Deconstructing a Teaser Trailer - Conventions/Narrative

Trailers are designed to grasp our interest and hold our attention for a short space of time. They are developed and shot in a way that works with easily recognisable conventions. The mood and atmosphere surrounding individual trailers changes and accomodates its audience and narrative. Elements such as music and digetic and non-digetic sound help build suspense, shock, stun and heighten our anticipation of what's to come in the film itself. A teaser trailer is sewn together with clips and short scenes from within the film that highlight a vague outline of the plot, introduce the characters and is often conveyed in a fast-paced rapid style. Our job, as viewers and audiences, have to fill in the missing pieces; which requires our full attention. 


One of the most important conventions of a horror teaser is the inclusion or exclusion of sound. The choice and development of music can heighten someones fear or indeed highlight suspicion and suspense in response to the plot. When creating an atmosphere in a teaser trailer, you need to understand what works and compliments the shot and what can distract from the action on the screen. A voiceover is a good technique to apply when trying to briefly explain the narrative; remembering it doesn't have to be more than a few short phrases or even singular words. Voiceover's are popular features of advertising and indicate the credited information needed to understand what's likely to happen in the film. Like other elements within a teaser trailer, conventions of sound help to build our anticipation and knowledge even further.


How has our research into existing teaser horror trailers helped us to come to conclusions within our planning and narrative production?

When developing our ideas and making decisions about what we wanted to include into our trailer, we had to decide on a basic plot that could be indicated to our audience in a collective way. In order to gather ideas about the styles and conventions we wanted to include in our production process, we studied existing teasers and looked at what made them so successful.


Distribution companies exhibit and release numerous trailers for one film. Big productions with big budgets have a substantial amount of money dedicated to the advertising and marketing. A teaser trailer will usually be introduced to its audience on the television or within cinematic viewing. A teaser trailer is does exactly as the name suggests; 'tease' its audiences. Its a promotional campaign that whets the appetite of the viewers and leaves them wanting more. Word of mouth is the most dominant and successful marketing technique and a teaser trailer enhances this drastically. This creates an air of anticipation within friendship groups, social groups and educational sectors such as schools, universities and colleges.


Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) Remake Trailer Deconstruction

Nightmare on Elm Street 2010 Teaser Trailer




The Teaser trailer for Nightmare on Elm Street appealed to us as a group as it includes valuable conventions and shot types that will work well to compliment and develop our narrative as well as leaving people guessing. The idea of 'giving the minimal amount away' adds an element of distress and secretiveness to the narrative whilst still giving enough to piece the story together.


Our narrative is based around a group of girls that have one thing in common; they all take part in the camping sleepover that takes a drastic turn for the worst when their schizophrenic friend forgets to take her medication before attending. The idea that they all have this in common is suggestive and is similar to the narrative behind Nightmare on Elm Street, therefore, it seemed a good selection to analyse in more depth.