Nightmare on Elm Street trailer analysis

2009 Trailer

Genre - The trailer starts with a car chase and slow continuous shot's of a man running from villager's on a misty evening which creates a dramatic opening scene. The man hiding and then being burned by the people is Freddy Krueger as we see him reveal his red and green jumper under his jacket. There is a sign saying Elm Street which instantly tells the audience who know about the original film that this is going to be a horror film. Tense music and dim lighting is also used in this trailer to create suspense. We hear screaming which hint's at violence and also tells us that this is going to be a scary film.

Narrative - A voice over is also used, but it is a young girl speaking in this trailer and she then says 'I'm having these dreams', which immediately opens up the main element of the story. A young girl is also chanting in the background the same nursery-rhyme about Freddy Krueger as used in the 1984 film. Title's are included saying 'Dont fall asleep' which suggests that the monster get's to people when they are sleeping. This trailer also focuses a lot more around Freddy and how he came to be the monster he now is, whereas the 1984 film focused more on the main victim of the story who was a young girl.

Representation - Freddy Krueger is represented to us right from the beginning and we are shown his backstory and how he got his scars. In both trailer's young girl's are shown wearing white and playing with a skipping rope . The same stereotypical character's are also shown in the trailer to be teenagers and the main character is also a young girl.

Audience - The target audience would be fan's of the 1984 film. The teaser trailer hint's at the gore and violence but doesn't actually show as much of the death's like the 1984 film. It also appeals much more to the mainstream young adult audience whereas the 1984 film was much less mainstream and aimed at an older audience.

Media Language - Blood red font is also used in this trailer for the titles to convey that it is a horror film. The shot's are cut together much more sharply than the 1984 film because this is a teaser trailer rather than the full trailer and it also build's more suspense.