A2 MEDIA STUDIES

1. Horror Film Trailer Analysis
For the first horror film trailer analysis, I have decided to work with the trailer for The Conjuring. This
film is a supernatural horror released in 2013 and directed by James Wan, starring Patrick Wilson
and Vera Farmiga. The plotline follows paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren who are
called to work and help a family who have been terrorized by a dark presence in their farmhouse
that they have just recently moved into.
As with standard conventions in supernatural horror trailers, they will tend to follow Todorov’s
narrative structure. The Conjuring trailer begins with the equilibrium, showing normality taking
place. We are introduced to the Warrens who are paranormal investigators. This will instantly
indicate to the audience that this will be based around paranormal activity. Normality is emphasised
through the non-diegetic music playing in the background and a clip of them presenting themselves
as cheerful about their work. It is also made clear that they are the protagonists of the film when
straps are then shown after their introduction, where the first strap says “Based on the true story of
the Warrens”. This also brings attention to the film that is centred around events that have actually
taken place on real life; creating a sense of interest in the audience that such things that they are
about to witness are real.
This then starts to break down when the straps reveal, through a cutting montage of black and white
snapshots of their investigations, that “out of the thousands of cases they investigated”, “there is
one so disturbing, they’ve kept it locked away”. This will suggest strongly that the film’s narrative will
focus upon this one case and begin to raise the audience’s excitement for what had happened within
the particular investigation. It then fades into a medium longshot of another character being
introduced to the Warrens. When it cuts to this character’s face in an over-the-shoulder shot, a
mysterious non-diegetic sound is heard, signifying that she is a key to the dark narrative of the story.
Her face is confused and puzzling for the audience to see, meaning that she is being troubled by
something. This then cuts to a single strap saying “until now” which continues the previous straps’
sentence, before fading into an establishing shot of an isolated house in amongst trees. The
darkness of night time and the fog over the land present a traditional horror setting for the film,
showing that there is little chances of escape from any disturbing things going on inside or/and
around the property. It then cuts to shots of inside the house, with the troubled female character
saying “There’s something horrible happening in my house” being played as a narration over the
small series of clips used to establish the scene. This is also when the cheerful non-diegetic music in
the background suddenly dies off and also when the disruption unfolds and the editing pace picks
up, with the diegetic sound of the grandfather clock now playing over the scene.
A young child is then seen to have his legs suddenly pulled from his bed by an invisible force, using a
stab and diegetic sound of him gasping for air for emphasis and a scare upon the audience. It then
cuts to a shot of picture frames on the wall being suddenly torn down with the young child being
heard screaming in terror as the next shot shows the parents running in to check on him. This
montage helps to strongly reinforce the idea that this is a supernatural film as the scenes heavily
correlate to poltergeist activity and will attract fans of this sub-genre of horror that have a liking of
the subject of ghosts being included in a film. This cuts again to a strap detailing the director of the
film’s previous work. This then jumps to an establishing shot of the house in daylight, non-diegetic

2. background music making the setting feel a lot more eerie than normal ; the pace now died down for
the meanwhile. Fades and cuts are shown of the paranormal investigators conducting their work
with the family looking worried. Each time a cut is made, a faint stab sound is played for effect with
every cut continuing into a fade in from black. The stab sound is heard more when one of the
Warrens sees an apparition of a hanging taking place right behind him to have more of an effect
upon the audience.
The pace picks for a second time when an over-the-shoulder shot has one of the scared family
members turn around to see a horrifying apparition materialise on top of her wardrobe, inducing
another stab sound before cutting to a long shot of the girl screaming in terror as she is then
attacked by the vengeful spirit. It is a convention to have girls being vulnerable and weak in horror
films. Straps continue and fast pace cut montages continue throughout this part to show many build-ups
and jump scares as the horror escalates for the family and paranormal investigators. It dies
down with a medium shot of a young family member being interviewed by the Warrens. She says to
them that “There’s a lady in a dirty nightgown that I see in my dreams”, before cutting to a fade in
close up of her mother lying down on her bed. The girl’s voice continues, “She’s standing in front of
my mom’s bed”. After this has been said, the woman wakes up screaming and cuts to an over -the-shoulder
shot of the spirit’s face being revealed hovering on top of the mother. The pace then picks
up for the final time, cutting to a variety of shots and a considerable amount of sound clips from the
film being played on top of each other through this part of the trailer to have an emphasis on the
horror unfolding in a confusing and alarming manner. The pace stops as it cuts to reveal the title of
the film, The Conjuring. This will make the audience want to search up the film after being attracted
by the content included within the trailer and now knowing what the film is called.
Before the trailer finally ends, a jump scare is shown involving one of the young family members and
the leading female investigator. She is asked if she wants to see “him” by the young girl. Not
knowing who “him” is, and will lead to rise of tension and confusion within the audience. The
investigator agrees and is told to look through the mirror of the wind-up toy that she is holding once
the playing music ends. Once it does finish up playing, she looks at the mirror but cannot see anyone
in there other than herself. However, as she takes away the wind-up toy from her view, a horrifying
face is suddenly placed into focus in front of her, as she jumps back in fright within another cut. The
trailer then completely finishes off with a strap of institutional information, revealing the release
date and distributors of the film.