1. C O M P A R I N G C A N T A T A T O S U C C E S S F U L H O R R O R
F I L M S
SCREENSHOTS
COMPARISON

2. The Conjuring (2013)
In the Cantata trailer, the final girl
character finds a bracelet that
belonged to the friend that had died
before the film and has come back
to haunt them. This particular shot
starts off the sequence of her feeling
guilty for not helping the dead friend.
This is one of the more emotionally
shot in the trailer and is purely
focused on the bracelet and the girls
reaction.
This shot of Lorraine Warren looking into one of
the possessed toys is very powerful in the trailer
as it comes across to the audience how potent
and deadly the spirit is through the expression
and emotion shown in her face. The light
shining on her face compares to the Cantata
trailer as they both have a similar direction of
light but The Conjuring has used a darker
background which brings a more tense
atmosphere.

3. The Unborn (2009)
At this point of the trailer, the girl is not
possessed at this point but it starts to hint
that something is going on surrounding
this character. Through the use of a slow
motion zoom onto the eye, it breaks up
the normal pace f the film which adds
tension and starts to build up the pace
through the contrasting slow motion and
quick shots.
The extreme close up of the eye in The
Unborn trailer shows the tension
building up throughout the trailer as it
acts as the break before the short,
quick shots as well as showing a scared
and worried reaction. Both films use of
the theme of possession which can be
effectively demonstrated through the
eyes while also showing the fear the
character is feeling.

4. Halloween (1978)
By using the church graveyard as a
external setting, showing the scene at
night uses contrasting tones that add a
sense of mystery and being unknown to
the audience as they can’t see what's
hiding in the darkness. Using this in the
trailer helps set the location for the
audience quickly as well as starting to
build up the tension.
In this exterior shot of the house in Halloween, it
helps the audience understand it is a suburban
landscape and it is unusually eerie for the
normal atmosphere of a safe neighbourhood.
The long shot almost looks like a spotlight effect
which covers the surrounding areas in darkness,
making it harder for the audience to decipher
what could be in the background.

5. Halloween (1978)
In the Cantata trailer, we included a
long shot of the friends to see them as a
group and quickly establish the main
characters of the film. Having one of
the main settings in the background also
helps the audience understand why
they’re there and starts to build up the
tension in the trailer as the viewer knows
something soon is going to happen to
them.
In Halloween, the 3 main friends are
established through the shots of them
together a group coming home from
school which also helps the audience see
how different the friends are compared to
Laurie, who possesses the qualities of the
final girl. In also indicates that they live in a
safe suburban neighbourhood which
differs from the average horror film
location.

6. Hollow (2011)
With the phone box scene in Cantata, we
wanted the audience to feel that the
character was trapped inside and had no
way of escape, which I think comes
across quite well. The audience can’t
really see through the window so the
person is quite distorted with the blood
running down the glass.
In the scene from Hollow, it shows a shaky point of
view shot held by one of the characters as they run up
the phone box and see the blooded cross while the
camera pans to them surrounding it. I think this shot is
very effective as the only thing highlighted in the
picture is the phone box window and the red cross
which the audience can quickly notice, in addition to
contrasting well with the black surroundings.

7. The Cabin in the Woods (2012)
At just over half way through our trailer, we
show the 3 surviving friends left in the
graveyard after the possession of the other
friend. Having a wide shot is very similar to
one below as it shows the location where
they are trapped and also shows their
reactions and body language that
suggests they are scared about what is
going to happen.
At this point in The Cabin in the Woods,
the 3 friends are trapped by the tunnel
and are thought to be the only survivors.
The colours of the shot are also quite
similar to the one in Canasta as they use
dark tones to tell the audience it’s night-
time. The positioning of the characters is
similar as it has the final girl in the middle
with the two most alpha males beside
her.

8. Orphan (2009)
By adding titles to the Cantata trailer, it was
broke down to make it into more
comprehendible pieces for the audience
to understand easily and not get too bored
while also helping get across the plot of the
story. Titles also help with the pace of the
trailer and help speed it up slowly without
the audience being too aware of it until the
end.
With the Orphan trailer, the speed is built
up quite slowly until just before half way
through when the titles first appear and
there is a close up shot of the swinging
chain which is then built up at a quicker
pace with the quick black shots. These
accompanied with the voice overs help
the audience pick up the story quickly as
well as being frightening.

9. The Omen (1976)
Towards the end of the trailer before the
credits we included a shot where one of the
victims comes face-to-face with the
possessed friend by looking over his
shoulder. This shot with the backdrop of the
church and the dark background works well
as a closing shot along with the special
effect of the electricity bolt running around
her, reaffirming the identity as a possession
film to the audience.
In this shot from The Omen, the boy
Damien is stood behind the woman
lurking in the dark background to give
the appearance to the audience that
something is going to happen which
adds a sense of tense feeling to the
scene. With Cantata and The Omen
both being about possession/The Devil,
they both build up throughout by
focusing on the victims rather than
having too many shots of the ‘villain’
which could give away the plot.