The trailer uses dialogue, voiceovers, music, and visuals to build tension and intrigue around Jessabelle's mysterious past. In voiceovers and conversations, Jessabelle expresses panic and confusion over finding her own gravestone. Her father also angrily reacts to her watching a video of her presumed deceased mother. Jump scares and increasing music heighten anxiety over what Jessabelle may discover. The trailer culminates in short clips of her screaming and fleeing from an unseen threat, encouraging viewers to watch to get answers.

2. Jessabelle

3. Conversations between characters
The first dialogue is after the phone
call. The woman says 'dad' in a worried
tone of voice.
This convention has been used in this
way to inform the audience that she is
panicking for her father, as she did not
hear anything after someone answered
the phone call.

4. Conversations between characters
 There is a quick
conversation between the
father and daughter, where
the daughter says 'it's good
to see you'. She
sounds calm.
 His reply shows that he is
acting cold towards her as
he changes the subject
quickly. Instead, he says he
is sorry for her boyfriend.
 This has been used in this
way to reveal their father
and daughter relationship.
 By this, we get more of an
idea that their relationship is
not close. These
conversations consist of
one-liners.

5. Conversations between characters
The woman watches a
video of her mum talking
to her (to the camera). As
soon as her mum says
‘hello Jessabelle’, she is
really excited as she says
‘mum’. Her tone of voice
is high, implying she is
cheerful. This part of the
conversation carries on
with her mother saying
she is not alone. She
sounds relaxed.

6. Conversations between characters
This convention has been used in this
way to make the audience panic about
what made her say that.
conversation between
Jessabelle and her friend
Audiences start to worry
when she says
‘If I don’t talk to
someone, I am going
to go crazy’.
She has a serious voice of tone.

7. Conversations between characters
Her tone of voice
makes the audience
ask questions about
why her mum
decided to make a
video for her
daughter.
Her father realizes she is
watching the video of her
mother and he gets
annoyed.
This is demonstrated through his tone
of voice, which is high. This tone has
been used, as it is a convention of
horror.
His anger makes the audience question
why he does not want his daughter to
watch the video of her mother.
She replies ‘but
dad, it is mum’.
She sounds as if
she is about to
cry and has a
desperate tone of
voice.
The conversation ends
when he admits that the
woman in the video is not
her mother. This makes us
confused because we
heard Jessabelle say
mother to her.

8. Voiceovers
The first voiceover is Jessabelle
thanking her father for picking her
up but she sounds upset.
This is portrayed in her tone of
voice.
She says it slowly.

9. Voiceovers
The next voiceover is when her friend
removes the branches off her gravestone.
Surprisingly, she says ‘Oh my God, it is my
birthdate’. The audiences are surprised and
shocked. This is because it is unusual for
someone to be alive and have a gravestone
that writes their name.

10. Voiceovers
The next voiceover makes the audience worry
and ask questions. Jessabelle says ‘do you think
there is something under that stone’. This
voiceover has been used in this way to make the
audience wonder with her. It makes the
audience question whether there is something
under the stone because it is unusual for
someone to put the gravestone on top of
nothing. This therefore leads the audience to
feel terrified.

11. Key points
This is obvious when the first text appears.
This text has been used in this way to
encourage the audience to watch this film as
he has previous successful films. Adding on,
if the audience enjoys watching the previous
films he has produced (which some are
listed on the screen for instance paranormal
activity) then the audiences are more likely
to watch this one. The list of names acts like
a guarantee for this upcoming film.
Producer of ‘Jessabelle’
He is famous for
his previous films.

12. Key points
The following text says . This text
has been used in this way to make the audience
anxious about the secret. The words ‘secret’ and
‘past’ stand out compared to the other text as they
are in a larger font. This makes the audience focus
on those words, leading them to relate to themselves
as everyone has a secret from the past.

