A2 Media Studies

Q4: Watch 3 Trailers for films in your chosen genre

Ellie New

Jessabelle (2014)After loosing her fiancé in a car accident, Jessie retreats to her fathers derelict Louisiana

mansion, she finds a gift from her long dead mother and a spirit, which plans on killing her.

Trailer plot:

Jessie is shown making a phone call in the hospital, sat in a wheel chair. The scene automatically changes to the ‘Lionsgate’ and ‘BH Productions’. We are then shown her taking a car journey with her father, talking to her dad she relives the experience with her fiancé, a two shot of them in the car is shown and we then see glass shatter into the side of the vehicle. The trailer then shows text ‘from the producer of paranormal activity, insidious, sinister and the purge’. A fade then shows Jessie in her mothers room, with her father. Something falls off the wall, she follows it and it leads her to a box. Inside the box is a set of tapes, her mother’s tapes she places them into a TV. Her mother is shown and begins to give her a reading with tarot cards, her mother tells her she’s not alone, a shot shows a man and a door opening. Jessie is in bed and see’s a human shape figure in the darkness, a shot is shown of the cards and her mother claiming she sees death. The text ‘A secret from the past’ is then shown, then a cut shows her and a friend having lunch, it then shows them in a boat where Jessie’s gravestone is found. We then see the text ‘a curse from the grave’ , a skull is then found. The trailer then cuts to a room full of candles, another cut shows Jessie and a clip of her mum. A supernatural force then attacks her, a mirror then cracks. She is then shown talking to her dad where he disposes of the tapes. Text showing the release date is then shown ‘This August’. A shot of Jessie lighting a candle then appears, she is alone in the house, when a candle blows out on its own accord. A selection of shots are then put together at a fast past, to show the scenario changing. Fire is then shown, with her friend becoming trapped, she is pictured screaming at the window, a hand then edges towards her friend. A shot then shows he is then carrying her out of a truck, blood is smeared on her head. A shot of a baby having blood smeared down its head is then shown. Another selection of shots are then placed together, Jessie is then seen falling off a pontoon into the water. A fade then shows her in the bath, a tap drips, the water has turned to blood, a clip of her mothers voice is then played, the bath water gets higher and the door closes on its own accord. The text ‘Jessabelle’ is then shown, it then cuts back to the bath where a figure is seen moving towards her. A shot then shows her crawling towards the door covered in blood, when it then cuts to the text ‘coming soon’; which ends the trailer.

Technical ElementsCinematography: Key shots

• Establishing Shot – Shows hospital

• High Angle Shot – Shows Jessie is nervous, also makes her seem lower

down/ juvenile she needs help in this situation

• Establishing Shot – Shows the new area she will be living

• Close Up – shows Jessie is clearly worried or frightened

• Extreme Close up – Her dads eyes, shows tension

• Point of View – Shows Jessie’s dad pushing her wheelchair in car door

mirror

• Wide Shot – Shows Jessie’s dad pushing her into his house

• Over The Shoulder Shot - Shows her dad talking to her

• High Angle Shot – Shows her dad talking, her dad may be higher up to

show Jessie is weak as she is now in a wheel chair, her dad has more

power

• Close Up – Shows Jessie’s emotions in her boyfriends car

• Close Up – Shows boyfriend, lorry then crashes into vehicle

• OTS/ Mid Shot – Her mum talking to her via the tape, watching from

Jessie’s perspective

• Extreme Close Up – Her mums teeth and eyes, emphasising her features

and showing a glitch in the tape

• Close Up – When Jessie’s mum reveals she is not alone, a close up

reveals a sheer look of horror upon her Jessie’s face.

• Close Up – Jessie’s face when the supernatural force is in her room

reveals terror

• Mid Shot – Shows supernatural force behind the curtain

• Extreme Close Up – Of death tarot card

• Two shot – Jessie and her friend talking

• Close Up – Shows daemons face

• High Angle Shot – Reveals Jessie’s vulnerability

• Close Up – Shows her alone in bath

• Close Up – Shows her face as supernatural force tries to drown her

Mid Shot of Jessie

Extreme Close Up of Jessie’s Dad

Technical ElementsSound:

• Phone ringing

• Supernatural music

• Piano

• Car

• Narrative from characters

• Crash of glass

• Music – woman singing, scary

• Metal item shaking

• Metal item falling off wall

• Growl when tapes are found

• Supernatural music – different than before more intense

• Glitch of the video

• Creaking of the door opening

• Supernatural music

• Gasp from Jessie

• Daemon saying Jessie’s name

• Scream

• Fast Tempo music – creating tension

• Daemon coming downstairs

• Jessie Scream

• Glass mirror smashing

• Sound of flame crackling on match

• Music becomes more rapid, fast paced

• Chanting from supernatural spirit

• Splash of water

• Door creaking

Synchronous and asynchronous sounds are used throughout the trailer, along with diegetic and

non diegetic.

