Nightmare On Elm Street Teaser Trailer

'A Nightmare On Elm Street' is a horror film directed by Samuel Bayer, produced by Michael Bay and starring the actors, Jackie Earle Haley, Kyle Gallner and Katie Cassidy.  Due to the fact that there are no 'big Hollywood stars', implies that it wasn't a very high budget film.  However, the special effects and CGI look convincing throughout the trailer, which gives the impression that most of the budget was spent on the making of the film rather than the 'big names'.

The name of the film is only featured once in the trailer, which is near the end, just before the release date.  This means that the audience will have to sit through the trailer and watch it to know what the film is called, therefore, getting the full effect of the trailer.  Also, the audience will remember the name better if it is right at the end of the trailer, rather than at the beginning.  By doing this, when it is released at the cinema, the audience who have seen it will remember liking the trailer and the name of the trailer.  Although the name of the film isn't shown until the end of the trailer, there are hints to what it could be called throughout it.  For example, there is a short shot of the name of the street about half way through the trailer.  Also, it focuses a lot on nightmares and sleeping.  The audience may not realise this at the time, but it will reinforce the name of the film more thoroughly.

The trailer uses the parts of the film that will reach out to his target audience, to make it the most effective it possibly can.  Horror films' target audience is usually teenagers/young adults, normally around 15-late 20's (depending on the certificate of the film - 15 or 18) and quite often will reach out to a male audience more so than a female audience.  The way in which this particular trailer reaches out to its target audience is by basing the story-line around something which all young adults are conscience of - sleep.  Sleep is also something that is like a security blanket and a comfort, so 'A Nightmare On Elm Street', uses sleep to attract the audience but also uses it to make it more scary, because the 'monster' attacks in the protagonists' dreams. 

The main stars in the film are also young, which will help the target audeince idenify with the characters.  The main protagonist is also the final girl - blonde and pretty, this will reach out to the male side of the target audience.  There are also shots of a classroom, this will apply to the target audience because they will still be able to remember their years at school.  Similarly, there are shots of childhood which will be quite fresh in young adults' memories.

The only music featured in this trailer, is a nursery rhyme being sung by young children.  In a normal circumstance this would connote innocence, however, because there is an echoing effect, along with the other sound effects and screaming, it gives it a creepy and scary feel.  The singing stays the same throughout the trailer, but the sound effects and dialogue create the build-up.   For example, three quarters of the way through the trailer, there is lots of dialogue (screaming and shouting) and sound effects (sharpening metal and footsteps etc) building up the crescendo and then it stops, leaving the singing of the young children on its own.

The dialogue at the beginning of the trailer, sets the scene for the audience.  It gives the impression that a man is being accused of something, and the people in the town are taking their own action against it.  It keeps the audience watching because, it is unknown what he is being accused of, who he is and who is accusing him.  The rest of the dialogue talks about dreams, which gives the audience and idea what the film is about, without giving the whole story-line away.  At the end of the trailer, who the audience assume is the monster, is talking to the main protagonist, implying he is going to kill her.  There is only one inter-title at the end of the trailer, after the name of the film, which summerises the dialogue and the film - "don't fall asleep".