This trailer analysis document summarizes and analyzes the trailer for the horror film "The Possession". It notes that the trailer uses effective editing techniques like speeding up shots to build tension. It describes how the trailer establishes a normal family atmosphere initially and then a disruption when the young daughter opens an ancient box. The analysis explains how religious imagery and the daughter exhibiting strange possessed behaviors are used to suggest she is being taken over by an evil spirit. It concludes that the trailer is successful at leaving the audience with questions about the unknown evil spirit and wanting to see the film for answers.

1. Trailer Analysis 2
By: Miriana Younan
The trailer above is promoting “The Possession”, a horror film that could be placed within a
possession sub genre. When watching this horror film the audience can see that the little girl has
been possessed by an evil spirit and turning something innocent into something terrifying. I picked
this trailer because it uses effective editing and uses great jumpy moments to scary the audience.
All film trailers start with the normal regulatory warning message, this message will warn the
audience against some of the content which is about to appear giving them the chance not to watch
if they wish. The message is has a bright green background and is written in a white font, therefore
making it very eye-catching to the audience, making sure they do not avoid or miss the important
message. There is no sound whilst this message is being displayed, giving the audience a chance to
read it. Straight after the message is displayed, the logo of the film production company that made
this film is displayed; this makes the audience aware of who made the film.

2. Trailer Analysis 2
By: Miriana Younan
The next part of the trailer you hear a non-diagetic soft piano sound denoting a calm and normal
atmosphere and with the sound you see an establishing shot of the stock location which is where
the action of the movie takes place. The long shot of the house is used to show the isolated house
surrounded by trees, which is typical convention of a horror film.
The scene cuts to the father talking to the mother, both the mother and father are smiling which
shows the happiness with the family and there care free and simple lifestyle. This shot is two shot
where you have two people within the frame. The scene is also quite bright which shows the
normality of the movie. This is the equilibrium of the film.

3. Trailer Analysis 2
By: Miriana Younan
After we are presented with the family, the audience know who the main characters are, we see
quite a lot of shots of the father taking his daughters to his house to stay with him. As the scene
progresses we see a change in colour with the shots (which are presented above). It gets darker this
suggests to the audience that the narrative to this point is going to change. The music changes when
we are presented with a long shot of the house and a bird’s eye view of the father and daughter
lying down. The sound of the soft piano decreases and we hear non-digetic sound that sounds like
an angel singing. The angels’ singing connotes the lead up to the disruption of the trailer and it’s also
a warning to the audience of what’s to happen next. After the last shot above, the scene fades to
black screen and the next shot appears on top of the black background again suggesting the danger
of the next scene.
The family visit a car boot sale together where the young girl dresses up in white accessessories, the
colour white may denote the purity and vulnerability of the young girl which is a typical convention
of a horror film as the victim is usually an innocent character. In this shot we get a mid shot of the
girl walking up towards an ancient box that she has spotted, many shots are used with a fade
transition to emphasise how happy she is to have found this box, getting closer to her face each shot
fades to show her emotion. When she is in front of the box we get a close up; to see her facial
expression and also we see some sort of writing on the box which instantly suggests to the audience
that the box has some meaning to it. You hear a non-digetic sound of someone screeching as she
approaches the box which could suggest the box is evil/possessed.
The lighting of this scene becomes dim and gloomy; the non-diagetic voice over of the Father saying
'whoever made this didn't want anybody to open it' gives the box a sense of mystery and 'unknown'.
In this scene you see the girl in bed getting up to see the box, the music changes you hear the loud
thunder as the girl opens the box and the opening sound of the box is emphasised showing the

4. Trailer Analysis 2
By: Miriana Younan
change between the normality of her lifestyle and how it's now going to change since she's opened
the box.
After the opening of the box you see the girl sitting on her bed with the box and the music stops and
you still hear thunder, the lighting in this scene is gloomy and dark and the only light spot is on the
girl suggesting the evil spirit is after her and also how she is vulnerable. As soon as she picks up a
dead moth you hear a banging sound every time she picks up something different from the box. This
non-diagetic sound you hear could be warning the audience that she should not have done that and
she’s in trouble now. After this scene (girl wearing the ring) the pace of the shots speeds up to build
tension.
Before the speed of the shots speed up, you see a strap in the shot. This strap is telling the audience
everything they see in this trailer has happened to a real family and this adds more scare factor to
the audience as now they think it’s not safe and this could happen to anyone. There is 4 shots of the
family worrying about the little girl, after every scene changes you hear an amplified sound of the
girl tapping the plate.

