Silent House

by Garin Price

GenreThe genre of this film is horror/ psychological thriller. The audience is able to identify this due to the props used (e.g. knives) and the various emphasised sound effects. We cannot evidently see who the killer is in this trailer. This does make the audience wonder if it is a psychological thriller. Although not revealing the killer does create a code of enigma.

Target AudienceThe target audience for this film is for 50 % males and 50% females between the age of 15-30 years old. The trailer targets an audience by having a female as the main character, this attracts more females to watch the film as females are not stereotyped to watching horror films. As the genre is horror, they are trying to encourage couples to go to the cinema to watch the film.

I think that it is successful in targeting an audience because the main characters are that father and Sophie, so the mixed gendered main characters will widen the target audience. The audience can also relate to the characters and feel like they have been in a house where everything is haunted and they start to feel parranoyed.

Silent HouseThis film trailer lasts 2 minutes 36 seconds. There are 92 shots in the trailer. There are many transitions used throughout the trailer, the main transitions used are fade to black and a flash of white, almost like a camera had just taken a picture.

Diegetic Sound• Diegetic sound is not used that much in

this trailer, it is used mainly at the start of the trailer to represent the characters and their relationships. E.g. at the start of the trailer we find out that Sarah and her dad have a close relationship in the film as they the dad calls Sarah ‘sweetie’. Halfway through the trailer she says ‘daddy, what have they done to you?’ when he is lay flat on the floor, this shows her concern for her father emphasising that their relationship is strong.

Non diegetic soundThe trailer mainly consists of non-diegetic sounds. At the start of the trailer we get a voiceover for all of the titles used, these titles communicate with the audience by guiding the audience into the storyline and to emphasise the severity of the event by using key titles such as ‘The silence.. WILL KILL YOU’. The voiceover does this by saying ‘one of the most shocking and twisted event ever recorded’. This gets the audience’s attention instantly.There is non-diegetic music used in this trailer, it is used to increase the intensity of the trailer. For example in the trailer from 1:29-1:37 there is an increase in intensity of the music t grab the audience’s attention and create a code of enigma so we wonder what is going to happen to Sophie.Throughout the trailer we get many different sound effects which get the audience on the edge of their seats by increasing the tension of the trailer. It does this by using effects such as camera flashes, emphasised door slams and footsteps to increase the tension of the audience.

Silent HouseFrom the trailer we get an understanding of the film where it reveals parts of the plot, and an idea of the main characters which all add up to the narrative of the film. Sophie and her dad move back into a house which they lived in when they were younger. They have an ordeal with an unknown killer which is haunting them for 88 minutes. It seems like throughout the trailer she is being followed by someone who is taking photos of her, following her every footstep, it seems like they are trying to get inside Sophie’s head by making noises around the house. There is a slam of a door then all escape routes to the house become locked, there is no way out for Sophie. She then bumps into her father to find him dead on the floor. After this Sophie then goes looking around the house for ways to escape and get help. We then see the killer/ person who is haunting her, they have no features which we can identify, leaving us a mystery at who it is and why they are there. A chase then encounters throughout the house with this figure and Sophie. Sophie finds an escape route by opening a door, we see a reflection of a different killer/ spirit, she then looks at the photos on the desk and seems to be mortified by them and doesn’t look completely sane not understanding why it is happening.

Camera shots and AnglesIn this trailer each shot is filmed handheld, even the opening establishing shot at night which is most commonly used in horror trailers where it gives the audience a dark feeling and a sense of location so they know where this ‘ordeal’ is going to take place.

Another shot which is commonly used in horror trailers is the point of view shot of the killer, it is done on a handheld camera chase scene, where the camera will follow the main character running, almost as if we the audience are seeing everything as the killers point of view.

Another shot which is also commonly used in horror trailers is the over the shoulder shot of the main characters attempting to open a door to escape, this makes the audience more tense as they don’t know what is going to happen after this moment.

Silent HouseThis trailer sets up the mood and expectations and the idea of a psychological thriller / horror where a woman has moved into her old home and is being haunted by someone or something paranormal, we presume it is paranormal as we don’t ever see the killer in detail. As an audience we don’t know why or what is haunting Sophie but we are expecting something to happen to Sophie, but we don’t know weather she wills survive or not.

Film trailers are very effective as a promotional device for films because it is easily accessible as it can be found online or on televisions through commercial breaks. The film studio has used the trailer to market its product as it is very easy to advertise by being found online and TV commercials. Social networking will also help promote this trailer as YouTube videos can be shared onto social networking sites and promoted on there by a word of mouth process.

Codes and Conventions

The film trailer ‘Silent House’ shows some key codes and conventions which are very similar to other horror/ psychological thriller films out in the market. It goes against some stereotypes of normal horror films, but also goes along with others. Silent House does go along with a psychological thriller stereotype by having the female as a main character with emphasised screams being used to make the audience feel scared for her if they were in her situation. Having an age range of characters around 18-35 years old which is roughly the age of the target audience. The film is set in a massive haunted house which is very stereotypical of psychological thriller films.

Although this film does go against the stereotype of having a hand held camera being used throughout the film, this makes the audience feel a sense of realism, almost like a documentary for the audience to watch.