Research- Existing Media Research (Trailers)

Scream trailer analysis

The trailer starts off with the rating certificate indicating who it is suitable for which follows the usual codes and conventions of a formulaic trailer. The next shot is of a close-up of a phone that is ringing (diegetic sound), there is no soundtrack playing, this builds up tension since its draws the audience’s attention to the phone which is ringing adding some sort of significance of the ‘phone’. The next shot the camera follows from the close-up of the phone to the person who’s picking it up, by doing this the trailer has already helped establish one character. This character then has a conversation with the person on the other line, there’s is no non- diegetic sound at this point, helping the audience focus on the conversation, this also adds mystery because the audience do not know who is on the other end of the phone call, the production company is then shown but the conversation is still running, non- diegetic background music starts to play as the next shot is an establishing shot of the suburban house, this is a typical slasher film location. Most Slasher film have settings based in a safe environment such as a suburban neighbourhood because it helps to show the disruption of the equilibrium clearly as suspected by Todorov’s narrative theory. Shown in the Scream trailer by showing this shot, it displays that the film follows the conventions of a slasher film. When the music starts playing the audience automatically get the sense that there is something wrong with this phone call; there is going to be some sort of disruption, this follows Tzvetan Todorov’s narrative theory, because it starts with an equilibrium, hence the establishing shot of the typical suburban house. This shot shows the audience that these characters had an ordinary life before the killer, which would scare an audience more because it is relatable, and most of the target audience do live in the suburbs. The shot then moves to a close-up of popcorn rising, this could be shown to display the tension that is rising as the conversation is building up. When the character moves towards the TV, the camera seems to be following her in a way that it’s shaky, almost as if a hand held camera is following behind her, this is effective because it shows the audience that the killer could be anywhere, just watching you whilst you are in your normal environment, it is almost as if the killer is in the room with the character. The shaky hand held effect could also illustrate how she feels about the phone call, since it is shaky it helps to display fear or uncertainty that the character feels. The shot then becomes still as the female character asks the person on the phone ‘why do you want to know my name’ the voice on the other end of the phone call replies ‘because I want to know who I am looking at’, the camera does a tracking shot to become close to her face, as it drops, to emphasize her realisation and shock. The non-diegetic background music quiets down to the sound of wind, this reinforces the tension, as it moves on to a medium-shot of her living room window smashing, this shows the disruption but without revealing who the killer is, it moves to close-up of the female character screaming at a reflection in the window and only for a spilt second you can see the killers mask, it cuts from the equilibrium to the disruption without showing the audience the build up from the equilibrium to the disruption, this would make the audience more eager to find out how it led up to that kind of disruption and what the outcome could be.

The following shot is a long-shot of police cars outside the crime scene (which is the female character’s suburban house) this is used to show the recognition phase of the narrative, there is now a voice over (non-diegetic sound), subtly explaining the outline of the story, the voice over has a creepy tone, similar to the voice of the person/killer that was on the other side of the phone call of the female victim.  There is a close-up to an emergency operator, the camera seems to be following the words ‘911 – what is your emergency’ this shows how the victims often call 911 but still end up dead, by showing this it makes the audience feel that there is no one there that could save you. Its cuts to a medium-shot of the female character that was first shown being attacked by this faceless figure wearing some sort of black costume to disguise his true identity, the trailer reveals some parts of the story but not who the killer is. Another shot is shown as an over the shoulder shot of a camera man and a  news reporter, this also introduces another character and follows Tordorov’s narrative theory on recognition, the shot then cuts to a close-up of two other characters,  by showing these characters in one shot together, shows they have some sort of relationship with one another and also they aren’t so important, the shot following that is a gradual close-up of an average looking girl, this suggests to be the scream girl, because she’s in a close-up that is not shared with anyone, showing that she is the most important character. You instantly know that she is the final girl, following the conventions of a slasher film, the character is seen to be the less attractive female compared to the other females in the film. It then cuts to the operator typing ‘killer in the house’ telling the audience that the killer is disrupting everyday environment and invading homes, and homes are known to be the safest place for most people. This cuts to a medium-shot behind a police man with a gun in his hand trying to ‘repair’ the damage that has been caused, then cuts to an unknown figure that runs somewhere in the house, this shows the binary opposites of good and evil. We don’t see the face or recognise the figure/outfit because he is wearing all black, this helps intrigue the audience wanting them to find out who the killer is.

