Friday the 13th, directed by Marcus Nispel, is one of many horror movies among the American Slasher Genre which was released on Friday the 13th of February, 2009. The film is a reboot of the Friday the 13th film series which began in 1980. The trailer is narrated by what sounds like a fairly aged women, who we later find out to be ‘Jason’s’ Mother.
I believe ‘rebooted’ films automatically attract a large fan base as the audience of the first film would be interested in viewing a modern and more sophisticated version. The plot consists of a group of young adults who discover a boarded up camp, known as camp Crystal Lake. During their stay they encounter ‘Jason Voorhees’, a man who had apparently drowned in that lake many years ago and become victims of his deadly intentions.
The opening scene of the teaser trailer is an establishing shot of a lake which slowly tracks in, which is then followed by two scenes of what seems to be woodland in low key lighting. The scene starts of as a black screen and fades in to the establishing shot of the lake which connotes the scenery may be a quiet and peaceful place, but there is something dark and mysterious among it, which we soon find out to be ‘Jason’. This is backed up by the two scenes which follow the opening one, as there are some lights flashing in the dark woodland. I believe the intention of using such low key lighting was to create a sense of suspicion and anxiety, along with hinting to the audience there is something scary about the lake. We can immediately assume that the lake is deserted due to the diegetic sound of wind blowing and other natural sounds.
The trailer then cuts to an extreme long shot of what seems to be a very old abandoned cabin amongst the woodland. Low key lighting is still being used throughout the scenes and the diegetic sound of mild wind is still in the scene. I believe they are both used with intentions of preparing the audience to prepare themselves as ‘Jason’ is soon to be revealed. The scene then cuts to a closer shot of what the camera was previously focusing on and we can see that it is what seems to be a very old wooden cabin which could quite possibly be abandoned. During the scene, which I would describe as a medium close-up of the cabin there is a voice over which sounds like a fairly aged women. It says, “Did you know a young boy drowned here?” which allows the audience to predict that he has something to do with the ‘mysteriousness’ of the lake.
The scene then cuts to someone running with a torch which helps the viewer to make sense of the flashing lights in the previous scenes. The scene is a very quick cut and it is difficult to make out who the person running is, or whether they are male or female. The background music, which sounds like mild wind is still playing and it gives the whole teaser trailer a cold and conspicuous feeling. However it stops in the next shot as the camera tilts showing somebody inside a room, possibly inside the cabin opening a door. Foley sound effects are used to enhance the ‘creaking’ of the door and the persons footsteps. The ‘creaking’ of the door denotes that the cabin is indeed very old and also creates a sense of wonder for the audience. The trailer then cuts back to someone running with a torch, probably the same person in the previous scene and there are some design sound effects which create a sense of anxiety for the audience, as they would be anxious to know what the person is running away from.
The pace changes constantly throughout the trailer, for example in the opening scenes the pace is very slow, however closer to the middle of the trailer there are a variety of quick cuts which is used to add tension to the trailer.
The next scene shows what seems to be a woman holding the torch inside of the cabin. We can see this from the body shape and it is backed up by the sounds of a scared and vulnerable women breathing. The camera then focuses on a baby doll lying on the floor which had been made visible due to the lady shining the torch on it. Again, the baby doll connotes that there is something amongst the woodland that is mysterious or scary perhaps. During these two scenes there is another voiceover by the same lady who says, “He wasn’t a very good swimmer”. This helps the audience to sympathise with him until they find out he is a murderous psychopath. The shot of the woman in the house is a medium long shot and low key lighting is used yet again. I believe the intention of this is not to reveal too much to the audience about the characters or and to create a sense of awareness that there is something evil lurking. I believe the shot of the baby doll is a point of view shot, used to put the audience in the characters shoes to make them aware of how scary the situation is. Another point of view shot is used two scenes later when the women shines the torch around the cabin, as we believe she is trying to look for something or find her way out.
At 0:38 the camera tracks behind the woman as she walks through the cabin. Low key lighting is still being used. The audience can hear the women’s monologue as she says, “oh my god”. This reveals to the audience that she is very scared and as she turns around we can briefly see a dark figure in silhouette, who I believe to be ‘Jason’. This is first revealing shot as we can actually see ‘Jason’. During his scene the woman’s voiceover comes back and says, “The councillors weren’t paying attention”. Again this helps the audience to sympathise with the ‘Jason’ as it seems he died as nobody looked after him properly.
At 0:42/43 there is a quick cut from someone running through the forest with a torch, to a women who looks very scared having her mouth covered by what seems to be a hand. There is incidental music being played over the scenes too add tension and a sense of anxiety. The music is very high pitched with another ‘thumping sound’ which makes the audience predict something is about to happen. The following scenes show more people shining torches in dark places which suggest the area is deprived of electricity, which supports the prediction that the lake is abandoned. After that there is a point of view shot of a dirty teddy, which helps the audience to understand ‘Jason’ is still a child at heart.
We then see a medium close up of a female and a male running very fast, both carrying flashlights. There is then a quick cut to a close up of a male who looks terrified, as if he has just seen something very disturbing. This adds to the mysteriousness of the trailer as the audience will wonder what he has just seen. As the incidental music continues to play, there is another noise added which sounds like a heartbeat. As the trailer goes on it is then made clear that this is indeed a heartbeat as it gets faster. It is also in sync with the editing as this is when the trailers pace starts to get faster. Following these scenes there are then a variety of quick cuts in fast pace all edited in this way for the intention of creating tension. The lady narrating then reveals that the boy that drowned in the lake was her son and his name is ‘Jason’.
However between 0:56 and 1:00 there is almost complete silence as the camera focuses on a lightshade swinging. Foley sound effects are used to enhance the lightshade squeaking, which connotes the house is very old. The silence is a tactical technique used by many directors to add tension to their film. Quick cuts are used to show ‘Jason’ very briefly behind the light. This is because the director wants to only give the audience a slight hint of what ‘Jason’ is like so they will be eager to watch the whole film to see him. Jason is revealed again for the last time in the trailer between 1:07 and 1:10 as he runs towards a female on the floor and swings a machete towards her. Just before this scene the narrator reveals today is his birthday, which could suggest he gets pleasure from killing. Incidental music is used again as the camera tracks out from the dark eye hole of ‘Jason’s’ mask. The title of the movie, “Friday The 13th” then appears across the face of the mask in sans serif font, giving a modern feel towards the movie. The number 13 then turns red connoting that there is a lot of bloodshed in this film.
To conclude I can tell that horror movie teaser trailers only intend on revealing a little bit about the main character, and more about the setting and other characters. I can also tell low key lighting helps to give a suspicious effect and keeps the audience on ‘the edge of their seats’. Incidental music is also a great tool used to create tension amongst the audience and works even better when in sync with the camera movement. I can also tell that in order to only reveal a little bit about the main character quick cuts are essential and the pace of the trailer increasing at some point throughout helps to create tension and anxiety amongst the audience.
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