Analysing Existing Teaser Trailers

I Spit on Your Grave (2010)

Graphics

Right at the beginning of the trailer there is a bright green screen stating about how the "following preview has been approved for appropriate audiences" by the MPAA. This helps prove the trailers authenticity as well as ensure the user that its rating has been given correctly.

The graphics at the beginning of this trailer are for the films companies, Anchor Bay Films and CineTelFilms which have both taken part in the making of the film. Anchor Bay Films create many genres of films and series. Some of the horror films they have created include: A Horrible Way to Die (2011), The Crazies (2010) and Satan's Playground (2006). CineTelFilms only create a certain number of genres of films. One being horror they also make thrillers, actions and sci-fi films. Some of their horrors include: Hallowed Ground (2007), Smile (2009) and Furnace (2007).

Title Sequence

The title sequence in this teaser trailer is show just before the end of the trailer and matches the house style used throughout the trailer for the text and its backgrounds. The title sequence also has effects used that make the background fade and then unfade drawing the viewers eyes to the text.

Release Date

Instead of giving the audience a proper release date, the teaser trailer has instead just stated that the film is coming soon which helps create more of a buzz when it comes to revealing the films actual release date. The release date is also in the same house style used throughout, (white text on a dark, textured background which brightens up and then darkens back down). There is also the films website present on the release date text just under "Coming Soon" and either side of the website are logos that belong to the makers of the film which were also seen in the graphics at the beginning of the trailer.

Voice Over/Text

In this teaser trailer they have used text instead of a voice over to help elaborate the trailer and intrigue the viewer. The text starts after 22 seconds into the trailer and is then frequently shown until the end of the trailer with short, fast clips shown between the text which are shown a couple of seconds apart. Again, the text and backgrounds used are all the same throughout the trailer and the clips shown just before text is shown have effects that help the transition between the clip and the text.

Setting

The trailer for "I Spit on Your Grave" is mostly set in the dark, however some parts in the trailer are set during the day. All of the scenes shown are set in a remote place surrounded by trees. The trailer features the settings of a remote house which belongs to the victim, the woods, a lake, the villains house and what appears to be a barn, all of which you would typically see in a horror.

Narrative Devices

In the teaser trailer for "I Spit on Your Grave" the narrative devices used follows the familiar devices of conflict and dilemma as the woman (the heroine) is raped and left for dead by "the villains". The heroine then seeks revenge in order to defeat the villains.

Iconography

Iconography present in the teaser trailer consists of the remote house, the victim struggling and being raped and the weapons the heroine uses to defeat the villains (the bear trap, the bath tub, the rope and the hedge trimmers).

Themes
The fundamental themes for this teaser trailer consist of mainly the revenge the heroine desires against the villains, however there is also other fundamental themes of rape, fear and justice. I would say the general theme for this horror trailer would be Slasher, however I believe it is a reverse Slasher as instead of the villains going on a killing spree against the heroine, it is instead the other way round which has resulted in the creators of the film narrowing the margins between both the hero/heroine and the villain(s).

CharactersIn this teaser trailer there are the typical characters of the villains/evil characters and the main character. However while watching this trailer I noticed that even though the main character has been hunted down by the villains and raped, she in turn hunts down each villain one by one and kills them, which turns the roles of the characters around as the viewer starts to feel that the main character is a villain as well who seeks her revenge. Narrowing the margins between both the main character and the villains.

Costume and Makeup
The costumes used in the trailer consist of normal, everyday clothes that you would expect normal people to wear. However makeup has been used to make the characters look dirty and/or bloody.

Music
The music for I Spit on Your Grave starts off slow and quite but then gradually build up in both speed and volume until suddenly stopping just before the final clip.

Sound
The sound in this trailer is what I believe makes this trailer a successful trailer as although there is the use of music; the makers of the trailer have mostly used the original sounds of each clip along with sound effects in order to create suspense and intrigue the viewer. For example, at the beginning there is only the use of the outside sound of the night with crickets followed by creaking doors and footsteps inside the house which puts the viewer on edge ready for the unexpected.


References

From the internet:
http://www.youtube.com/
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zU3U-9B3fE