5. Trailer Analysis 2
By: Miriana Younan
After the fourth shot, you see the girl tapping her fork on the plate and the tapping speeds up as the
father tells her to slow down, as her tapping speeds up the cuts speed up and we see lots of cuts of
between the girl tapping the plate and the fathers face. The close up shot of the girls face implies
she has been stripped of her vulnerability, she is not the innocent young girl we saw at the
beginning. This shows that the father is getting annoyed at her and the girl isn’t listening. Over this
scene you hear whispering sounds which could be the evil spirit that is controlling the girl that is
making her do everything. When the father final is really annoyed he bangs his hand on the table
and the girl stabs his hand with the fork, as the father screams out of pain the scene changes and we
get a change of music to a soft hymn- like tune. The music denoting that she has been possessed by
something to do with religion, however making the trailer creepier by doing so. From this the
audience know something is wrong with the girl as she isn’t listening to her father and she also has
the ring on that she found in the box. This is the disruption of the trailer.

6. Trailer Analysis 2
By: Miriana Younan
When the girl is standing alone in the road, you see moths being sucked into her, this shows her
being possessed and taken over as she can’t control it, also moths are attracted to light and flames
this could suggest that the moths are attacking the girl because they see her as a source of light. The
music stops after this and you hear the soft piano from the beginning being played this is
contrapuntal sound as they are going through a horrific time and the scene is not calm at all. As the
trailer goes on we see straps saying “darkness lives inside”, this is again telling the audience the evil
spirit is inside the girl and is living in there. The background of these straps is black which connotes
death and danger and there is Hebrew symbol’s which reflects the box as danger and could possibly
kill people. The writing of the straps are white which makes it stand out from the shot but also
connotes the girl as the darkness is living inside her the white writing reflects her as she is pure and
vulnerable. In one of the shots the audience are presented with religious imagery, the father is
reading out from a Jewish bible, this is a typical convention of possession sub genre and represents
the fight between good and evil.
You also see some horrific imagery, you see the girl being over taken by the evil spirit her eye turns
white and you see a lump on the side of her cheek. Also the MRI scan shows the evil spirit inside the
girl as it appears on the scan, the lights in the hospital turn off when the girls getting a scan which
shows the darkness inside her possessing her.
When we see the whole family in the hospital the music changes and the pace of the shots speed up
even more this is called the montage. We see the rabbi trying to save the girl, this is again religious
imagery, we then see the ring on the girls finger which shows the possession has something to do
with that girl and also her skin is changing colour, it’s a grey which is a dull colour which connotes
evil and the colour reminds the audience of a disease the evil spirit is diseasing the innocent girl. We
see the father with a hand coming out of his mouth and this makes the audience think why is there a
hand coming out his mouth? This will lure them to watch the movie to find out why the evil spirit is
inside of him. Throughout this montage the music is the sound of angels singing, singing a hymn, the

7. Trailer Analysis 2
By: Miriana Younan
music symbolises religious imagery and is contrapuntal sound, you only hear hymns in church and
this shows the fight between good and evil. The music crescendos to then come to a complete stop,
which will create a tense atmosphere for the audience. The scene cuts to Emily in the bathroom, the
non-diagetic voice over of her Mother saying 'there's something in her' showing two fingers coming
out Emily's throat, leaving a sense of mystery with the audience as they don't know what's inside of
her.
Overall, this trailer is successful because this evil spirit remains unknown throughout the trailer and
gets the audience asking what it is and what does it want from this girl? In order to answer the
audience questions they need to go see the movie. This trailer inspires me as it uses great editing
and shots in the trailer to make it effective, because of this I will be taking on board ideas from this
trailer in order to make my horror film trailer a success.