The Boy Trailer Analysis

1. The trailerfor The Boy followsmanycommonconventionsthatare heldwithinthe advertisement
industry.
KeyMomentsare usedthroughoutthe trailer.One of these isthe Nannyof the boyarrivingat the
house andbeingintroducedtowhatshe assumedtobe a youngboy.
Anotherkeymomentwithinthistraileriswhenthe two-maincharacterare introducedtoone-and
other.Thisis the NannyandMalcolm,who referstohimself asthe ‘groceryman’.Notmuch of the
character’spersonalityisshownthroughthisencounter. However, the audience will pickuponthe
fact that the ‘Nanny’isveryyoungandhappy.This shows,notonly,the naivety of women,butalso
the nurturingstereotype of femalestoo.Thisisdue toherbeingthe Nannyfora small boy.

2. Howeverassoonas the ‘boy’isshownonscreenthe genre of the filmis revealed.Thisisdue to
there notbeinga youngboy,but a puppet – like doll.
Thisdoll isrepresentedtobe surroundedbynegativity.Thisisshown withaudio,which ishighin
pitchand frequency.This‘Nail onchalkboard’like soundhelpscreate anuncertainand
uncomfortable atmosphere forthe audience.
It isalso furthershown withcolourswithinthe shotabove.Darkbrowns,greenandblacksare shown
withinthisshot.Due tothese colours, itimpliesthatthe historyof thisdoll isverydarkand
mysterious.Once layeredwiththe doll’spastywhitepercaline face,thiscolourcombinationisjust
anotheraspectof Mise-En-Scene whichbuildsatmosphereandrevealsgenre.
Here is an example of onscreentextusedwithinthistrailer.Thisisalsoakeymomentwithinthe
traileras itshowsthe importance of the ‘rules’thatthe Nannymustfollow whenlookingafterthe
doll.The importance of these rules ishighlighted withlightingandaudio.Asyoucan see whenthe

3. rulesappearon screenthere isa lighterareaof the sheetof paperwhere the relevantrule is
written.The importantof these rulesisalsohighlighted withaudio,whenthe firstrule ‘Donotcover
hisface’is shownonthe screenan artificial soundisaddedtobringattentiontowhatis onthe
screen.
The genre of the film isveryapparentinthisscene as a child’slaughisheardas the doll moves
placesunattended.Inanimateobjectsmovingwithoutassistance isavery commonand is actually
considereda‘must’inparanormal horrors.
There is also a backstoryof the puppet;thisallowsthe audience tounderstandwhythe eventsare
happening.Howeveritdoesnotgive toomuchaway,it still allowsthe audience towonderwhyand
whatactuallyhappened.Thisiseffectivebecause if theywere togive toomuchawayin the trailer
thenpeople wouldnotsee the pointinwatchingthe film.