Trailer analysis for the film The Possession for A-level media, fitting with the chosen genre which is horror, for A-level course,

1. {
The Possession
Catherine Hall

2. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WVjggWQR
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Trailer

3. Generic Codes and Conventions
Power cut – when the young is having a scan to see what is inside her, foreshadows that
something bad is going to be found.
Opening something they shouldn’t - the young girl opens the box and then she is possessed by
an evil spirit.
Isolated location – when the box fully opens the girl is alone at a petrol station in the night.

4. Denotation and Connotations
Dark clothing – at the beginning the characters are wearing dark clothes during the daytime. This
connotes that something bad will happen. Dark clothing is also shown when the young girl has just
opened the box.
White dress – at the end of the trailer, the girl is wearing white clothing, this connotes innocence
which could show what the little girl was like, but contrasts the fact that she gets possessed

5. Mise-en-scene
Box – it is engraved with a foreign language (this is typical of a horror movie), it is where all
the bad things start. It is also old, this is a stereotype.
High key/Low key lighting - when the young girl finds the box and buys it there is high key
lighting. However, it changes to low key lighting when she opens the box. This shows that
before the box came into their everything was fine but as soon as she opened it things are
going to go wrong.

6. Sound
Diegetic Sound - The tapping noise of the fork on the plate creates tension in the trailer, as
the sound builds up and gets faster.
Synchronous Sound – powerful and dramatic music nearer the end of the trailer during
some action parts and suspenseful parts

7. Editing
Jump cut – this builds tension as it shows the box causing more destruction as it cuts to different
scenes.
Shot- reverse – shot – shows how family was before the box appeared, and also shows how the
daughter is being possessed without the family noticing such as when she's holding glass behind her
mothers back.
Ellipsis – used lots of times to show the father trying to help his daughter

8. Camera Shots
Zoom – shows the young girls reaction to the box
when she first sees it.
Point of view shot – the young girl is looking at the
box
Close up – on young girls face when the box opens,
this shows that she is somehow connected to it.

9. Typography
During the trailer, bright white words in block capitals come in between the slides, the
background is filled with Hebrew writing.
The main title ‘THE POSSESSION’, is in clear bold font that contrasts the background. The
font in the background is Hebrew and this links to the engravings on the box. This gives a
sense of continuity throughout the trailer.
Typography

10. Film poster
Codes & Conventions –
• Blood/discoloured hand: representing death, un human that
perhaps the hand belongs to a creature rather than a human.
• Greasy hair: representing that the character is stressed
• Violence: the hand is holding on tightly to the females face
and covering up the fact that she is screaming, this reinforces
the horror genre.
• Women as the victim: commonly seen within the horror film
genre because they are vulnerable and seen as weak.
Ideologies –
• Women are the victims: they are weak and vulnerable and
therefore audiences sympathise with them and this is a
typical convention seen within horror film.

11. Film poster
Connotations –
• ‘Coming Soon’ is written in red typography which connotes
blood, danger and evil. This is used to draw peoples
attention to the date and create tension and anticipation.
• Usually horror films and horror film posters use low key
lighting to create a sense of danger and depression however
this film subverts this connotation by using high key lighting
with a bright background to reveal what is happening. Also
the high key lighting at the top of the poster may represent
how it starts off normal at the beginning and as the film
progresses evil takes over and this is reinforced by the low
key lighting that occurs at the bottom of the poster showing
the evil is taking over.

12. Film poster
Typography –
• The font for ‘The Possession’ is cracked and scratched out
which may represent a shooting or evil occurrence such as
the hand scratching up through the female to come out of
her mouth.
• ‘Based On A True Story’ this creates a bigger sense of fear due
to the audience feeling that some thing like this has actually
happened in real life. And attracts more interest into the film
as people have more interest when they believe something is
real.
Camera Shots –
• Close up: to show the hand coming out of the characters
mouth in more detail reveals it as supernatural. And shows
she is trying to scream.

13. Film poster
Polysemia –
• The writing shows a link with the image showing that she
is possessed rather than portraying it as a mental illness –
the hand of a creature has crept up through her body and
grabbed onto her face taking over her showing her to be
possessed.
Iconography –
• Hand: shows the character being possessed and taken over.
Although this hand is still very realistic it could be deemed
more scary than a zombie because they are fiction based and
this is a realistic looking prop/ item.

14. Film poster
Mise-en-scene –
• Low key lighting further down the poster creates a dark
atmosphere. Suggesting future danger within the film as it
progresses. The high key lighting may represent the female
as being innocent and as the protagonist where as the hand
is dark and discoloured perhaps showing that it is the
antagonist.
• Grey top: represents stress, harassment and depression
and keeps the mood very low.
The poster was banned in some places because it was deemed
unsuitable for public view. This then caused conversation and
word of mouth making the film known and more people
wanting to watch the film when released.

15. Film posterTrailer shows anchorage with the poster when the
female character sees the fingers coming up the back of
her throat at the end of the trailer due to being
possessed.