2. The trailer starts with a sign saying the
trailer is age approved, this is a
convention for most trailers, as it shows
what ages are restricted to watching it.
3. The companies involved with making
the film get displayed, this is to
attract people to watch the film who
know and trust the company. This
means that a viewer who has seen
the film before can assume it will be
of a good standard, and that they will
like the film, meaning that they will
be willing to pay to watch it. The logo
look like there’s a dripping fog
effects, this is reminiscent to the
London smug in Victorian times,
posing a fear of not being able to see
10 ft in front of you, and also places
on a fear of the uncontrollable.The dark background makes the logos stand
out. This can also partly scare the viewer if they
know about the antagonist, the character hides
in the dark, the abundances of black can
unsettle the view (which is a horror
convention). the shadows convers most of the
screen, this makes the viewer’s eye drawn to
the screen, so that people not paying attention
to the trailer, will start paying attention and
watch the trailer.
The logos are placed off-centre,
this follows the rule-of-thirds,
meaning the viewers eye will be
drawn to the logos. It also looks
slightly wrong, this helps to
unsettle the viewer, which is the
point of horror films
4. There’s an establishing shot of
a kids play room using low key
lighting, the use of shadows
plays into peoples fear of the
dark, which also relates to how
the antagonist has her power.
This is followed by clips shots consisting of close ups of
children toys playing and moving on their own. This gives
an unnerving feeling to the viewer as THINGS DON’T
MOVE ON THEIR OWN. This could be pragmatics to the toy
story franchise, who have toys moving when no ones
around, which means the director is focusing on the theme
of child endangerment and psychopathic actions. This
creates a level of fear in its self as it goes against human
instinct of protecting children and survival of the species.
The synchronous sound is
high pitch and off key at a
disjointed rhythm, this is
atmospheric and creates a
chilling effect for the viewer.
5. The next shot in the sequence shows a long
shot of characters on a carriage ride, by doing
a long shot, the director is trying to convey the
isolation that the protagonist is going to be
going through (a convention in horror films)
6. Throughout the trailer, there are three girls who
commit suicide. Girls walking out the window is shown
in little bits through out in order to keep the viewers
interested in what's happening and have them build
concern and distress about watching 3 8 year old girls
killing them selves – making them want to see the film.
One of the children steps on a dolls head, this conveys
a sadistic homicidal tendency which from an 8 year
old is scary. This shows the hypnotic powers of the
antagonist, and how powerful it is – making the
viewer watching the text want to see the film.
7. The very high angle shot
conveys how helpless the
protagonist is, this matched
up with the loose frame shot
showing nothing around him
conveys his isolation and
aloneness. This makes the
consumer feel for him as
they understand that weak
the protagonist is compared
to the antagonist.
8. The shot has a picture in it, however
the eyes in the picture have scratched
out. This is significant as it is
commonly believed that the eyes are
the window to the sole, so by
removing the eyes, it’s showing that
the normal looking upper class
Victorian family have been ‘doomed’ in
some way.
9. The high angle, shallow focus long shot is used to show of the set to further convey the
time period to the viewer or at least that the house is old fashioned. This helps to create
the feeling of mystery and adventure that come with a house of this size and era for a
viewer. This shot could be a point of view shot from the antagonist, which would
empathise her power and authority with the high angle shot.
10. The shallow focused long shot
has the protagonists eyes
shut. This conveys him to be
not connected to society and
in a vulnerable position, which
puts the viewer on edge with
the antagonist walking up
behind him.
The body language of the actor
is very relaxed and clam, this
contrasts and is in binary
opposition (Strauss) to the
antagonist behind him putting
the protagonist in danger.
The use of low key lighting helps to convey the sense of fear and
danger as the viewer can’t see everything that’s happening on screen,
this also plays into a viewers fear of the dark meaning that fear could
be projected onto the film – making it even scarier for some people.
11. The protagonist has his back
turned to the viewer, this leaves
him to be exposed and
vulnerable, as he can’t see what’s
behind him.
The writing “you could have saved him,”
uses a mode of address that gets the
reader thinking, who’s you? Who’s him
and what happened to him? What could
have been done? This intrigues the
viewer, making them want to see the film.
The writing is in red which
looks like its blood. This
gets the viewer to be
concerned as why there
was blood shed and who’s
blood it is?
12. The close up on the
actors face helps to
show his emotion –
fear – which will
resonate with a
viewer. When they
see that the main
character is scared,
they know to be
scared also, making
them to see the film.
