Saw 3D: Trailer
Saw is a horror franchise, which has now ended with seven films as part of the series. Through the gaming company Konami, the Saw franchise was able to grow outside of film industry and into the gaming industry, with two video games being published over the years of the Saw franchise. The franchise is orientated mainly around the character ‘Jigsaw killer’ which is played by actor John Kramer. Furthermore the famous associated toy ‘Billy’ the puppet, which has appeared throughout the Saw series.
I will be focusing my textual analysis on the last sequel of the Saw saga, Saw 3D. The film was released on the 29th October 2010, making it a ‘Halloween special’ during the holiday season in the UK. The film was distributed by Lionsgate and produced by the independent production company, Twisted Pictures. Which are famously known for producing the Saw saga. The film was directed by Kevin Greutert and was produced by three producers collectively, Mark Burg, Oren Koules and Gregg Holfman. Starring famously known actors in the Saw series, such as Tobin Bell and Betsy Russell.
The trailer is 1 minute and 25 seconds long. There are mixtures of different scenes from tortures throughout the trailer. In terms of sound, saw used their theme song, with a gradually build up in volume as the trailer became more intense and in preparation for the cliff-hanger. Also having sound effects and screaming at tense climates of tortures. Throughout the trailer there are cuts that fade from the scene into headings, which provoke thought to the audience, which are very key to teasing the audience in the trailer.
The setting of the trailer begins with a quick establishing shot of the corporate world (i.e. buildings and skyscrapers). Then it leads to a continuation of establishing shots to titles. The lighting in the quick short scene is high-key lighting but also give darker sense to the ‘normal’ daytime, as the darker colours are much bolder and there is also an dark overlay on the camera, we can see this from the natural environments, such as the sky being much more a Grey shade.
There is also use of non-diegetic sound, from the continuous bell ringing creating tension, which also connotes signs of death and judgment. There is also another non-diegetic sound, which is repeated in the scene, the denotations of the short scene show quick flashes of the torture beginning to take place, the non-diegetic sound and flashes of the torture create suspense and grabs the audience attention strongly with use of the aggressive non-diegetic sound.
There is also a focus on a particular prop, which is the machine, which tortures the victim. There are a number of different camera angles focusing on the prop and the torture beginning to take place on victim. Moreover the victim shows good use of non verbal communication, panicking from machine.
Following the start of the torture, the next scene shows a mid-shot of memorable character of the Saw series, the jigsaw. Also showing the famous associated ‘Billy the puppet’ on the television, which is commonly known I the series to only happen before a torture or so called ‘game’ is about to be played. In this short scene there are obvious clues given away for the audience to instantly recognize that it is a Saw film. There is also a use of voice-over from actor Tobin Bell, saying he’s famously known phrase ‘I want to play a game’.
The next couple of scenes include a voice-over of a narrator, while clips of previous Saw films are being played, to give the audience a sense of ‘flashback’ of the past in the earlier films.
The trailer now begins to have a faster pace and we start to notice faster cuts, especially from camera shots to titles. This connotes that we are close to seeing the climax of the trailer; signs from the background music also start to become upbeat, which gives more aggression in the trailer.
Later on in the trailer the titles have also been included with 3D animations, which gives a good example of how good the special effects of 3D will be in the actual film. This connotes also that the film has gone to the next level in horror, making the frightening scenes of torture etc much more real to human eye. There is also an exaggerated example in one of the scenes where the audience in the 3D cinema come in to contact with a torture machine themselves. There is also good use CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) shown in the scene of the cinema, which connotes how real the creators are conveying the experience of watching the horror film in 3D is so believable.
The trailer starts to now have regular diegetic sounds of the torture machines and screaming from the victims, which increases the fear from the audience view, from the victim’s extreme fear and shock.
Towards the end of the trailer an appearance of ‘Billy the puppet’ is shown, with the famously known words ‘…Game over’. Following this is the title in large font ‘Saw 3D’ which could connote this is the last game to be play, the so-called ‘last piece of the puzzle is you…’ which the jigsaw says later on, as it is the last film of the Saw series. The trailer ends with this line and another great use of 3D animation is used with the animation coming towards the audience.
In conclusion after analyzing many elements of the Saw 3D trailer. I have come to identify a number of key elements. A teaser trailer is much different from a normal trailer and must only entice the audience to certain extent so they will be persuaded enough to want to watch the film, although at the same time still not knowing hardly anything about what’s going to happen in the film. This is what makes editing a teaser trailer so difficult. Furthermore if there are going to be scenes shown from the film they should be shown as fast cuts, so that they will not give too much away from seeing the film in the cinema.
