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Saw 3D Teaser Trailer Analysis

A teaser trailer is a short version of a movie trailer which is designed to excite the audience about what’s yet to come. Teasers, as they are called, are typically released months in advance, sometimes as much as 18 months before the expected release date of the film, and they are used to build anticipation and curiosity about the films they advertise. Teaser trailers can be seen before feature films in some movie theatres, and they are also released online and shown on television. 

An average teaser trailer is normally shown for a length of about half a minute to a minute, this is just enough time to excite the audience about an upcoming film, and give them glimpse of the movie to raise they interested and curiosity. 

The saw 3D teaser trailer is precisely 57 seconds long, the whole teaser trailer displays 22 different camera shots, and a number of different angles, for example the first camera shot is a close up shot which allows you to see the victim sitting in a car, how he’s dressed a create a general idea of his character, for example the amount of tattoos the man has would represent masculinity but here you see him sitting trapped inside a car, as the camera zoomed out you see the killer/villain standing behind the devices higher up, which could show us that the villain is in more power and control which is to why the victim has been seen in this situation and camera shot.  The second camera shot shows a women at a close up shot, and the angle is first person view,  this is has been done so that you can clearly see the woman’s reaction to the situation she has been caught up in, showing desperation and fear, as she looks towards the camera you see that she is scared. Seconds after in the third camera shot you again see the man who you saw in the first shot screaming at a close up shot, which again allows you to see the characters reactions with great in depth detail, you see the man screaming as if he’s in pain.  Another shot which could be seen as an established shot/wide shot is an introductory shot of the area that the film is going to be based around, this contrasts the other scenes as it’s a more positive vibe where you see people going about the normal lives and the sun is gleaming down upon them.

Throughout the saw 3D trailer there is constant narration as it helps to advertise the movie without showing too much content. For example; the opening narration is “ you can’t hide” this comes across quite creepy and scary almost as though the villain/killer is addressing the audience personally, this also shows the audience that the killer is smart and devious as he’s mocking the audience with an attitude of arrogance. During the narration the narrator using the rule of 3 which emphasises an atmospheric effect of horror and mysteriousness, he says “fear, suffering, death” all 3 words are extremely powerful on their own so to put them into context using a combination of 3 words which would commonly be associated with most generic horror conventions. The last main narration is seconds before the ending of the trailer where the narrator who is supposedly the killer/villain says “all my work has been leading to this” letting the audience know that something significant is going to occur during the up and coming film.

The pace changes at precisely 33 seconds into the teaser trailer, you can tell this because there is a suddenly change of tempo towards camera cuts and the volume of the soundtrack in the background. During the trailer there are 3 different sections the first section is the introduction from the narrator who says “you can’t hide” which is generally spooky but not action packed so it’s more mysterious, the second section is the introduction to the area and surrounding of where the movie is set, the third section is where the action commences and you start to see main scenes of people being tortured and placed in horrific situations. You notice the change of pace because of the rapid use of camera cuts and the change of speed to the background soundtrack.

The lighting throughout is very dimmed this creates the sense of mystery and suspense as you don’t know what’s lurking in the shadows, by limiting what the audience can see it expands their imagination to what could potentially be out there. There are a lot of shadows which are normally associated with horror films, the use of black represents death which could be another reason that it’s be incorporated into the shot.

At the opening camera shot, you see the victim sitting in a car which is in terrible condition, by placing this car in an unnatural atmosphere that it would normally be seen in, again expands the audience’s imagination and gets them thinking. In the background you see a huge collection of engines and mechanisms which gives you a rough idea and more of an insight into the villain’s capability judgementally you would assume that he knows a fair about vehicles.

The props that have been used are very deadly and dangerous, my first example of this would be near the end of the teaser trailer you see a man fighting with his life to avoid being injured or brutally killed by a huge saw, this also can be related back to the title of the movie, other sharp objects are seen throughout the trailer, you see a character in a cage, which immediately makes you think there trapped and their being cut off from their human rights, such as freedom. Also towards the end of the teaser trailer you see a complex dangerous mechanism which is driving towards a victim which highlights the intelligence of the killer and what he’s capable of. 

The makeup of the characters are both seen as typical male and female, the woman is a young attractive female with a minority of makeup on to enhance her looks, the male is covered in tattoos, which reinforces representations of him being masculine and butch, he also is topless which allows you to see his masculinity more, only to see that both average people have been put into a really bad situation. 

