Scream 4 (2011) Trailer Analysis

Name of Film: Scream 4
Year Released: 2011
Genre of Trailer: Horror/ Mystery
My Mark after viewing: 7/10

A psycho killer is on the loose that wears a ghost mask but worse than ever, it's back but killing in different ways, ways that his victims won't expect. A group of teenagers story trying to avoid the killer.

There are lots of aspects throughout this trailer that I think are successful. One of those being, the heightened sounds, they are very loud and hold a lot of emphasis making the trailer a lot jumpier as it is intended to give the audience a jump scare. The colours of the shots also seems that they have a heightened contrast the they seem more vivid and apparent compared to what it would be in real life, this makes the colours more extreme connoting to a more intense atmosphere. Some shots have overlapping dialogue that seems as if they are commentating the narrative, which makes the trailer make sense a follow a rhythm allowing for a better understanding for the audience. There is a clever use of manipulating typography at the end of the trailer where the base tail of the 4 turns harsh and sharp replicating the killer's weapon which is a large knife (phallic symbol). The pacing of the trailer is also very well done, it uses collision cutting to create an emotional effect, making the slow editing more intense and the quick editing more panicked. 

On the other hand, I think that there are a few aspects that could be improved. In some places the dialogue seems a bit amateur, it doesn't add to the suspense, if anything it takes away from the trailer as it is almost comical. The screaming and screeching sounds also begin to lose their effectiveness after a while because they are too frequent, almost after every piece of action their is some sort of loud sound, so in the end you don't really notice them. The case is the same with the amount of shots and action in the trailer, it is too frequent which doesn't allow for enough suspense, which make the trailer as a whole a lot better. The last thing is that we know too much about the killer, it basically explains everything he does, leaving nothing up to the imagination which is a lot of the time more horrifying.

The score I gave this was 7/10, it was good trailer that showed some very good horror conventions with clever editing and cinematography but lacked that suspense and composure with the trailer to truly make it great.