“A gripping story of a family in search of help for their son, Dalton, who fell into a coma after a mysterious incident in attic. Little do they know that there is much more to this endless sleep than meets the eye as they explore the paranormal, and rediscover the past; the key to getting their son back once and for all.”
The film i decided to analyse first was the trailer for insidious. The film was released in 2010 and was very successful in the box office. Many people decided to watch it due to its suspense. It is involved in the genre horror which is the same genre i would like to make my film trailer.
As with any film trailer, it starts of with the regulatory warning sign with the age restriction and what is involved in the film. Although this is seen in most horror film trailers, it is actually a convention of all trailers. The message gives watchers a warning to what they will seen and is a disclaimer for anyone who is viewing it. It is a way of giving them a chance to not view if they do not wish. It is an important message which is why it is written on a green screen. This is eye catching to watchers and will have their attention before the film starts. Also, the white writing makes it look more professional and serious. There is no sound within the first few seconds of the trailer so the audience has a chance to read the message without being distracted.
After we see the films title insidious appear on the screen. We are led immediately to a mid shot of a male character, who we assume is a main character due to his direct look and posture. There is then a diegetic conversation between the male character and and another character which cannot be seen on screen. This immediately gives a sense of mystery and leads us to want to view more. There is then a shot of a pendulum which we assume is the ticking noise which carries on for a number of clips in the trailer. The ticks are echoed which exaggerates the sound and causes the atmosphere to become sinister. We as an audience can only presume that the tick signifies time and perhaps that it is running out for the characters.
The pendulum is an effective sound bridge we are alerted to as soon as the next clip follows. The pace flows effortlessly into the slowly edited clips to follow. An important part of the trailer which helps set the scene is shown next, it is a panning shot showing the front of the house. This is also known as an establishing shot as it shows where the scenes of the movie are set. Other non diegetic sounds are then added to build tension and make the audience feel uneasy as to what will happen next.
Medium shots are then used to show the family. A mid-shot is useful as it can give an indication of who the films about whilst also still giving an overview of their surroundings.
In this shot, we can see that the families clothes are all neutral colours. These give the audience the idea that these people are innocent and will not be the ones bringing evil in the film. By using clothes as a symbol of innocence, the audience is warmed to these characters immediately. We guess from this shot that the family are the ones who will be facing evil.
Moving to the middle of the trailer, we see a sequence of fast paced mid shots. All of these are timed perfectly with the soundtrack and are shown in chronological order to give an outline of the story. It is important in a trailer that not all of the story is given away, therefore these fast paced short clips give a glimpse of the narrative but not the entire plot line.
The shots are cut quickly so that the audience has little time to focus on the details and rather just focus on the sounds and quick movements in each clip. This is affective as it makes anyone watching want to engage more i the film and find out ant information that may not be included in the trailer. The dialogue used against these clips are from the worried parent of the child, this also makes the audience anxious.
Lighting then becomes a key objective within the next few clips of the trailer. This is where dark lighting really takes over the ambience the audience is involved in and engages the audience to look more closely on the lighter parts on the screen. We can see in the clip above that the light is powered only by a small glow and therefore we are unable to see any surroundings. As an audience we are no longer able to see surrounds and our main focus is the actors. This is affective as it shows how different lighting angles can have a huge impact on a viewers attention.
With this sequences editing pace is at it’s fastest now, they have also included high pitched noises. These are cleverly used for building tension This peace of editing is designed to have the audience on the edge of their seats.
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