Let the Right One In trailer analysis

2. Relaxed bullying. The bully perched on one elbow flicking the nose of
the protagonist, acting like it’s the same usual routine in their life, but the
victim, still tense and scared clearly finds hell breaks loose every-time,
and the bully loves it. The fact that the victim is blurred and has pure
focus on the bully’s facial expressions emphasises the boy’s power over
him. Watching the bully have fun with such a minor action makes the
audience sympathise with the boy. It is common in horror for a child to be the “outsider” and the “weird” one, to be
picked on and driven to madness and fear resulting to an isolated social life. This fits the horror convention.
A medium shot of the boy, Oskar, stabbing the tree as if it were his first time doing so. To feel the knife sink into
the tree makes him feel better, as if he were imagining it was the bully he were stabbing and making him suffer
the same way he had suffered through bullying. This violent release Oskar puts the audience on edge, as serial
killers and children, if not taught well, they become vulnerable to the immorality of a simple act like ‘stabbing’,
and the feeling gradually becomes natural more pleasurable than scarce if not stopped. However, he is interrupted
by the presence of a little girl, standing in the playground wearing nothing but a t-shirt (camera pans from him to
the right). In such a cold climate, one would worry about the girl’s health and sense something “off” about her.
This peaks the audience’s curiosity and interest in the girl (Eli).

3. This close-up shot defines the relationship between Oskar and Eli. A first
relationship that grew between them – the two “outsiders”. Oskar, being
bullied in school, would find this as a blessing and naïvely take her friendship
and do anything to maintain it. This shot is touching reflecting of a symbol of
acceptance and hope for Oskar having a happy childhood – like any other child
deserves. However, the use of low-key lighting reflects how dark the
friendship is, and how he will react to her being a vampire.
However, the sound which begins high-pitch piano notes and distorted sounds
sets the audience on edge, assuming that the arrival of this girl would not be
good for him but make things worse, even though friendship is such a valuable
and wonderful bond.
In this long shot, a man is frozen, cut and carried out of an ice lake. This
specific shot is carefully framed as if someone was watching from afar
without the necessity of walls or branches to suggest a perspective shot.
It’s the type you would expect to see from your own eyes when you walk
by something that catches your interest, which effectively brings the scene
to life. This allows the audience to live in the moment for a second before
it is cut with another shot. A dead body informs the audience that this film
is a horror.
A high-angle shot is shown to have a man throwing a dead body into a
lake. This ties into the previous shot I picked out, revealing the identity of
who “dumped the body”. Eli revealed her true nature before this shot was
shown, which implies that she “monstrosity” links in with the dead body’s
death. The man wears gloves as if to cover fingerprints and avoid any
contact with blood. This suggests to the audience that Eli is not alone. She
has her methods of feeling – pouncing and dropping from trees – and
someone must clean after her, to cover who she truly is. This man must be
it. All men discard bodies at night when no-one is awake.

4. Medium shot of man pulling up another dead body by the rope. The framing of
this shot is wide and not only reveal the body but the arrangement of the trees,
as if the location were a fairy tale. The streetlights in the distance appear to light
up the whole scene when in fact the stage lights making the magic happen
seem very realistic and not exaggerated, giving the shot a “natural” feel.
Medium-close up of body being dragged in the snow by a fine piece of string.
Low-key lighting is greatly used in this shot, shadowing the victim’s face to
conceal identity. This emphasises the insignificance of the human, bringing him
into the “just another being to devour” light. This makes the shot exceedingly
disturbing, causing the audience to sympathise with the character. This also puts
the audience in the position to think that if this person was picked off on the
street, it could be them too.
These two shots conform to the vampire and
gothic sub-genre. A long-shot of a woman being
held down on a hospital bed shaking wildly whilst
they take her to safety gives the audience the idea
that she’s been infected by vampire blood and is
transfusing. The low-key lighting foreshadows the
fate that the girl will meet – there is not hope for her remaining human and she will suffer from it. This emphasises the theme
“Doom of humanity”, which is a convention explored in every horror, maybe not all humanity but of one person leaving or in
the dark side. This fact is emphasised by the shot on the right – fire bursting out of the body – the body most likely exposed by
light. The flames erupting from the body and storming up the ceiling almost takes form of a religious cross. This feature
conforms the vampire sub-genre.