Technical ElementsEditing:

Editing in the trailer consisted of lots of cuts, cuts create tension

and add to the fast paced trailer. They also create fear as it is

unclear what will be shown next. Cross cutting is also used along

with a few dissolves, dissolves are sometimes present nostalgia.

However they also work well when showing a series of shots that

are linked together in a plot. A series of very fast paced shots are also edited with cuts, making them quick and dramatic.

Dissolve of Jessie’s Dad – Two Shots

merged into one

Mise-en-scene:

Set:

The hospital at the beginning of the trailer suggests death, loss or tragedy;

which suggests that the rest of the trailer will be portraying similar themes.

Setting the audience up for what will be appearing next. The derelict

mansion in the trailer is old and antique looking, creating an eerie, isolated

feeling from modern day culture. The lake by the mansion also adds to the

feeling of isolation as it suggests that it may be far away in the countryside

somewhere. The room with the man and the candles and signs on the floor

suggests that there may be a summoning or talking to the dead.

Old Antique House

Technical Elements

Props:

• Wheelchair – May suggest weakness

• Antique furniture – Suggests lack of modern day culture/society

• Coin on wall – Shows symbol, and rolls under bed to find other items

• Boxes Containing tapes – Makes audience wonder what is in box

• Tape – Contains further information, shows Jessie’s mum

• Tarot Cards – Predicting future, reveals spirit is after Jessie

• Grave stone at lake – Showing that Jessie will die, someone is trying to kill her

• Coffin/ Skull – Also shows represents death

• Candles – Can be spooky creates the feeling of darkness

• Signs on floor – Could be trying to reconnect with the dead/ spirits

• Mirror – Gets cracked, symbolises bad luck

• Lit Match – Like candles suggests darkness

• Petrol Canisters – Represent the fire

• Teeth on a rope – Symbolises death

• Blood – Also relates to life and death

Costumes:

• Hospital Clothing – Implies tragedy and death

• Corduroy Trousers, shirt and hat – (Jessie’s dad) shows he is older,

due to style choice hat also suggests they may live somewhere rural

• Hoodie and shirt – (Jessie & boyfriend) projects youth, comfy clothing

may suggest not taking life too seriously

• Tribal outfit – Bright colours suggests tribal, primary colours also give

connotations of being bald and strong. Tribal outfit may be related to

being religious, having contact with God/ Gods

Costumes are fairly basic, which relates to the surroundings as it is fairly

basic. A costume for the supernatural spirit is never shown in the trailer. Only the use of silhouette.

Tribal Costume

Tapes found by Jessie from her

mother

Technical Elements

Lighting:

• Spot light style lighting – Shows key character, creates darkness in

rest of the frame

• Ambient lighting – Shown in daytime scenes when things are not

scary shows reality

• Low- key lighting – Darkness has connotations for fear/terror, as it

creates a feeling of the unknown. It also makes us more

vulnerable as we cannot see in the dark. Low- key lighting is when

bad things happen.

Figure in the darkness, creates

suspenseCast:

• Sarah Snook

• Mark Webber

• Joelle Carter

• David Andrews

• Brian Hallisay

• Ana de la Reguera

Only main characters of film are shown in trailer, in order to

capture audience’s attention.

Themes:

• Death

• Supernatural

• Loss

• Love

• Revenge

Mama (2013)Mama is a supernatural horror fantasy film, the film is based on a man, Jeffrey D’Asangewho kills his business partners and wife, he the takes his two children three year old Victoria and one year old Lilly away from home. Jeffrey loses control of his car driving fast on a snowy road and slides down a mountain, crashing into woods. He and the children survive, he takes the to an abandoned cabin in the woods, planning to commit suicide and kill his daughters he holds a gun to Victoria’s head. An unknown supernatural force ‘mama’ drags him and snaps his neck before he has the chance to kill her. Five years later a rescue party takes place by Jeffery’s twin brother Lucas, the girls are found alive but in a feral state after years of isolation. Lucas and his girlfriend take the girls in, knowing little about the supernatural maternal force that has been looking after them.

