In this post I will analyse the conventions of this trailer for the 2010 reboot of 80's slasher movie, A Nightmare on Elm Street.
The idea of setting in this trailer, and in the film itself sticks to the convention of seemingly innocent things being dark and scary. The idea of the movie is that the antagonist, Freddy Krueger, can attack you where-ever you fall asleep, for example in the trailer we see characters falling asleep in a diner, classroom. Not your typical horror settings to start off with, but when they're in their dream the settings start to change and become what we would expect which I will explain later on.
More on the idea of Freddy being able to attack you where ever you fall asleep, this creates a new level of scariness. Before, a monster would lurk in the attic or cellar, or even in movies like The Exorcist (1973) or The Omen (1976) where the antagonists are within the home and our place of safety we know where they are, we can see them and we can stay away, but here the trailer implies that Freddy can strike anywhere, at any time and with dreaming inevitable (When they mention Insomnia) we're introduced with this idea that they're only lambs being slowly led to the slaughter.
Fans of the series or just those that have seen the original will recognise many settings, especially Freddy's boiler room, which has now become an iconic setting for horror and particularly slasher films; it's even referenced elsewhere in other films. It's confined, eerie and potentially hazardous with steam and fire running a-muck.
As mentioned earlier, it's not just outright scary locations that are used, during the dreams places such as the Diner, classroom and even bedroom turn twisted and macabre through use of low-key lighting and from the looks of it various filters, completely taking this sense of safety and throwing it all away. This expressive style of lighting can create very bizarre atmosphere and sets reminiscent to early 20th century expressionist media text.
The camera work also adds to this. Odd low angle shots such as the iconic shot from between Nancy's legs as she takes a bath, falls asleep, and Freddy's clawed hand rises just in front of the camera out of the water are present, these also stick to the conventions of a POV shot from the antagonist’s perspective.
The editing comes into play nearer the end of the trailer when the scenes start to cut quicker and quicker in time to the non-diagetic heartbeat.
The fire, red/orange colours of some scenes, especially the brief clips of Freddy's boiler room may connote some form of hell, and that Freddy could be some sort of devil?
The character types are also very typical and follow the conventions well to some degree, first we have Nancy, due to the large amount of focus the trailer has on her (Screen time, close-ups ect) we can assume she is the "Final Girl", what Carol Clover describes in her book Men, Women and Chainsaws as a somewhat androgynous and virginal girl who survives till the end and confronts the antagonist.
We're briefly introduced to 2 characters, male and female respectively, who could fit the stereotype of the Immoral teen victims, during one scene the girl is seen drifting away and falling asleep during class which would be considered stupid, although in the film Halloween (1979) that films Final Girl drifts off during class, but in fact learns of the antagonist roaming the streets, which is in turn useful. We then have the male character that we're briefly introduced to in the beginning and we see later on in an orange jumpsuit, one typically worn by a prison inmate which may mean he himself has been up to no good.
We then have Freddy, our antagonist, although no background is revealed we can see physical features, namely his trademark green and red winter jumper, fedora hat and clawed glove. The clothes are unusual; they aren't particularly sinister looking although to some the red might connote blood and gore, whilst his glove is particularly sinister. It's not just a typical kitchen knife Freddy wields, but his bladed glove, and particularly the shape of its blades could be similar to the Grim Reapers Scythe, the Grim Reaper being and unstoppable omen of death. Also the fact that he has 4 blades, one on each finger, that move alternately when moving his fingers could reflect the blades on something like a lawn mower or industrial drill.
Very innocent looking children, in this case young girls, are seen skipping, and singing nursery rhymes. At first glance they're innocent but as you focus you realise they fit the convention of something innocent being very dark and sinister, the girls have cuts across their stomachs which match the blades Freddy wields and the song they sing "One, Two, Freddy’s coming for you" is in itself creepy.
Overall the trailer gives the film a very scary feel, it's themes are clear in that there are binary opposites here, the "Good" Teenagers versus the "Evil" Freddy, as well as natural against natural as the Teens try to fend off the supernatural powers of Freddy as he stalks their dreams.
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