TRAILER ANALYSIS
ILS (THEM)
There were lots of features within the 'ils' trailer that built up a suspense factor and made it a horror. One of the first things used was the classic use of an isolated location, the characters are shown to be in a dark house and the limited view from outside the house portrays it to the audience as if there is no hope of anyone coming to help them. Isolation is a great tool to use in horror as it unsettles the audience and makes the characters seem powerless. Shock factor was used to make the trailer more intense like the shot 1 minuet 40 seconds in, in which the female character looks through the peep hole in the door and a nail is rammed through it, suspense was built up by a slightly longer pause of her getting closer to the door then cutting straight out after the event. This doesn't give the audience time to process the event which makes it a more intense experience. Editing was cleverly used the trailer began slow paced with simple shots like long shots and close ups just setting the scene then becomes suddenly intense with lots of short off kilter and extreme close up shots cleverly broken up with titles. The pace then slows again towards the end of the trailer leaving on an shot of a girl getting dragged off the screen followed by the credit title page. I like the way this was edited because it made it strong and impressionable because the prior shot captured the audiences attention.
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THE WOMAN IN BLACK
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'The Woman in Black' takes on many ideas of horror with its trailer the first being the use of children in horror, this plays on the idea of loss of innocence a heavily recognized horror theorem. The idea of loss of innocence really hits audiences because it breaks down walls between them and thinking of it as simply a film, audiences truly connect to children as its primal instinct to protect them. Its represented to the audience though the associated iconography through the use of children toys being distorted from innocent harmless objects into creepy objects that preform actions of their own accord. Which also suggests to the audience what will soon happen to the children. Also I believe the use of sound in trailer was brilliant at enticing the audience and reinforcing the main theme of loss of innocence, they used the possessed toys to begin a backing for a child's nursery rhyme which told the story of the woman in black in which the film is based around. Also as it had constant rhythm to it more and more sound was added and built up in layers as more clips were introduced into the trailer which built pace and suspense intreging the audience. Another great feature of this trailer was the final shot of him in the window, the use of editing and shots here really helps to represent the isolation to the audience as the only road was cut off by the water and as her face appears behind him it makes the audience feel on edge that theres no escape and then the thing he's trying to get away from appears right behind hi. This really captures the audiences attention which is exactly what you want to do before production credits.
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THE RING
One horror technique used in the ring was character choice, the used young misbehaving teenagers like they did in 'Ils' making them unrelatable characters and their deaths a sight of activity. The use of a phone call within the scene suggests presence without actually having one which also adds a horror aspect. The use of bad weather in the shots suggests something bad is about to happen as the rain means theres something wrong with nature which can set the audience on edge and suggest theyre more vunerable in the dark. There are many false scares, such as the fridge door when she goes to get a drink, the phone ringing and the tv turning on by its self. False scares play with audience expectations and build up suspence in a scene so when the real scare happens its almost as if the audience just exect it to be anothe false scare which potentially makes the real scare more frightening. Again such as in the woman in black the loss of innocence plays a key part in adding to the horror aspect of the trailer and entices the audience through the little boy beginning to be affected by the tape. Finally the use of editing added to the ambiance of the scene the cool tones added to the shots make mundane activities such as the little boy sat in front of the TV seem dark and intense also the use of the static sets the audience on edge as it is a non diagetic unpleasent sound.
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