Trailer Review/Analysis - Rebecca Byng

I have watched 3 movie trailers from the genre of horror/thriller and analysed them, all of which are shown below.

Insidious

 Insidious is a 2011 American independent supernatural horror film written by Leigh Whannell, directed by James Wan, and starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Barbara Hershey. The story centers on a couple whose son inexplicably enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for ghosts in an astral dimension.
view the trailer here
Analysis:
Sound - There is a continuous sound throughout the trailer, this resembles a a heartbeat which is continuously pulsing, as the trailer goes on this sound begins to increase in sound. Certain diegetic sounds are forgrounded to increase tension such as the creaking of the floor boards and the sound of the rocking horse as well as the sound of the baby crying. As the trailer comes to an end the non-diegetic sound turns into a pitch noise which connotes the narrative becomes out of control as it meets its climax and suddenly cuts off to silence.
Camera Angles - There are numerous close-ups of the characters faces to highlight the emotion of terror. There are a number of extreme close-ups on objects which add to the tension such as the door handle, the rocking horses and the baby monitor as unusual sounds are heard. As the trailer progresses there a quick cuts to scenes of the film which add tension and thrill. There are also many panning angles of rooms which makes the audience think there is something ulterior in the room, creating a creep atmosphere.
Editing - The editing becomes a lot quicker as the trailer progresses and there is a lot of the spectator to take in. There is a series of cuts which increases the pace and speeds up the action as the trailer reaches its climax.
Mise-en-scene - There are shots of shadows in the dark, we do not know who is making these shadows. The characters are dresses in an ordinary fashion and they live in a suburban family home; everything appears normal. There are flashing lights in certain scenes and this creates an effect of supernatural.

Paranormal Activity

 Paranormal Activity: Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American supernatural horror film written and directed by Oren Peli.The film centers on a young couple, Katie and Micah, who are haunted by a supernatural presence in their home. It is presented in the style of "found footage," from a camera set up by the couple in an attempt to photograph what is haunting them. view the trailer here
Analysis
Sound: There is no real soundtrack as the footage is presented in a documentary style to convey the text as a reality. As the trailer progresses there is an eerier sound which creates tension, resembling a violin as it reaches a climax the sound grows higher and louder and as the end approaches it fades out. meanwhile there is a steady beat in the background which increases along with the pace of the trailer, I believe this is very effective.
Editing: There is continuous cross cuts between the actual trailer and clips of people viewing this film in cinema: here we see their reactions which makes the spectator want to see this film to experience the same reactions. It is also in black and white which creates a spooky effect and a more lifelike feel to the footage.
Camera Angles: Most of the scenes are shot using a hand-held camera to create the effect of a documentary style film. This is a very effective as it makes the audience feel more involved and gives them a sense of experience it for themselves.
Mise-en-scene: The film is based on a young couple who are living in a suburban home and this is all portrayed in a normal and natural way, they are not seen as actors but as real people, bringing the horror closer to home. Lastly I discovered that this film has reference to the use of a Ouija board, in the trailer there is only one shot with a canted angle to give the audience an idea that the film involves a Ouija board. I feel that this shot will intrigue the audience and they will want to find out more by watching the film.

One Missed Call

 One Missed Call is a 2008 American remake of the 2004 Japanese film Chakushin Ari. The film was released in North America on January 4, 2008 and was directed by Eric Valette and written by Andrew Klavan. The film stars Edward Burnsand Shannyn Sossamon. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures click here to view the trailer
Analysis
Music/Sound: The main focus of the sound in this trailer is the repetition of the cell phone ringing, it is the same tone the whole way through which foregrounds the effect of the name on the film, 'one missed call'. Diegetic sound includes lots of screaming and the answer phone message which increases the level on horror which the film entails.
Camera Angles: These include a number of close-ups on key objects such as the mobile phone, answering machine and more importantly on the characters faces: this conveys the look of utter terror on their faces
Mise-en-scene: The characters are portrayed as vulnerable and there is specific focus on the young women in the film as they are stereotypically more vulnerable than males.

Trailer Review/Analysis by Emily Fry-Sheehan.

