2. The trailer begins with a smoky setting and red writing stating the
production company of the film. There is the ambient sound of a
train as one is shown on the screen. It creates a peaceful
atmosphere because it has calm non diegetic music while they are
explaining the protagonist’s situation and who he is. This briefly
gives the audience an insight to the protagonist and creates
sympathy for him because they don’t want anything bad to happen
to him and for it to stay peaceful.
3. The house is shown along with other eerie clips of the surroundings,
showing that the house is lonely and creates a sense of fear for the
audience. The clips are all dreary and dark which signifies danger. A
lonesome cross is shown in the middle of the marshland portraying that
bad things have already gone on there. Isolation is a convention of horror
films because it means that the characters are more vulnerable because
there is no one there to help them.
4. The peaceful music stops as he walks into the dark house showing that the
security is gone and bad things are going to happen in there. The music after is
tense as he walks round the dark house with a light. This builds up to the
crescendo, as it gets louder and tenser. It stops as he hits the toy that spins
round. The audience’s mind is taken off what is going to happen as they watch
the old fashioned toy go round with no music. A distorted eye then appears
combined with a loud noise to show that the film has unexpected parts in it
and will make people jump. The dialogue ‘please don’t go back to the house’
shows that there is something scary there and makes the audience associate
that place with fear.
5. The trailer focuses on the house to show that it is dangerous there and to
evoke questioning from the audience. A woman shakily pours a drink
whilst saying ‘don’t go back to the house’. An image of the woman in black
behind the protagonist is then shown to give the effect that she is the
danger. A voice over then says ‘she’s there’. A crow is shown to signify
death and fear. It lets the audience know that the film is dark and gothic.
After the crow is shown there is a montage of death with fire and
screaming. The music is tense and the montage flashes on quickly making
the audience feel terror.
6. The music stops as the protagonist says ‘I can’t leave yet.’ This
indicates to the audience that a lot more things are going to happen
and keeps them wanting to know what he is going to do and why he
can’t leave. The words ‘the most chilling ghost story of our time’ are
shown which is used to persuade the audience of the trailer to see
it because they think it will be worth while.
7. A theme of children is shown to show the vulnerability of the victims in the
film. Because the children are vulnerable it also makes the audience
sympathise with them and want to find out what happens to them. The 3
girls looked possessed and step on one of their toys, cracking it’s head.
They open their windows as if they are going to jump out and a man
shouts ‘you should of left. You should of gone when we told you to’ to the
protagonist. This makes the audience ask questions because they would
wonder why he had to leave and if he has anything to do with it. A
montage of children covered in mud and in the rain, a child’s footsteps ,
the protagonist with his own son, a nursery with bloody writing on the
walls and a child’s toy are shown. This shows a clear theme of children
throughout the film which shows a loss of innocence. Fear and childhood
aren’t meant to be associated so it shows the audience that something is
very wrong and scary with the film. The derelict nursery with the toys
playing on their own and blood on the walls makes the audience wonder
what has gone on there and curious to find out.
8.
9. The fast paced music and low key lighting throughout the trailer show that it
is a dark and tense watch and has to be portrayed well through the trailer
to show the film’s potential to scare the audience. It is trying to persuade
the audience to watch at all times and does this by putting the name of
the main actor because he is well known already and people may want to
watch it because it has him in it. After his name is shown it fades out to
flash up clips him being scared and looking around to evoke emotion for
him from the audience. To seem like he is being watch or running away
from something the montage also includes a woman’s face in the
window, the turning of a door handle and a hand on the glass of the door.
The audience wouldn’t want him being harmed if they know who he is.
The theme of isolation is also reiterated through showing the house on a
surrounded by water to show there’s no way of him escaping.
10. The words ‘Fear’ ‘Her’ ‘Curse’ are shown at alternate
times in the middle of another fast paced
montage of the film. The font is bold, in sans serif
and capital letters to show the dominance the
woman in black has over the people in the film.
The font gets bigger each time as if it is getting
closer which might make the audience feel more
scared and intimidated because it is as if she is
coming towards the screen subliminally.
The setting is old fashioned which is associated with horror films because that
time period is dark and eerie. In the montage at the end it shows fear because
the music is very loud and tense and the clips flash on the screen really quickly. It
shows the protagonist running away frantically and another with him holding an
axe and candle to show he is fearful. There is a rocking chair rocking with nobody
in it showing a supernatural presence in the house. The trailer uses a lot of quick
montages to show a tense atmosphere and the end of the trailer compared to the
beginning is a lot more edgy, which shows how the film progresses.
11. After the quick montage at the end the name of the film ‘The Woman In Black’ is
shown to remind the audience of the title and help them remember the name
of the film. It then fades out to the dialogue of a woman saying ‘she’s always
there’. A clip is shown of the protagonist looking out of the window and a hand
appearing. He touches the hand slowly and a face of a woman appears
screaming. The clip quickly turns off to reveal when the film is out in the
cinema. This last clip shows the connection of the two main characters and
gives the audience one last fright, reminding them that is scary and has
unexpected parts in it.
