The Shining (1980)
This film trailer is for The Shining, 1980. It is a
psychological horror which is produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film is based on Stephen
King’s 1977 novel The Shining, however the film and novel are different is
significant ways. Although
contemporary responses from critics were mixed, assessment became more
favourable in following decades, and it is now widely regarded as one of the
greatest horror films ever made. American director Martin Scorsese, writing in The Daily Beast, ranked it one of the
11 scariest horror movies of all time.
The first shot the audience see is an isolated area, this is
a common horror convention for the narrative. It also starts off with a voice
over, in this the audience can hear the word such as ‘tragedy’ which grabs the
audience’s attention to tell a little about the narrative. By having a voice
over it allows for the audience to have a little insight what it going on. This
is a convention of horror trailers. There is non-diegetic music in the
background to build up the tension, this is another horror genre convention. The
audience firstly sees a close up of a man, we then assume this is the main
character because it’s the first person we see. The shots are quite long and
look normal; this also builds up the tension and shows the equilibrium. There
is a use of different camera angles; some include high angle, long shot, medium
and pan. By using a range of camera angles keeps the visual interesting. There
is also a use of low key lighting to create a sinister atmosphere.
The voice over tells the audience a story about 1970, a man
went crazy and killed his family. The use of sound is vital in horror trailers,
this is because it is used to add tension; there is a good use of sound where
the man puts the axe into the door, there is a loud bang and then everything
goes quiet, the music then cuts out and we see who the voiceover is talking to
and then a man says ‘well you can rest assure Mr Almond, that’s not going to
happen to me’. Everyone laughs and then the scene cuts off. By this line, the
audience can tell something bad it going to happen. There is a lot of questions
unanswered in this, which will make the audience want to watch the film.
We hear a voice of a child and then see a family. The use of
children are a horror convention to add innocence to the film, by the shot we
see of him riding his bike links in with the pace of the trailer and also the
innocence. We also see shots of mother and son, there is one of them in a maze
which could suggest claustrophobia and confusion. The music then speeds up, in
addition the pace of the shots speed up.
The use of a close up shows the facial expression and emotion
of who the audience is starting to assume is the protagonist and who is also
the villain. He is wearing black which is iconic to show evil and darkness. There
is a use of low key lighting which sets the atmosphere. There are a use of
similar medium shots of the mother trying to protect herself and her son. The
audience can then see the use of weapons can be seen such as axes, knives and
bats, this is often used to portray death and fighting. Then there is similar
shots of the protagonist to show the audience his evil characteristics. The
trailer does not show him actually killing the mother and son, however this is
a trailer convention as it leaves the audience wondering. The word ‘murder’ on
the door in the colour red is horror convention as it indicated death. The pace
is very fast by this point and the phrase ‘here’s Jonny’ has become iconic.
In between some cuts there are black backgrounds with white
writing, some of these say ‘based on the bestselling novel Stephen King’ ‘from
director Stanley Kubrick ‘on May 23rd’ ‘The Shining’. By having
these they give information to the audience and are vital pieces to sell the
film. By saying it’s based on the novel by Stephen King or is directed by
Stanley Kubrick could attract an audience who are fans of them. By having the
film name at the end of the trailer, makes people remember the name and will
encourage more people to see it.
My opinions of this horror trailer is that I think it works
very well as a trailer, the narration draws the audience in and helps the
audience understand what is happening as it adds context. I think the sound
used helps to keep the audience on the edge as they are loud and harsh in addition
the trailer doesn’t give too much away which will leave the audience wanting to
know what happens.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American found footage
supernatural horror film. It was written, co-produced, photographed, edited and
directed by Oren Peli. It is the first entry into the Paranormal Activity film
series. Originally developed as an independent feature and given film festival
screening in 2007, the film was acquired by Paramount Pictures and modified particularly
with a new ending. It was given a limited U.S.
release on September 25, 2009, and then a nationwide release on October 16,
2009. The film earned nearly $108 million at the U.S. box office and a further
$85 million internationally for a worldwide total of $193 million.
Paramount/DreamWorks acquired the U.S. rights for $350,000. It is the most
profitable film ever made, based on return
on investment. There is now 5 Paranormal Activity films.
There is a little Apple sign at the bottom right corner, this
shows that the trailer was edited on iMovie. This means that it was edited on a
cheap software and reveals the trailer to be low-budget, which helps add to the
realism of the film.
The first shot is of a long shot of a line of people with the
words ‘In September 2009, a screening was held in Hollywood California’. Then
there is a low angle showing people sitting in the cinema, with words on the
screen saying ‘this audience was among the first to experience the movie
‘Paranormal Activity’. There is a final long shot showing the cinema full and
it says ‘this is what they saw’. I think by having words on the screen and no
speech builds up and tension and makes people pay attention. There are loud
booms when this is going out, which also builds up the atmosphere. However this
start to a horror trailer is very unconventional that it features the audience
more than the characters. This concept of the trailer is to show the audience’s
reaction to the film. This also encourages the realism of the film; which makes
it scarier for the audience.