1. Grave Encounters.

Grave Encounters (click here for trailer) was released on the 9th of September 2011 in the USA, and is about a reality TV show about ghost hunting that goes terribly wrong when the crew enter a psychiatric hospital. The music and sound used in the trailer really creates an immense tension and build up. It contains both diagetic and non-digetic sound. As the movie is from the point of view of a film crew, there are lots of sounds from the camera equipment they use, which makes everything seem a lot more real. The actors in the film's speech also creates a tension, and seems realistic which gives the audience a fear of what is going to happen next, for example "I'm going to document everything because when we get out of this place, people are gonna wanna see this" at 1:19. You also hear crying, heavy breathing and screaming from the actors, sometimes you see what they're reacting to, and other times you don't, and that adds to the horror feel. The non-diagetic sound track over parts of the trailer has a very fast beat, with drums and bells at some  point, which speeds up the pace. There is also the classic horror film aspect within the music, of the violin scratching rising sounds, which peaks at a "jumpy" point of the trailer.
The characters within the Grave Encounters trailer are mainly the film crew, which seem to all be young adults. There are more men than woman, and I think there is only one woman in the film crew. It is shown in the trailer that the woman gets the words "hello" engraved into her side, which shows the woman is one of the main victims of the spirits, which we want to add into our own trailer. There are also mental patients in the trailer, which are obvious very mentally unstable, which creates more fear and tension for the audience. Near the beginning of the trailer, there are two older people. They tell you about the past of the building and ghostly events that have happened there, which shows the stereotype that the elderly are wise. There is also a silhouette of one of the ghosts within the hospital. Because you can't see any features, it creates a creepy feel.
The mise-en-scene in the trailer is generally very dark, shadowy and empty. This all together creates a scary, creepy atmosphere, which also fits into the hospital scene. There is peeling paint, which shows that's it perhaps abandoned. There is also blood involved, adding to the horror. Text about information and the storyline of the appears over the scenes.
The camera's used in the trailer are both hand held and fixed, giving you establishing clear shots, and a personal view of the character. I would love to add this to our own trailer, as I think it is a brilliant effect and adds variety to the trailer, making it more exciting. There is night vision used in the trailer, which makes things more tense. In most horror movies, the monster as such, is normally hiding in a dark place, and by using night vision, this allows you to the see the attacker. Most hand held camera shots are low angle, which makes things seem more realistic, as they aren't holding them in a professional way, because of the panic. There are lots of panning shots which show off the location, showing all of it's creepy aspects.

2. The Fourth Kind.
The Fourth Kind (click here for trailer) was released in 2009, and is about alien abduction. It is said that there are four times of abductions, the first kind is sighting, the second kind is evidence, the third kind is contact, and the fourth is abduction. The music and sound is very typical of the horror genre, as it effectively creates suspense and fear within the audience. All the sounds are non-diagetic, bar the sounds made by the actors, creating a fast pace flow to the trailer. The sounds in the trailer are low and moody, created by drums and violins, and these together create a low rumbling sound. There is also a section of the trailer where a piano is playing, and that sounds very creepy. The archive footage scenes and the alien recording featured in the trailer are fuzzy and this makes them seem more life like, as they don't seem very professional. There is also screaming and yelling, and even nails scraping on the floor, which are all diagetic sounds made by the actors, which make you scared, as you want to know what they are reacting to.
There are two types of characters in this trailer, the "real" people who feature in the "real" footage, and the actors that reenact what happened in reality. Actress Milla Jovovich explains in the trailer who she actually is in person, and explains that she's acting out real events. This whole idea gives the movie a documentary feel, that makes the movie scarier as it's acting out real events. The other characters involved are Dr Abigail Tyler, who's a psychologist, her patients, other adults and the police.
The camera shots and angles in the film are also spilt into two, the archive footage and the film footage. The archive footage looks very unprofessional, as it is just a camera mounted onto a tripod, so the angles are mostly just mid shots. The film footage, shot on professional cameras however, use angles such as close ups, panning, and sometimes there are up to three shots are the same time, in segments on the screen. This juxtaposition between this two make the real footage seem so much more life like and believable when compared to the other shots.
The mise-en-scene in the trailer is quite homely. This makes the film look scarier, as it isn't based in a typical horror film location, eg. a graveyard, but what looks like a nice, upper-class area, which makes the threat of the film more relatable. However, most of the fabric colours and the costume are fairly dull and bland, which is an aspect of the typical horror genre.

3. Paranormal Activity 2.
Paranormal Activity 2 (click here for trailer) was released in 2010, and is the sequel to Paranormal Activity. After the success of the first film, this film was really highly anticipated.
The camera shots and angles of the trailer start off with a scene from the previous film; it's a mid shot in night vision of a body being thrown at the camera. There are then night vision shots of a cinema audience watching the film. This night vision theme continues in the trailer, with high angles shots from security cameras all over the house. This night vision idea is very popular within the horror genre, as it gives of a very creepy feeling, as in night vision, you can see things in the dark that you wouldn't normally see. The whole trailer is shot with a hand held camera, which the family use to record moving into their new home, but then also to record unusual paranormal happenings in the home. By using a handheld camera, it makes the film/trailer seem like you're not watching a film, just family tapes, which makes everything seem real. There are shots ranging from mid shots, establishing, panning, two shots and close ups.
The music and sound in the trailer is mostly diagetic, with screaming, panting, barking, the sound of crickets, a baby's laugh and gurgling, noises of the camera and a door slam, which all add to the feeling of reality. There is also a non-diagetic sounds of a low rumbling and rising sounds when there is high tension in the trailer, creating more suspense.
The characters in the trailer involve a family and the demon tormenting them. In the family include a baby, a dog and a teenage, which are all very vulnerable characters. This could make an audience want to watch the film, to see if anything happened to those characters.
The mise-en-scene of the trailer is very dark, with night vision shots, and most of the paranormal happenings taking place in the night. Near the beginning of the trailer, there are light, bright shots of the baby's room and two-shots of family members holding the baby. All this seems to happen before all the horror, which creates a juxtaposition of happiness and the horror.

