‘Carrie’ was directed in 1976 by Brian De Palma, It is based of a novel written by Stephen King who was excessively known as the ‘Horror novel king’ in this decade and to this present day, which bought a lot of commotion to this film as it was released in theatres.
The ‘Carrie’ trailer lasts 1 minute and 38 seconds which is long for a teaser trailer however it still pertains to mystery and suspense that leaves the audience wanting more. Consisting of several varies shots that sequence the trailer throughout.
The teaser opens up with an establishment shot which is slowly tracking in from a crane to show the prom taking place, the scene is extended to a long time of 10 seconds for the audience to get a clear view of what is going on. The diegetic sound of upbeat 70’s music connotes a party or ball which gives the audience the idea that it is as it appears. The non-diegetic sound that comes as a male voiceover highlights the obvious with the explanation to what’s happening in the scene “It’s the night of the senior prom, the baits high school gym is alive with excitement”.
After this it then goes to straight cut of a two shot with Sissy Spacek being introduced as Carrie and she stands with her date. The shot is very brief and as it is coming to as end a red light shines upon the two actors which then leads to a black screen dubbed with a screeching sound effect that is carried on into another shot of jump cuts zooming in on Carrie’s face covered in blood. These shots used are very interesting, they allow the audience to see the contrast of the previous shots were it was; calm, collected and fun to then lead onto shots of connotations involving danger, pain and fear. This is a typical convention of horror films and Intrigues the audience more to see what has caused this.
It is then cut to the next shot of the female character (Carrie) outside in a mid-shot, her denotation of costumes shows that she is partaking in Physical Education. This is also known through the lighting which reveals that is it now outside in the daytime. Again the shot is brief however it leads onto another female actress hitting Carrie on the head displaying a form of bullying by her Non-verbal communication as she is attacked and the non-diegetic sound of the voiceover saying calmly “The girl who no-one likes” This is highly stereotypical as it shows that yet again a female in a horror movie is shown to be fragile and defenceless even if they are being abused by the same sex, unfortunately the leads are mostly shown like that in different situation within most horror films.
After seeing this abuse in the previous shot, there is then brief cuts of close ups from female characters that are continuing the bullying with hurtful shouts as it leads to a medium shot of Carrie in what looks like a shower cubicle and the lighting shows the exterior to her being naked. This denotation is a common cliché convention that surprisingly happens in horror films involving shower scenes were females are attacked, For example Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 Psycho.
Another establishment shot is shown whilst tracking in to reveal an oddly eerie looking home which can’t be mistaken for where the main character lives. The lighting within this shot is quite low key around the sides of the home with increases fear. Non-diegetic music of strings that add onto the tension from the scene before leading up to this one connotes unsettling feelings as the pace of the shots seem to speed up to this quarter way point of the trailer. A cut comes to show a pan from left to right of low key long shots of one room in the house to the other and then comes to a point to show a long shot tracking in of Carrie being dragged of into darkness by a new female character which can be thought of to be a family member. The voiceover reveals to the audience that this new character is no other than her mother and diegetic sounds of Carrie’s “NO” with screams and mother repeating a low chants allow the audience a view into her home life which is distressing adding onto the horror conventions of pain and suffering into what is thought to be a safe environment.
The next shot shows Carrie looking into a mirror displaying her power of telekinesis connoting her danger to both herself and others as the mirrors shutters and pieces fall to the floor, there is also a prop of a Virgin Mary lantern showing that she comes from a religious background. Non diegetic music that adds to the tension and builds up for the coming scenes, the voiceover also helps to confirm the audience’s suspicions by saying “The girl which the strange power”.
The non-diegetic music changes to piano chords that synchronize with the quick shots of Carrie being at the prom, dancing and having fun whilst there is a repetition of dark and intense colours like black and red that give of warnings to the big climax of the trailer. As the sequence of prom shots speed up, the non diegetic music of a screeching type sound return and shadows appear to add onto the eerie feeling to what is the audience has been waiting to happen.
Everything such as the voiceover, non diegetic music and quick cuts comes to a halt as Carrie is showered in blood this is an extremely brief shot that brings the chaotic ness alive and brings a new sequence of shots showing multiple spilt screen shots of blood, strange activities happening and Carrie’s NVC in a trance like state connoting her being taken over and the person responsible for these events. Diegetic sounds of screams and yelps of fear from the actors and bought forward with the voiceover saying information related towards the actors playing, director, the famous novelist etc. The non diegetic music continues to the end of the trailer as the voiceover says “IF YOU HAVE A TASTE FOR TERROR, YOU HAVE A DATE WITH CARRIE” this ends with a final text of the title of the film and the last few quick shots showing a final establishment shot of the school lighted with flames as a shadow connotated to be Carrie slowly walks out. It then goes to a previous jump cut showing Carrie’s bloody face focusing mainly upon the upper part of her face.
The pacing within this teaser varies between different scenes; in the beginning as previously discussed it is quite long giving the audience a chance to comprehend what is going on which is very important as it can be viewed diversely between each audience member. The medium builds up faster to the end which connotes to us that the climax as to what is going to happen is coming up. The non diegetic music goes from upbeat and cheery to eerie and screech-like noises to assist along with the erratic scenes, as well as the music the voiceover helps to add on a push of suspense to the end of the trailer where all the havoc occurs. The use of repetitive scenes makes it so not a lot is giving away however it also allows it so the audience are aware of the importance to what those scenes are and how they will later be affected and altered within the film.
The common theme within this is bullying throughout the trailer whether it being from the main character’s peers or family member it is highlighted by the quick cuts of sequences that alert us the actions being carried out which then allows the audience to have the understanding as to why this has happened as a last resort.
In conclusion after, analysing elements of a teaser trailer I have come to realise several things. Editing a teaser trailer isn’t as easy as it may appear to be, it is extremely hard. It must be remembered that this is the main product of advertisement that will entice people into going to see the film therefore editing, camera shots, camera movements are needed to be thought over thoroughly. I understand that some teasers like this one for example may solely concentrate on the main character whilst other can stray of to minimal characters to not give away any surprises that may happen in the film. Getting the audience to understand the teaser and intrigue them to watch the film is hard and my challenge will be to incorporate this into my teaser trailer successfully.
By Monique Rhomes
Monique- this is a good piece, but have you followed the gruidelines in the handout?
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