Analysis of Scream 4 trailer

There are many teaser trailers that influenced my construction of my teaser trailer. Teaser trailer are constructed to leave audiences curious about the film, leading audience to become inquisitive about the film and therefore creating a desire to watch the actual film. Teaser trailers are normally about 1 minute long. The main two trailers that had similarities to my trailer were Halloween H20 and Scream 4. This is because the sub-genre slasher-horrors used in both these trailers are identical to my sub-genre. Furthermore the audiences for this particular type are genre is already implanted, and they expect certain features which I am hoping to show.

The trailer for scream 4 started off with the titles ‘DIMENSION FILMS’ with a phone call sound in the background, which automatically captures the viewers attention, as it raises the question to viewers ‘Who is that on the phone?’. This encouraged me to have a dramatic opening scene to engage viewers from the start - something which raises questions.

We see Neve Campbell who appeared in the original films, so we already know that the familiar faces are going to be appearing again, getting the audience excited for the film once more. We hear "Welcome home, Sidney" by that voice we could never forget. The famous white phone is the focus, with Sidney central to the screen, enhancing that fear once more as that is what we remember causes the fear. The music suddenly starts and fades quickly provoking a sense of shock as we're taken from the situation abruptly. This tells me that the use of music is of significance for the teaser trailer and must be carefully thought of to blend in with what we are seeing on screen.

Then we cut to a side angle of Sidney with the husky voice stating "You're a survivor, aren't you Sidney?" - This gives us an indication of what the story will focus on, that being the killer will try to complete his murders by finally killing the last survivors, and maybe more!

Now we have flashes of the stars appearing in the film with "What good is it to be a survivor if everyone else around you is dead?" The images include Courtney Cox and David Arquette (originals to the previous). If with this voice over, he's suggesting everyone else around you is dead, maybe these members of the cast will get killed. This is a way to establish the faces in the movie, by having them central again and quite close up, and also makes us worry for the characters we love. This give me an idea that I should consider using a powerful voiceover to help illustrate the trailer to audiences.

We then have flashes of 6 more cast members - One pulling her top over her bra, 2 blondes sitting on a sofa and 2 brunettes screaming. Between each character shown there is a black out for about 1 second, which gives he audience an impression that something 'dark' is about to happen. This all falls in perfectly to the typical characteristics of a horror that's got a little bit of seduction in it. It makes the personalities weak, which doesn't cause so much distress when they're killed.

'One Film Redefined Fear' - These titles make you remember just how successful the films were when they were released, hyping the film once more. This shows the importance of titles and impact it could have. This particular type of title reinforces to viewers about the fear it includes. The titles overall take under 10% of the entire length of the trailer. I believe this is too little as titles should take about 10-15% in my opinion to give viewers more text to read and understand what may occur next.

With the scene of the boys talking about how horror has been reinvented in the media class, it's actually quite a clever little ploy to change the dynamics of the story. "Virgins can die" means that we're not going to be looking for the innocent one to survive, but will be expecting that anyone, good or bad, will die. This leaves you to think about every character and every action, making everyone a victim. That is a scary prospect.

We see the director's name Wes Craven. So to any horror fan this is very exciting, because this man knows how to make horrors that are the epitome of the genre. Also his name is seen in red, attaching his name with the obvious connotation of this colour, such as blood, romance. And then the titles appear saying "New generation of horror" encouraging that new looks at horror once more, making the story more intriguing. This title is clever as it raise questions as to how this film is a new generation of horror.

We're offered a mixture of images that are frightening to watch as they include death and creepy looking masks. There is also a handheld camera which could play a key feature as this way of recording a film seems to be quite successful at the minute (The Last Exorcism, Paranormal Activity). It offers realism and a sense of vulnerability because the view is so limited. And then there's the famous mask that's been used at every Halloween party since these films started in 1993. It's Cox this time that's in prime focus to be killed which gives you an exciting twist to the story.

We then hear the high school girls say "It's time for someone new to die" and the music gets dramatic. Who could this person be? Why is this so important? The enigma of the narrative leaves you guessing and anxious more.

The music begins to rise and is the classic type of deep sound that you associate with horror. With fast pace cutting which suddenly throws you into panic and screams that are the diegetic noise, this is never settling.

The final phase of the trailer is just the two blondes that say "There's something really scary about a guy with a knife that just... snaps" - It's said in a sexy manner, creating their weaker profile more and we cut to a scream and the title for the film appears. The shot straight after is of the masked villain's face appearing from nowhere. I believe this shot is effective and I will take it into account because it leaves audiences with a final fright, encouraging them to watch the film when it comes out. With the final girl dismissing a phone call saying "This is for you", it shows it's comic edge and leaves the audience excited and light hearted yet wanting more from the lack of dialogue, and intense themes running throughout the trailer.

In conclusion trailer scream 4 has many good points such as it raises questions which are vital in the creation of teaser trailers. Also the use of a strong voiceover is effective. Finally the use of sound at various moments of the trailer is well thought out as the tempo of the sound increases as the tension on screen rises. I will take inspiration from this trailer and I believe that this trailer will have an important significance on the trailer I will create, as my film is a slasher film.