Movie Trailer AnalysisSophie-Louise Courtney

THE CONJURING

Lighting

• The use of torch light makes the audience feel very on edge, due to the fact that only one small part of the screen is visible, and the rest of the screen in pitch black, meaning that anything can jump out at you or be watching you.

• The camera suddenly flashes white throughout the trailer, this makes the audience feel like the footage is amateurish and/or old fashioned, but it also makes you wonder if there are any subliminal messages, linking to the supernatural, within these milliseconds of white flashes.The flashes get a lot more frequent towards the end of the trailer, showing that the pace of the storyline is intensifying and that the horror/intensity of the film will increase as it goes on.

• The two main characters are seen surrounded by a white light, suggesting that they are the “heroes”, or possibly victims, of the film. But it is also slightly grey, suggesting impurity or the presence of evil within them.

• The scene of the forest like area is very dark, with a slightly blue coloured light, which allows the viewer to see the dark tree outlines and fog but little else. This gives the impression of the scene being cold, due to the blue, but also eerie and intense, due to the dark black outlines and masking layer of fog.

• The bright sunlight highlighting the large white house suggests that it is the main location of the film. But the dead trees around the edges of the screen symbolise the death and horrible events that may take place, or may have taken place.

Mise en Scene

• The two main characters are dressed in old-fashioned clothes, suggesting that they have a connection with the past/with past events.

• The two old fashioned characters contrast with the modern students in the class, showing their conflicting ideas and lifestyles, as well as their isolation from “normal” society.

• The brightly coloured school also contrasts with the dark house which, again, shows a difference in lifestyle and circumstance.

• The black and white images are of things which symbolise death e.g. graves and broken toys. This foreshadows the events of the film

• The characters include a lot of children. Children are often used in horror films to show contrast between good/innocence and evil. They are also seen as vulnerable by their cowering stances in this scene, suggesting that they are victims. This makes the audience feel sympathetic towards them.

• The spiral on the mirror, which is reflected onto the woman’s face, signifies twisted/evil events, as spirals show that things are out of control. This is mirrored by the circling movement of the camera on a man as he appears to fall down a hole.

• The trailer is filled with fast-paced cuts, meaning that not much of the story is revealed, due to the fact that you are unable, as a viewer, to focus on one section of the trailer at any one time, especially as the trailer progresses.

• There are a few black and white pictures in sequence at the beginning of the trailer, which appear and disappear by way of cuts very quickly. The black and whit shows that they are old-fashioned, but the contrasting colours also signify the contrast between good and evil characters and events within the film.

EDITING All shown within 4 seconds

Camera Angles

• There are lots of close up, deep and long shots within the opening sequence. All of these shot types mean that the viewer is always either too close or too far away from the action. This means that you, as a viewer, are never totally in the loop of the action and events that are taking place.

• The fact that the two main characters are seen in a mixture of high and low angle shots shows their power over some things, but vulnerability in other situations.

• The camera movement itself is always very fast. And the camera appears to be in constant motion. This also does not allow the viewer to focus on the events of the trailer.

Titles

• The words fade in and out of the screen, and they are written in white, rounded writing. This allows the words to be clearly visible against the black background. The use of the phrase “based on a true story” is also used in order to make the viewer feel like the events taking place in the trailer/film could happen in real life and to the viewer themselves.

• As the trailer progresses, the font becomes more distorted, and the white appears to “bleed” into the black background. This signifies the progressing danger and horror in the trailer as well as, through foreshadowing, in the film itself.

• The words “disturbing” and “locked away” are used to intrigue the viewer, as they are very dramatic uses of vocabulary.

• The trailer states that the film is by the same people who directed “saw” and “insidious”. These are both very famous horror films, meaning that their fanbases will be tempted to watch this film as well. This also creates an immediate comparison to other great horror films, suggesting that this one will be too.

SOUND

• The sound throughout the trailer is parallel to the action. When the pace of the trailer is picked up, so does the non-diegetic, dramatic and scary music.

• The diegetic sound of the child screaming in the trailer is also very fitting of a horror film, as it allows you to hear the fear in the child’s voice. The fact that you don’t know what the child is screaming at exactly is also effective, as it makes you question what they could have seen/experienced.

Other Info.

• As the trailer progresses, there are lots of shots of objects and people crashing into things. At no point during the trailer, however, are you aware of who, or what is throwing/pushing these things. This creates the idea of the supernatural, as things are often thrown around by invisible poltergeists. This reiterates the fear of the unknown, and makes the audience fear what they can not see.