Media A2 Horror

3. The fact that this trailer comes under the horror genre is signalled to the audience immediately as the
trailer starts, due to the non-diegetic soundtrack being played. The music sounds quite child like due to
the triangle sound ringing, though there is a more mysterious sound which goes along with it to set the
opening of the trailer as being something out of the ordinary. In addition to this, the establishing shot
shows the audience a dimly lit, shadowy scene of two girls sitting together, which sets the mood as being
quite negative with the characters almost ‘left in the dark’ about what is going on around them. The sub-
genre is signalled soon after this, when there is a close up of the phone ringing, and the character says
‘That’s not my ringtone’. From here the audience can see that something supernatural has managed to
take over her phone to make it create a strange, haunting sound. The sub-genre conventions are
continued throughout the trailer in key scenes such as when the character begins to see faces of people
who aren’t really there which is typical iconography of a supernatural film, and also he fact that the
characters can hear themselves dying before it happens. The supernatural sub-genre is continued
throughout the whole trailer, for example when one character visits a deserted old building (again,
another use of iconography) she gets attacked by a supernatural force.
How Genre is Signalled

4. If famous actors, writers or directors were featured in the making of a film, they tend to be
advertised as a way of luring in film lovers in the film trailer. This is done because seeing a well
known name reminds the audience of how successful their previous pieces of media have been and
therefore suggests to them that the film at hand will be just as successful as media texts prior. This
convention is used in the ‘One Missed Call’ trailer towards the end, as in the final shot the audience
is presented with institutional information regarding the film, and on this page are the names of two
well known actors Edward Burns and Shannyn Sossamon. By presenting the audience with these two
famous names at the end of the clip will give them a final piece of excitement about the movie, and
therefore could potentially lure them in to watch it. There are also names of other celebrities on this
page below the main stars, so any horror/film fanatics have a lot of variety of celebrities which they
can expect to see.

5. The narrative behind this film is fairly unique for a supernatural horror, though it still manages to
maintain key conventions so that the genre is still obvious to the audience. From the trailer the
audience can see that a group of people end up getting killed after they hear themselves dying, and
one girl (the final female) goes out of her way to try and stop this from happening to more people,
herself included. The structure for this trailer is fairly conventional, as the audience sees the initial
equilibrium where two friends are sat together when the phone rings, which despite the soundtrack
and lighting indicating something darker it could appear to be fairly normal. The equilibrium
doesn’t last for long though, and soon the audience realise that this phone call may be the last that
one character hears. This will instantly intrigue the audience as mobile phones play a big role in
most people’s lives so seeing these used as a passage for evil to travel through would be shocking
for the audience to see. After the initial and brief calm has been destroyed, there is a slight mystery
around what exactly is causing these deaths and who controls them, and once it has been made
clear to the audience that this is a supernatural force the pace substantially quickens in the trailer.
The audience don’t get to find out who or why these deaths are happening which allows them to
have questions only to be answered by watching the movie, therefore encouraging them to watch it.

6. The use of mise-en-scene within this trailer helps to create a particular atmosphere in the frame and
also helps frighten the audience. In the opening scene the two friends are shown in a house together.
The lighting is dark and presents the idea that they are the only two people which are there, and is
emphasised through the slight echo which goes with their voices. This portrays the house to be lonely
and deserted, and the dim lighting helps to show that there is something not quite right. The fact that
the opening scene is shot in a house makes the audience feel related to the characters as it is a scenario
which they would be quite familiar with-spending time with friends at home. In addition to this, some
scenes are shot showing the characters walking through town late at night by themselves, which is a
common fear for people to have. The costume of the characters are kept very casual and typical of the
fashion at the time the film was shot, again presenting the characters to be just ordinary people,
showing the audience it could happen to them. Along with this the character’s makeup is kept very
natural looking showing their youth and potentially their naivety. Most of the mysterious occurring's
happen at night which means that the lighting is minimal and shadowy, setting the mood to be eerie
and therefore more tension is built for the audience.

