The trailer begins with an establishing birds eye shot which implies that the location is very isolated, which is a typical convention of horror films. As an audience, we also sense this isolation, which makes us feel quite unnerved as it is not a location we are used to being in. This feeling creates the sense that this is a horror film as it is making us uneasy, a reason for watching a horror film for. The dialogue continues over the shots, which adds to the impression that he film is in the horror genre. The dialogue gives hints that the film is a horror, and starts by addressing someone that we, as an audience, can’t see, with the question ‘ i don’t suppose they told you anything in Denver about the..tragedy we had up here?’. This slight pause in the question makes you feel that there is some hidden story which will occur in the film. Hearing that a ‘tragedy’ occurred in the house foreshadows the future events for the audience, and makes it seem like history will repeat itself, which adds to the horror element of the film.
The music used in the trailer adds to the effect of the overall trailer by increasing tension. At 0.25 seconds into the trailer the music reaches a climax, at which point you see a typical icon for horror films- a weapon, in this case an axe. The crescendo up to the revelation of this weapon increases the pace of the film, and as an audience makes us sense that something will happen. At 1.02 seconds into the trailer the music builds up pace and tension, which combined with the church bells gives the impression of a horror trailer. The church bells create a haunting feel, whilst the build up suggests that something terrible is going to happen which adds adrenaline and makes you want to watch the film to find out. Religion was a typical element of old horror films where religious practises were used in order to overcome the demon/possessed person, so by using a religious symbol such as church bells, the music is suggesting that the film is going to be a typical horror from this era.
Slow zooming shots are used often in the trailer, often to focus our attention on either a particular area of the room, or on a particular person. At 0.10 second in, the shot slowly zooms in between 2 walls of the large house, to focus our attention onto the centre of the screen- the desk. This feature makes the audience feel very trapped and closed in, which is similar to the characters of horror films. Another zoom shot is used, around 0.46 seconds into the trailer. The zoom is staggered zoom, where 3 shots, focusing on the same point and getting closer are cut together rapidly. This shot technique is often used in horror films, and can be seen in films like Frankenstein. The technique focuses the viewer's attention to the man’s face, which suggests that he is the main character and is the one that will turn to make the film into a horror. The zoom also disorientates us as an audiences as it is cut so quickly, which makes us feel quite anxious, typical of horror films. The voice over at this point of the film adds to the nauseous feeling created by the zoom, by focusing on the word ‘isolation’. This emphasises our feelings from the establishing shots at the beginning of the trailer, and again gives us the impression that the film is horror due to typical conventions, where being alone often leads to terrible things. This zoom technique is accompanied with sharp stings, followed by a crash of cymbals, which emphasises the voice over even more to create a feeling of a horror film.
The trailer shows typical icons of horror films such as weapons, blood and a family being central to the narrative. At the beginning of the trailer, whilst the voice over is describing the events to us, we see the main character walk around the house with an axe. This iconography is seen in many horror films,and gives the audience a visual representation of the fear and terror the narrative is trying to convey. The shot is filmed in low lighting, which adds to the atmosphere created by seeing the weapon, as it creates an ominous feel over the house. The shot proceeds to fade into black, a colour which often symbolises the end of something, posing the question to the audience as to what this is the end of. Black is also a colour of mystery and the unknown, which the audience feels, and by using this fade it intrigues the audience as to what is happening in this time. From the black, shot shows the man hacking down a door with the axe that was shown. This scene is very aggressive, and shows conventions of a typical horror, where somebody is trying to kill something. This scene also increases the significance of the fade into black by adding to the unknown mystery as to why the man would be doing this, and who is he trying to kill.
Another convention of horror films that is shown is through the shot types and editing. The shots show close ups of the protagonists face, which help us to identify him as the central character. It also adds a sinister feel as this is not a natural view we tend to see in real life, and if we did it would be very unusual and uncomfortable. This discomfort makes the genre stand out as being a horror as this is a feeling which is typically associated with horror. The lighting used is often very low lighting, with contrasts of ‘happier’ times in high key lighting. The contrast between the light and dark shots emphasise the darkness of the genre, and help to identify it as being a horror. This is especially seen from the first shots of the house, which is often in very low lighting, adding an eerie feel which is parallel to the shot types and other editing techniques used. The shots used to show the protagonist are often tilt down shots, which gives an evil look to him. The shots make it look as though the character is looking up at us, which combined with the low lighting gives a monster like, sinister appearance.
The final shots of the trailer we see is of the main character laughing, which quickly cuts to a mid shot where we see an axe going through the door and the mother screaming. The contrast between the two shots helps to emphasise the horror of the final shot, to convey that this is a horror film. The lighting within the shots almost seems to be opposite, with the laugh being in low lighting, and the axe through the door being in strong white lighting. The low lighting of the previous shot could foreshadow the darkness of the next section, whilst the bright white light in the last gives a hospital like feel and makes it seem very harsh. The harsh lighting also helps to give an ill appearance to the mother, as her skin looks an off colour, which emphasises the horror she faces and solidifies that this is the genre.
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