing away, creating a glowing effect as he smashes the anvil.
The scene cuts to a close-up shot of this spear-like weapon. Judging by the fact that it cuts to this right after the blacksmith hits the anvil, this would imply that the blacksmith created this weapon. Again, the sky in this shot gives off daunting vibes, while the ground appears to be littered with what appear to be bodies and weapons. From this, the viewer can ascertain that there is a battle or war going on in this world. The figure holding the spear-like weapon charges forward on his horse, impaling another important looking figure.
The moment the figure is impaled, the scene cuts to a shot of something shattering. It is not immediately obvious what this something actually is, as it appears to be some sort of arc. The shot is played in slow motion, highlighting the emphasis of whatever this shot could signify.
Right after the shattering, the scene cuts to a shot of a lady looking at her weapon, while standing in front of some sort of light source. Could this be the same spear-like weapon the character from the earlier scene was wielding? They share a few similarities, but it is unclear.
We get a cut to a medium shot of Radahn kneeling in a war-torn battlefield, looking defeated. His blade is stuck in the ground in front of him, signifying that he is done with whatever battle he was fighting at that point. Again, the lighting of this shot is very moody.
Radhan then proceeds to burn, still kneeling. This shot feels very honourable, if that makes any sense. The way he is kneeling while burning is very badass.
An over the shoulder shot of the blacksmith. The transition from light to dark feels very effective and moody here.
The blacksmith smacks his anvil, which causes a light to appear. Out of the light comes this girl, which again raises some questions. Who is this? Why are they important? Why did they appear from the light?
The shot then cuts to the blacksmith, who appears to be distraught about something or other. This is the final shot of the trailer before the title appears.
Elden Ring trailer evaluation & comparing the trailers
The Elden Ring trailer was quite different to the Cyberpunk 2077 trailer, which reflects on them as games too. On the surface, they are both story-driven open world fantasy RPGs. However, they are obviously more than just that.
Elden Ring’s trailer was moody and mysterious. From all of the unanswered questions the viewer may have to the moody lighting and dramatic tone of this trailer, it all comes together to create a concise way of representing what Elden Ring is about. Player discovery. Not a lot of the game’s lore is presented to the player upfront. Most of it is hidden behind optional quests and item descriptions a lot of players may miss. And even then, it is vague.
Cyberpunk 2077 still has player discovery and hidden lore, however a lot more of it is presented to the player as part of the main story. As such, this reflects in the trailer. There was very little dialogue in the Elden Ring trailer. Just an unknown voice narrating a few vague aspects. This is the polar opposite of (most of) Cyberpunks trailer, in which the characters have discussions and emotions based on the context. Again, this reflects in the final game of Cyberpunk 2077.
I have found a good resource for video game trailers as a whole. Derek Lieu’s website: https://www.derek-lieu.com/
Derek Lieu is a professional producer of video game trailers, and his site is a good source of helpful information. (I also like all the cat photos/GIFs on there).
Plan
My chosen game is The Witcher 3. The reasons I chose this game are that I know it very well and would make for a very cinematic trailer. The target audience is going to be between the ages of around 18-30s. It is intended to be viewed on YouTube, as opposed to a shorter-form video. I am hoping it will do a good job of introducing the game to potential players, alongside showcasing some of the games best features, such as its world, story, soundtrack and acting.
I am thinking of opening the trailer with the shot below:
I have recorded roughly the first half hour of gameplay using OBS. I decided to turn off the HUD and subtitles, which is okay as I know this game very well. I do not want any HUD elements in the final trailer.
I want to have a mix of shots showing off the (very beautiful) world of this game, action and over the shoulder, of which there are a lot of scenes. I’m also going to disable the music whilst recording. Whilst this is regrettable as the music in The Witcher 3 is great, it will make editing music over the top of the trailer and isolating the voices much easier. Additionally, I would like to briefly include mention of the two brilliant paid DLCs for The Witcher 3. Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine.
I’m thinking of opening the trailer with “CD PROJEKT RED Presents…”, cutting to the shot above and playing the first discussion between Emhyr and Geralt in which they discuss Ciri being missing. “My daughter, Cirilla… She’s returned, and she’s in danger. The Wild Hunt pursues her.” This quote will play over the top of the beginning of the trailer. I am also going to splice in a few other shots from the the game. Notably, the wild hunt chasing Geralt and Yennefer in White Orchard and the beginning of Ciri’s journey in Skellige.
A shot will pop up. “Based on the works of Andrzej Sapkowski“. This will transition into the shot of Geralt arriving in Velen for the first time.
This shot will then transition into a shot of Geralt riding his horse, Roach, across Velen. This will do a good job of showcasing one of the major regions of the game and its depressing nature, considering the war that is happening at this point in time. This shot will show off some brief combat elements too.
I also want to have a shot of the scene of the Wild Hunt slaughtering a village at this point.
After this scene the shot will cut to Geralt riding to Novigrad on Roach.
“Hatred and prejudice will never be eradicated. And witch hunts will never be about witches. Humans fear the alien, the odd.”
These lines played above the scene of a sorceress being burned at the stake would cut deep for this trailer.
The scene will then cut to Geralt exploring Novigrad for a few seconds.
After this, the scene will cut to an aerial/establishing shot of Skellige.
I also want to have a few different shots of this area littered in, as it is my favourite section of the game and it has plenty of beautiful areas. I only want a small amount of character interaction in this scene, so as to show off these features.