The sound track that has been used in the teaser trailer starts off very calm with a low tempo, this allows the narrator to highlight important parts about the film to excite the audience about, the sudden change in tempo in the soundtrack creates suspense as the soundtrack used is very progressive and builds upon the suspense of the film, you can tell this because it gets louder and louder and more stronger as more explicit parts of the film are displayed.

In conclusion you can tell the movie genre is hybrid of a horror with incorporation of a thriller because of the strong features used throughout the trailer, for example most horrors show weeping victims desperate to put an end to the misery that they are experiencing, most horrors involve a mysterious killer/villain which is used to the films main advantage to add suspense to the movie. Shadows are also used a lot as they are a main feature or horror films which limits to what the audience can see, in affect again creates suspense. 

Paranormal Activity 3 Trailer Analysis

The purpose of the film trailer is to advertise about the horror movie paranormal activity 3’s release in the cinema, and to display some of the highlights of the movie to get the audience engaged and interested in coming to see the movie.

You can establish the story due to its layout style, it’s made in a type of video blog which narrates the story as it goes along, the general atmosphere is like a home video to which a member of the family has set up for purposes such as to record memories for the future, as you start noticing spooky things happening throughout the trailer you start to realise that that the camera’s might be used for another purpose rather than just home videos, theirs a snippet in the trailer where a female character states “ whatever it was, it thrived on fear” by allowing you to now see there is something unknown gives the whole plot a sense of mysteriousness.
The enigmas that are raised through the narrative are about something mysterious and unknown entering their home without consent, a chain of weird events seem to be happening which confuses and scares the family until; being conscious of their every move.

The characters are established by being introduced by the person who is holding the camera in the ‘home video’ you can see this because Katie & Christie are introduced by the camera man at the start, due to it being a home video you would assume that the male holding the camera is the father figure of the family, one of the two young females are seen in another seen as older women, saying “whatever happened when we was younger, I don’t remember” and then when you see the date at the bottom of the screen its much older than the present time, so adapting all this information you can see they have took an insight into the girls past, the unknown character is introduced at the end of the trailer when you see a dark silhouette of a person.

The Dialogue that is displayed is “this October discover the secret behind the activity” which is spaced out thought the trailer so for example after a certain camera cut or visual effect it would display a tiny bit more of the whole sentence which helps to build suspense, because the words are so powerful on their own such as “Discover” opens up the suspense even more, leaving the audience to think what is there to discover, it’s a really clever way to build suspense and engage the audience.

Action clips are used shortly after a calm gentle scene which contrasts both scenes and shows you how the story and atmosphere can change within the film instantly, one minute everything is calm and happy families, but when the night vision cameras are shown mysterious and crazy things happen.

The actions clips signify that something weird is happening within this normal nuclear family and whatever it is, it’s not obvious with just a mask like a generic convention would show, but its different where throughout the movie the villainous/negative character is never seen which adds to the suspense.

The pace of editing is very fast and rapid cutting from scene to scene within seconds which does 2 things, lets the audience get a glimpse of the action without displaying to much detail and insight, and also allowing the trailer to include a lot of content within the short amount of time it has to display. The visual style is average camera quality due to it being a home video on an normal camera that the family own, it’s not been done at a professional level and you can tell this because it’s a handheld camera with point of view shots, by the camera consistently distorting could create the sense that the video tape is old and this is a home video.

The main graphic in the trailer is at the end where it displays the total of the film, graphics aren’t displayed throughout the trailer because the director of the trailer wanted to create the amateur home video look so that the audience can relate to what the characters in the trailer are experiences as best they can to create that more realistic scary affect.

You can tell what type of genre it is due to the dark shadows and jumpy scenes throughout the trailer which has specifically been directed to scare the audience and to shock them, another way that the genre is signified to the audience is through the use of dialogue between the camera and the character talking into the camera, giving you a connection between the character and the audience as if the character is addressing you.

The pace alters when one of the young female characters are put in an extreme close up shot of her coming towards the camera fast, from then on the pace changed because things became more serious, it started off slow which made it seem more calm and a more positive situation.

The trailer appeals to the viewer because the storyline is realistic in a sense that there is a lot of discussion whether ghosts exist and paranormal activities occur, also the fast pace of the trailer and amount of cuts appeals to the viewer because it keeps the viewer engaged.

The generic conventions are challenged as the villainous/negative figure is not apparent throughout the whole trailer, the rapid use of camera cuts makes it like other horror trailers as it has to be fast paced to include a lot of content, enough to advertise the movie to the audience and to scare them, other films similar to these conventions such as the handheld camera to make it as if you’re there, Blaire witch project which also is based on supposedly real events.