This trailer analysis summarizes the key techniques used in the trailer for the film "You're Next". It discusses how the trailer starts with calm, peaceful establishing shots to set a sense of safety before introducing impending danger. Close-up shots of characters emphasize their innocence to make the audience relate to them. As tension builds, the editing becomes sharper with flickering shots to transition from terror to horror. Sound plays on the calm music before introducing ominous noises. The killer's rabbit mask and use of a crossbow are prominently featured to dehumanize the threat and emphasize the danger.

1. You’re Next Trailer Analysis
Camerawork: This trailer starts with a close up shot of a CD player taking a CD,
then after the lionsgate logo continues to establishing shots of the film’s setting
showing it as a typically isolated area looking very peaceful. This is very typical of
horror trailers using the calm area surrounded by nature connoting safety from the
human world to juxtapose the rest of the film in which something will eventually
kill and torment them all. This also puts the audience in a calm state with a lack of
creepy atmosphere to exacerbate the shock of the up coming plot development and
jump scares. The calm natural area looks desirable to the protagonists and the
audience which allows the audience to relate to the protagonist’s situation of
feeling calm and safe which makes them invest in the story presented by the trailer
more.
The establishing shots then fade into close ups of certain features within the setting
and characters continuing the calm atmosphere with a close up of the characters
holding hands to say grace connoting a religious aspect of the characters. These
people seem innocent and god fearing, as if they wouldn’t hurt anybody but the
audience knows something terrible will happen to them. This helps the audience
Wide shot with car full of main characters in the
centre shows very clearly the isolation they are
headed towards, the car also looking very small in
comparison to the shot suggests a connotation of
weakness and being overwhelmed by nature.
The way the car is driving
away from the camera
symbolises the direction the
characters are going is away
from the society the
audience are in.
The long dirt road connotes the idea of
untamed wilderness. The end of the
road being covered by the lone tree
shows the characters going to an
unknown location unseen by others.

2. once again relate to the protagonists/victims for a split second giving a lot of
connotations of their innocence and showing them as good people, this makes the
situation scarier as it shows the killers with no revenge style motives to kill, this
could happen to anyone.
Once the calm atmosphere ends a nighttime scene is shown through a shot of a
woman through a window in a point of view shot, this is a very widely used shot in
the horror genre, especially in slasher films. It shows the innocent victim being
watched, unaware of their impending doom. It is a convention of many horror
films. This shot also uses the reflection of the window to create the composition
showing the bunny mask staring at the victim creating the definite view of the
bunny being the evil killer.
The trailer continues to use multiple close up shots of the characters looking out
the windows of the house showing the characters realizing the danger around them
creating the sense of unknown terror. A close up of a rock being thrown through
the window is shown through a close up showing the danger very close to the
audience to make them see the danger very closely and feel intruded just as the
characters in the film do. This engrosses the audience in the film and is a
convention of many horror films, showing the horror close up intensifies it.
From this point on the camerawork in the trailer uses a steadicam with some shake
on it to show the rest of the shots creating movement for the audience making them
seem more included and creating the sense of fear in the movements.
Editing: The start of this trailer uses very slow editing between shots with use of
fading; this connotes the calm atmosphere of the setting accompanied by the shots
used and non-diegetic sound.

3. As the non diegetic music stops the editing also changes, the fading is replaced
with cuts to give a sharper transition between tension creating shots. The cuts also
use an extended time period for the black screen which leave the audience hanging
onto each previous shot making the image of each character’s reaction to the
situations around them making them memorable and leaving the audience wanting
more information for each split second of black screen. The “Less is more”
mentality is implemented here.
As the tension turns to horror the editing is used to excite the audience, when the
crossbow is shown in a point of view shot the screen flickers, flashing black to the
shot in time with the creepy non-diegetic sounds this transitions the trailer from the
terror atmosphere to the horror atmosphere. Terror is the psychological horror
method of scaring audiences by not showing the danger and letting the human
imagination take over where as horror shows the danger normally close up
invading the space of the characters and showing the danger very clearly. The
flashing transitions this with the crossbow point of view shot.
The trailer then uses slow motion tracking shots of the characters moving to avoid
the danger of the crossbow that isn’t very conventional of the horror genre but
shows the audience a connotation of the action genre showing the film to be more
exciting than the typical horror/slasher film. More slow motion is used as the
bunny masked man breaks into a window and goes to kill a character with an axe,
this builds the tension in this scene for the audience.
Sound: The use of sound in this trailer is very conventional of horror genre
trailers. The starting of this trailer uses the calm non-diegetic music “Perfect Day”
by Lou Reed from 1972. It is played relatively quietly with clips of the characters
talking saying very nice sounding lines “Beautiful” “Thanks to Mum and Dad”
which creates the calm atmosphere in order to destroy it with the horror on it’s
way.
The music is then interrupted by a dropping sound effect as if it’s representing the
character’s high mood being lowered as danger is on it’s way connoting the decent
from humans to targets for the film’s killer/s. This shows the change in tone of the
trailer to the conventions of horror.
In the Point of view shot into the window as the bunny mask is revealed in the
reflection of the window an ominous sound effect creating the creepy atmosphere
as the antagonist is first on screen which shows the audience
Mise-en-scene: The most prominent prop used in this trailer is the mask. The killer
in the plot wears a creepy rabbit mask; this is conventional of the genre as it

4. disguises the killer and dehumanizes them making them more representative of a
threat to the characters in the story rather than a human who is killing them. Giving
the killer the false identity shows them more as a danger than a character and a
catalyst for the story.
Another notable prop is the crossbow used by the killer shown in the point of view
shots and the bolts shown in close up tracking shots showing the stopping power of
the weapon, this shows the danger of the weapon in the hands of the killer.
Other potential weapons are shown in this trailer in the slow motion tracking shot,
a pot of knives is knocked over and scattered across the floor connoting the
surrounding of the victim with danger as the victim falls over with knives in the
foreground falling around them.
Crossbow bolt in the family portrait shows a clear image of the theme of the film and the danger
the characters are about to encounter.