Ashleigh's Texual Analysis Of A Horror Teaser Trailer

Saw 3D

Horror Franchise by Lions Gate Entertainment

Length Of Teaser Trailer: 57 Seconds

Saw movies are extremely popular horror films that hold all the ingredients to which audients like to see in horror films. Saw has produced 7 movies; one of which is being released in cinemas as the final (2010). The films contain a lot of gruesome scenes and have influenced many other films and they way characters style themselves. An example of this would be The Joker in the “The Dark Knight”, whose makeup somewhat reflects a similar picture.

The Saw film I will be focusing on for my teaser trailer is Saw 3D. The fact the trailer is in 3D reflects how advanced technology is getting and makes the audience more intrigued to watch it. Also is gives the audience a feeling that they are there and makes it more realistic. The teaser trailer is 57 seconds long which is under the “sixty second mark” that most teaser trailers have.

The teaser trailer opens with complete darkness and we hear the typical voice of Mark Hoffman. His voice is instantly recognisable and most cinemagoers would recognise his voice and relate it to Saw films.  He opens by saying “You can’t hide” which sends a thrill down the audience’s spine and greats the tension and the feeling of wanting to know more; which is the main aim of a teaser trailer. The words also give the impression of what genre the film and get an idea of what to be aware of. The moment he says this we are struck with a loud sudden non-diegetic sound which is there to make the audience jump and pay full attention.

The trailer uses words on the screen which fade in very dramatically and quickly with music which creates the emphasis that something is going to happen and it also makes the words stand out more for the audience. Fans of the Saw films will relate to the music as it is used in all the films and this also helps people link the films together.

Fades in and out join the shots together and the editing is done in a way so that it all flows together. The fades connots a sense of tension as they are very dramatic and give us an understanding of what genre the film is.

The shots throughout the teaser trailer are very quick(brief)  so that they don’t give too much away but they are very clear to the audience, and they have edited it so that every time the non diegetic (Mark Hoffman) finishes his sentence the fade flashes to another shot. The music continues to be sudden and suspenseful and they also add in what sounds like a women screaming.

Throughout the trailer we hear a lot of non-diegetic sound and the only diegetic sounds from the characters are mainly screams and sounds of pain. The fact they don’t say much creates a mysterious feeling.

The setting is a mixture of places in the trailer, most of which are placed in dark gloomy places with props such as axes, sharp things and generally gruesome machinery. Typically Saw is all about unusual machinery and shows a lot of different machinery that is very advanced , although teaser trailers typically don’t show much this trailer shows a lot of machinery but this may be to show that it isn’t getting any prettier and it only get uglier.  As the setting is very dark and gloomy we assume the scene is set down below in dark areas, this generally gives a spooky feeling as no one likes to be trapped or likes being down below. However as we cannot be sure where the location is we are left to assume and make up our own minds.

The film is all about suffering and death so throughout the trailer they show males and females in “sticky” situations where they are going to be put through pain and have to escape; either way they get tortured but one leads to them surviving and the other to a painful death.

The victims tend to be a mixture of males and females and this challenges the stereotype that women are always the defenceless ones that need rescuing. An example of another stereotype that is being challenged in the trailer is seeing a man locked in a cage ; usually men are the heroic ones , so this challenges the typical popular convention for horror movies.

As there is a voiceover in the trailer the audience tends to concentrate on that, it also has titles throughout the trailer which cut between this pictures and this is a lot for the audience to take it but it does create the feeling that there is a lot going on in the film and creates a vibe of excitement for the release of the film. Throughout the trailer we see a number of characters in danger, however the camera shots don’t show close ups so we don’t see the true fear of the characters, this may have been done as so not to show too much and also so that we can see the situation they are in as well as the character. As the machinery is so technical and dangerous we are almost drawn to it as the audience and we tend to concentrate on the machinery more than the characters themselves.

During the trailer most of the shots used are long shots or medium close ups and this is used so that we can see what’s happening around the character.

Throughout the trailer the pace is quite fast, but the music makes the pace quicken as the music progresses and the clips begin to get faster and faster which leads to a climax finish. A lot of the quicker shots are long shots and although we cannot see everything for long it is the main key for the trailer; it leaves the audience wanting to see more.  The non-diegetic sound is used to show the audience how dangerous and scary it is for the characters and the kind of situation they are in. At the end of the trailer just as the audience think it is going to end swords cut through the title Saw 3D and this helps reach the climate peak and keep the audience on their toes.

The majority of the shots are long shots either set directly facing what’s going on or as a aerial shot. This allows the audience to see what’s happening all around and although the shots aren’t close ups, the shot is held long enough for us to take in the distress the characters are having, and allows us to sympathise them. The trailer allows us to see the distress the characters are in before abruptly cutting to a pitch black shot with a few words on the screen that in a way tells the story, before cutting again quickly to another image. The trailer uses a lot of cutting of knives/axes and screaming to create an atmosphere.

Cinemagoers that are fans of Saw will recognise the voice of the villain and this helps to identify the film. Throughout the trailer we do not get to see Mark Hoffman and although we have seen the villain before it still creates tension for us and a mysterious feeling.

Just as the audience think the trailer is other knives come flying through the title of the film and then cuts to when the film is being released, but in the background we can see blood dripping down which continues the gruesome and shuddery feeling the audience are having.

In conclusion after identifying and analysing the main elements of a teaser trailer i have come to an understand of the different techniques used and how editing is extremely useful in making the trailer shots flow effectively and discretely. This teaser trailers have shown me that you don’t need to show the whole plot of a film to entice the audience and that in doing so it creates more tension and suspense towards the film. The trailer has shown me how important it is to choose what to show in a trailer so that you don’t show the audience too much so that they know what’s going to happen but also make them intrigued and want to see the film.