Media Evaluation

Media Evaluation

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After analysing 5 teaser trailers, the convention I found that the majority of them used is the weather and lighting to create the mood, in which I think is one of the biggest influence on the audience's decision on whether or not to go and see the movie, as the mood always depends on the genre and storyline, in which different audiences have different preferences. The majority of trailers I analysed were for horror movies, in which all of them had dim lighting, or if any was to be light, it would be from a fire or a thunderstorm, both of which are related to disaster.



I also found that in "The Haunting in Connecticut" and "Nightmare on Elm Street" trailers they both used a child's voice over reciting a poem. This created a creepy effect as children are seen as innocent, so is more frightening when they are involved in a horror movie. I thought this was a good convention to use as the tone and rhythym of the children's voices went along with the slow transitions which was a good build up to the peaks of the trailers.



All of the teaser trailers I analysed included their date of release at the end. This is a clever idea to put it right at the end as it will be the last thing stuck in the audience's mind, and it has let them judge the film before knowing when it's out, whereas if the date was shown at the beginning, the audience might ignore it and then when they realise they would like to go and see the film, they probably would have forgotten when it said it was going to be released. It's also just a tidy way to end the teaser trailer, and I will do the same for my own.



"Alice in Wonderland" was the only trailer that included a title for who stars in it. This is a convention that is used in many trailers, however not many teaser trailers as it's more about just getting a sneak peak of the storyline. However as Alice in Wonderland includes many famous actors, this is a convention this certain trailer has used to get audiences to go and see the film on its own, just simply because Johnny Depp is starring. The other trailers I analysed didn't have as well-known actors in, therefore there was less need to include these individual titles.

"The Legend of Bloody Mary" Teaser Trailer Analysis

The music in this teaser trailer starts off modern and rocky, relating to the teenage boy in one of the opening shots. This also relates to the storyline, as the girl Amy finds out about the legend of Bloody Mary on a website, showing that these events all include normal teenagers that are around today, aiming at the audience, as it's a teen horror there will be teenagers watching making it more frightening for them as they may relate these characters to themselves. The trailer's aim is to give these teenagers more of a drive to be daring and go and watch the movie. The music is stopped by what seems a power cut, followed by a scream, and the only sound that can be heard is creaking and the storm, as the boy slowly goes up the stairs to see what's happened, creating a suspense. The music starts to build up as he opens the door, however it stops again, teasing the audience with a peak, making them want to go and see the movie, as the trailer hasn't given much away.

Different titles appear during the trailer, instead of using a voice over, bringing more mystery and curiosity into the trailer, as the movie is all about finding out about the legend of Bloody Mary. As the titles appear, the text is in white, however one letter is in red, and is always a letter that is in Mary's name. The red represents the blood, and by this convention being used, it brings her more alive in the trailer, instead of her being a myth which most people would believe.

Like most horror movies, the lighting in this trailer is dim and gloomy, which is conveyed in the trailer as it needs to set the mood and atmosphere, which is important for the audience to see as they need to know what to expect, and if this is a movie they would want to go and watch. If there is any bright light in this trailer, it comes from the thunderstorm which is not realated to anything bright or happy, as bad weather in movies means bad atmosphere.

"A Nightmare On Elm Street" Teaser Trailer Analysis

The trailer starts off in silence, showing long shots of an abandoned setting, this immediately creates the effect of being alone. The music very suddenly begins when the trailer shows a man running, which is soon discovered that he is being chased. The upbeat music reflects his running, and his mood as he must be frightened, as there's so many of them and one of him. Only a few seconds of the trailer have passed and it's already leaving the audience wondering why he is being chased, wanting to know more. This first section of the trailer leads up to a peak which is helped by the suspense of the music. The transition occurs after this, and the music then slows down and becomes creepy, which is accompanied by a child's voice reciting a poem, however it's echoey and also creating a creepy effect. However, every several seconds the child's voice stop and the jumpy music cuts back in. This all builds up to another peak and the fast-paced music overpowers again. I think this is a good convention to use as it teases the audience with suspense.

At the beginning of the trailer, everything starts off very grey and gloomy, although it's set outside, no sun can be seen, only dark clouds. This again reflects the mood and creates the dark atmosphere of which the movie includes, which is a giveaway a teaser trailer must include. The lightest shot in the trailer is of the little girl's playing on a skipping rope, this is to reflect the child's voiceover, and although the shot is bright, the voiceover makes it give out a more abnormal impression, rather than a happy one. For the rest of the trailer, the only other bright light included is the fire, which represents death and disaster, so again not bringing across a happy image.

The teaser trailer includes many close ups and slow transitions. This suggests the intimacy the 'monster' or whatever the trailer is suggesting is after the victims, has with the characters. It shows that it's up close to them, and creeping around them with the slow transitions, which is frightening for the audience as they get carried away with the movie, start to believe it could be up close to them too. There is also a close up of the street name "Elm Street" this shows setting, and as Elm Street is in the name of the movie and that this shot is included in the trailer, shows the audience that it's mainly set down this street, targeting a group of characters that the audience are likely to attach to, again making it more frightening.

"Saw VI" Teaser Trailer Analysis

The music in this teaser trailer is fast, loud and upbeat. This is to reflect the events during the film and suggests that is going to be fast-paced and the audience will gain a rush. The music goes along with the camera movements, which makes the viewer feel like they are being taken along on a ride, although a scary ride as the setting is dim and gloomy, also abandoned, so you feel pretty much alone, however the screaming and shouting suggests many people are going to go through this "tough ride" in the movie.

As the title states "Saw IV", it's a sequel of many before, therefore this trailer is aimed at an audience who will know what to expect, so it hasn't much need to tell the audience about the background, this is why the trailer is made up of computerized images, and only small snippits of the film are displayed on the television screens which the camera passes. However, although the trailer doesn't need to tell the audience about the background story, it still needs to explain to the audience why they should go and see this particular movie, and why it's different to the others in the series of movies. It does this through text and as the camera moves through the building, big writing such as "6 choices", suggesting that there will be dilema in the film. All of the text that appears begins with "6" to really put in the audience's minds that it is all about "Saw IV" and not about any of the others.

The lighting in this trailer is dim, which relates to the mood and genre of the film, and suggests that it contains no happiness, and the dark is always a more frightening setting than the light.

At the end of the trailer it states that it will be realeased on halloween. This suggests to the audience that it's a movie to be afraid of and brings out the horror effect, instead of just stating that it will be released in October, as the audience won't then relate it to halloween. I think this is a good convention to use, as it persuades the thrill-seekers to go and see it as everything is typically more frightening on the night of halloween.