1. I feel that this film trailer successfully and conventionally follows the typical structure of film trailers.
It starts off slowly, letting us know that the family was going to adopt a child, called Esther. Towards
the middle of the film trailer, we find out that this child is troubled, and there is something wrong.
Then, to the finish, the structure allows the audience to know what the general narrative of the film
is about, but doesn’t give too much away which allows the audience to remain intrigued.
When watching this trailer, I realised that the mood and the target audience’s understanding of the
trailer is created through mise-en-scene elements, such as lighting, body language, setting and so on.
Settings/backgrounds are used throughout this trailer to create realism. The typical conventions that
we see in any psychological horror film are shown in this film trailer which will appeal and attract to
the correct target audience. For example, schools are a common convention of a psychological
horror film, and in this trailer, we see two different schools in different locations. This could be
because of the fact that the killer has had a bad childhood and wants to seek revenge on other
children/teenagers, for example. Also, the main setting is in the family’s home which is the most
common setting for any horror film of any sub-genre. This could be because the audience are
therefore able to picture themselves in this situation and would therefore be more thrilling and unnerving. We see a hospital, a park and so on, and these types of setting simply create realism. In one
scene in the park, where Esther spots the girl that bullied her about the way she dressed, we see her
follow the girl to the top of one of the play instruments where she appears to push her off. A shot is
then shown of Esther at the top, looking powerful and like it was her kingdom, her domain, due to
the low angle of the shot. Other mise-end-scene elements add to the effect. Esther’s dark, oldfashioned costume and the shape of her hat give her a witch-like appearance that immediately leads
us to see her as evil, sinister and a danger to innocent children.
When looking at lighting and colours that are used throughout this trailer, we see that there is a
gradual change from the beginning to the end. At the start of the film trailer, there is a range of
bright colours on show to the audience e.g. when Esther is painting, there are a lot of colours on the
page. This makes it unclear at the beginning of what type of genre that this film belongs to as the
child and family look happy and normal. Ambient lighting is used which makes the atmosphere
appear bright and normal. Then, as the trailer moves onto the scene where Esther is in the toilet,
kicking and screaming, the lighting and colours begin to change. They become darker and a blue
tinge is present. This suggests to the audience that there has been a change in emotion, and
everything is no longer ‘normal’. From then on, lighting and colours only become darker and
sometimes the effect is almost black and white. This could suggest the contrast of characters, the
black representing the evil inside Esther, and the white representing the innocence of the other
children, and the mother in the film. Skies become grey and stay that way until the trailer ends
which creates a gloomy and evil atmosphere. The use of fire in the film trailer also suggests evil as
fire is a symbol from ‘hell’. Lightning is used in the scene where Esther is standing over her ‘step
sister’s’ bed whilst she sleeps. This again creates a sense of evil and a villain like feeling, and we can
then tell that something is going to happen.
In this film trailer, the combination of Diegetic and Non-Diegetic sound is used to create fear,
excitement and anticipation for the audience. Diegetic sound has been used in this film trailer to
help aid the target audience’s understanding of the narrative. For example, towards the middle of
the trailer, when our understanding of the narrative should become more detailed and clear, we

2. hear the mother’s voice say “I think there is something wrong with Esther”. Immediately, the target
audience are aware that something bad is going to happen and that Esther isn’t the child we first
thought to be kind and ‘normal’. Also, at the beginning of the trailer, Esther says ‘I guess I am
different’ to the mother, so even from the beginning, even if we didn’t think it straight away, on a
sub conscious level, the audience become aware that this is no ordinary child. During the ending of
the trailer, dialogue becomes mainly screams and shouting, e.g. the mother on numerous occasions
shout out ‘What did you do!’, ‘What are you doing?!’ and so on. This then makes it apparent to the
target audience that the family are in trouble and that Esther is the one causing the trouble. Esther’s
scream, on the other hand, which we hear about half way through the trailer, is spine chilling and
signals her disturbed mental state, again confirming that there is ‘something wrong’ with this child.
Realism is created by the sounds that are used that we would normally hear in our day to day lives,
e.g. the school bell, the sound of a car engine and so on.