Title Ideas, Dan

After going through many title ideas we have brought the selection down to five. These title ideas we feel best reflect and depict the narrative in a subtle but yet stylish manner. We have used various techniques to create the most appealing and eye catching title to make it seem like a professional film. The techniques we have used are, alliteration, oxymoron's and emotional description. We believe the title is a vital role in the success of a film. Through having a good title it can create a recognizable synergy connected with the film that will stay in the audiences minds and keep the film buzz high. By having a great title it can allow us to begin the synthetic relationship built between the audience and the film. The title needs to stand out and be able to be easily remembered to increase the chances of success for example, increasing the chance for word of mouth which is still the most effective marketing tool. Below is the description of the title and why these were chosen and which one we like the most.  

Through my eyes only - This is our favorite choice for our film title because we feel it best represents our narrative. This is because our main character has visions that no one else can see. This creates an attractive sounding title with a lot of relevance to our film.

Hopeless happiness - This title was selected for our final five because we liked the use of alliteration that creates an effective and appealing onomatopoeic feel to our film that becomes easily recognizable. However, we feel this hasn't got as much relevance to our narrative being the reason why this isn't the final choice.

Bittersweet Sorrow - We liked this title because it has a certain poetic sound to the title and shows the emotion and sadness that comes with this film experience. Although this was one of our favorite titles and became a real contender we still preferred 'Through my eyes only'.

The Joy of madness - For this title we liked the use of contrast for example, good and evil. This idea of antithesis is a feature we have looked into a lot and interests us a lot. we have also used this idea for our trailer, happy music contrasted with horrific imagery displayed in the trailer.

Blinded and blurred - This was our least favourite title concept because we thought it is too simple and doesn't convey any meaning to our narrative. However, this title made it into the final five because it was another title that interested us in terms of the use of alliteration.

Dan Rogers

History of the Ouija Boards by Emily Fry-Sheehan.

For our teaser trailer we came up with the idea of centering the main story around a Ouija Board, as a horror movie has never before been completely based around that idea.
The Ouija Board, also known as the spirit keyboard or the talking board, is a flat board with letters, numbers and the words "yes", "no", "hello" and "goodbye" on it. It is said that with a Ouija Board, the players can contact the spirits of the dead, and they can give you messages, names and answer your questions. With the board, you can a heart-shaped flat piece of wood called a planchette, which moves around the board and stops for a short moment over the letter, number or word the spirit wants you to see. To play the ouija board, all players have to place their hands on the planchette which is placed on the board, and ask out loud, if there are any spirits please contact us now, or something along those lines. It is then said that the planchette will start to move around the board by an extra-normal force. However, some people say that the planchette only moves because the people playing are all pushing it without knowing, and that creates movement as they are all pushing against each other.

Pre-Production - Beki

What is a trailer?

A trailer or preview is an advertisement or a commercial for a feature film that will be exhibited in the future at a cinema. The term "trailer" comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. That practice did not last long, because patrons tended to leave the theater after the films ended, but the name has stuck. 

Movie trailers have now become popular on DVDs and Blu-ray Discs, as well as on the Internet. Of some 10-billion videos watched online annually, movie trailers rank #3, after news and user-created video.

Where might a trailer be seen? How will different formats affect the viewing of the trailer?

A trailer can be viewed via a large range of formats, more traditionally in the cinema and televisions. More recently in the 'new media' trailers are available to watch on computers, laptops, smart phones and iPads: this is mainly through viral marketing on the internet. The large amount different formats increase the number of viewings a trailer will receive due to there being so many ways of watching film trailers.

What are genre conventions? What role does iconography play?

Iconography is very important in defining the genre therefore attracting the audience's attention to watch the whole trailer and be persuaded to watch the entire film. The Audience need to recognise the iconography included almost instantly to be able to define the genre. A genre convention is a typical trope of plot, character, setting, icon, theme or effect in a genre story.

REBECCA BYNG