Textual analysis of horror film trailer

I Know What You Did Last Summer – 1997

I Know What You Did Last Summer is an American horror film, adhering the ‘Slasher’ conventions, directed by Jim Gillespie. Starring a number of popular actors, the film was highly successful, making revenue of $125,500,000. It was also nominated for and won multiple awards. The trailer for this film is shown below, followed with my own textual analysis of certain features of the teaser trailer. This is important in identifying codes and conventions and developing my own creative ideas.

The green screen at the beginning of the trailer is a legal requirement, informing audiences of the advised minimum age of an audience. The screens depicting the logos of the production and distribution companies are essential and advertise the companies to a mass audience. Sound from the beginning of the trailer is played throughout these logos to establish the genre.

The beginning of the trailer adheres to typical conventions; equilibrium is still in balance and a group of friends seem to be relaxing by a picturesque beach. However, the gruesome topic of conversation and language (‘he was gutted with a hook”, “decapitated”), instantly establishes the horror genre. Conventions of a Slasher film are already apparent in the first 30 seconds. A group of adolescents who seem slightly immoral (enthusiastically talking about a death), discuss a topic of horror. The sound is simple at the beginning, with only diegetic sound of conversation and waves crashing and a quiet eerie non-diegetic sound with each transition between shots.

The car scene is fast paced, immediately evoking an audience reaction of alarm, helped by jumpy music and a long shot of an eerie mountain scene which establishes the mysterious mise-en-scene. Close ups of the characters’ scared and alarmed facial expressions are numerous here. The black screen with the sounds of the car breaks is an effective way of portraying the accident whilst avoiding the risk of it looking unrealistic or ‘cheesy’.

The fade in transition between the accident and characters walking towards the man split the two scenes well and establish a new, eerie atmosphere. The dark sky and mountains in the background highlight this. The long shot of the characters’ shadows establish these as the momentary villains, although they are not in the overall plot.
The jazzy, electronic music and low male voice over establishes the adolescent target audience for the film and very conventional trailer structure, while hinting at the plot of the film – the victim or a witness of the accident seeking revenge on the main characters. Following this is a montage of very short clips and jump shots consisting of:
• close ups of alarmed/frightened facial expressions
• eerie settings
• Injuries
• Weapons
• chase scenes.
• Screaming
• Victims trying to escape

All of this content, plus the non diegetic, jumpy music here creates a response of alarm and captivation for the audience, reminding them of their personal fears, thus highlighting the feeling of fear. The lively music at the end would appeal to a young adult audience whilst implying that the film would be fun, as well as frightening, to watch! The text transitions in red signify danger and alarm, and also tell the audience the cause of fear in the plot.

The trailer ending consists of a short clip of a screen with the cast and crew involved in producing the film, as well as the companies involved. This is a common feature in trailers.