Trailer plot:

The plot of the trailer shows a hiker/walker coming across the cabin in the forest in which the girls have

been living in isolation. We are then shown an overview of the cabin the children hiding in the cabin, the

Universal Studio’s logo is then shown. We are then shown the Dr talking to Annabelle and Lucas,

showing them a film of the girls behaviour, in a welfare clinic. We are then shown a shot of one of the girls

walking out of the cabin door, on looking snow. This is shown when the Dr says ‘alone in the wilderness’.

We are then shown a shot of Lucas entering Victoria’s room where she hides under the bed, the are then

shown talking and Victoria hugs Lucas. A cut of Annabelle’s reaction to the footage is then shown to

express her horror, the trailer then cuts back to the clip of Lucas and Victoria. A shot of a court room is

then shown, we are then shown Lucas and Annabelle setting up a room for the girls in their own home,

away from the clinic. A shot of a child’s foot is shown exiting a car, it then cuts to the girls and the Dr

walking away from the car. A credit from the producers and a cut back to the girls, a close up of

Annabelle and a two shot of Lucas and Annabelle and then a two shot of the girls. A credit from the

creator is then shown, a scene of one Lilly eating Annabelle’s hair is shown, to show the unusual

behaviour they have adapted to. A shot of Annabelle is shown talking to Lucas, Lilley is then seen to slap

Annabelle across the face. Unusual behaviour is further presented by the girls and shots show Annabelle

becoming uncomfortable in her own home. Annabelle is then talking to the Dr, he looks in the girls room

at drawings the have created on the wall. The girls are then shown talking to ‘Mama’. Text on the release

month is then shown, then a shot to the house and Annabelle. Then more text is shown to create

suspense. At cuts to girls between the text. The girls are then shown playing late at night, they warn

Annabelle not to go into the wardrobe. She opens the wardrobe and a cut to Victoria screaming is shown,

from then on the trailer becomes more fast-paced and shows elements from the supernatural force. Text

saying ‘mama’ is then shown and a cut to the girls and back to text saying ‘coming soon’.

Technical ElementsCinematography: Key Shots

• Establishing Shot – Shows woods

• Long Shot – Shows scene

• Close Up – Object, child's shoe

• Over The Shoulder – Man looking at wild children

• Two Shot – Annabelle and Lucas

• Wide Shot – Shows laboratory room

• High Angle Shot – Shows child, makes her seem low, showing her as animalistic

and unintelligent

• Low Angle Shot – Shows child alone, heightens sense of isolation

• Birds Eye View – Shows scenery and enforces feeling of being alone

• Close Up – Shows child's fear of interaction

• Two Shot – Child and Lucas hugging, shows bonding and love

• Close Up – Reveals Annabelle’s thoughts and doubts

• Close Up – Dirty foot of child, shows poor living conditions

• OTS – Children cowing showing fear

• Close Up – Strange drawing on wall

• Two Shot – Children summing ‘mama’

• Close Up – Eyes and face of child, looks possessed/ evil presents supernatural

• Establishing Shot – Family house looking dark/ scary

• Close Up – Chandelier rocking showing supernatural

• Long Shot – Door closing on its own

• High Angle – Boxes stacked high in a room

• Long Shot – Man stood alone on a woodland road

• Two Shot – Dr and old woman talking about the supernatural

• Wide Shot – Shows blood flowing from a door

• Two Shot – Children looking scared

• OTS – Supernatural creature attacking Dr

• Close Up – Child screaming, expressing fear

• OTS – Lucas finding rotting corpse, symbolising death

• Close Up – Annabelle screaming

• Low Angle Shot – Shows supernatural daemon

Two Shot of the children summoning

‘mama’

Establishing Shot of house

Technical ElementsSound:

• Music – Eerie, Scary

• Door opening

• Butterfly wings flapping

• Music – screeching high pitch

• Narrative – characters talking

• Snow falling

• Door Opening

• Music – Piano

• ‘Mama’ whisper from child

• Screaming

• Slap from Lilly onto Annabelle’s cheek

• Butterfly

• ‘Mama’ whisper

• Music – becomes more intense more rhythm and tempo

• Supernatural Sounds

• Ticking Clock

• Scream

• Music – More intense version of previous

• Child laughing

• ‘Mama’ whisper

Synchronous and asynchronous sounds are used throughout the

trailer, along with diegetic and non diegetic.

