Sabrina's Teaser Trailer Textural Analysis of a Nightmare on Elm Street

The 2010 version of nightmare on Elm Street is an American film written by Wesley Strick and Eric Heisserer and directed by Samuel Bayer. It was released on 30/04/2010 made with a budget of $35 million and grossed $115,587,084.

During the opening sequence of the teaser trailer to nightmare on Elm Street the use of low key lighting as well as the eerie sounds and the establishing shot from a tilted angle is like the quiet before the storm and allows the audiences to see what type of direction the rest of the film is going to go in. The rest of the light coming from above allows the viewer to only see half of the set in misty light and the other part is in darker where it is hard to see any thing on that side either. The setting seems to be in a decollate town that has been stuck by a disaster leaving it empty, with over cast weather making it look grey, cold and muggy. There are various wrecked buildings with rubble everywhere and machinery that has been left as well as loose wires.

In the beginning of the next sequence there is heavy panting as a man emerges from a corner running from a car that is chasing after him. In the distance this man has no lighting on him as we can not see his face but it is visible that he is danger. We can see this because he is continuously looking over his shoulder as he is running to make sure that he is clear from the car at all times. This is done with the use of a wide angle shot which allows use to see the setting the car and the subject in the frame and the intensity. We then see a middle shot of the man while he is running to revile what he looks like, as he is wearing a black jacket this connotes that he has done something wrong. This then retreats into another wide shot which reveals two other cars as they do not look like polices cars and do not look very expensive I can tell that I may not be authority chasing connoting the it may be people with a personal vendetta against him.

As he gets to one of the wrecked houses a gang of what looks like old residents of the town appear and begin to chase after him. We see a medium close-up of the man in the black jacket revealing a facial expression of terror and fear as he enters the house. The residents walk up to the house, one man in particular is holding a baseball bat as he shouts ’Kruger, come on out here you sick bastard’. This displayed the anger from the man with the bat and also reiterates that this man has done something to upset the area. As Kruger barricades him self inside the house a there is the use of a close up which allows the viewer to see his two hands clutched on the handle of the door with the side of his face in the shot showing a terrified expression. At this point the viewer does is wondering why these people are chasing him and asking what has he done wrong. As his hands have more lighting on them than his face this allows us to see how grimy they are which denotes that he has done something unclean. This helps to build the intensity of the trailer allowing the viewer to anticipate what is going to happen next.

When the man who tried to approach Kruger with a baseball bat lit up and through a oil can into the house that he was hiding in we then being to see a flow of light which is coming from the fire in the background. As Kruger beings to take of his cloths the viewer beings to ask why as this is not what a person does when they are in fires. As he is taking of his cloths the camera begins to move in slow motion which allows us to see him in babbling state.

Once we see the oil can of fire burst through the wrecked building it fades to black allowing the viewer to contemplate what just happened to Kruger in the building, this also entices the viewer to want to find out what happens next in the rest of the trailer. The titles of the characters in slam down in red with red flecks on a black background make the font stand out as well as insinuating that the characters are going to get into some trouble with the characters they are playing as red is the color of danger.

After all the fast pace action stops there is a change in the atmosphere as we see three girls skipping in white which connotes purity and innocents which could have been a flash back, this representation can stem from the personalities in the film being a contrast in those in the original series.

Throughout the trailer there is the constant use of fading to black this helps to build the rapid change in intensity within the trailer as well as the continual change in the storyline as the trailer develops. This connotes the step by step movement of the film is supposed to be gripping for the viewer trying to give them just enough information of what is to come but not everything at once. Once an image appears from the blackness we tend to see dimly lit scenes from either mid shot, medium close ups or shots or establishing shots that have elements that make the viewer question what happens next. An example of this would be at 1.10seconds a metal hand come up through the through the bath but it is obviously not the girl who is in the baths hand which make us wonder who’s it is.

Over the teaser trailer allows use to see a glimpse of what is going to happen in the film. With as little dialogue as possible it keeps use guessing what is happening what is going to happen and why. This allowed me to analyse the different kinds of camera movements, camera shots and gain some clarity on editing.