The document analyzes the trailer for the horror film "The Conjuring" through its use of lighting, mise-en-scene, editing, camera angles, titles, sound, and other elements. It notes that the lighting creates an unsettling atmosphere and that flashes may contain subliminal messages. The costumes, settings, and use of children are meant to contrast innocence with evil. Fast editing and camera movements prevent viewers from focusing on any one scene. Distorted titles and dramatic music and sounds build tension and intrigue around the supernatural events of the film.

1. Movie Trailer Analysis
Sophie-Louise Courtney
THE CONJURING

2. Lighting
• The use of torch light makes the audience
feel very on edge, due to the fact that
only one small part of the screen is
visible, and the rest of the screen in pitch
black, meaning that anything can jump
out at you or be watching you.
• The camera suddenly flashes white
throughout the trailer, this makes the
audience feel like the footage is
amateurish and/or old fashioned, but it
also makes you wonder if there are any
subliminal messages, linking to the
supernatural, within these milliseconds of
white flashes.
The flashes get a lot more frequent
towards the end of the trailer, showing
that the pace of the storyline is
intensifying and that the horror/intensity
of the film will increase as it goes on.
• The two main characters are seen
surrounded by a white light, suggesting
that they are the “heroes”, or possibly
victims, of the film. But it is also slightly
grey, suggesting impurity or the presence
of evil within them.
• The scene of the forest like area is very
dark, with a slightly blue coloured light,
which allows the viewer to see the dark
tree outlines and fog but little else. This
gives the impression of the scene being
cold, due to the blue, but also eerie and
intense, due to the dark black outlines
and masking layer of fog.
• The bright sunlight highlighting the large
white house suggests that it is the main
location of the film. But the dead trees
around the edges of the screen symbolise
the death and horrible events that may
take place, or may have taken place.

3. Mise en Scene
• The two main characters are dressed
in old-fashioned clothes, suggesting
that they have a connection with the
past/with past events.
• The two old fashioned characters
contrast with the modern students in
the class, showing their conflicting
ideas and lifestyles, as well as their
isolation from “normal” society.
• The brightly coloured school also
contrasts with the dark house which,
again, shows a difference in lifestyle
and circumstance.
• The black and white images are of
things which symbolise death e.g.
graves and broken toys. This
foreshadows the events of the film
• The characters include a lot of
children. Children are often used in
horror films to show contrast between
good/innocence and evil. They are
also seen as vulnerable by their
cowering stances in this scene,
suggesting that they are victims. This
makes the audience feel sympathetic
towards them.
• The spiral on the mirror, which is
reflected onto the woman’s face,
signifies twisted/evil events, as spirals
show that things are out of control.
This is mirrored by the circling
movement of the camera on a man as
he appears to fall down a hole.

4. • The trailer is filled with fast-paced cuts, meaning that not much of the
story is revealed, due to the fact that you are unable, as a viewer, to focus
on one section of the trailer at any one time, especially as the trailer
progresses.
• There are a few black and white pictures in sequence at the beginning of
the trailer, which appear and disappear by way of cuts very quickly. The
black and whit shows that they are old-fashioned, but the contrasting
colours also signify the contrast between good and evil characters and
events within the film.
EDITING
All shown within 4
seconds

5. Camera Angles
• There are lots of close up,
deep and long shots within
the opening sequence. All of
these shot types mean that
the viewer is always either too
close or too far away from the
action. This means that you,
as a viewer, are never totally
in the loop of the action and
events that are taking place.
• The fact that the two main
characters are seen in a
mixture of high and low angle
shots shows their power over
some things, but vulnerability
in other situations.
• The camera movement itself
is always very fast. And the
camera appears to be in
constant motion. This also
does not allow the viewer to
focus on the events of the
trailer.

6. Titles
• The words fade in and out of the
screen, and they are written in
white, rounded writing. This
allows the words to be clearly
visible against the black
background. The use of the
phrase “based on a true story”
is also used in order to make
the viewer feel like the events
taking place in the trailer/film
could happen in real life and to
the viewer themselves.
• As the trailer progresses, the
font becomes more distorted,
and the white appears to “bleed”
into the black background. This
signifies the progressing danger
and horror in the trailer as well
as, through foreshadowing, in
the film itself.
• The words “disturbing” and
“locked away” are used to
intrigue the viewer, as they are
very dramatic uses of
vocabulary.
• The trailer states that the film is
by the same people who
directed “saw” and “insidious”.
These are both very famous
horror films, meaning that their
fanbases will be tempted to
watch this film as well. This also
creates an immediate
comparison to other great horror
films, suggesting that this one
will be too.

7. SOUND
• The sound throughout the trailer is parallel to the action. When the pace of the
trailer is picked up, so does the non-diegetic, dramatic and scary music.
• The diegetic sound of the child screaming in the trailer is also very fitting of a
horror film, as it allows you to hear the fear in the child’s voice. The fact that
you don’t know what the child is screaming at exactly is also effective, as it
makes you question what they could have seen/experienced.

8. Other Info.
• As the trailer progresses,
there are lots of shots of
objects and people crashing
into things. At no point during
the trailer, however, are you
aware of who, or what is
throwing/pushing these
things. This creates the idea
of the supernatural, as things
are often thrown around by
invisible poltergeists. This
reiterates the fear of the
unknown, and makes the
audience fear what they can
not see.