A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors Trailer Analysis

            The trailer that I have decided to analyse is A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors this is because it is over 30 years old and it gives me an idea as to how the technology within trailers has changed up to now. It also shows me how to create a trailer that shows no clips from the film and just bases around the title of the film instead.

            The title for the film is usually shown towards the end of the trailer, and the trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street is no different. The film title is shown a frame before the end, but stays on the screen for around 8 seconds while other captions in the frame change, by showing the title for this amount of time it gives the audience enough time to register the name of the film and then becomes the last thing that they will remember from the trailer. The title is also shown in a large font so that the audience are drawn to it more than anything else on the frame. Also by showing the title nearer the end of the trailer, it makes sure that if the audience want to see the film’s title they have to watch the trailer through to the end. This is clever marketing for the film, as this will increase the audience for the trailer.

            As a unique selling point for the film, they have used a big actor which is mentioned in the trailer along with a well-known director so that the audience will want to go and watch the film. By using actors and directors that the audience know well, it gives the audience a reason to go and watch the film, for example Robert Englund playing Freddy Krueger like he has in the previous films may make the audience want to go and watch the new one because he was a good asset to the previous films. Similarly to this using Wes Craven – who at the time was becoming increasingly popular – as the director like he has been for the two previous films as well as films before the Nightmare on Elm Street series could attract the audience into going to watch the film if they like the way the he directs and presents in film on screen. By doing this, the trailer has pointed out both the director and the actor of the main villain as important factors for the trailer. The technique that has been used in this, is similar to the effect used in other trailer, if there are big names that are being presented through the trailer, they will normally be written in a larger font than any of the other names as it draws the audience in and creates a bigger reason for them to go and watch the film.

            This trailer doesn’t follow many events as such, as it a very basic trailer but certain things happen in the trailer to build up suspense. The trailer starts off with a child’s tricycle that is sat in the same child’s bedroom, and as the camera pans the bedroom the audience then see a little girl – who presumably the tricycle belongs to – sitting on her bed with a doll’s house, however instead of playing with the toy, the girl appears to be rocking back and forth while humming the tune to a common nursery rhyme. The audience are then shown a frame where there is an open window with the curtain blowing in the wind, this gives the connotation that we should be scared as it is night outside and that the child in her bed should be asleep but isn’t. As the nursery rhyme starts being sung, you see a crucifix which is laid on the child’s bedside table and the camera then pans past a glass of water which distorts the frame and the audience can’t see what is going on. The distorted frame then jumps to a bird’s eye view image of the girl and her doll house and then begins to zoom and move until you can see the front of the house clearly. If the audience have watched the previous two films, they will recognise the house as being the main house in the town that is affected. And as the suspense has been built up very slowly and quietly, Freddy Krueger’s claw suddenly punches through the roof of the doll’s house as his voice finishes off singing the nursery rhyme with different words.

            Another aspect of trailers that has an impact on whether the audience will want to go and watch the film is the music that is used in the trailer. The music has to fit in with the pace of the editing and the overall trailer itself. To fit with the pace of the trailer, the music begins a soft slow humming of a nursery rhyme which goes well with the slow editing pace of the trailer the whole way through. The pace of the nursery rhyme does change in the trailer at any point even when the little girl starts singing along to the tune of the rhyme. We see that the girl begins to sing the words as soon as we have seen the crucifix and then the glass of water that distorts the vision of the camera. As a follow on film, fans of the A Nightmare on Elm Street series will recognise the rhyme due to it being the rhyme that is always played before Freddy appears in people’s dreams, it almost like a warning for the audience. However, as some audiences will know this is a warning for others, the ending to the rhyme could be seen as frightening because Freddy’s claw punches through the dolls house and the last words are changed from “never sleep again” to “Freddy’s back again” in the voice of Freddy Krueger himself.

            As the trailer for A Nightmare on Elm Street 3 is around 35 years older than the more recent film trailer, there was less technology that could be used to create effects and this reflects in the creation of this trailer in particular. The trailer pace is one that doesn’t speed up or slow down at any point and instead it stays at constant slow pace. For pace of the trailer, there aren’t a lot of edits that are used, and due to the when it was produced there were fewer locations that could be used and so this trailer is limited to just one location that is used throughout. However, in comparison to some of the faster scenes that you would expect to see in the film as it is a slasher, the trailer still manages to draw your attention because you’re expecting something to make you jump.

            The final frame for the trailer it consists of a large font placed in the centre of the frame with the caption “coming soon to a theatre near you.” The writing is in a red colour which signifies blood and it is places against a black background so that the writing stands out. It also mentions the distribution company at the bottom of the frame but it isn’t so easily seen if you don’t look for it.

            Similarly to most other trailers, A Nightmare on Elm Street: Dream Warriors does not show the audience the BBFC classification rating during it, this is because the trailer is usually suitable to the time of day it is being shown. If it does not comprehend with the time of day it is being shown, it may be that the film is the same classification as the film that is being shown after the adverts.