Jessabelle

Target AudienceDemographics:

Males and females Aged 15+British/English speaking Social economic class E

Psychographics:Interested in horror filmsTrill seekersInterested in supernatural eventsHave seen Insidious, Paranormal Activity, Sinister and The Purge

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoBCEdt_BC8

CameraThroughout the trailer high and low angle camera shots are used

to create tension and a shift in power. It also lets the audience

know where the weakness lies early on in the trailer. The woman is

often filmed on a low angle with her father looking down which

connotes with going back to her childhood creating a sense of

being vulnerable. Extreme close ups are used to create real fear

and to make the audience understand how the character is feeling as every emotion is right at the lens.

EditingThis trailer is full of different types of editing. The trailer starts with

slow editing to build up and draw the audience in, it then turns to

fast editing to make the audience feel like there is a lots

happening and give the feel that the film is packed full of action.

There is also the use of titling to draw in inherited audiences and

reinforce fear by revelling the producer is the same as previous

successful horror films. Blink eye editing is also used throughout to create a sense that someone is watching them giving a

paranormal feel to the trailer. There is also a video style shot

which has been edited to make look old and fuzzy. There are

also reaction shots and motivated cuts to build tension and fear.

SoundThe sound in this trailer is vital as the sound can really set the atmosphere and create different moods. There is non-diegetic and diegetic sound as well as a voiceover. The voiceover is the voice of Jessabelle’s ... This reinforces the feeling of someone/something watching over her. This trailer creates enigma through the sound of objects, like when the phone rings and when the clock is ticking. As the audience doesn’t know who’s ringing or why this sparks many unanswered questions and thoughts which creates a sense of anticipation, anxiety, fear and enigma. The sound of the clock ticking is also clever as it creates a feeling of time is running out or time is counting down until something happens. Enigma is also created through silence. The way this particular trailer uses silence is very effective as it opens up some time where the audience can process all the things that are happening and let the fear build up. During the silence the audience will be waiting for something to happen creating the fear of the unknown. Towards the end of the trailer there is silence as one drip falls from the tap; this allows the audience to really focus creating more unease.

Mise-en-sceneThe mise-en-scene of the trailer is overall very dark. The trailer uses

dark lighting and shadows to contrast with the pale woman. There is

also the use of blood to again create fear. The house is very isolated

and old which goes with the normal horror conventions of the

isolated lake house/old dated house and the vulnerable female. This

trailer represents the female as weak; she is also in a wheelchair. This makes females with a disability seem powerless and defenceless.

TheoriesOverall the trailer begins to follow Todorov’s narrative theory

but breaks from it towards the end as there is no equilibrium.

Although this trailer is structured slightly different from the

majority as it starts off showing the car crash which is how

Jessabelle is now in a wheelchair and then brightens up and

then makes a turn for the worse. Where as the majority of horror film trailers start off very happy and then get worse.

This trailer also fully supports John Berger’s theory as the male

leads his daughter throughout reinforcing her weakness as she

is dependent on the male in her life. This also links in with

Propp’s theory as the male is seen as the hero helping the

woman in need. It complies with the idea of a patriarchal society that men are in control.