Sinister trailer analysis
The trailer is quite typical of the genre, with the
lighting, music, editing, camera shots and mise-en-scene all conforming to the
conventions of horror. The music at the beginning is soft and creepy building
up to sharp sounds designed to make the audience jump. Towards the end of the
trailer a ticking sound like a clock suggests time is ticking down, leading to
the climax of the trailer. The lighting of the trailer is dark at the beginning
setting a creepy tone, so when the trailer becomes lighting at the initial
equilibrium the audience are left with a feeling of foreboding, so when the
lighting returns to darker again the audience know something bad is going to happen.
The camera shots and editing is very fast paced showing a lot of the action but
only briefly so not too much is given away. The trailer refers to typical horror
conventions, such as; children being more affected then adults, the family
moving into a new house and the antagonist being surrounded by mystery.
One of the first
things we see is a long shots of a house at night, the camera slowly zooms in
making the audience feel edgy, a non-diegetic news report reveals that a week
early murders linking to the house were committed, the shot then cuts to the
same house shown in the day with a moving van outside (a horror convention)
this is clever because it shows symmetry suggesting that the dark house and the
new report may be the ending for this new family to.
The next shot that I think is particularly clever is the shot of the single box in the dark attack, the editing and music tell the audience that the card board box signifies the beginning of the scenes of horror. The characters reaction to it makes the audience weary and when he opens it the trailer takes a turn for the worse.
A medium shot of the pool shows the antagonist moving around under the water, the distortion of the image due to the water and the darkness leaves the audience wanting the know more about the appearance of the killer as only his face is slightly lit up. Revealing only enough so the audience recognise him throughout the rest of the film. Because the shot is brief and the character is surrounded by mystery the audience are more inclined to watch the trailer a second time.
Later a similar shot gives of the same persuasive technique as a shot at floor level shows a hammer being dragged along the floor, the flash of the shot means that audience do not take in the whole scene prompting them to view the trailer again.
The last scenes of the trailer flash on and off in time with the ticking like sound that connotes that time is running out and the sound of a beating heart, as it stops we come to a close up of the characters face which is sweaty and contorted with fear, the sound stops and everything freezes as if time has run out. A sharp sounds makes the audience jump and a flash of the face come into the screen making the audience jump and leaving a lasting impression on them as the trailer ends.
The next shot that I think is particularly clever is the shot of the single box in the dark attack, the editing and music tell the audience that the card board box signifies the beginning of the scenes of horror. The characters reaction to it makes the audience weary and when he opens it the trailer takes a turn for the worse.
A medium shot of the pool shows the antagonist moving around under the water, the distortion of the image due to the water and the darkness leaves the audience wanting the know more about the appearance of the killer as only his face is slightly lit up. Revealing only enough so the audience recognise him throughout the rest of the film. Because the shot is brief and the character is surrounded by mystery the audience are more inclined to watch the trailer a second time.
Later a similar shot gives of the same persuasive technique as a shot at floor level shows a hammer being dragged along the floor, the flash of the shot means that audience do not take in the whole scene prompting them to view the trailer again.
The last scenes of the trailer flash on and off in time with the ticking like sound that connotes that time is running out and the sound of a beating heart, as it stops we come to a close up of the characters face which is sweaty and contorted with fear, the sound stops and everything freezes as if time has run out. A sharp sounds makes the audience jump and a flash of the face come into the screen making the audience jump and leaving a lasting impression on them as the trailer ends.
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