TRIALER ANALYSIS

1. The name of this movie provides a brief insight
for the target audience that this is a horror
movie. The name alone justifies the negativity
presented in the title and magnifies the target
audiences fears. The sub genre cannot be
identified through the title but the trailer
reflects it perfectly, following conventions. The
way in which the sub genre has been conveyed
has been done is range of different ways, firstly
we are introduced to an old woman whose
eyes are two different colours, this instantly
grabs the audience's attention as it is not a
commonly seen feature for a human to have,
old women and children are generally the most
conventional targets for demonic possession
stories as they are classed as weak and
vulnerable.
The diegetic and non diegetic sounds which
have been used in this trailers are typical of
those used in a supernatural horror, eerie
music, piano music and screams are typically used as a part of general codes and
conventions. The lighting used throughout this trailer again amplifies the horror effect, the
types of lighting improvise the horror feeling for example throughout the trailer dim lighting
has been used and elements of horror have been highlighted. Demonic elderly women are a
typical convention to be used in a supernatural horror; this little elements and features
combined maker it identifiable to the audience what the sub genre is, this draws them in as
they can determine which conventions have been replicated and used in order to portray
the sub genre.
During the actual trailer we see a strap line that mentions the filmis “from Sami Raimi”,
followed by other films he has directed, this demonstrates to the audience that his movies
are of a high standard due to movies such as ‘Spiderman’ being such a big success. The strap
lines used in this trailer hardly reveal anything about the narrative, this encourages the
audience to watch the movie as they will be intrigued by the content. The straplines
themselves have been cleverly paced and designed, the faded off white background and
serif style font grows in the style of a liquid spilling, this reminds the audience of blood
spilling and makes the entire trailer seemscarier. There are blacked out corners surrounding
the strapline, this makes it seemas if there is something lurking in the darkness, as the
trailers escalates the font becomes even more distorted and the font spills and even
splatters around the screen to a further extent, this portrays the evil.

2. The narrative of this trailer is generally conventional, it first of all displays an equilibrium
followed by the disruption. This trailer has been crafted in order to cleverly portray how and
why the protagonist is chosen to be the victim. At the beginning of the trailer we are
introduced to a lady, who seems to be at work, she is talking to her boss about a possible
promotion, but she is made aware of someone competing for the same spot. This
introduction to the characters gives the audience an insight into normal life and displays the
evil to a further extent when the equilibrium is broken. An old lady comes in, she is innocent
looking and seems to be content. She begs the female protagonist to extend her loans, the
female aiming to impress her boss turns down the woman's plea. This is where the narrative
takes a dark twist, while being escorted out, the old woman shouts “you have shamed me”.
The overall mood of the movie then changes, the lighting darkens and the music intensifies.
After work the protagonist is attacked by the old woman, the old woman throws a brick
through her window and mentions that it “will be you, who comes begging to me”, this
indicates to the audience that this woman is evil and either is or has involvements with the
main antagonist. At this point in the narrative the evil begins, the use of anover voice helps
to explain the curse, this is frightening for the audience as it adds an element of mystery.
Mise en scene throughout this trailer has been effectively placed to add horror aspects and
reflect the sub genre. There is a clear dramatic shift in mise en scene from start to end of
the trailer, grey is used alot when the mood changes, and psychologically grey is used to
convey depression and isolation. Contrasting this the lighting at the beginning is lit from
daylight and lights inside the building, it is very high key and sets a relaxed environment also
making the audience feel reassured that nothing is happening. Despite the high key lighting
the colours worn by characters are subtle and do not stand out, this fits in perfectly with the
horror movie vibe. When the female protagonist is seen walking to her car, the setting is an
isolated empty car park, this location is very conventional of this genre, the lighting
becomes filled with eerie shadows which again add a horror effect.
Throughout the trailer, there are multiple location changes, the majority of it is shown in the
young woman’s house, which is big and old fashioned; this is a stereotypical convention to
be used in a horror movie, this is also the setting where contact with the demon is made.
The lighting at this point is again dark and gloomy indicating that something bad is about to
happen. Props and iconography are heavily used throughout this trailer, we see a young
female using a knife as defence and shots of a graveyard with the religious cross, this
contrasts the ‘evil’ as the cross is supposedly meant to ward off bad spirits.
The old fashioned hallway is again a symbolic link to the sub genre, there are chandeliers,
expensive flooring and patterned stained glass windows, the overall dark setting portrays a
demonic atmosphere relating to supernatural spirits. At one point we see a bug like creature
enter the woman's mouth, this relatively reflects a realistic scene as this is possible in real

