Evaluation of ‘A Nightmare on Elm Street’ teaser trailer
The trailer has an over dramatic opening immediately grasping the audience’s full attention with the use of special base sound effects whilst the screen is still black. We then come to see a low angled shot of something looking like a basement of a factory; you can barely see the dingy setting as there is intense natural lighting shining in brightly through the railings. This shot creates an initial unease leaving the audience uncertain of what is to come or what they may see. It soon becomes clear as there is a fast cut to pile of ashy old faces severely burnt, along with over dismantled body components. There is a fire burning in the background and the lighting in this shot becomes significantly darker as to make the audience play close attention to develop any understanding of what may be taking place.
At this point I think it is the digetic, piercing sounds of metal on metal and loud clanging noises along with the extreme close up of a young white girl pleading and begging which gives away the genre to those who were in any two minds. There is a sudden jump cut to a man speaking of a girls cause of death the specific language used her is evocative and used effectively alongside explicitly revolting images of a burnt corpse this takes place in an office environment. I think this contrast in sound and atmosphere reflects the unpredictability of the actual film and indicates to the viewer that they may be many shocking twists included, enticing them to watch it.
It then cuts back to the basement scene where we hear the fearful voice of a girl talking about a scary man who ‘hunts her’ while we hear this there is flashes of a disturbing man who has deformed hands with blades on them and an extraordinarily ugly face. The noise in this scene makes it seem highly chaotic, and in many ways frightening, there is high pitched screaming, heavy breathing, sharpening of knives and banging of doors and heavy machinery. The colour sequence through out the scene (red and black with smoke) and as the titles appear, play an important part in reinforcing the genre of the film and allowing the title of the film to be recognised and remembered.
Overall I think this is an effective teaser trailer as it introduces the genre of the film to the audience by only allowing them to see snippets of the actual film. By not revealing too much it allows the audience to develop and urge to go and watch the film. The fact that it is a sequel is quite significant because this often makes it a lot easier to advertise through a trailer as the audience would already be familiar with the previous film. The main character of the film does not need that much of an introduction as it is quite obvious through the title and publicity of the previous ‘Nightmares on Elm Streets’.
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