The actor is looking slightly off camera. This shows that
something big is happening off screen which mean he is too
preoccupied to be looking directly at the viewer. This means
the viewer can’t make eye contact with him, which means
they won’t have as much of a connection with the character,
meaning they will see the film to try and get that connection.
13. There’s a montage of action and drama
happening witch each clip being around 1
second long and intercut with blackouts. The
short clips only provide a tiny snapshot about
what is happening, and builds excitement with
the viewer as they want to know the whole
story so will see the film.
14. Daniel Radcliffe is already a
world renound actor and is the
star of the film so by advertising
that he is in the film, the viewer
will be drawn to watching to
the film to see him.
15. The last shot from the film in the trailer has the protagonist looking
out the window while the antagonist stands behind him. This is
done so that the last thing the viewer see and will remember is the
protagonist is trapped and unaware of it in what seems to be an
unescapable position. This means the viewer will walk away from
the trailer wondering if and how the protagonist got out of the
situation, and want to watch the film to find out how.
16. The last screens shown contain the films
name, and a ‘coming soon’ complete with
web address for the film. The web address
means that a viewer who is interested in the
film can go to the website to get more
information like the plot, a cast and crew list,
picture form the film, links to buy the film
and the ability to sign up for email updates
for even more information which keeps the
film in viewers mind’s so they will see it.
17. The model in the poster is in a
defensive pose conveying that he is
being haunted and is standing his
ground, this conveys the films plot
to the viewer. The model is making
direct eye contact with the viewer
which engages them with the
poster. By having half of the model
in shadows, it is being conveyed
that the character has a darker side
and a troubled past, making the
consumer want to know what it is
and see the film. The models
costume is reminiscent of the
Victorian era, this conveys to the
viewer that the text is set in the
past and it’s a period horror film.
The poster follows the rule of thirds by having the protagonist in the
middle third, attracting the viewers attention because he is the focus
point of the poster and is also famous, then to his right is the antagonist
(in her costume of a long black coat meaning that she is not show
herself which attracts the viewer to see the film to find out who she is),
and on the left is a tree and darkness. This minimalistic layout uses
space to guide the readers eye to the important aspects on the poster.
The films title is place in the middle
of the poster, slightly off centre. The
typography of the title makes it look
like the text is glowing, and looks like
a ghost. This helps to convey the plot
of the film as the protagonist is being
haunted. This connection is further
shown as the text is touching the
model implying a direct connection.
The poster has a green/ blue tinge to it. The use of colour correction is good
at conveying the sense of unnatural. It makes the poster more iconic and
memorable, meaning that a consumer is more likely to see the film, or even
share the poster turning them into prosumers.
The film’s slogan “fear her curse” is creates a sense of ore about the antagonist. The slogan alludes to
the antagonists power making the viewer want to see the film to see her. This creates a positive
representation of woman as it conveying woman aren’t powerless (defying horror conventions) and
will attract feminists to see the film. The mode of address has direct address to the viewer, warning
them about the woman in black, the direct address engages the viewer, making them see the film.
There is only one name mentioned at
the top which is the start, Daniel
Radcliffe, who success in films before
this one acts as a unique selling point for
this film, getting viewers to see the film.
The house in the far background conveys the
films setting. The viewer can see it’s a big old
fashioned, and they can understand it’s a
stereotypical horror setting.
18. The background for the main image
is a large house, it looks run down
and covered in overgrown shrubs
and ivy conveying its been
abandoned, its presence on the
magazine cover implies it’s where
the film is set – a setting like this is a
common horror convention – it’s
the only house shown in the
background which implies that
character will be isolated, this exited
the viewer making them want to
see the film.
The model has been shot at a low angle conveying his importance to
the film. He isn’t looking at the viewer which implies that something
in the film so important is happening that he is too busy to look at
the reader. It gives the character an element of mystery as he won’t
look the viewer in the eye, making them want to see the film to find
out more about him. The models costume gives an idea of when the
film is set, and helps the film to stand out from other horror films.
The masterhead is big and bold, it’s typography puts it on a curved angle which helps
to make it stand out, and implies that the magazine won’t be a normal magazine
conforming to all conventions. The secondary images behind the masterhead uses
iconic horror characters to inforce the magazine’s genre to the viewer.
The colour scheme contains
a lot of blue. This defies
horror conventions as blue
is considered peaceful
compared to the
stereotypical red and black
colour scheme. The colours
match the models costume
which helps to tie the film
to the magazine. The blue
has connotations of
intelligence, but presenting
the character of being
smart, the film is defying
conventions by not having a
‘blond idiot’ doing
unrealistic and stupid things
and getting killed, making
the viewer think it will be
an interesting film and want
to see it.
