Textual analysis of a Scream 4 teaser trailer (Christina)

Film Title: Scream 4
Year of Release: 2011
Director: Wes Craven
Producer: Iya Lebunka & Kevin Williamson
Production/Financing Company: The Weinstein Company


Main Actors:

Lucy Hale … Sherrie

Roger Jackson (The voice)

Shenae Grimes (Trudie)

Dane Farewell (Ghostface)

Anna Paguin (Rachel)

Kristen Bell (Chloe)

Aimee Teegarden (Jenny Randall)

Britt Robertson (Marnie Cooper – as Brittany Robertson)

Neve Campbell (Sidney Prescott)

Alison Brie (Rebecca Walters

David Arguette (Dewey Riley: Police Officer)

Courtney Cox (Gale Weathers-Riley: Police Officer’s wife)

Hayden Panettiere (Kirby Reed)

Emma Roberts (Jill Roberts – Sidney’s cousin)

Marielle Jaffe (Olivia Morris)

Films Origin/Info


Scream 4 was originally meant to be a trilogy, but Bob Weinstein – the head of The Weinstein Company along with his brother Harvey Weinstein – thought that it was a good idea to make another film. Depending on the box office, Scream 4 is intended to be the first of a new trilogy. When scream 3 was released in the year 2000, it was Ehren Kruger that was brought in for re-writes. This was due to the fact that Williamson had to leave productions early because of contractual obligations. Campbell, Arquette and Cox are the only returning cast members from the previous films and were the first to sign on to the film in 2009. Panettiere and Rory Culkin were the first of the new cast to sign on in May 2010. Ashley Greene was initially the choice of the lead character, jill, but the role eventually went to Roberts. Filming took place in and around Ann Arbor, Michigan in June 2010 to September 2010, with reshoots in early 2011.


Synopsis


Scream 4 is about an author of a book, named Sidney Prescott. Sidney Prescott returns home to a town called “Woodsboro” and this is where her book tour is supposed to end. During her visit she reconnects with Sherriff Dewey and Gale, who are now married. She also meets her cousin Jill and her Aunt Kate. Unfortunately, Sidney’s appearance back in her hometown brings about danger towards her friends and family-including Dewey, Gale, Jill & Aunt Kate, as the Ghostface killer returns. When Sidney's cousin Jill's life is threatened, and her friends are being picked off one by one, Sidney, Gale and Dewey need to figure out who's reinventing the deadly game before it becomes too late.


Analysis

The teaser trailer starts with a phone ringing followed by a fade in transition revealing the main character. The shot is very brief as it then cuts to another short footage of the main character. The medium close up shots of Sydney Prescott shows her facial expressions. She is portrayed as a young vulnerable woman and this is seen through her NVC, as she looks frightened and confused. The sound used here connotes the horrific genre of the film. The non-diegetic music adds on to the spooky effect of the teaser, when used in combination with the fade in fade out transitions. Also, we can hear the voice over through dialogue of the villain in the film. This is a good way of teasing the audience because it gives them a feel of what the antagonist sounds like. Also the voice over makes the trailer sound more scary because the voice is a bit deep. This makes viewers aware of the fact that the trailer is promoting a horror film. The voice of the villain carry's on throughout the teaser.

After the opening of the trailer, more fade transitions are used to reveal several more shots together. The transitions are quite slow which could possibly connote peace. However, the next 9 shots contrast the idea of peace, as the several characters seen here are also shown as vulnerable characters. They all seem to be confused and frightened just as the character seen in the opening shot of the teaser trailer.

Firstly, the shots followed after the opening shot are very brief; however it is very clear to the audience. The medium close up shot of the police officer, shows that he is confused through his facial expressions. This shot is a good element in the teaser trailer as he is portrayed as a character with authority, this is also apparent through his costume. This will engage the readers into wanting to know what the film is about by getting them to be confused as well, questioning as to why the police officer seems to look so confused. 

