The trailer introduces the film Annabelle about a doll given as a gift to a pregnant woman that turns sinister. Various horror conventions are used to build tension and frighten the audience. These include ominous music, dark lighting, jump scares, graphic blood, and ambiguous threatening figures. The trailer hints that the doll may be connected to violence that befalls the couple, leaving the audience unsettled about the doll's intentions.

2. Props Charact
ers
Setting Mise en
scene
Camera Sound Other
Weapons,
knife
Young
people,
teenage
rs and
children
, ghosts,
spirits,
vampire
, killer
(usually
male),
Isolated
areas,
woods/fore
st, country
side
Low key
lighting,
colors red
and black,
blood,
chiaroscuro
lighting,
overall dark
and dull,
Extreme close
up to emphasize
to object or
person, tilt to
create
confusion,
establishing
shot, handheld
giving a sense of
verisimilitude,
tracking, point
of view, low and
high angles to
show a conflict
between the
superior and
inferior.
Slow when
something
mysterious
is about to
happen but
fast when
there is
action,
screaming
Short
takes
(editing),
psycholog
ical (sub
genre)

4. Annabelle (2014)
Annabelle is a horror film, directed by John R.
Leonetti. Annabelle is about a man who gave a
doll to his wife as a gift. One day, their home
was invaded by satanic cultists. This led to
violence and terror.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lp0hXdmpT
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5. The teaser trailer of the film ‘Annabelle’ starts with a
fade in to the logo of the companies involved in
producing and distributing the film. The companies
are Warner Brothers and New Line Cinema which as
both owned by Time Warner (conglomerate). This
implies that the film is major film as the companies
are major companies. The score starts off with the
logos. The score sounds joyful and cheerful.
There is a fade to black then fade to an establishing
shot of the setting. At this moment, everything
seems fine and there is a sense of verisimilitude.
There is a medium shot of a woman walking into a
bright and colorful room. The use of medium shot
allows the audience to realize that she is pregnant.
This makes the audience feel sympathy towards her
because she is seen as vulnerable. We realize the
room she walked into is the room for her new baby.

6. Her husband comes with a big box. The audience
would wonder what he has bought for her. We the
box is opened, she looks very excited and pleased.
This is shown through the use of medium/close up of
the woman. Her happiness is also portrayed through
the use of diegetic sound (dialogue). She sys “Oh my
God John”. She says it very gladly, which is
demonstrated in her tone of voice (high pitched).
There is a medium/close up of the doll that allows the audience the examine the doll. The costume of the
doll makes the doll seem innocent as there are the colors red and white used. White symbolizes purity and
red symbolizes love. However, the fact that the doll has heavy make up is strange. This is because it ruins the
innocence of the doll in which dolls are meant to be. There is a medium shot of the woman placing the doll
next to the other dolls. This juxtaposes the new doll to the other dolls. The other dolls do have make up but
the new one is extreme compared to the other dolls. This scares the audience as they think the doll is not as
innocent as they thought it was. The doll next to the new one has a little rose on her dress compared to the
huge rose on the new doll’s dress. The juxtaposition is a convention of horror as it allows the audience the
compare dolls. The convention has been used in this way to create a tense atmosphere.

7. There is a cut to black and we see a title (producer of the
film – James Wan) then cut to the next medium shot of
the woman sleeping. The score changes. It is tense and
mysterious. The score is a convention of horror and is
used to create enigma. The audience realize something is
wrong so start to get scared. The use of low key lighting is
a convention of horror and is used to create an anxious
atmosphere. The ambient sound of the heavy wind makes
the situation usual.
The camera moves from the woman to the window. Unexpectedly, there is
blood on the window. Blood is a convention of horror and is used to create a
sense that danger is close by. The score adds to this as it starts again with a
high volume all of a sudden. The score is in time with the blood. At this point
the audiences are frightened. There is a scream, which is also a convention of
horror. This is used to attract the audience and grab their attention. This is
because it happens all of a sudden and they have no choice but to pay
attention to what is going on. The audiences see a man with a knife in the same
place. A knife is a typical prop used in horror films. The use of knife builds the
feeling of terror the audience already has. There is cut to black. The use of
cutting to black implies there is something odd and strange. This scares the
audience as they do not know what is going to happen.

8. The woman wakes up and tells her husband that she
heard a scream. The use of dialogue (diegetic sound)
frightens the audience as her voice sounds worried. The
use of match on action of the husband opening the door
emphasizes that he is going. This terrifies the audience
as they would think that something might happen to him
as well. The woman walks and there is a voice. The voice
whispers “I like your dolls”. We cannot see the person
saying it which makes us panic and we thought the woman was alone in her house. The
whisper builds suspense because it feels as if there is some sort of secret about the dolls.
There is a medium shot of a woman holding a doll. The use of low key lighting prevent the
audience from seeing her face. The low key lighting is used in this way to grab the
audiences attention. This is because the audience would want to see her face. As she is an
unexpected character, the audience would panic because they do not know what the
woman can do. The this moment the music is tense and suspicious.

9. The woman stutters “my husband is coming back”. The fact that she stutters
makes the audience feels afraid too as they realize that she is petrified. A man
with blood on his clothes appears behind her. Again, blood is a convention and
is used in this way to make the audience realize that he might be the killer of
the film, creating a tense atmosphere. The blood also makes the audience be
sure that the woman is in danger and the man would hurt her. There is cut to
black, which makes the audience wonder what he could do to her. The
audience feels sympathy towards the woman because they believe she is
vulnerable.

10. There is a constant change between a
black screen and some actions that
are not clear. This is because of the
constant short takes. Short takes are
a convention of horror and is used in
this way because it grabs the
audiences attention. This is because
they do not know what is going on as
the screen quickly cuts to black. This
makes the sequence fast.

11. The camera zooms in to the woman holding the doll on the floor
with the doll again. This makes us panic and we think there is
some sort of connection between the doll and the woman. The
woman has blood all over her. The medium shot allows us to see
the letter A on the wall written with blood. This makes the
audience wonder what is special and unique about that letter.
The camera zooms in the doll and the audience realize it is the
new doll the man bought for his wife. The blood on the woman
drips onto the doll. This is shown through the use of slow motion.
The slow motion emphasizes the dripping of the blood. Blood is a
convention of horror and creates a tense atmosphere. This is
because the blood used in this way could imply that the woman’s
evilness is passing onto the doll. This therefore leads the
audience to worry. When the blood drips, the score starts. The
score starts in time with the blood dripping. The blood dripping
implies that the doll’s innocence is gone and evil has entered. As
the camera zooms in, the blood goes into her eyes, suggesting
the evilness has gone through her and evilness is spreading. This
makes the audience timid because they do not know what is
special about that doll and what the couple is going to do.
Overall, this trailer has used a range of conventions to reach their target audience. The conventions used is to establish the
genre, horror. This is because the main purpose of a horror trailer is to make the audience frightened.