The next shot is of the main characters who are a couple. The
use of a hand held camera also emphasises the realness of the film. The couple
looks like they are in their early 20s, which is a part of the target audience
and could encourage people to watch. There are simple camera angles used for
example long and medium shots and also the camera movements are very shaky,
this is could show the simplicity of the film which also could relate to the
realness. In addition by using the hand held camera the audience seeing a point
of view shot, this also helps with making the audience feel included. The
trailer follows horror conventions are it is mainly set up at night; this makes
it scarier as its dark. There is low key lighting used in this trailer; this is
a horror genre convention. By having low key lighting creates a spooky mood and
also darkness connotes the idea of the unknown and danger. However there are
also some moments with high key lighting, which is used to emphasis a subject.
I think that this makes the audience feel uncomfortable as the lighting is very
bright and harsh.
There are is a shot of a swinging chandelier; this is using a
medium shot. It then cuts back to the people watching it in the cinema; there
are close up shots used to show peoples expressions and emotions. This could be
used to make the audience more scared. There is a loud bang and then people
from the cinema scream; this is used to build up the tension. The next shots
all used a montage and the speed is quick, this is edited to allow the trailer
to have maximum impact on the audience. The calmer more balanced scenes which
are shown at the beginning and the more frightening, shocking scene towards to
end makes the trailer look unbalanced but are used to play with the audience
emotions.
When looking at the editing used in this trailer, they
haven’t used straight cuts. Instead they have used dissolve transitions to
remind the audience that this is a home video. The pace of the trailer is made
faster through quick cuts making the video faded. This has an effect on the
audience as it makes it harder to see what is actually happening and allows
them to use their imagination. There is no incidental music, there is very
little sound tension built because the audience are expecting things that will
make them jump. In addition by having no incidental music there is a sense of
realness as the setting is normal and the background music is not needed in
order to create an atmosphere. This makes the plot more relatable as the
audience could see it happening in their lives. Using silence or very little
sound is another convention of horror films as they use it to build up tension
and suspense.
My opinion of this horror trailer is that I like the thought
of making it feel real by using a hand held camera, for this this personally
makes it scarier and I think it makes the audience feel involved. In addition
the fast pace speed of the trailer and the jump scares keeps the audience on
the edge. I also like the introduction of the characters, as it makes the audience
connect with them straight away. However to improve this trailer, I think they
could have develop the story a bit more, for example the fast pace was a bit
too fast and it was hard to understand the shots used.
Saw (2004)
Saw is an American gore and torture horror film, released in 2004 and directed by James Wan. The film stars Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell as two men who awake to find themselves chained in a large dilapidated bathroom, with one being ordered to kill the other or his family will die. It is the first installment of the seven-part Saw franchise. Saw was first screened on January 19th 2004. Lionsgate claimed the rights and released the film in the United States and Canada on October 29th 2004. Saw performed very well at the box office, grossing more than $100 million worldwide and becoming, at the time, one of the most profitable horror films since 1996's Scream. The success of the film prompted a green-light of a sequel soon after Saw 's opening weekend, which was released the following October.
This trailer
starts off with an over the shoulder shot with low key lighting. The over the
shoulder shot lets the audience see what the character can see, meanwhile the
low key lighting is a horror genre convention. The first character we see we
assume this is one of the main characters. The flashes contrast against the
dark lighting and the sound of the camera within the silence creates an
atmosphere. There is a long shot to look into the distance in addition the
diegetic voice fills the silence and by saying “is someone there?” This gives
the audience the thought that some is there, then there is a loud high pitched
laugh, which could also be a horror convention this is because quite a lot of
horror films used high pitched voices, could be insisted to be a child. The
trailer then speeds up in pace which could also speed up the audiences
thoughts.
The diegetic
sounds are made more extreme to emphasise them. The fades to black and short
clips are also used as a slow paced and keeps the audience interested. There is
another contrast using low key lighting and high key lighting. The quick close
up of the mask and then quick change to medium shot shows who we assumes is the
villain. We can assume this because it is a horror convention that a villain
wears a mask. The sound of a static television creates tension meanwhile the
voice over does not sound like a real voice. There is faint non-diegetic music
is the background which fills the silence and creates an atmosphere. The voice
over then gives the audience context in what the film is about, this then grabs
the audience’s attention as they will want to know what happens. This also slows down the pace of the trailer.
Within the editing there is a
green filter to the lighting and green, which connotes the idea of jealousy and
greed, it also connotes freshness and safety; however we can see in this
trailer this is not correct. I think the green filter does signify greed and
also gore and blood and this sets the tone for this trailer. The speed then
speeds up using quick transitions, by having these it creates a sense of
urgency. However I think this makes the trailer less fluent. Towards the end of
the trailer becomes faster as the victims panic and struggle. There has also
the use of flashbacks, this allows the audience to understand the plot more and
know the history of what happened before.
The text in between the clips also
gives more context for the audience. Words like ‘voyeur’, ‘madman’ and ‘psychopath’
are words use to describe Saw. The font used for these words are bold and in
capitals which makes it stand out. The background is dark and the font is blue
and white, which are all cold colours. The use of colours are a horror
convention. The trailer it made more personal by saying ‘and it’s your move’.
This makes the audience feel more involved. The text at the top ‘twisted
picture’ is wrapped in barb wire which makes it feel the need to escape and it
also reflects horror conventions.
My opinion of this trailer is I think
it works well. The plot is well explained using flashbacks and voice overs
meanwhile the low key lighting and harsh sounds follow horror conventions.
However I think in the middle where they are explaining the plot is loses it
pace and the audience could lose interest a bit. I think to improve it they
could of sped it up more meanwhile explaining the plot.