I will be focusing my textual analysis on the last sequel of the Saw saga, Saw 3D. The film was released on the 29th October 2010, making it a ‘Halloween special’ during the holiday season in the UK. The film was distributed by Lionsgate and produced by the independent production company, Twisted Pictures. Which are famously known for producing the Saw saga. The film was directed by Kevin Greutert and was produced by three producers collectively, Mark Burg, Oren Koules and Gregg Holfman. Starring famously known actors in the Saw series, such as Tobin Bell and Betsy Russell.
The trailer is 1 minute and 25 seconds long. There are mixtures of different scenes from tortures throughout the trailer. In terms of sound, saw used their theme song, with a gradually build up in volume as the trailer became more intense and in preparation for the cliff-hanger. Also having sound effects and screaming at tense climates of tortures. Throughout the trailer there are cuts that fade from the scene into headings, which provoke thought to the audience, which are very key to teasing the audience in the trailer.
The setting of the trailer begins with a quick establishing shot of the corporate world (i.e. buildings and skyscrapers). Then it leads to a continuation of establishing shots to titles. The lighting in the quick short scene is high-key lighting but also give darker sense to the ‘normal’ daytime, as the darker colours are much bolder and there is also an dark overlay on the camera, we can see this from the natural environments, such as the sky being much more a Grey shade.
There is also use of non-diegetic sound, from the continuous bell ringing creating tension, which also connotes signs of death and judgment. There is also another non-diegetic sound, which is repeated in the scene, the denotations of the short scene show quick flashes of the torture beginning to take place, the non-diegetic sound and flashes of the torture create suspense and grabs the audience attention strongly with use of the aggressive non-diegetic sound.
There is also a focus on a particular prop, which is the machine, which tortures the victim. There are a number of different camera angles focusing on the prop and the torture beginning to take place on victim. Moreover the victim shows good use of non verbal communication, panicking from machine.
Following the start of the torture, the next scene shows a mid-shot of memorable character of the Saw series, the jigsaw. Also showing the famous associated ‘Billy the puppet’ on the television, which is commonly known I the series to only happen before a torture or so called ‘game’ is about to be played. In this short scene there are obvious clues given away for the audience to instantly recognize that it is a Saw film. There is also a use of voice-over from actor Tobin Bell, saying he’s famously known phrase ‘I want to play a game’.
The next couple of scenes include a voice-over of a narrator, while clips of previous Saw films are being played, to give the audience a sense of ‘flashback’ of the past in the earlier films.
The trailer now begins to have a faster pace and we start to notice faster cuts, especially from camera shots to titles. This connotes that we are close to seeing the climax of the trailer; signs from the background music also start to become upbeat, which gives more aggression in the trailer.
Later on in the trailer the titles have also been included with 3D animations, which gives a good example of how good the special effects of 3D will be in the actual film. This connotes also that the film has gone to the next level in horror, making the frightening scenes of torture etc much more real to human eye. There is also an exaggerated example in one of the scenes where the audience in the 3D cinema come in to contact with a torture machine themselves. There is also good use CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) shown in the scene of the cinema, which connotes how real the creators are conveying the experience of watching the horror film in 3D is so believable.
The trailer starts to now have regular diegetic sounds of the torture machines and screaming from the victims, which increases the fear from the audience view, from the victim’s extreme fear and shock.
Towards the end of the trailer an appearance of ‘Billy the puppet’ is shown, with the famously known words ‘…Game over’. Following this is the title in large font ‘Saw 3D’ which could connote this is the last game to be play, the so-called ‘last piece of the puzzle is you…’ which the jigsaw says later on, as it is the last film of the Saw series. The trailer ends with this line and another great use of 3D animation is used with the animation coming towards the audience.
In conclusion after analyzing many elements of the Saw 3D trailer. I have come to identify a number of key elements. A teaser trailer is much different from a normal trailer and must only entice the audience to certain extent so they will be persuaded enough to want to watch the film, although at the same time still not knowing hardly anything about what’s going to happen in the film. This is what makes editing a teaser trailer so difficult. Furthermore if there are going to be scenes shown from the film they should be shown as fast cuts, so that they will not give too much away from seeing the film in the cinema.