3. life and a rather horrific image. Old newspaper clippings, photographs and creepy statues
have been used, accompanied by dramatic non diegetic sound adding to the narrative.
When we are introduced to the old woman, we are able to see that she has two different
coloured eyes, she is dressed rather poorly and based her reaction to being declined money
we can determine that she is poor. The audience automatically feel sympathetic towards
her and blame the young woman for not helping an elderly lady.
There is a rapid change in mise en scene elements as the trailer progresses. Firstly she is all
quiet and cautious in her approach but once the equilibrium has been broken she switches
from a stereotypical weak old lady to a powerful rather dangerous woman. The female
protagonist wears minimal makeup, this shows her true facial expressions. She is portrayed
as a determined career busy woman who at times may seem defencless but will make big
decisions that can have a huge impact, for example declining the old womans offer. Her
clothing switches to darker colours which places emphasis on the dark twist in narrative and
the mood. Throughout the trailer her facial expression still looks innocent and helpless but
her actual body language looks fearless. This represents that she is still human and
experiences fear but is not afraid to take a risk.
Camera movements in this trailer have been used to create meaning. Camera shots are very
important when creating a narrative. We are firstly introduced with a birds eye
view/establishing shot of a road followed by a mid shot of the young lady, this sets the
equilibrium and gives the audience an insight into what a ‘normal’ day would be. A close up
of the old lady is then shown in order to display her facial features, following this there is a
close up of the young woman, this allows the audience to make a comparison between old
vs young. During the trailer and movie there are multiple zoom ins on faces, this quickly
shows emotion. When the two ladies are talking this firstly displays old vs young, we see a
range of angles focused on the pair ranging from high angles to low angles, this shows
domination and vulnerability.
When the young lady heads off to the car park, she is almost cornered by the camera but in
a medium long shot, this shows the audience what is around her and how alone she is at
that time, this type of shot this time shows her own vulnerability. Following this scene the
old lady is seen to attack her, we see a close up of the young woman’s face further showing
emotions. We see a few camera shots that almost reflect the motion of a carousel, this
makes the audience feel a little disoriented and makes them realise that things are not right.
The shots of the big hall is a birds eye view, this creates the feeling of being watched. An
effective shot in this trailer is the fast tracking shot around the table, this conveys
everybody’s emotions and displays the overall mood.
Based on this entire trailer the sounds make it feel alot more frightening. The non diegetic
sound used at the beginning is calmand peaceful, once the old woman begins talking it

4. turns into more of a low and eerie sound, this indicates that something is starting to
happen. This trailer shows two representations of females, the initial protagonist is
confident and appears to be very smart, this changes when the old woman becomes
confrontational and the young woman almost its the dumb blonde stereotype. The old
woman is represented as an innocent old lady but again we see a drastic change in
character when she becomes the horrible antagonist.
This trailer is effective due to a combination of elements, for example mise en scene and
editing. The use of sound is effective in each scene alongside editing and type of
shot/camera angle. The way in which the narrative is constructed enables the audience to
see an insight into what the movie will be about. The trailer gets straight to the main event
while not revealing too much; it keeps audiences interested for the entire duration. When
relating this to my own promotional package I have been analysing different elements and
finding out how to implement these into my own trailer, including the structure and camera
angles.