Analysis of horror trailer

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Analysis of Trailer
TRAILER ANALYSED: ‘A NIGHTMARE ON ELM
STREET’
RELEASE DATE: 12TH JULY 1985

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1. Type of Trailer
 A nightmare on Elm Street is a theatrical trailer however, could
be labeled as a teaser due to it’s short length albeit reaches the
requirements for a theatrical trailer.
 You could also identify that it was a trailer through the narration
of a voice over, explaining the synopsis of the film which would
not be presented in a teaser.

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2a. How Does The Trailer Start?
 The trailer starts with the audience certification information
indicating that under 17’s require adult guardian or a parent, as
‘slasher’ horrors are graphic films. Then there was a transition by
editing random bars presenting the production company logo.
Afterwards the first shot was an establishing shot of three young
girls playing jump rope, then cutting to one of the girls skipping to
a red car. The girls were all wearing white dresses which was a
connotation of innocence and contrasted to the red car as it
connoted danger and blood (yet at the time could also been
represented as a symbol of wealth and desire)
 The purpose of this was to firstly, inform the audience of the age
certification for the safety of the audience do to it being a graphic
film. The first establishing shots purpose was to set the mood and
atmosphere of the location before being presented with the
horrors of the town.

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2b. Genre/Code And Conventions
 ‘A Nightmare On Elm Street’ is a horror/slasher genre, and also an
independent film due to its budget of $1.8m.
 A typical horror convention used in this trailer is the victim
cowering in front of a window. This is a stereotypical convention in
slashers and an example was shown in this trailer as the girl,
Nancy, hid from the killer against a window where he then grabbed
her from behind. This convention is usually chosen as it scares the
audience effectively.
 The iconography in this slasher horror is successful as they use
music and props to establish the genre of the film. For example,
throughout the whole trailer a fast pace high pitch soundtrack was
played which built anticipation on seeing the killer.

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3. Graphics/Typography
 The font title reflects the genre of the film as it’s in a sharp
decorative font and also the colour red which connotes blood, this
links to the narrative of the film as it exposes the horror genre.
 The title appears at the end of the trailer and also transitions from
being pushed up from the bottom of the frame to give a spooky
atmosphere. The title appearing at the end was done to build
suspense and create anticipation to view the film after the
terrifying trailer.
 The stars are highlighted using voice overs at the beginning of the
trailer and showing a mid-shot of the star in the frame. Because
this film was made in the 80’s this is a stereotypical convention of
older horror movies as it gives information of the film in a fast way
rather through accessible effects they could use.

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4. Narrative And Character
 The trailer showed a girl, Nancy, telling her boyfriend Glen on the phone “whatever you do,
don’t fall asleep!” this was shown through jump-cuts to show that they were having a
dialogue with each other in different locations. I think this scene was chosen to be shown in
the trailer as it gives the audience a clue to how the killings happen.
 The killer Freddy and the teenager Nancy were two significant characters presented as
Nancy was perceived as the tragic-hero due to her being one of Freddy’s victims but also
trying to save everyone else. Freddy was shown mainly through tracking shots of his hands
as they had sharp nails, and also long shots of him with low-key lighting which indicated
that he was villainous and to be scared of.
 The narrative of the trailer is linear and is told in the order of beginning and middle, but
purposely leave out the end which leaves a cliff-hanger for the audience making them want
to know how the film/trailer ends.
 The information about the plot is given through a voice over at the beginning of the trailer
saying the synopsis of the film within one line. This is effective as we could visually see the
narrative of the film whilst a voice over was being played. The information about the
characters was not really given within the trailer we only received the status of the
characters through dialogue (diegetic sound) by knowing Nancy and Glen were in a
relationship, but we never knew background information from these characters through the
mise-en-scene or sound of the trailer.