Textual Analysis: Horror Teaser Trailer.(Kerry Treacy)

Friday The 13^th

Film Information

· Distributor - Warner Bros.

· Release Date - February 13 2009

· Genre - Horror

· Production Budget - $19 Million

· Teaser Trailer Length – 1.34min

Textual Analysis: Friday The 13^th

· Friday The 13^th is an American slasher film directed by Marcus Nispel and written by Daminan Shannon and Mark Swift. The 2009 film is a reboot of the Friday The 13^th Film series which began in 1980.The remake of the 2009 film was developed when New Line Cinema producers approached Platinum Dunes producers about reinforcing the same horror fashion that they had done with the previous versions of the film.

· The teaser trailer opens with a long shot of a lake at sunset, the shot has a clamming effect upon what the audience see, however the non-diegetic background music creates a tense tone and signifies to the audience that the scene does not representing something positive. Although audience members who have watched the previous versions of the film will correspond to this as “Crystal Lake” an important location in the film where the storyline of the film has evolved and this shot of location can be identified as an establishing shot.

· After this a transition is used to separate shots together, a fade is used, as fades frequently connote a soft tone however in this sequence of shot, the bridging of shots represents a different representation of atmosphere. The continued shot followed is another long shot in the location of a forest, again audience members who have watched previous versions of the film will be aware of the location as having importance to the films plot. The lighting in this scene follows the conventions of a horror, as the lighting is low key and represents danger which is reinforced by the voice over in the background. The dialogue of “Did you know a young boy died here” enforces the idea to the audience members self-conscious that the location is not in a positive atmosphere. Also non-diegetic sound is continued here form the previous shots. The music again reinforces the idea of negative atmosphere to the audience.

· Another fade is used between the transitions of shots. Then a long shot is used which introduces two characters, and a low angle medium shot. The combinations of shots are used for the effect of typical horror conventions. The location where the scenes were shot represents danger by the continuous use of low key lighting. The darkness will connote the feeling of fear due to the fact that the characters are unknown to what they connote see.

· The idea of fear is reinforced by the continuous use of sound bridge. The non-diegetic atmospheric music increasingly builds which enhances the diegetic sound of the female panicking. And again the voice over in the background is continued telling the audience members the meaning of the locations in the scenes.

· The use of camera shots used to introduce the two characters follow the typical conventions of a horror genre film. The male character is holding a torch and is front of his female companion, which gives the visual representation of the male character having strength and an heroic status. The diegetic music reinforces the idea of female needing the guidance and protection from her male companion as she is defenceless  idea of the female needing protection is a high stereotypical convention of females in horror genre films. The diegetic sound of the female’s dialogue and reactions show how weak as a character she is, in comparison to the male character which it is highly stereotypical for males to be portrayed as more heroic.

· Throughout the trailer a common use of editing is used, the continuity of quick cuts is highly stereotypical in a horror genre teaser trailer. As quick cuts visually give a representation of the characters adrenaline and sense of danger which affects the audience members self-conscious. The frequent cuts are deliberate interruptions to shock, supersize and emphasize the atmosphere of the film. The cutting rhythm is progressively shortened to increase tension, which creates an effect shock and distraught to the audience members.

· The continuity of using point of view camera shots is used throughout the teaser. The effect of using point of view shots gives the sense of invading the characters space through the teaser and also the effect of experiencing what the characters are going through throughout the teaser. A point of view shot is a that shows what a character is looking at, it is usually established by being positioned between a shot of a character looking at something and their reaction. These shots are used for example when the characters are searching the house, the shots show audience members visually what the characters are seeing and experiencing. The shots are enhanced by the manipulation of diegetic sounds of the characters reactions and dialogue in the background enabling the audience to have a real sense of what they are experiencing.

· The continuity of using quick cuts throughout the teaser makes the effect of compressing time. The compression of time between shots is extremely frequent throughout the teaser as it manipulates time. It is very effective due to the genre of the film, the logic of the situation the characters are in is expressed by the compression of shots of close ups and reactions shots. The pace of the teaser changes when the male character discovers a shadow behind a door, this is when the fast editing process takes place. By the use of fast shots the audience are logically trying to figure out what is going on. However the diegetic sound in the background of the characters reactions reinforces the idea to the audience of what kind of a dangerous situation the characters are in.

· The use of compressed editing is used continuously in the teaser until the audience members are introduced the villain. To this point a dramatic stop is paused upon the editing and the teaser is given a long take to create a dramatic pause. The dramatic pause questions the audience members mind in what the situation has turned to. This is enhanced by the diegetic and non-diegetic sound changing. The diegetic sound changes to the lamp shifting in the air and the non-diegetic sound changes to a more intense flow. Up until this scene the editor has chosen fast cutting for the audience to sympathise with the characters as they get a sense of experience what the characters are going through.

· The audience members are given a very stereotypical representation of a villain. A masked villain is viewed to the audience. The lighting in particular enhances the villain’s character, by the quick use of high key lighting the audience are visualised with the villains face and silhouette. The non- diegetic sound here enhances the characters role by the change of sound that becomes more of an harmful tone, which enhances the atmosphere of the scenes in the teaser to follow.

· A more dramatic effect of sound editing and shot editing takes place after the villain character is established. The non-diegetic sound of the dialogue in the background “and today is his birthday”, changes the audiences dynamic upon the teaser. After the dialogue is finished the audience are showed a sequence of shot reverse shots. Shot reverse shots are used to visualise the life death situation the female character is now in. A low angle shot from the female perspective view is used to show the characters power within the teaser. The low angle shot shows the visual representation that the villain is the dominant character in the teaser and has full power over the situation that is now in progress, in contrast to the female character the low angle shot stereotypically represents her as weak and the victim of the villain. The shot reverse shots also re-establishes the idea of the audience’s sympathy for the female character. The villain is re-established by the shot of his sword. The teaser scene sequence is then finished of a dramatic low angle shot of the villain killing the female victim with his sword. The use of non-diegetic background music and diegetic music of the female’s reaction enhances the scene of the climate end to the teaser trailer.

· The cut to black then starts the process of the title sequence. The sequence starts with a slow zoom and an extreme close up of the villain mask. Audience members who have previously watched older versions of the film will recognise the mask as the mask that Jason Voorges wears in the Friday the 13^th movies and the Jason X movies. The audience is then established the title name of the film by the motion graphic movement of the typography.

· In conclusion from my analysing the formal components of the horror teaser trailer,  I have learnt the importance of how editing is, editing is crucial to establish the over genre of the film for example the use of quick cutting in this teaser trailer created sympathy from the audience members to the individual characters in the film. I have also learnt how camera shots are used in the editing process for the audience to guess and logically figure out what is happening in the teaser. In work with camera shots I’ve learnt how diegetic sound enforces the information of the teaser to the audience, throughout the teaser there was compresion of time which manipulated camera shots so the audience weren’t visually seen what was happening in the film but the non-diegetic and diegetic sound established what was going on. The Friday the 13^th teaser trailer was 84 seconds screening time which is too long for a teaser trailer, overall I have learnt the key importance in the use of compression of time to visually advertise what film producers want audience members want to see.
By Kerry Treacy