After the shot where the police officer is revealed, there are 3 medium close up shots of young females. Makers of the scream 4 trailer stuck to the conventions of horror film trailers by making the female characters look inferior and fragile. it s possible to see this through the portrayal of their NVC. The way the shots have been put together is almost as if the directors want the audience to look straight in the eyes of the various characters. This is a good way of gaining the audience's interest.


In this particular shot displayed above, the young female presents sex appeal to an extent. The film makers have done this in a way that isn't too obvious by filming her getting dressed. She is barely clothed and her underwear is revealed, but only the top half of her body is revealed as it is a medium close up shot.

 Although females in horror films generally appear to be the ones most frightened and puzzled, the 7th shot after the police officer shows a male who is also portrayed in the same way as the female characters. This also creates a sense of mystery.

In the wide shot displayed on the left, are a group of teenagers at school. Here, they are taking part in a discussion where two boys are telling them about the "neo-conventions" of a horror movie. The way they have been portrayed in this part of the trailer gives the audience an impression that some of them may be the victims in the film. One reason for this is because; the body language of the teenagers reveals that they are stunned by what they're being told. Also, the incidental music added to this shot signifies that they are significant characters to the film, as well as, building up suspense. In this clear wide angle shot, it is possible to see that they are casually dressed in costume, to emphasise that they quite young people - because, stereotypically this is how young people tend to look like. This suggests that, the chances of them being victims in the film are very high as they are displayed as innocent characters, and according to the conventions of horror, innocent people usually get killed first or become victims.

There are also aspects of the trailer where low-key lighting is used. For example, during the next few cuts after the classroom scene, the lighting is used in such a way that creates a darker setting and gives a more scary atmosphere. Firstly, there is a quick over the shoulder shot used that captures a medium close up of two women looking up. It is clearly visible through their NVC that these women are scared because their mouths are widely open and they seem to be in shock. At this point a diverse group of characters are shown where they're all moving away from where a victim is about to land, falling from the sky. Low-key lighting is still used, and this makes it seem that danger is within their midst and that something bad is about to take place. Then, the death of one victim is revealed.

In this shot we see a body falling and being slammed into the roof of a van, with sparks and electrical sound effects used. This is the only death of a victim that is shown in the whole trailer, probably because the directors didnt want to give too much away. As it is the only death that occurs in the trailer, it gets the audience to wonder what is going to happen next in that particular scene or who will/will not survive in the movie. This is good because it makes the audience want to see the film and this is the main goal for the producers of scream 4 - to get people to watch the film and increase sales.

A while after that, the trailer continues to build up more suspense by revealing a few shots revealing some of the action that takes place in the film. This gives the audience a taste of what will occur in the actual film without giving too much away. The ghost face killer is shown as the character with the most power in the trailer. It is possible to say this because he is the only character using a prop (the dagger) , where he/she is seen attempting to kill a few other characters. 

The use of captions are also a very good part of this trailer. It gives brief descriptions about what the film includes and also who the ideas have come from. The effects used here are quite eye catching because two different colours are used for the text. Also the way the text has been animated makes the trailer more interesting. As the text slowly drifts, the light in the background is uncovered which is a nice effect because, it allows the captions to stand out more.

The trailer ends with a phone ringing and a young girl answering it. As she speaks to the person on the other side of the phone her body language gives away to the audience that she is frightened. The last character we see in this trailer is the ghost face killer. This suggests that the villain is very significant to the film. Also this is a way of increasing the chances of gaining the viewers interest because, the viewers would be able to see a bit about what this character is like and what they bring to the film itself. 

The film makers have been consistent with the use of sans serif fonts and colour scheme. From viewing this trailer, i can see that they have used the design of the film title in the release date at the very end of the trailer. For example, the same colours (red and white) are used in the film title and the release date). And the number "4" is designed in a pointy shape that symbolises the weapon the villain uses in the film to kill the characters. This is seen in both the release date and title. The reason for this probably is for the viewers to recognise and remember the film as well as the release date.


In my opinion i feel that the trailer for the film scream 4 is very good. The composition of the shots are quite simple but this doesn't take away from the fact that the trailer has an interesting narrative. It is easy to understand and probably appeals to a young audience because of the type of people that appear to be in the film.