I will look at the narrative of the trailer first of all. The trailer (being the third of a trilogy) first of all looks to reinforce the ideas of the first two films by reminding you what happens in them by playing short clips from those films alongside edited text looking to build up 'hype' for the third film. The trailer then goes on to play scenes from the third film (the one the trailer is for), it shows characters on a rollercoaster, the different scenes are separated by black screens, almost acting as an interval to make the viewer wait to see what happens next, a technique to build anticipation perhaps. After the rollercoaster scenes the trailer then goes on to show the audience two grave stones, these are people which have died from the rollercoaster ride in the previous scenes. This scene is accompanied by speech looking to tell the story of what is going to happen later on in the movie. The trailer continues to show different scenes featuring various characters in situations of danger, although it doesn't actually show the viewer whether these people die or not, this would leave unanswered questions in the viewers minds and possibly tempt them to go and see the film. The directors I think purposely try to keep the trailer short as to not bore the viewers but to tempt them enough to go and see the film, they could also be relying on the films built up reputation through films 1&2 to draw in the audiences.
I am now going to focus on the camerawork of the trailer. In the opening aeroplane scenes they have used a hand held camera to try and make the scene seem more erratic and unpredictable. This would help to increase the scariness of the trailer because anything that seems unpredictable and out of control usually evokes fear in the majority of people. In the scene which reminds the audience of the second film, low angle shots are used a lot to show people in distress, for e.g. the shot of the male and female character running away from a flying car which is even further up than them shows them to be vulnerable and in danger. Close ups are also used in this sequence, examples of these close ups come from the shot of the log of wood and of the male characters face who is driving the car. The first close up of the wood is used to show its potential danger, and the second close up of the man's face is used to show his shock and fear as the log is travelling towards his car window. All of these different camera angles and shots are used to try and give the audience a feeling of how characters in the film are feeling, it tries to give them an indication of how the film is going to pan out and also to evoke a certain type of emotion into the viewer, in this case the desired emotion is fear. As the trailer moves on it shows a rollercoaster scene in a high angle shot, this shot shows all the people on the ride as vulnerable. The audience is yet to find out why they are vulnerable but as I previously mentioned a feeling is put across to the audience that the characters are in danger just by the choice of shot type/angle. A close up is again used on a male characters face as his safety hold on the rollercoaster comes undone, this close up shows him to be very scared and this shot would also look to produce the same emotion in the audience. After this a birds eye view shot is used to show the two graves, this is done to put across an emotion of sadness in the audience, this is done by the graves being the only two things in the shot, emphasising the sadness of the situation. A zoom is also used in this scene, although the zoom is not directed into anyone's face or to anyone in particular I believe it is representing the high speeds of a rollercoaster, this reinforces the danger associated with this ride. At the end of the trailer an extreme high angle shot is used to show the rollercoaster carriages falling down onto someone possibly, this high angle shot is used to show the extreme danger of the falling carriages, this would produce an even bigger reaction of shock to the audience. But the trailer still doesn't reveal whether these carriages actually cause any damage, these unanswered questions are a technique used by the directors to try and make people watch the full film so the questions can be answered.
Sound will now be my main focus of analysis in the trailer. In the opening scenes there is an almost 'chilling' music being played which produces a sense of fear in the audience, this then goes on to sounds of people screaming in the aeroplane scenes. Also in the trailer there is text accompanying the movie pictures, and as this text goes off screen (will discuss in editing section) there is a 'wushing' sound which goes with it, I believe this is used to try and resemble the sound of a rollercoaster when they are going at high speeds. As the trailer goes on to show scenes from the second film dramatic music takes over the scary music, this is possibly to show that the two films have distinctly different tones, it is also used to build up drama for the introduction of the third film. As the text re-appears on the screen again it is still accompanied by the 'wush' sound but this time it also ambient sound attached which is the sound of a rollercoaster going over tracks. This is a very effective way of introducing the third film as this film is directly linked to rollercoasters. As scenes from the third film begin to play fast paced dramatic music is played, possibly to relate to the fast moving nature of a rollercoaster. This is done successfully and it also helps to build anticipation in the audience to find out what is going to happen on the rollercoaster. As the trailer continues the music stops, but this is replaced by the sounds of particular things as they happen on screen, for example the sound of 'slashing' swords is used when the swords look to fall onto the male character underneath. At the end of the trailer, when the rollercoaster carriage is falling, you are just left with the sound of the carriage falling through the air, because this is the only sound you can hear it is possibly a technique used by the directors to emphasise the danger of them. This would also signal the same idea to the audience and evoke an emotion of fear into them.
I will now focus on the mise-en-scene of the trailer. In the rollercoaster scenes of the third film the male character who is seen on the rollercoaster is wearing a baby blue and white jacket, this is possibly to represent him as innocent and undeserving of his possible death. This would produce a sense of sympathy towards him from the audience, leaving them hoping that he doesn't die, and because whether he dies or not is not shown in the trailer the audience would be impelled to find out, making them go and see the film. This technique of directors to leave unanswered questions is used clearly and successfully there. The swords shown in the trailer are used as props to produce a sense of danger and fear in the audience, other props in the trailer used to evoke this emotion are the falling planks of wood, the rollercoaster itself and also the tanning machine. The youths in the trailer are all wearing typical American teenage clothing, this looks to show them as typically normal teenagers. This in itself would represent the majority of the teenage population watching this film, giving those people a chance to relate to the characters in the film, this relatability would increase the chances that those people watching the trailer would want to go and see the film. Therefore the techniques used by the directors in the trailer have been successful in drawing people in to watch the full film.
Editing will now be my final focus in the trailer. The first use of editing in the trailer is the idea to put intervals in-between different scenes in the form of a black screen, this is a good idea because the colour black represents evil and the unknown which is part of what the film is actually about. Black also has the ability to bring about feelings of fear in an audience, this would be the effect on people viewing this trailer. Another use of editing is the idea to put text in the trailer, the text is placed on a blue and black screen and the words are shown one after another with each word coming towards the audience and then vanishing for the next word to be shown to the audience, this is done to try and resemble the motion of a rollercoaster, this is appropriate because the final destination 3 features this ride. Another use of editing is the slow motion movement of the wood log falling from the lorry, this is used to emphasise the danger of the situation and also to bring about a sense of anticipation in the audience as to what damage the log is going to cause. The use of text is also used further on in the film as the third film is introduced, but this time their are rollercoaster tracks underneath the words, this doesn't have a profound effect on the audience but it is just used as a technique to introduce the idea to the audience that rollercoasters are going to be of importance in the following film. Fast cut editing is also used towards the end of the trailer cutting between numerous different scenes, this is done to produce a sense of excitement and anticipation in the audience, the pace of the cutting is also used to resemble the speed of a rollercoaster, again linking everything to the importance of rollercoasters in the film.
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