Textual Analysis of Scream Trailer

Along with a film poster, a film trailer accompanies the film Scream. The trailer portrays the same concepts, codes and conventions that the trailer does. It also shows what kind of audience that the film is aimed at. The film is aimed at older teens; we can see this because the majority of the main characters are playing older teenagers so it will relate to the target audience. The median of this product is film in the form of a trailer. The trailer starts with the close up of a phone with the diegetic sound of it ringing. A hand grabs it quickly which could shock the audience slightly. A young girl answers the phone and a strange male voice is heard. The dialogue continues as the screen goes black and the films institution is shown on the screen. The institution has been shown at this time because the audience are paying attention so they will notice that the logo has come onto the screen. The dialogue has continued to keep the viewer interested in watching the screen so that they see the institution logo. An establishing shot is shown of a house which is obviously the young girl’s house because the dialogue can still be heard. This establishing shot has been included because it could insinuate to the audience that someone is watching the house or is outside her house. The young girl is then shown still on the phone to the stranger and they are talking about ‘scary movies’. This builds tension within the audience because they will be intrigued to see what will happen next. The stranger then asks the girls name and when she asks why he says it is because he ‘wants to see who he is looking at’. This shocks the audience because they will be curious whether someone is outside or if something is going to happen. The camera then zooms into a close up of the girl’s face and she looks very worried and frightened. The scene then changes suddenly to a window being smashed in front of the girl. This will shock the viewer because it has gone from being silent to very loud. This could show the viewer that the film is full of surprises. There is then a close up of the young girl screaming in fear and you can see a reflection of the Scream mask over her face. A flash of white light separates the scene and police cars are shown. A voice over can be heard over the changing scenes. It is a very deep voice to add fear and tension. ‘Someone is playing a deadly game’ can be heard. This shows the viewer that there will be murders and deaths in the film and suggests the plot of the film.
A very short approximately one second scene is shown with a man dressed in a black cloak and scream mask leaping onto the young girl. A news reporter is then shown outside of a school which suggests that the girl was murdered. This also makes the film relate to real life which means that the audience can relate to it. Other characters are introduced into the trailer with close ups and two shots. The voice over continues to explain the plot further so the audience can gain a better understanding of what is going on. Short scenes are shown of the police with guns and the murderer creeping around. Another young female character that was introduced earlier in the trailer is then shown with a ringing phone beside her, when she answers the same strange male voice replies and he knows her name. She looks shocked and looks behind her.A point of view shot is then shown which would be the young girl looking out of her windows into the front garden. The male voice asks if she likes scary movies, as she is talking back scenes from the film are shown and the scenes relate to what she is saying. As she says ‘victims run up the stairs when they should be running out the front door’ a girl is shown being chased by the murderer up the stairs. Although the first murdered girl is shown running for the front door. This could suggest that there is no escape no matter where you run. This feature of the trailer would initially suggest to the audience that the film is just like any other scary film and predictable because it is shown in the scenes that it contains the same features that other horror films do, but what the producers are trying to do is relate it to real life and make it realistic to the viewer. There is an establishing shot of a house with people entering it; it looks like they are having a party. A young male is shown standing in front of a TV. The audience can see that it is a horror film because on the screen a raised arm holding a dagger can be seen. The young male says, ‘There are certain rules that one must abide by in order to successfully survive a scary movie.’ As he explains the rules they are shown being broken by the characters in the film. This makes the audience wonder who will be the next victim and who will survive. As the dagger is pointing towards the male and looks like it is about to stab him it insinuates to the viewer he could be killed.
Quick scenes are shown of the police and characters running. This shows that the murderer is a serial killer because it makes it clear that more than one person has been killed. This makes the viewer wonder who it was and whether it was one of the characters that ‘broke the rules.’

Narrative text is shown on the screen in block capitals saying ‘Don’t answer the phone.’ The voice over also reads the text so that it grabs the audiences attention. As the text disappears off the screen it turns red and turns blurry. It is red to represent blood. Loud scary music can then be heard in the background that gets louder. The first victim is shown answering the phone and screaming in fear. ‘Don’t open the door’ is then shown in the same font and another girl is shown opening the door and there is an extreme close up of her screaming. ‘Don’t try to hide’ is then shown on the screen and a girl is shown trying to escape from the murderer. As the audience don’t see her escape and she is one of the characters that ‘broke the rules’ they wonder whether she gets killed or not. The director’s name Wes Craven is advertised this is because he is a well known and created Nightmare on Elm Street which is also another popular horror film.
Characters are seen shouting and screaming, the music continues to get louder and more dramatic to build tension. A girl is shown falling from a roof and two people nearly being hit by a car these scenes show that the film is action packed and includes a lot of drama.
A police man is then shown shining a torch onto his face. This has been done because when people tell horror stories they shine a torch underneath their chin to make them look scary. The police man then says, ‘You’re not scared are ya?’ This grabs the audience’s attention because it is a question directed at the viewer. Also, as he asks the question he seems quite creepy, this could suggest to the audience that the police man could even be the murderer and that everyone is a suspect. In big, bold, capital red letters, Scream is shown on the screen. The music dies out and the trailer ends with a dark screen and the credits and institutions advertised once more. The institution logos have been shown at the end, at the bottom of the screen so that it the last place the viewer will look and so it will stick in their minds.

I think this trailer is a successful portrayal of the film Scream because it shows the representation of the film and shows it is action packed and full of shocks and twists. In the trailer many possible murderers are suggested but one is never confirmed. Also, the victims are suggested and never confirmed. This is good because it keeps the viewer guessing and doesn’t give too much away, it makes them want to go and watch the film more because they want to find out what actually happens. Another feature of the trailer that I think is successful is the way that the narrative has a strong relation to what is going on in the trailer. The scenes that are shown in the trailer are quite jumbled up and some of the scenes that are at the very beginning of the actual film are shown towards the end of the trailer. This could be done to confuse the audience because a character that they may have thought had been murdered at the beginning actually wasn’t because they are shown later on in the trailer. What is different with this trailer than other trailers I have seen is that it doesn’t advertise the date in which the film is released which I think is possibly the most important part of the trailer.