7. The use of camera is a crucial part of showing the audience the action taking place in each scene,
and allows the audience to have a better understanding of what is happening. In this trailer a lot
of close ups are used which is an effective way of showing the emotion of the characters and also
makes the scene a lot more personal for the audience to watch. A low angle has been used in one
scene in particular to give one of the victims a false sense of power, as in the end she is killed.
Point of view shots used help show what the character is seeing and put the audience in the
character’s shoes. In this case the audience will feel afraid as they can see how alone the character
is. An over shoulder shot is another camera angle used to achieve the idea of the audience being
in the character’s shoes and seeing what they’re seeing. A birds eye view shot has been used to
make the character appear weak and vulnerable, which links well with the character’s position in
the scene as she is being dragged away by an unknown force. It can also be used to hint that
someone is watching the character from above and is towering over them.

8. Sound is frequently used within the trailer to create atmosphere and give more emotion to each scene.
From the very opening of the trailer, before any characters have been introduced there is a non-diegetic
soundtrack playing. This not only hints to the audience the genre of the trailer they will be watching but
also sets the scene as being uneasy and out of the ordinary by the fact that regular music is being paired
with a mismatching triangle/ringing sound. The diegetic sound of the phone ringing in the frame also
has an element of fear with it as the sound itself has slightly mismatching sounds and also replicates
children’s music. This links strongly with the convention of evil children which is presented to audiences
in supernatural horrors. The phone also plays the sound of a woman screaming which would puzzle and
frighten the audience as they would want to know who this is, and also screaming is a typical sound
heard in horror films. There is a continuous non-diegetic soundtrack of a ringing sound mixed with the
soundtrack throughout the trailer which halfway through the trailer gets a lot quieter and changes to a
tone which builds up tension, due to the fact the cuts get more fast paced.

9. The straps used within the trailer are shown fairly regularly at the beginning which help to aid the
audience’s understanding of what the movie will be based around and also hint as to why it should
scare them personally. There are also more straps used at the end of the trailer as a way or
summarising the unknown fate of not only the characters but the audience themselves. The first
strap is displaying a fact regarding mobile phones, which is telling the audience the dangers which
come with them and reflect that the events in the movie can be experienced by a wide range of
people. One of the straps states that you shouldn’t answer your phone all the time, which is followed
by the trailer showing how answering your phone to the wrong people can put you in a lot of
danger, therefore generating fear in the audience. One of the final straps gives a rhetorical question
for the audience to ponder, leaving them feeling daunted at the question of what their death will
sound like and if it could be found out the same way as the characters in the trailer do.

10. The editing techniques used in this trailer are in some ways quite unique, as in the more dramatic
scenes there have been very strongly coloured filters added. When the victim begins walking to
where she is eventually killed, the filter being used has a very high exposure, possibly showing how
the antagonist (whoever of whatever this is) is watching them in a different way to how others would
see things, hinting that they are not human. Once the victim has been found by her friend, the filter
used is black and white illustrating her negativity and hurt emotions, and also making the scene
appear something out of an old fashioned picture, perhaps indicating that what is happening here
has happened many times before. Aside from using filters, the screen often fades to black and red
which are two colours with very negative connotations of evil, blood, passion and darkness. Towards
the end of the trailer each scene lasts for about one second between each cut showing the
quickening of the pace, and also making it more scary when there are occasional scenes lasting for
more than a second as the audience isn’t expecting it.

11. The people being represented in this trailer are from a modern society, and are being shown as
being heavily reliant on technology (teenagers and young adults in particular). This trailer reflects
how phones could be a passage for evil to travel through, and in turn makes society question the
importance of mobile phones compared to actually spending time with people they care about,
as in the trailer the final female keeps losing her friends to this negative force which is
technology. The representation of young adults in this trailer is highly negative and stereotypical
of modern audiences, presenting them to be obsessed with their phones, being irresponsible (by
exploring a dangerous looking abandoned building and travelling alone late at night) and being
friend-focused rather than spending time with family. This may in some ways appeal to the
audiences as many people can relate to the idea of their phones being an important part of their
lives.

12. In my opinion I feel that this trailer would be effective in luring in it’s target audience as it
addresses an issue in society which many people can relate to, there are a range of different
camera angles and editing techniques and also the trailer uses non-diegetic sound which
works well with the scenes taking place. My favourite technique used in the trailer was how at
the end of the trailer each frame lasted roughly one second before the next cut, and at
random moments there would be a slightly longer scene where something scary would
happen, making it more unexpected for the audience to see therefore creating fear, and this
is something I would like to transfer into my own work.