The voiceover stops after saying ‘He’s taking his love of fear’ as it cuts to the final girl answering her phone, this shows the similarity of the first killing in the beginning of the trailer when another female character answered her phone and ended up dead, so at this point the audience is scared for the final girl because they got the gist of what the outcome would be by answering the phone. The trailer shows the motif that goes on in the film so the audience have an idea of the pattern of the film. As the final girl picks up the phone, she answers and the creepy voice on the other end of the phone says ‘Hello Sydney’ the audience then take into account what her name is, this shows her importance because it’s the only character we know the name of. The next shot is a matched action, of her looking out the window, from when she looks around as soon as the killer says her name, this tells us that she knows that down the phone is the killer, and she could be next. After, a medium-shot is shown of her having a conversation with the killer on the other side of the phone, where the killer asks the same question we heard in the first killing which is ‘Do you like scary movies?’ Sydney (the main girl) replies in an intellectual way compared to the first female character that just replied with one answer, this demonstrates that Sydney is capable to defeat this killer as the final girl because she is different. In the trailer it shows that Sydney is alone, Vladimirs propps theory comes into play, due to the fact Sydney has no parental supervision, has a benefactor which is a police officer, and the magical gift being a knife.

As she replies with her answer, shots are shown from the film that links in with what she is saying.  For example, the next shot is a ‘POV’ shot from a low angle of the killer looking through a fence of a house, looking at his next victim. By putting the audience in the point of view of the killer changes Roland Barthes theory on one particular code which is the semantic code for slasher films, since usually the events of disruption are seen by the victims perspective, instead placing the audience in the shoes of the killer which can be considered to force the audience to be in a twisted position creating a more unsettling experience. Sydney voices over this shot saying ‘some stupid killer is stalking’ this matches the shot, the sentence carries on and it then cuts as she’s saying ‘some big breasted girl that can’t act’ to a medium close up of a female character, this shot empathizes her breasts, linking with what Sydney is saying.  This is an interesting way of challenging the codes and conventions of a slasher film since Sydney is knowledgeable of the noticeable conventions of a slasher film due to the fact that the first female character to get brutally murdered is generally the promiscuous female, Sydney refers to that as she says ‘some big breasted girl’.

The next shot is an establishing-shot of another suburban house, showing that this safe place is going to be disrupted as well as affecting the characters. It cuts to medium-shot of a different character that is a teenage boy telling other teenagers about the rules of scary movies, it tells the audience that Scream is a different kind of slasher film due to these rules that are said about slasher films in the film itself, in a way it’s kind of ironic, this could also be seen as being a postmodern film that references classic slasher films. Additionally Scream, is a meta-text as it describes the text of conventions of a slasher film within its own text. This is done because audiences were familiar of the conventions of slasher films due to the rise of several films out in that period of time. Therefore scream had to do something very different to become a success and create something original yet unique to entice an audience that have seen popular slasher films and also try meet the standards and compete with these films e.g. ‘Friday the 13^th’  ‘Nightmare on elm street’ and ‘Texas chainsaw massacre’ It then cuts to the next shot but he is still talking about the rules. As he says ‘In order to have successfully survived a scary movie’ there’s a panning shot of Sydney running through what seems to be a forest, we’ve established that Sydney is the final girl so it makes sense showing a shot of her compared to the other characters since Sydney does end up surviving. It then cuts back to the medium-shot of the teenage boy saying ‘You can never have sex’ then the next shot is of Sydney with another teenage boy character taking her top off, this gives the audience some doubts on her survival, the shot cuts to another character sneaking up on Sydney, she then screams as if it’s the killer, there’s a close-up of this character giving us an indication that he is also an important mischievous character, but not as important as Sydney. This is effective because the audience is intrigued whether or not Sydney does survive since it shows her not obeying the scream rules. It cuts back the teenage boy saying another rule ‘never ever on any circumstances say you’ll be right back’ as he says this it cuts to a shot of a female character walking away from the living where everyone is, this could be a shot before her murder because she didn’t follow the rule that this other teenage boy character is saying. It cuts back to a medium close up of another character, and there’s a reverse shot of the conversation of him and the boy that’s telling the others about the scary movie. This character talking to the boy with the rules seem to have a lack of interest about the other murders, because he adds a comic twist to this slasher film. It cuts to a shot of Sydney crying on the phone, the phone in this trailer seems to be very significant, symbolizing the type of tricks/torture the scream murder does to its victims. Over this part of the trailer the creepy voice over man, tells us another bunch of rules over a montage of shots from the film which shows the outcome of the murders. As the rules are being said by the voiceover it is shown written on a black background. The white typography turns red, this connotes how the equilibrium is disrupted since white connotes innocence and that innocence is washed away after each murder hence the red, since red connotes danger, death and blood. Dramatic music is played as traumatizing shots are thrown at the audience in the montage showing how they would survive or how they would die. The voice over is picking out rules any person would do if they’re put in the same situation as the characters, which somewhat put fear in an audience.