Technical Elements

Editing:

Much like ‘Jessabelle’, ‘Mama’ uses similar editing

techniques such as cross cutting, more towards the

beginning and in key, intense scenes fading to black is

included more than cuts. They have also used a few

dissolve shots in the process of the trailer. Graphics in the

film are also very high quality, which are to be expected

of a film produced only last year. Dissolve shot, from scene of hallway

to inside a room

Mise-en-scene

Set:

The setting at the beginning of ‘Mama’ shows an isolated cabin in the

woods, creating a feeling of loneliness, it also creates a feeling of the

unknown, as anything could be hiding in the woods. The cabin is in a

terrible condition and looks dirty, making it appear if only an animal is living

here. The girls are then presented to Lucas and Annabelle in a Welfare

Clinic, behind a window. Making them appear strange and potentially

dangerous. The courtroom scene is used for negotiating custody of

children. The house that the family then all live it appears a normal home,

as the daemon takes over it appears more supernatural and begins to look

frightening, showing a clear change in scenarios to the audience of the

trailer.

Clinic window, showing

children

Technical Elements

Props:

• Flashlight – Shows dark environment

• Child’s Shoe – Shows abandonment

• Film Camera – Recording children’s behaviour, experiment

• Children’s Toys – Suggests child development, which Lilly and Victoria

have had a lack of

• Men in Lab Coats – Also implies an experiment

• Car – Symbolising an arrival

• Butterfly – Symbolises the supernatural, ‘mama’

• Skeleton – Symbolises deathChilds shoe, used as prop

Costumes:

• Hiking clothing – Implies discovery, they discover the children

• Casual clothing – Relaxed, everyday style representing

Annabelle and Lucas, clothing may symbolise their attitude.

• Lab Coats – Suggests experiment, sci-fi

• Childs Clothing – Shows juvenile

• Doctor Suit – Suit shows higher role in society

• ‘Mama’ Daemon – Ripped black clothing, representing the un

dead, and potential danger.

Mama creature costume

Technical Elements

Lighting:

Low-key lighting is used when the scenes present elements of the

supernatural, ambient lighting is used to shown in the daytime, whereas

the use of night time lighting majorly contrasts. Darkness is used to

present fear and a sense of unknowing.

Cast:

• Jessica Chastain

• Nikolaj Coster-Waldau

• Megan Charpentier

• Isabelle Nélisse

• Daniel Kash

Themes

• Childhood issues

• Mental issues

• Insanity

• Supernatural

• Love

• Death

Low- Key lighting

The Woman In Black (2012)

The Woman In Black, is based on a gothic horror novel written by Susan Hill. It begins with an

Edwardian English village, three young girls are having a tea party with their dolls in an attic.

They see something in the corner of the room, they then stand up and walk as if in a trance out

to the window and jump out. Years later the house has been put up for sale, Arthur Kipps a

lawyer is set to arrange the sale of the house. He begins to hear odd noises, the sounds of a

screaming child coming from the marshland, the death of another child in the village then

occurs and Kipps begins to investigate the situation, taking it into his own hands.

Trailer Plot:

The trailer starts off in the attic of a house, in the room there are various stuffed toys and china dolls and a child's bed.

A toy begins to play music upon its own, we are shown a horse and cart pulling across a beach. A Christian cross is

shown, and a large derelict looking mansion. The toys continue to play music, the scene then switches to a long dark

corridor. A child's voice can be heard and a black and white photograph of a man, woman and child is shown. Then a

scene of three young girls playing with dolls, the child's voice continues to narrate as footage of the horse and cart pulls

across the beach. Another photograph is shown of the same people in the previous image, but their eyes have been

gauged out of them image. A dark outline of a woman is then shown from a window, children are then shown and then

a shot of Arthur Kipps in the cart. A shot then shows two children looking from a window, then a shot of the whole town.

