Textual Analysis of my own work - Nowhere To Run Teaser Trailer

I will analyse my own work to ensure that it incorporates some of the key codes and conventions that are found in other horror/thriller trailers. I will also have to make sure that I have included as many interesting shots and angles as I can because that is how a teaser trailer becomes more attractive to the viewer, as the full storyline is not being shown.

The median of this product is film in the form of a teaser trailer. The ideology of our trailer is meant to be freaky and mysterious and we have intended to confuse the viewer about who is the real victim in the film. We did this to follow a code and convention of a teaser trailer which was, not to give too much away. The genre of our teaser trailer is thriller/horror. The representation of our trailer is quite modern and creepy to entice our target audience. That audience is around 15-24 year olds, the indication for the target audience is that the main character is quite young so this age group find the film more relatable to them. The institution of our teaser trailer is Twisted Pictures although we also included our own creation M.A.D Productions to act as an independent distributing label to give our trailer a fresh, edgy and modern feel. The narrative in the trailer is quite simple and short but is used effectively to build up tension between the scenes.

The trailer starts with the traditional ‘green screen’ which is found in every trailer, whatever genre it may be. The institutions logos are then displayed on the screen. The institution logos would be shown in a theatrical trailer but perhaps they are more important in a teaser trailer because the idea of a teaser trailer is to focus on advertising the institutions and actors to make the film more appealing rather than the actual storyline. The loud, edgy hard rock music then kicks in on a black screen first and the trailer springs into action with the main character suddenly shooting up in bed. This is meant to shock the viewer which gives them an idea about what the rest of the trailer and the actual film will entail and the genre of the film.

The white narrative text is shown against a black background to make it stand out and portray the ‘darkness’ of the trailer and the characters. ‘She was Alone’ is shown on the screen. This immediately suggests to the viewer that something bad is going to happen to the girl, therefore builds tension because they are interested to know what will happen. A tracking shot is used to show the girl running through a forest. It is from behind a tree so it looks like someone is watching her. There is then a point of view shot from the girl running through the forest. The camera is very bumpy and jolts which adds to the thriller effect of the film. The screen flashes negative while she is running. This negative flash could be portraying the negative ideology of the film and could suggest there is something wrong with the girl.

More narrative text is on the screen in the same font and style as the rest 'with nowhere to hide' can be seen which adds tension because the audience may be thinking that she won't escape from her attacker. There is a view from outside looking at the girls house and she can be seen pulling the curtains shut. This adds tension within the audience because they may think that the attacker is about to strike and he is outside her house watching her. The girl is shown behind the banisters in her house looking up the stairs, this suggests that there is someone up there waiting for her. This shot was inspired by The Others trailer and the bar from the banisters could represent the entrapment of the character. There is high angle shot of the girl running up the stairs, it suggests that she is weak and in danger and there is someone waiting to get her when she gets to the top of the stairs.

She is then huddled in the corner and a high angle shot is used she looks scared and is crying. The negative flash is used in this shot also. 'Feel the panic' can be seen on the screen and an over the shoulder shot is used to show the girl frantically looking in the mirror and pulling back her hair. This could cause some confusion within the audience because it suggests that the girl is not being followed and she looks like she is going crazy thinking someone is following her. There is then a extreme close up of the girl looking round behind her, when she looks round she looks directly into the camera. The girl looks quite unstable which could suggest to the audience that she isn't the victim within the film. The girl is then shown going to slit her wrists this suggests to the viewer that there is more going on in the film than they first thought because there is confusion whether she is being followed or it is her imagination which is the effect that we wanted to create for the film to keep the audience guessing.

'Feel the fear' is shown on the screen which goes with the other piece of narrative text which links them together. This is a code and convention that many other trailers use. There is a point of view shot of someone walking round a tree, the audience does not know whether it is the girl walking round the tree or an attacker looking for the girl. There is another tracking shot of the girl walking through the forest, the view is from a tree so it is a high angle shot which makes the girl look unpowerul and have a lack of control. At the bottom of the screen there is text advert sing other information about the film. It says 'from the director of Silent Scream' we made up the film Silent Scream because we found in other teaser trailers they are all about promoting the film so we wanted the audience to think that the film would be good because they have made a horror film before. The font is different to the narrative text so the audience do not think that it is part of the story. It is also shown on top of the actual scenes and hasn't got a black background behind it.

The girl is then shown jumping over a ditch and it looks like she is trying to escape from something. A dolly camera movement is used to show the main character. The camera spins round her and she is in the forest looking around her and looks panicked. This mirrors then panic in the film. There is also more text advertising the film. It says starring Oscar winning actress Abbie Smith. We included this because it is found in other trailers that we looked at for our research.

'Don't look back' is shown on the screen, this narrative text is important because it is direct to the audience which adds tension and fear. The girl then is shown and she suddenly turns around and looks shcoked. This could suggest that there is someone behind her or the 'attacker' has finally caught her. After the girl spins round the screen plunges into darkness and Nowhere to run is shown in block capitals and in red. The music comes to an end dramtically with three bangs and the text moves towards the viewer. This loud bang shocks the viewer and makes an impact. It also makes them interested in the film again and grabs their attention just in time for them to realise the title of the film.

'Its coming to get you...' is shown which interests the audience. The girl is then shown back sitting in the forest and there is a point of view shot of someone walking up behind her and their footsteps can be heard. The screen goes black again and 'Soon' is shown on the screen. We used this because normally 'coming soon' is used but we thought we would do it a little different to set it apart from other trailers. When 'Soon' is shown on the screen the is a clap of thunder which makes the trailer go out with a bang.

The end credits scene which is found at the end of every trailer shows information about the film and the institution logos which makes the institution logos the first and last things that the audience see.

In conclusion I think that we created a successful trailer that matches the ideologies representations that we wanted to portray. We will now hope to create a poster that portrays the same representation and goes well with our trailer.