Scream Trailer Analysis

The trailer starts off with a close up of a phone ringing and the camera pans to the girl picking it up - Casey Becker and saying “hello”. This establishes the character to the audience as a young teenage girl who looks like she is in the house alone. A man’s deep voice answers on the other end and the dialogue shows that Casey does not know who he is. Then, low music starts to play over their voices and the name of the company that released the film is shown; this is Dimension Films. This is a typical convention for all trailers as it shows the audience who made the film.









Then the camera switches to an establishing shot, panning down on a large house at night time. This is connotes that the girl is wealthy and is a convention of horror films as someone else could be in the house and she would not know. The girl is still on the phone and there is a medium shot of her making popcorn. The camera then tracks her to the T.V and the music goes to one tone as the man says “because I want to know who I am looking at”. At the same time the camera zooms in to her face to show that she is in shock. Then the camera changes to fast takes. There is a close up of a glass door smashing, which has a dramatic effect as before it was calm, then it changes to a loud smashing sound as if it is coming towards the audience. Then there is a quick take of an over the shoulder shot from the killer. We know it is from the killer because we can see the girl through the glass screaming and the reflection of the killer wearing a mask. This is effective because these two shots have been switched around to show the glass smashing first, which would make the audience jump and feel uneasy. Also the fact that the audience cannot see the killers face gives a sense of mystery, so they would have to go and watch the film to find out who it is.



Then there is a pan of some police cars and people running, which suggests that something bad has happened. There is a voiceover which is also a man with a deep voice saying “someone is playing a deadly game” suggesting that it is the man in the mask who is ‘playing the game’. Followed by this there is a panning close up of a screen writing “911 what is your emergency?” which emphasises that the killer is after someone. Then there is a low angle shot of a girl being pushed towards the camera by someone all in black, followed by a news report and the camera zooming in on the back of someone’s jumper which says ‘top story’ which highlights the importance of this case in the film. Then there are two close ups to show emotion, and a quick close up of the screen writing “killer in house” which gives an idea of the storyline, without giving too much away. The medium shot of the policeman holding up the gun and the shot of a shadow of a man running suggests that the killer in the film is dangerous and will be hard to catch. Then the long shot of the swimming pool which is covered in mist creates a spooky atmosphere leaving the audience on edge.

Next, there is a close up of another young girl on the phone to the same man and he knows her name. There is a point of view shot from the girl checking that there is no one in her garden, followed by a voiceover of her talking about what is in stereotypical horror movies, and shots to show what she is saying. These include a point of view shot watching a girl, a panning shot of a Casey running up the stairs with the killer chasing her, then her running towards the front door. All these shots are from the film which shows that it is a stereotypical horror film that follows the codes and conventions.












The music then starts to get louder and faster as there is a medium shot of a man saying that “there are certain rules to survive a scary movie”. Then the camera switches from the man to different shots of things that you should not do, then to a medium shot of teenagers listening to the man. Again, this emphasises that the film is a stereotypical horror film. The camera then focuses on another man that says “I’ll be right back” as a joke because this is also a convention of horror films.

After this, the shots get faster and are of people running and panicking which builds up excitement in the audience. This is effective as it builds up suspense and puts panic and fear in the audience. Warnings flash up on the screen to the audience, followed by shots which contradict them. For example “Don’t answer the phone”. Then there is a shot of someone answering the phone. “Don’t open the door” is followed by a shot of a girl opening the door and a close up of her to show that she is shocked of who is there. “Don’t try to hide” which is pursued by a medium shot of Casey holding a knife and a phone, suggesting that the killer is looking for her. This technique is good as it highlights this conventional film. Also, the font of the writing is in red which connotates blood, death and danger also making clear the genre of the film.

Finally, near the end of the trailer, it says “from the first name in suspense. Director Wes Craven”, which will further persuade the audience to see the film if they like other films made by this director. At this point, the music has reached a climax and there is a close up of a man panicking, a girl running towards the camera and a long shot of a car trying to run people over. The last shot is a close up of a policeman shining a torch over his face saying “you’re not scared are you?”. This is like he is talking to the audience and daring them to come and see the film. Then the title of the film fills the screen and the music comes to an end as there is a list of the producers, the films company that released the film and the editors on the screen.

Throughout this trailer, the voiceover gives information of what the film is going to be about, however saying it in a way that is open to interpretation to the audience, which leaves them guessing. The voiceover says “He is taking his love of fear one step too far”, which leaves the audience wondering what he is going to do. Overall, the length of this trailer is about two minutes which is the usual time for a trailer, and it consists of roughly 67 shots which is a good length as it keeps the audience in suspense and by only showing small clips of the film it makes the audience want to go and see the film.