Silo: Season Two

The trailer for Season 2 of Apple TV’s post-apocalyptic sci-fi series Silo opens with a breathy synth tone over the title card. Then from 0:03-0:05 there is a sped up ticking clock sound accompanying an animated spiraling staircase, in reference to the only means of passage in the silo. Then there is a low impact sound as we arrive at a close up on main character Juliette Nichol’s face (Rebecca Ferguson) at 0:06.

The first words of dialogue come in at 0:07: “What’s the big question,” and they are drenched in reverberant echoes, fostering the sense of space. At this moment there are birds in the background - referencing the pastoral greenery seen on screen at 0:10. But then a dissonant, industrial riser tone builds to a transition at 0:12 to a vision of a post-apocalyptic landscape, which belies the idyllic image. As we see the Apple TV+ logo pan into view at 0:16, a 4-note whistled motif is heard twice, with lower pitches the second time.

From 0:23-0:52 the head of IT in the Silo, Bernard (Tim Robbins), gives a rousing speech to the residents of the silo in (false) tribute to Juliette, as we cut in and out of clips of her walking on the surface outside and approaching the remains of a neighbouring silo. Juliette enters the other silo, and at 1:02 when we see Juliette on the ground screaming, we hear a series of rich chords played by orchestra and synthesizer reminiscent of the climax of a Marvel film. For good measure, from 1:11-1:31, we have all manner of trailer triplet variations on big drums added to the synthesizer and orchestra. This continues until 1:30 when the music cuts out, as Juliette is about to slide off a ledge into a massive fall.

The 4-note whistled motif returns at 1:35, but now with a pulsing low rhythm evocative of a racing heartbeat. It is clever how this new musical idea enters at the moment someone spins a zoetrope-like animation cylinder, and the pulsing rhythm cleverly reflects the racing mob’s footsteps seen on-screen at 1:36.

At 1:37, synched to the beat of the music, there is a cut to what appears to be a body splashing into the water, followed immediately by a graphic of Rebecca Ferguson’s name, animated as though floating in water. This is followed, in sequence separated musically by 4 beats each, with animated titles announcing co-stars Tim Robbins and Common.

The music builds in intensity again, towards a cut to musical silence at 1:50. Then from 1:55-1:56 we experience a momentary return to the climax of the previous musical section, timed to align with the visuals of Juliette screaming inside a bio-hazard suit. The Silo title card returns to the screen at 1:57 over a dusty beige background, and we hear the whistling motif once more, now with a new ending added.

After a last exchange between Juliette and a threatening man behind a door, at 2:07 we hear a chorus of voices rising in pitch until they arrive at a final impact sound at 2:09 as we fade to black.

The trailer does not use the theme of the first season, and the whistling is new as well. Like many of the trailers we blog about, the music and sound design in this trailer are sparse, subtle, but very effective, and support the gradually increasing intensity of the storyline shown on screen.

Silo Season 2 begins streaming on Apple TV+ on November 15.

— Jack Hui Litster