This document analyzes the genre elements used in the trailer for the movie Prisoners. It notes that the trailer sets up an everyday family situation in winter to draw the viewer in, then uses ominous music and visual clues like an RV parking to indicate something will go wrong, establishing it as a thriller. As the girls go missing, mystery is built through anonymous visual clues and the focus on a potential suspect, common crime and thriller techniques. Interrogation scenes and a detective in action further point to crime and action genres. Dramatic shots like the chained suspect also evoke the drama genre used in the film. Overall, the trailer effectively employs conventions from thriller, crime, and drama genres to intrigue viewers about what happened to the

1. Prisoners
Thriller,Crime&Dramagenres

2. The actors face is half
gradient and therefore
the other side is where
the light source is
coming from. This
could mean two sided
personality which is
often used in Crime
movies (Most notably
the character Harvey
Dent in The Dark
Knight Rises.)
Once again you can see the
logo reflect a possibly two
sided character as it goes from
a bright left side to a darker
right side.
Black and white is often
used in Thriller movies
and they give the poster
more depth and make it
look more meaningful.
It was effectively as it
also hides Hugh
Jackman’s face within
the shadows.
There is an element of thriller
from the majority of the
poster being covered by the
darkness and shadows often
in thrillers the enemy uses to
hide in which indicated that
he is the enemy and wants to
harm.
“A man who lost everything is capable of anything”
– this could be seen as a threat and often lines alike
this are used in Dramas and Crime movies. It
makes the character sound as if nothing is going to
get in his way and will do anything to get it.

3. Trailer analysis
The trailer begins with a family you
know nothing about going doing
everyday life. There was an
establishing shot at the beginning
showing their house in the snow. So
clearly it is winter time and some
thriller movies are set in this scene.
The girls pictured in this shot are
going out to play outside.

4. A loud bass rich sound plays and
this is indicating that something is
going to go wrong, typical of thriller
and crime genre movies. This from
early on could be the victims and
indicates to us that they are
vulnerable.
This full frame shot shows an
RV stopping (Brake light
pictured) and so leaves
curiosity if the girls have been
captured. Again typical of
thriller movies.

5. Now the family is looking for their
girls and they can’t find them. The
predominant obviousness that they
have been captured is beginning to
sink in.
A close up view of an anonymous
object which is extremely typical to
crime movies and can be seen
throughout many of them. This
leaves the viewer with a sense of
mystery.

6. Now, they have found the RV that
was last seen with the girls in the
mystery that is often built up in all
genres of drama, thriller and crime
once they located it they soon
realised that there is no sign of the
girls and soon enough the entire
shot if filled with police cars
surrounding the RV
A typical thriller shot, it is a close up
of the suspected killer/bad guy and
the focus is clearly on him due to the
light and so leads you to believe he is
the kidnapper of the children. Yet still
no sign of the girls.

7. In this shot you can see the known
detective interrogating the suspect.
Extremely typical of Crime movies
because the viewer has a hunch that
it wasn’t him due to the darker
scenes containing unknown items.
This shot is once again an
extreme close up of a drawing
that is unknown to the viewer
and so creates a sense of mystery
to who has taken the girls and
why would the have a puzzle like
drawing. Once again Thriller
and Crime.

8. The police officer in action here which
is typical of Crime but also action
movies but often they are linked. This
leaves the viewer wondering who he
is assaulting and why.
This high angle shot see the
suspect being chained to a
radiator showing typical of
drama movies and also it makes
the suspect look very vulnerable
and gives the bad view upon the
attacker.