13. Key points
The text is effective because it makes the audience
think there is something different about Jessabelle but
they do not know what it is and would want to find out.
This therefore means the trailer is convincing the
audience to watch this film.
There is a similar text, which says ‘a curse from the
grave’. This has been used in this way to make the
audience worry about what could happen to Jessabelle.
This is because the previous shot was her gravestone.
The audiences are aware it is her gravestone as it
writes her name and she says it with a voiceover. In the
voiceover, it clear that she is surprised to see her
gravestone with her birthdate on it.

14. Key points
says ‘this August’.
Key points This has been
following used in this
The way to
excite
the audience,
as they have
so many
questions
that they want
answers
for.

15. Key points
This would catch the audiences’ eye as
they are constantly on social networking.
The typical target audiences are likely to
be teenagers and young adults. This gives
the audiences a chance to interact with the
film.
Underneath the text, it says
‘add Jessabelle1988 on ’.

16. This has been used to makes the audience
panic and wonder what she is looking at.
Action
At some point in the trailer, Jessabelle
turns
around.

17. Action
There is more action when Jessabelle screams as result of the mirror being
This makes the audience wonder how the mirror managed to break without
someone being next to it.

18. Action
Jessabelle is constantly screaming, as she is scared. She sees something on fire
and as she panics she screams.
Action occurs at the end but it is not obvious as there are short takes. We can
see she is trying to escape. This convention of short takes has been used in this
way to make us pay full attention to what is going on. This therefore persuades us
to watch the film.

19. The stars
Well-known television, stage
and film actress and plays a
role in this film as
,the main
character.
Sarah Snook

20. The stars
An actress and producer and
has many successful films,
including American Pie 2. She
took role as Kate.
Joelle Carter

21. The stars
Mark Webber is a
famous actor, producer
and writer and he is
Preston Sanders in this
film.
Mark Webber

22. The stars
It is significant to have stars in films because the
audience can familiarize themselves with the
characters. Plus, some audiences watch films
because of the stars in it.

23. The film’s title
 The film’s title does not appear until the end. This could be so the
audience pays attention to the film’s name.
 If it was to be in the middle of the trailer, where there are a lot going
on then the audience would not pay attention to the title.
 However, after the title there are a couple seconds more of
Jessabelle screaming. This screaming grabs our attention as we
thought the trailer was finished.
 The sudden scream makes us jump, as it was unexpected.

24. The trailer
The trailer ends where
we see short takes of
Jessabelle trying to escape.
The short takes are effective as it
makes us worried. This is
because it forces us to focus on
what is happening because it is
not clear and we are eager to find
out what is going on.
This builds to a climax,
as we would want to find
out whether she
managed to escape.
This therefore
encourages us to watch
the full film.

25. Music
The score starts at the start at the same time as the
phone call. The score has been used in this way to
create a tense atmosphere. The volume is low so it
has been set as the background music and this helps
to emphasize the sound of the phone call.

26. Music
The same score carries on until there is a text
about the producer of this film. The volume
is louder so the audience has no choice but to
listen. The score foreshadows that
some dangerous would happen. The score’s
volume decreases when there are characters
having a conversation. This is a convention and is
used in this way to create a mysterious
atmosphere.

27. Music
The volume of the score
keeps changing. It suddenly
increases when she finds a box. The
change in the score gives a greater
emphasis on the fact that she
found a box. Adding on, it makes the
audience question what is
inside the box.

28. Music
The volume also
increases when she
wakes up. The volume
of the score matches with
her action, creating a greater
tension. The next high volume
is when she pulls the curtain,
thinking there is someone there.
The volume build the suspense
that we have of someone being
there. It frightens the audience
because we assume Jessabelle
is in danger.

29. The volume increases then there is silence. This occurs when the man
removes the branches off Jessabelle’s gravestone. This makes the
audience feel anxious as our eager to find out what is under the branches
increases so does the volume and pace of the score. The same score’s
volume and pace increase when she says ‘oh my God, it is my birthdate’.
This surprises us.
Music

30. Music

31. Music
There is a constant noise
that increases as the
shots change. The shots
are fast, which makes us
stay fully focused on the
score.