Textual Analysis of a Horror Film Teaser Trailer

Final Destination 5 Trailer- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QE60KctSeog

Final destination 5 is a horror thriller which was released on the 26^th of August 2011 directed by Steven Quale and written by Eric Heisserer and Jeffrey Reddick. It stars actors such as Nicholas D’Agosto, Emma Bell and Arlen Escarpeta. The Synopsis of the film is about the survivors of a suspension-bridge which collapses and they learn there’s no way you can cheat death.

This teaser trailer is 129 seconds long and opens with diagetic sound in which the characters are speaking also it opens with a high angle shot in which the camera is scanning a terrified looking woman from bottom to top in which this woman is also shaking in the process a transition follows this to bring the next two shots together.  By the opening shot consisting of a terrified woman who is shaking this straight away represents the platform in which this film is going to take an unpleasant one and also tells the audience that this is going to be a frightening film. At this point there are quite a few slow cuts and in addition the music is very slow paced and mysterious which portrays something bad could happen at any point.

 

A convention this horror teaser trailer follows  is the point in which they talk to the audience. Inbetween shots the producers started to send a message to the audience which was “THIS SUMMER WE ALL SHARE A COMMON DESTINATION”. What was key about this was the shots inbetween the messages. The shots consisted of the horrible death of the patient who was trying to get laser eye surgery, the makers of this horror teaser trailer definitely wanted to get a message across that this film is going to be gory, gruesome and unpleasant to many viewers watching.

As we move forward in the trailer we witness this low angle shot showing the surgeon with a dangerous sharp looking object with the patient just in the shot which looks to be potentially dangerous this could again represent that this film is going to consist of great danger and unease at any point in the film.

As we move forward a bit more the trailer consists of faster cuts and more hidden messages such as these you can see below. In these 3 shots the colour red is used a lot firstly the shot of the warning sign. As we know many warning signs represents a sense of danger and as this trailer is consisting of it this is telling the audience that this film is going to experience a lot of danger also as it is surrounded by the colour red it could represent blood and blood could mean a lot of things such as death. In the other shot the red text flashes which could represent a threat is present also shows that the situation is a risky one. Lastly the shot of the bright red laser which is going to be the death of the patient definitely told the audience that this film is going to make them be at the edge of the seat at all times as the first half of this trailer shows that the unexpected should be expected.

 

 

Continuing in this trailer the music gets faster and faster and experiences faster cuts portraying the threat of something could happen and at this point diagetic sound is present as the victim who is shown in a close up shot is screaming out loud “help me, help me”. The fact that the women is screaming this out loud with intent this means she’s in grave danger and near to death.

As the trailer reaches the middle stages there is an establishing shot of the bridge which could reveal to the audience that this  location is going to be really important and vital to the film and what happens on the bridge could hold key information. From 1.00 to 1.09 this bit of the trailer consist on the most important part of what’s going to happen in the film and has a very fast tempo to it, containing fast cuts and a variety of shots such as high angle, but not at any bit revealed how a character was killed. This is a typical convention of a horror teaser trailer which is not revealing much to the audience leaving them and letting them wonder what’s going to happen next.

As we reach the closing stages of the trailer the music has more of a feel to it and more beats come into play with dramatic sounds. In the trailer we come across a close up shot of one of the characters as you can see the characters face is one of anxiety and the look of terror in her face. This could be a seen as a hidden message by the producers telling the audience if you watch this film there may be a sense of terror when watching it and a sense of fright in you.