We see brief clips of violent and frightening action in the trailer that give a sense of the horror elements in the film. Scenes of people being attacked or threatened are shown to build tension and excitement without revealing too much of the plot. The title of the film is shown only near the end to draw the viewer in and leave them wanting more. While specific actors are not named, the producer Michael Bay is mentioned to leverage his reputation for successful horror films and raise expectations for the production quality.

1. Analysing a Trailer
Monday, 19 September 2011

2. At what point in the trailer are we told the name of the film? Why is this?
• We see the title of the film roughly 10 seconds prior
to the ending of the trailer. The order of the images on
the left is the order in which the title of the film begins
and the last image we are presented with. The title is
brought to our attention and then is matched against a
piece of action to increase the horror expectation of
the film.
• Proceeding onwards, the phrase “Don’t fall asleep” is
used to hint a dream analogy and the murders may
link with this as well as the phrase linking with the title
because we are only able to have Nightmares if we fall
asleep.
• The last image is of the date so it is the last thing that
we are able to remember and will inevitably associate
the action within the trailer with the final date. This
then generates excitement and the possible desire to
watch the film.
Monday, 19 September 2011

3. Why are we told who is starring in the film? How is this information given to us?
Why?
• We are not actually told who is starring within the
film due to the actors being relatively unknown to
society and therefore are fresh faces that will not
be associated with any of their previous work.
However, we are presented with producer Michael
Bay who is globally known for his previous work
such as Friday 13, Texas chainsaw massacre, and The
Amityvile Horror, all films which are related to the
horror genre. Therefore the audience will expect a
very high budget and high concept film due to the
producer having previous and successful experience
within the industry.
• The information is given to us after the introduction
to the trailer that provides a brief synopsis to what
the trailer as well as re introducing the remake and
adapting the well recognisable franchise yet still
creating a new twist on the situation.
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4. What type of action of the film do we see?
Monday, 19 September 2011

5. Monday, 19 September 2011