"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.