Non Diegetic Sound has been used in this trailer to create a sense of fear and suspense. The
sounds/music excites the target audience and makes them want to know what happens next, thus
making them want to go and watch the film. At the start of the trailer, a light melody is being played
on a piano which contradicts the genre of the film. As the trailer digresses, the music becomes more
eerie and the tempo builds up which suggests to the target audience that the action/ horror is about
to take place. During the climax of the trailer, there is a sharp beat that gradually gets louder and
louder, which builds suspense and excitement for the audience. Contrapuntal music, in the form of a
child singing ‘The Glory of Love’, is played at the end of the trailer as part of the sting which makes
the scene seem creepy and disturbed. Also, a heartbeat sound is being played, gradually speeding
up, whilst the action gets faster and faster on screen. This could suggest the fact that the family are
trying to run away from the orphan because she is causing them all this distress. It is also likely to
mimic the increase in the audience’s heartbeat as their excitement levels grow. This effect could
create tension and suspense for the audience, building them up and up, before they know that they
must go and see the film when it hits the cinema. There are a few occasions where straps are used
to help aid the audiences understanding of the narrative and to anchor the meaning of the images
shown. One of the straps reads; ‘There’s something wrong with Esther’which tells the target
audience that this child is no ordinary little girl, and she has something hidden from her past. This
strap signals to the audience that there has been a change in the narrative and that we are about to
see evidence of what is wrong with the child – cue scary scenes. This strap could also be the
indicator to some of the audience of what the genre is. Another strap line that is used reads ‘You’ll
never guess her secret’ which reassures the target audience that what they were thinking is true,
that Esther has a hidden secret/ side to her. This adds to the suspense and the target audience are
therefore even more intrigued to go to the cinema to watch the full version of the film in order to
find out what the hidden secret is.
Conventionally, the speed of editing starts off slowly before gradually becoming faster and faster.
This type of editing builds up tension and creates suspense and also adds excitement for the
audience. It does this because when it starts slowly, you are able to get a clear understanding of the
basic narrative, then as the speed builds up more and more on the action scenes, it prepares the
audience for a final burst of action at the end, which is known as the sting. Not only does this speed
and style of the trailer create excitement and suspense, but it also creates fear and a sense of
eeriness that makes the audience jump out of their skins! Dead black outs are a popular type of fade

3. used throughout this film trailer which creates effect for a number of reasons. One of the main
reasons as to why film makers use dead black outs in their film trailers is to build tension and
excitement. They create an impact when watching the film trailer and simply help to create a clear
transition from one piece of action to the next. Other reasons why dead black outs are used,
especially in this particular film trailer, is to create an erratic sense of terror that complements the
action on screen. For example, during the film trailer for the ‘Orphan’, towards the end, there is a
fast climax of pieces of footage that are being used, from different parts of the scene, and different
forms of torment are presented. Dead black outs are used here because it makes the action that is
happening on screen look more panic-filled, anxiety-ridden and terrifying. Also, this could reflect
Esther’s erratic sense of mind, as we appear to be looking at the action through Esther’s eyes, the
dead black outs could be seen to symbolise her eyes, blinking as she watches the terror and torment
she has caused. On two occasions, during the film trailer, a white screen appears with the strap
written in black. This could reflect Esther’s exterior e.g. her pale, innocent face, contrasting with her
thick, dark, black hair. Also, this could symbolise her image; where at the start of the trailer, we
assume she is an innocent child (the white background) but then we find out that she isn’t as
innocent as we thought, and that she has an evil side (the black writing). The white could also reflect
her ghostly, eerie image, even more so as the white fades in and out. Due to the fact that the dead
black outs are used a lot throughout this trailer, the white background therefore stands out more
and grabs the audience’s attention which is why the strap on the white background is so effective. A
shallow focus is used in the trailer where the park swings are swinging back and forth; this creates an
eerie illusion as it looks blurry and paranormal. An eye line match is used in the scene in the
classroom, where another student is commenting on the way that Esther is dressed. We then see
the a reaction shot from Esther where instead of looking upset, like any normal young girl would, she
has the look of evil in her eyes which is the first time we see the first glimpse of evil shining through
her innocent exterior.