5. SETTING: SWEDEN
• A playground surrounded by houses covered in inches of snow. The
contrast between white and the night gives a dark and cold atmosphere.
The snow could be related to the features of a vampire: having skin as
white as snow and a soul as cold as ice. This snow appears to “drown” the
appearance of the playground acting like an invasion of something dark
approaching, in this case – the presence of a vampire: Eli. But, all snow
has an end – it melts away.
• Oskar’s bedroom: Dim-lit, wooden bed frames and brick walls with no
wallpaper (bedroom). This emphasises his low-class and representation of
children in Sweden who live in “cold environment”. It all appears shabby
and like home to him. Furthermore, as Eli lives next door, living in a poor
environment represents her ability to “move” anywhere she pleases and to
remain unnoticed – acting like her own temporary home. This implies to
the audience that she moves around a lot, maybe mostly due to things
going out of hand.
• Hospital: where all the “accidents” happen.

6. COSTUME/MAKE-UP:
Oskar wears appropriate clothing for the winter:
thick brown-fur jacket, blue scarf. His hair, white
and fair, emphasises his fragile, soft and innocent
nature. His skin gentle and alive with youth is
emphasised the dark clothing he wears. It’s as if
he replicated the features of the snow also, but
instead of the evil, he represents the “goodness” a
protagonist should have.
In contrast, the girl wears white loose clothing, inappropriate for the winter. Vampires bodies are
after all, unaffected by the cold and stay away from the sun which highlights and reminds the
audience on who and what she is. Natural beauty – no makeup.
PROPS:
• Knife – the boy uses to stab tree. A little boy carrying a knife connotes panic or desperately wants to feel strong
and powerful.
• Love note – shared between Oskar and Eli. The symbol of love: a typical childhood love note.
• Rubik’s cube – a toy which brought them together: in the film the girl is able to solve it without any practice.
• Oskar’s watch – he’s “modern” whereas Eli wears nothing to remind us that she is a part of modern society. In the
film, she has lived for 200 years so she is “old-fashioned”.

7. LIGHTING:
Low-key and ambient lighting is often explored throughout the trailer. This
emphasises the “evil” and disturbing nature of the characters and setting.
More description of lighting in “Camera Angles + Shots – Most Effective”
slide.

8. The trailer beings with high-pitched distorted noises, followed by the filtered high-notes of the piano. The diegetic
sound of Oskar brutally stabbing the tree repeatedly already disturbs the audience. Watching a child, vulnerable and
weakly stabbing a tree shows that the character has used his last straw of patience of living and rather than expressing it
emotionally, it makes the audience feel uncomfortable.
The elongated sound then gradually heightens as the camera pans to the right, revealing Eli. The simplicity of the music
steering from various notes to one single pitch brings tension to the scene, portraying the girl as a dark and evil
character – most likely the antagonist.
The high notes then resumes, turns into a heartbeat and then goes in with a “bang” when a patient is pushed out a
window of a hospital. The intensity of the trailer is heightened even further, as if being stages of building to a climax.
The heightened diegetic sound of the carnivorous girl capturing a person and sucking the blood from their neck adds to
the monstrosity the girl is.As the trailer moves forward, the rhythm and pace alternates and changes each time a
dramatic scene turns up which shows the depth of the synchronicity of the music with the trailer.
We also hear a voiceover of distorted screams, someone struggling against metal and the breathing of Oskar after the
compendium of struggling victims (00:47-0:51). This adds more depth to Eli’s character, already making the audience
fear her for what she is capable of.
The voice overs stop and the diegetic sound of Oskar asking “Are you a vampire?” fills the screen. The tension grows
as Eli answers “Would you like me anyway?” Intense drumming starts, overlapped with cats hissing, woman
screaming, a foot kicking Eli off Oskar transitioning to a woman falling down the stairs and more screaming.After all
the deaths, dangers and tension is built and revealed, Oskar asks “Will you be my girlfriend?” The audience are not
completely surprised Oskar will accept her for who she is, partly because he likes her and that he has been isolated from
people for so long that he wants to be with someone. Sympathy but at the same time fear is brought within this scene.
And the high-pitch rhythm continues.

9. The use of sound in the trailer is exceedingly compelling and despite the
lack of dialogue, the graphics and cinematography tells the whole story for
you, which is very unique in horror trailers in this decade. Tempo, tone and
pitch is crucial to understand when making a trailer as if it is not done as
well as the music in this trailer, the horror would fail.