Overall this trailer has followed general codes and conventions, trailers mostly begin with long camera shots and minimal camera movement, and that’s what I have seen at the start of the scream trailer. The cuts are still sharp as the camera jumps from one scene to another. The speed of editing and the music keep increasing as it reaches the fast montage where the speed of the editing is at its peak. The music may change during different scenes and increase in tempo which builds tension. The music that played through the montage in the scream trailer had a fast tempo and a loud beat. This is to establish that the audience are being pulled into watching the film and soon it quietens down and the audience can relax, the last shot is a medium shot of the police officer that has a torch under his chin saying ‘you’re not scared are you’, this shot is like a rhetorical question for the audience, testing them, daring the audience to come watch the film, after that shot is shown it cuts to a black background with the title of scream across it in red typography as if its written in blood and then the credits which is very conventional as a formulaic trailer.

The Shining trailer analysis

Unlike the other trailers I have seen amongst the slasher film genre prior to my research, ‘The shining’ does not follow the usual codes and conventions of a slasher trailer. Normally in a trailer you would establish or given some information on the plot and characters of the film though in this Shining trailer you get barely any information though there some narrative theories seen despite giving away very little information.

The Shinning trailer does not have shots, or cuts, or even a dramatic montage sequence. Instead it resides of one long shot, of what appears to be a hotel lobby. The hotel lobby has elevators painted red and the colour scheme is generally very dull as colours white and brown are seen. However these dull colours help the red on the elevators seem very striking, grabbing the attention of the audience since they are also placed in the centre of the shot, this red also could connote the danger and the disruption that might entail. Surrounding the elevators is a plain white wallpaper this could connote the equilibrium, as Tzvetan Todorov states, stories generally begin with an equilibrium, a balance which is as ordinary as this hotel Lobby.

Non-diegetic music plays from the beginning of the trailer as ‘The Shinning’ title with other credits scroll upwards across this shot. The music is very subtle at the start of the trailer since it gives the trailer a very enigmatic feel. Even though the lobby is seen to be very ordinary, the music says otherwise reinforcing pam cooks theory on one of the institutional mode of representation as she suggests ‘a linear narrative of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution’ this music emphasises the mystery of the plot forcing the audience to find out how this enigma of the story can be resolved. The pace of the music becomes a little faster and less subtle as the trailer goes on. In bold white typography the name of the film and the name of the director is now scrolled on the shot yet again to display a monotonous and eerie atmosphere also to demonstrate the continuity of several cause and effects. The typography is white and bold though the font is very general, it is not seen to seem creepy instead very tedious. In a way the setting and typography secures the audience in a false sense of security, contrarily the music builds up tension leading the audience to suspect a disruption of the trailer.

As the music reaches its peak, blood starts gushing out the elevator doors. This is seen in slow motion which is complemented by the music’s monotonous creepy atmosphere. The blood coveys the disruption of the equilibrium in the terms of Todorovs theory since the hotel lobby was conveyed as the equilibrium, as the bloody gushes through the lobby it sprays onto the furniture and the white walls, which clearly states some sort of disruption. Also as blood connotes evil, as it sprays against the white wall paper it shows the binary opposites which Claude Levi Strauss suggested as a narrative theory. The binary opposite suggests Good Vs Evil which is often seen in most slasher films.

The blood then splashes onto the camera lens washing out what the audience sees, as the lens is now covered in blood the viewing is now the colour red. Roland Barthes narrative theory had several codes, one being the semantic code. The semantic code is of whose perspective the audience views by. Usually in slasher films, the semantic code abides by the final girl since we see her point of view to her outcome of survival. Although in this trailer the semantic code shifts and places the audience in a victim’s position so the trailer is seen from the perspective of the audience which is unique as it is not often seen in formulaic trailers. As the blood gushes over the camera lens it implies or gives the audience a chilling effect as the audience themselves feel as if they have been affected and covered by the blood.

In conclusion, this trailer does not stick by the conventional slasher trailer though it presents its narrative differently, by merely using one particular shot that shows one setting. Which in fact is quite symbolic as this one set is where the disruption of the film happens. Also the trailer still built up momentum as a fast pace montage would due to the rising of the music however very little information is given to the audience, intriguing them further to actually watch the film.

Prom Night trailer analysis

This is a trailer analysis on the slasher film, Prom night. ‘Prom Night’ is an American Slasher film directed by Nelson McCormick released in 2008

At the start of the trailer you can see the logos of production companies such as the ‘new market’ logo, this is common of the conventions of a trailer.

