Final Destination II Analysis

Final Destination II

Directed by David R. Ellis

Release Date:
7 February 2003 (UK)

Length1.34 minutes

Genre: ‘Final Destination II’ is a hybrid horror/action film; this contrasts to stereotypical usual horror films. Creating a hybrid attracts a wider audience because it doesn’t only attract those that are interested in horror films; it also attracts those who are interested in action films.

As the sequel to ‘Final Destination I‘, it is a fun mass-market horror film. It is an action packed and grueling horror film, the action is shown by lots of fast paced scenes and transitions in the trailer such as the motorcycle zooming past and the scenes with. The horror side of the genre is established in the trailer by the typical conventions such as screaming and scared facial expressions.

The teaser trailer is a made up of short shots and uses a fast paced edit. The fast cut shots show action packed scenes in order to excite the audience and keep them on the edge of their seats as they wonder who’s going to die next. The ending of the scenes is never given away, creating enigma this is important in a trailer because if you gave everything away then the audience would think there is no point of watching the film. This is a typical convention of a horror film trailer because it keeps the audience in suspense and keeps the mystery of the film.

The entire trailer is made up of edited scenes showing the characters looking as though they are about to die in potential everyday situations. The fact that they are real life situations means that the audience can relate to them for example: driving, being in a lift, etc. and the audience do not find out if the characters die or survive. This strategy is used in trailers in order to attract the audience as the only way they can find out is by watching the film.

Audience: The main target audience is teenagers and young adults; this is the conventional target audience for the genre of movie. It is also a reflection of the film because most of the characters young and good looking therefore the film will appeal to a teenage audience, similar to characters used in any typical teen movie. The audience are also attracted by the fast pace and action of the film. The age certification is age 15 which widens the potential audience, conventionally horror movies are rated at age 18, this could be due to the lack of violence or sex, the horror comes from the graphic mutilation instead.

Institutional Identity:  New Line Cinema- the company logo is shown for 4 seconds at the start where it slides into the shot slowly then moves closer to the audience and suddenly flashing to the next shot. This is conventional in most trailers, this is a legal requirement and this can also help the audience associate the institutional identity with other films they have produced.

Characters: There are six main characters in the teaser trailer whose reactions are all emphasized through close up shots. There are a varied range of characters which appeals to a wide range of audience. Emphasis is put on the characters through having lots of scenes on these specific characters not just showing them once. These specific characters attract the audience as they are quite varied in looks such as a middle aged black man and young teenage girls, but most of the characters are young and good- looking.

Pace: The scenes shown at the start of the trailer are slow but gradually become fast paced as the storyline opens up. This is conventional of horror movies as it gets the audience tense and excited. As the shots become shorter, the sound becomes faster; this build up attracts the audience because it creates excitement.

Unique Selling Point: Everyone who has watched and enjoyed the first one will want to see the sequel. The first film was very successful and it won 3 awards, had 3 nominations and it opened at No. 3 at the North American box office making $10,015,822 (USA) in its opening weekend. The film remained at the third position the following week before falling to No. 7 the week after. Final Destination II made $16,017,141 (USA) in the opening weekend. The fans of the first film will be attracted to the sequel because there are links between the two films such as; the only survivor from the first film co-stars in Final Destination II. The pattern of the first film’s plot is also similar as the characters are saved from their death but they can’t escape from it as death is still trying to kill them all on by one, but the audience would want to see this film as it is not exactly the same as the first one and there is a twist to it because the inter-titles suggest that there is a way to change their fate.

Narrative: The trailer starts with a child crashing his toy car together while he is playing, this creates enigma. The whole trailer is a series of shots where graphic mutilation is shown to the audience to create shock and mystery. The audience sees impending situations which the films character realizes a second later. It reaches a climax at the end as it shows the ladder going through the man’s eye from a bird’s eye view and Kimberley says ‘It’s not over yet’, this creates tension. One of the inter-titles says ‘Or can it?..’ referring to weather their fate can be changed so although it tells the audience a basic plot it still keeps the suspense and mystery of the story as it is only a teaser trailer, therefore the audience will want to watch it to find out the films main question which is if the characters survive or not.

Shot types / Number of shots: Most of the shots used are close ups at eye level view; these show the key features of the characters and their facial expressions which give the audience a clear indication to how the character is feeling but doesn’t give the narrative away, this adds to the enigma that is created in order to keep audiences guessing and wanting to know more.

There are some low angle shots used such as; when the motorcycle is speeding past and also when Kimberley swerves her car, this is to make the audience have a different view of what is happening and to create more tension, it also puts the motorbike in a powerful position because it makes you focus on him and makes it look like he is a central character. The path of death’s destruction included a lottery winner who had a ladder stab through his eye while he was trying to escape from his burning house. In the teaser trailer this character is shown trying to rescue the ring that he dropped down the sink, in this shot there is a close up shot of his hand in the sink and then the second to last shot is a long shot/ tracking shot of the same character escaping from his house on a ladder, then the shot shows him fall on the ground and the ladder nearly impaling his eye but luckily it stops and there is a close up of his face from a bird’s eye view which shows the character fear, this is important as it creates enigma. Finally in the last shot it shows Kimberly talking and then a fast cut which flashes and gives the impression of the ladder going down onto the characters shocked face. Overall there are 22 shots including the inter-titles.