A shot of a woman crying on the floor and other women comforting her is shown, the shot of the beach and derelict

mansion is then shown again. A clearer shot of Arthur Kipps is shown, he is then seen entering the derelict mansion.

The trailer then shows another shot of a toy playing music alone. Arthur Kipps is then shown with a strange figure to the

left behind him, he looks out of the window and sees the Christian cross out in the bay. A small child then appears near

it, Kipps the begins looking at the wall, when writing in blood appears. Toys then begin to play music and Kipps is

shown alone outside in the foggy bay. A child appears from the mud. Kipps is shown running and a shot of the three

girls jumping out the window is shown, fire appears and the ghosts of the three girls. Kipps then looks out of the window

and the woman’s face is shown next to him.

Technical Elements

Cinematography: Key Shots

• Wide Shot – Shows attic, chairs and, furniture and

toys

• Close Up – China doll face

• Close Up – Toys

• Close Up – Monkey hands

• Close Up – Monkey face

• Long Shot – Horse and cart on bay

• Wide Shot – Horse and cart and Christian cross

• Close Up – Monkey

• Establishing Shot – Derelict mansion

• Long Shot – Dark hallway

• Zoom – Photograph

• Mid Shot – 3 young girls in the attic

• Close Up - Toy

• Birds Eye View – Horse and cart

• Zoom – Photograph of three people, eyes gauged

out

• Zoom – Woman in window

• Close Up – Introducing Arthur Kipps

• Establishing Shot - Mansion

• Long Shot – Mansion

• Mid Shot – Arthur Kipps looking at the house

• High Angle Shot – Feels like someone is watching

Kipps

• Two Shot – Kipps and the face of the woman

Two Shot Kipps and ‘Woman In Black’

Establishing Shot derelict

mansion

Technical ElementsSound:

• Wind

• Clock Tick

• Music – Nursery rhyme style rhythm

• Narrative – Childs voice telling a story

• Scream – Supernatural

• Music – Becomes faster paced, more sinister

• Music – Nursery rhyme becomes faster

• Loud Screech

• Thunder, lightening & rain

• Wall Paper tear

• Music – At its fastest possible rhythm and tempo implying danger

• Maracas – Help to create tempo and rhythm

Sound in this trailer also is diegetic and non – diegetic. It also includes synchronous and

asynchronous sounds.

Editing:

Mise-en-scene:

Set:

The trailer begins with an old antique style room, creating a sense of isolation from

modern day culture, much like the mansion in ‘Jessabelle’. Also gives the impression

its derelict, the corridor in the house is unlit and creates an eerie feeling. The horse

and cart across the bay shows the travel of Arthur Kipps. The room that the girls are

playing in also looks very dated, suggesting this film has gone back in time. The rest

of the mansion also looks dated and derelict.

The trailer includes lots of continuity editing, as the trailer becomes more fast

paced and intense the cuts begin to speed up and become notably faster. There

is also two zooms used in the trailer.

Antique scenery

Technical ElementsProps:

• Toys – Shows children lived there

• Photographs – Shows family picture, could relate

to characters in film

• Horse and cart – Way of transport, showing old

fashioned and unmodern

• Christian Cross – Symbolises death, faith, love and

religion

• Blood on the wall – Symbolises death, murder

• Candles – Before electricity, creates a feeling of

darkness and a spiritual feeling

Christian Cross in the marshland

Costumes:

• Arthur Kipps – Suit, shows he is high up in society as he is a lawyer, he

is respectable. Waist coat also looks dated and relates to the time

period

• Girls – Clothing is dated, indicates time period by clothing

• Other people in town – Wearing ordinary clothing for the time, would

have been considered as ‘peasants’

Old fashioned style of clothing worn

by the children

Technical Elements

Lighting:

• Dark, low-key creating shadows

• Outside- The weather looks dull, the sky is grey

• Candle Lighting – Eerie, creates a sense of darkness and a

spiritual feeling

• Ambient Lighting – Also present in trailer

Cast:

• Daniel Radcliffe

• Ciaran Hinds

• Janet McTeer

• Liz White

Themes:

• Death

• Murder

• Revenge

• Supernatural

• Love

• Loss

Multi award winning actor, Daniel

Radcliffe stars in the trailer and film

Dull weather creates eerie mood