Film Trailer Analysis

The first trailer is of the thriller ‘Saw’ which was made in 2002. The main function of this text is to persuade viewers and provide them with an insight to the movie. The second trailer is of ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ which was made in 1974. Both trailers are from the genre of horror. Although, they both share many similarities they are both different in the sense that the techniques alter according to the time they were produced.

Firstly, ‘Saw’ includes the institution at the very beginning of the trailer which suggests the importance of an institution in the 20th century due to the development of mainstream Hollywood films and the growth of the cinema. Whereas, ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ features the institution at the very end of the trailer, which suggests a lack of importance, however could be shown at the end for the audience to remember. This relates to audience as they may want to go and watch the movie because it is of that particular institution.

Also, both trailers relate to the genre, which is horror, as the trailer shows various characters in distress. In ‘The Texas Chain Saw Massacre’ there is a girl who is running away from the killer she looks distress and is presented to be an innocent character. These characteristics are usually related to females, especially in the 70’s, as women were presented to be the damsel in distress and men were the heroes who saved them. However, this is significantly different in the ‘Saw’ trailer as there is a man who is being victimised, he is presented to be scared and weak which is not the typical stereotype you would attach to a male character.

There are fade to blacks used in the beginning of the ‘Saw’ trailer to create enigma as the audience are unable to work out what is really happening and therefore the trailer does not quite follow a linear narrative as the audience are left to ask questions. There are slow cuts used at the beginning of the trailer to build up tension which is important as the genre is horror and is trying to create suspense. Towards the end of the trailer there are quick cuts used to give the trailer pace and therefore fitting in with the genre. On the other hand, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ has slow cuts and lacks special effects again relating to the time in which the films were produced.

The mise-en-scene, especially the colours used in both trailers are important as they create an atmosphere for this particular genre. However, the ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ trailer uses more vibrant colours which do not quite relate to the genre. The trailer for ‘Saw’ however, does use dark and navy colours all throughout the trailer to suggest that something relating to a death or murder is taking place.

Although both trailers have various differences there is a repertoire of elements in both trailers as they are both taken from the horror genre. The props used in both trailers are commonly related to horror films as they both include a saw and a knife. This shows that producers of ‘Saw’ have looked at the elements in which the producers and directors have used in ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ and replicated these generic conventions, so that people will instantly know what type of genre this particular film is associated with.

The ‘Saw’ trailer includes captions which appear on the screen for example ‘voyeur’. These captions provide the audience with an insight into what the film is going to be about, without giving away too much information. On the other hand, ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ does not include any captions which suggest that all the information and storyline is provided through the use of the different scenes. In relation to this the trailer for ‘Saw’ allows the audience to gain an insight but yet still keeps them interested and eager to watch the movie as the scenes shown from the film are short and does not include a whole scene just captions. Whereas, the trailer for ‘Texas Chainsaw Massacre’ includes full length scenes, which then shows the audience a lot of what happens in the film and therefore does not fulfil it’s purpose as the trailer is merely there to persuade the audience to watch the rest of the film.