Sound/Dialogue/ Voiceover: The sound in the trailer starts as typical eerie horror type music but then progresses to stereotypical action music such as the sound of metal and steel clashing together which shows the audience that something exciting and unexpected is going to happen. There is a motorcycle speeding and the sound of the engine stands out as it speeds which shows danger and a sense of recklessness, then the car honking its horn at the motorcycle as the car tires start screeching, this is also is a sign of danger and shock, this is very effective as the audience at this point things are starting to go wrong. As the trailer goes on things get much more intense, for example when the chain on the log truck break the sound of the log bouncing on the floor towards the car is emphasized which gives the suggestion that the log is going to go through the car as it’s getting closer. A shot of the log going through the screen is shown and then the music changes to action music which sounds like an upbeat drum with sound of cars and tires screeching too. The dialogue includes one of the car members saying; “Is that guy drinking beer?” which all the other car members are all laughing and happy, this shows that the characters are naive.

In one of the shots Kimberley is screaming in a high pitched voice, this is a typical convention of a horror film trailer as it adds mystery and makes the audience want to know what she is screaming about. There is no voiceover as the tension is built up by the characters dialogue therefore there is no need for a voiceover and also because the inter-titles and the dialogue drive the narrative for example, Kimberley saying “there’s gonna be a huge accident… everybody’s gonna die” and “being alive after we were supposed to die caused a rift in death’s design”, this lets the audience know what the basic narrative is but not the whole plot.

Credits/Inter-titles: The trailer starts with a child in a car playing with toy cars and crashing them together, this is the same effect used on the inter-titles as they look as if they are crashing together as the slide into each other and intertwine. The use of inter-titles is effective as it gives the audience a bit of an insight to what the movies underlying story / plot is, e.g. ‘For every beginning… there is an end’,  this suggests an end to the characters lives which makes the audience think about who is going to die. The inter-titles are in a Times New Roman font and are white against a plain black background which is really effective as it makes the graphics stand out. There are special effects as the trailer speeds up and gets more exciting on the graphics, the special effects are superimposed slightly distorted and ‘shaky’ text which is as if it is being thrown into the trailer and it’s flashing/shiny, this makes the audience more alert and it draws attention to the text.

Transitions/ Editing/Special effects: When looking at transitions of the shots in the trailer the majority of them are fast paced cuts with a white flash going into the inter-titles which has a dramatic effect because everything is fast and just flashing at them, this is a convention of a typical horror film as it builds excitement and climax to the end of the trailer. Special effects are used towards the end of the trailer as fire merges into the a close up shot of Kimberley’s facial reaction where she is screaming, this creates enigma and shock as the audience would want to see what happens next.

Mise en scene: The mise en scene used is very unconventional for horror films. The clothing and make-up used is stereotypical for teenagers/ young adults for example; Kimberley is wearing a bright blue top which is expected from her as teenagers usually wear bright colored clothes but it is unconventional for horror films as the character in horror films are usually dressed in dark clothing and masks, for example most antagonists wear masks and baggy black clothing to hide their real identity and people are usually grieving therefore the victims also wear black. This is not needed in Final Destination II because ‘Death’ is never actually shown and the characters do not know each other that well and are trying to save their own lives therefore they do not have much time for changing into all black for grieving. The costume can also be used for sex appeal as the characters in the film are mostly young and good looking, this is so that they appeal more to the target audience as teenagers and young adults can relate to the characters image and are usually interesting in films which have sex appeal. This is typical type of clothing worn in most teenage/college/horror type films for example, Scream.

The expressions at the start of the trailer are happy and naive as the characters have no idea what is about to happen, as the trailer progresses the typical facial expressions of the characters in horror films are shown as they are screaming in shock, crying with fear and confusion, this also shows the development in the narrative and what you should expect from the film. The characters body language is also typical of horror films as the narrative unravels the characters show their fear through their body language for example; there is a man crawled up in a ball crying in the corner of a lift, this shows that he is scared and creates mystery as the audience would want to know what he is crying about. The lighting is bright lighting which isn’t conventional of horror films as they normally have dark and mysterious lighting, this film does not use conventional lighting because it doesn’t need to ‘hide’ the antagonist as ‘Death’ is invisible and is only shown as wind/draft which creates enigma. The props are used to kill off the character because ‘Death’ is never actually shown for example, the log that falls off the truck bounces on the road and is shown from the character point of view a second before it goes into the windscreen, this creates shock as it was the first glimpse of death shown in the trailer. Other effective props used were the ladder which is shown near the end of trailer as it falls through the man's eye, then it is shown at the end giving the impression that it actually went through his eye this creates shock as it is a horrific image to see.