I want to include the above shot of the fight against the Wild Hunt.
I would also like to include a few dialogue shots from various points throughout the game including a few of my favourite characters. Including; The Bloody Baron, Yennefer, Triss, Ciri, Zoltan and potentially others.
After these shots, I plan to showcase the DLCs for The Witcher 3. Hearts of Stone & Blood and Wine. As these two DLCs are very massive, it might be a challenge to fit it all in, but I will try regardless.
Production
As of writing, on 12/11/25, I have begun production. I still have a lot of game footage left to record, however.
For the opening splash screen, I am going to use this font: Witcher Font | Free Fonts Vault. For the music, I am going to use “the trail”, from the official OST, which I have downloaded from Internet Archive. I have also created a gradient for my splash screen in Photoshop.
A few screenshots of me editing my trailer.
W/C 24/11/25
A few screenshots of me working on my trailer. I am probably about halfway done with the editing process by this point, however I still have yet to record Novigrad, Skellige and Toussaint (time dependent). Of course, once I am done recording, I will go through some of the footage in my trailer and replace unsuitable bits wherever I deem necessary. As of writing, I have just over two weeks to finish up my recording. I have just finished up the Bloody Baron’s questline, so I still have a good amount of the game left to get through.
One criticism I have of my trailer up to this point is that I seem to have a lot of random footage littered throughout. Obviously, once I am finished recording, I will go back and change some of this. I would also like to make use of a camera mod/photo mode for a nice establishing shot.
W/C 01/12/25
As of writing, the footage I have obtained adds up to nearly 90GB. As much as I wish otherwise, I will likely have to cut the DLCs from my trailer due to time constraints. At this point, I have just started the Novigrad questline. I have put about ~30 hours into the game and I feel like I have barely done any of the main story.
I am nearing the end of the editing process. The trailer is looking very good, in my opinion, despite the fact I unfortunately had to cut out a few sections due to time constraints.
For the ending of my trailer, I will be using the main title screen minus the UI. A suitable version is found at: The Witcher 3 Animated Wallpaper – MyLiveWallpapers.com
My trailer is now more or less finished.
Feedback
The feedback I got from my peers was mostly positive. One of the more prevalent criticisms I got was to include more gameplay of combat and horseback instead of just cutscenes. I would have definitely had a bit more gameplay. However, due to time constraints, I mostly wanted to show off the main story.
As indicated by my feedback form, none of the people who watched my trailer have experienced any of The Witcher before. Despite this, my trailer managed to keep them engaged and interested, which I am proud of.
Another piece of feedback I got indicated that they wanted more text for the trailer. I could have done this, however, I wanted to let the game speak for itself, as opposed to a pop up or splash screen advertising its features. Something along the lines of “IMMERSIVE WORLD WITH RICH CHARACTERS” would have worked for a longer-form trailer, possibly, but I decided to keep the text to a minimum for my own trailer.
One other thing I would like to address is how the music fluctuates a bit. I got a specific piece of feedback about this, and I personally agree. When I ended up cutting the music, I lowered the volume for whenever there is dialogue. However, some of it is a bit inconsistent.
Reflection
My own thoughts on my final trailer are mostly positive. I think the editing was well done, I managed to get across the point of the game and showcase some important aspects.
I thoroughly enjoyed the editing and recording process. A lot of it is in part due to the fact that The Witcher 3 is one of my all-time favourites. Messing around with effects, transitions and everything Premiere Pro has to offer is a great time.
My biggest, and only major challenge was time management. As mentioned, I had to cut out a fair bit of the game. There were some scenes I would have liked to include that I couldn’t because I simply didn’t have enough time to finish the whole game. I will admit, this is because The Witcher 3 is a massive game. However, I should have taken more time to get through the story and try to spend less time doing side quests.
The two trailers I referenced and analysed influenced my final trailer a bit. The thing is, the trailers I chose to analyse are more cinematic and intended to tell a section of the games story, as opposed to showing off everything the game has to offer. Regardless, I used some of the shots and transitions seen in these trailers to create an effective final product.
With the feedback in mind, I would definitely like to show off a bit more gameplay if I were to recreate the trailer. I would also like to try and make the background music much more consistent. Additionally, show off more of the games areas and DLCs.
I have developed my video editing skills a fair bit throughout the course of this project. Additionally, I have learned about different types of shots (establishing, medium, etc) and transitions.
When it comes down to what I would do differently next time, I would just play and record more of the game. My editing, aside from the fluctuating background music, I am more or less totally happy with. Regrettably, I didn’t end up recording a few of the shots I would have liked to include in my trailer due to me not being able to get through a lot of the main story due to time constraints. As it stands, I am very happy with how my final trailer turned out. I just think I might have been a bit too ambitious with my original plan of finishing the whole game and its DLCs in a matter of weeks.
Bibliography
Reference list
Lieu, D. (n.d.). How to Make a Trailer — Derek Lieu – Game Trailer Editor. [online] Derek Lieu. Available at: https://www.derek-lieu.com/start-here [Accessed 3 Dec. 2025].
Rajput, A. (2025). What Are the Best Video Game Trailers of All Time? [online] 300Mind Blog. Available at: https://300mind.studio/blog/best-video-game-trailers/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2025].
StudioBinder (2025). 50+ Types of Camera Shots & Angles. [online] StudioBinder. Available at: https://www.studiobinder.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-camera-shots/ [Accessed 3 Dec. 2025].
Dylan Brant 