Straight away you can depict Todorovs narrative theory. Todorov suggested that most stories started with an equilibrium where there is a sense of the ordinary amongst the story line, which is disrupted by a chain of events. The audience at this moment are witnessing the ‘equilibrium’ as these characters are displaying what ordinary teenagers would do for the school prom. Playing throughout these sequences of shots is a well-known modern song reinforcing the equilibrium stage of the trailer also emphasising the youthfulness of the characters. As in most slasher films, teenagers are the general target audience. Each shot at the beginning fall into each other as a dissolve effect creating this soft false sense of security for the audience this also strengthens the equilibrium.

There is a lot more screen time of one female character who the audience can establish to be the main protagonist also known as the final girl, this is conveyed through the use of close up shots. Though in most slasher films the final girl is often seen to be the less attractive often studious this slasher film has challenged this with a fairly pretty character who is not as boyish as to the other final girls seen in slasher films done in the past (in comparison to Sydney from scream) this supports the films modernised conventions, as if the convention has been challenged to show the shift in society.

The titles in between the footage are written in a ghostly typography though contradicting its typography since it is referring to the stages of prom eg.  ‘The preparation’ ‘the anticipation’ ‘the celebration’ however giving a subtle mysterious effect. After each title, shots start to cut faster, increasing the pace of the trailer. The pace increases to show the liveliness of prom night. The non-diegetic sound of the music track stops, so at this point it build up tension when the teacher is about to announce prom, king and queen. Before the teacher could announce the winners, the lights sharply go down, however this tension is also built up to demonstrate the disruption. Shots are cute faster and sharply in comparison to how the shots during the equilibrium were faded into one and another. Also we see ‘Lisa’ one of the characters established from the equilibrium in a high angle shot looking distressed, suggesting she has come face to face with the killer. Earlier in the trailer, during the equilibrium Lisa implies she was planning on having sex as she talks about her dress –-dialogue--- also you see a medium close up with her boyfriend on the hotel room bed conveying the intimacy amongst these two characters, suggesting she was about to do the deed. Since we see Lisa being the first to encounter the killer follows the conventions of a slasher film, signifying that the promiscuous character is most likely to be the first to get killed due to her not preserving her innocence.

As we see Lisa in a high angle shot, she is out of focus and as the killer gets out his knife, the knife is in focus. This close up of the knife, follows the conventions since the weapon of choice is often seen in slasher films to be sharp, something that enables slashing of the flesh, hence why the genre is called ‘slasher’. As Lisa’s scream fades out there is a quick shot of a professional looking man, older than the other characters seen in the trailer. In terms of Vladimir Propps theory on character and functions, this character can be conveyed as the benefactor trying to help Donna to defeat the killer also he is the one in very few characters that is old (in comparison to the majority of teenage characters’. He is established as the police officer due to the non-diegetic sound of the voice over narrating a police report of this particular killer over cutaway shots of objects found by the forensic scientist team of the killer this presents his guidance as the benefactor. The voice over from the police officer gives the audience an idea to the killer’s motive as he says ‘Three years ago, this guy, got obsessed with a young female student’. The music stops as soon as the benefactor character voice over is finished to help the tension to rise, so the trailer can present its first ‘jump scare’.

As the music stops a confused look on a male character looking into the cupboard when saying ‘Claire’ is then pounced at by the killer displaying how the disruption is going to consist of several cause and effects reinforcing one of the institutional mode of representation by Pam Cook which is ‘a linear narrative of cause and effect within an overall trajectory of enigma resolution’. The fast pace montage begins after we see the final girl shot in different angles behind different objects to display how she is being watched as the tense music stops, we hear a voice as there is a shot of a dark part of hotel room with a voice which the audience assume as the killer saying ‘Donna’ this shows her first encounter with the killer. After seeing Donnas horrific facial expression we see the killer come out behind her yet we do not see the killers identity properly this creates mystery and the enigma of the film. The titles then goes on to say ‘it’s a night’/ ‘to die for’ in sparkly almost magical looking typography yet the shots of the killers weapon and a shot from the killers perspective contradicts the typography. The fast pace montage goes as we see loads of shots of Donna is several encounters with the Killer as well as it being accompanied by her group of friends each in horrible situations with the killer. As I said before, is shows the audience the constant cause and effect.  The title appears after the montage sequence which follows the codes and conventions of a formulaic trailer, and then the last ‘scare’ is a medium shot of Donna with her back turned away putting clothes in a wardrobe and a mysterious hand reaches out to her (assumed as to be the killer) this leaves the audience to question Donnas survival intriguing the audience into to watching the film.

In conclusion this trailer follows the codes and conventions of a slasher trailer and also presents several narrative theories yet does not give too much away to the audience (Which is what a slasher trailer is suppose to do).