Teaser Trailers

Here are some teaser trailers. One is for a horror film but the other two are not:

Saw VI


This teaser trailer for the upcoming Saw film follows most of the conventions of a movie trailer. There are inter-titles and a voice-over that give us clues as to what the film is about and we can guess the genre through the use of sound and the visuals. We see and hear people screaming and we see a butcher's knife in the trailer which tells us that it is a horror film. The background of the inter-titles is red which could connote blood and danger. The editing is fast paced which creates suspense. Other indicators of the horror genre are things like the low-key lighting and the darkness and shadows it creates. Also the characters suggest it because they are all scared, trapped and paniced.

Dialogue from the film has been used to create enigmas about the film and leave us wanting more. The voice-over repeats the name of the film twice so that we remember it. Once in the tag line 'If it's Halloween... it must be SAW' and at the end when it says the title on it's own. The tagline refers to the whole series of Saw films as well as just this one which means that is trying to sell itself to existing fans of these films.
However, we don't see any production values in this teaser trailer whereas in full length trailers we usually find out things like the studio, director and actors.

Saw 6 still
Originally uploaded by Jasmine Gardiner

The Dark Knight


This teaser trailer conforms to some but not all of the conventions of a full length trailer.
We get some clues into what the genre is but because the trailer does not actually contain any footage from the film we cannot look at the mise-en-scene and are still unsure. However, the visual we do see shows blue beams of light being shot out and then we see the batman logo which then starts to crumble away and disappear, almost like an explosion. This therefore suggests that the genre of the film is action. The music reinforces this idea because it is fast paced and fits in to what we can see. Throughout the trailer it builds up which creates suspense.
There is no voice-over or inter-titles but we hear dialogue from three different characters which give some clues into the narrative and again into the genre. We hear one character talking about a mob and another talking about people dying so again it suggests action. We don't see the characters and this creates curiosity among the audience because they want to know who these people are and what they look like.
The name of the film is given away at the end of the trailer but most people will already know that it is a Batman film because they will have already recognised the logo. The title of the film does not contain the word 'Batman' because the makers of the film will presume and expect people to be familiar enough with the logo to recognise that it is a Batman film.
The beginning of the trailer tells us that the production company is Warner Brothers and straight afterwards we see the Legendary Pictures name and logo. We know that the film has high production values because of this.

Up


This teaser trailer does not follow many of the conventions of a full length trailer.
We are given some ideas of the genre because as the film is animated we presume it is going to be for children. The use of balloons also connote ideas of playfulness and childhood. However, we are still unsure as to whether it will be a children's adventure or children's comedy etc.
The name of the movie is given at the end of the trailer along with the studio. The film will attact audiences with it's production values because Disney Pixar is a well known and loved studio and has had many hit films in the past.
There is no music or voice-over in the trailer and we only see one character right at the end who says 'afternoon'. The lack of voice-over, dialougue and inter titles means that not much of the story has been given away. The only clues we get into the narrative is that there is a house floating in the air held up by balloons because these are the only things that we see in the trailer.