Paranormal Activity Trailer Analysis

                                          Paranormal Activity

Hand Held

High Angle Shot

Shot Of The Audiences Reaction

Quote From Bloody-Discusting

Introduced To The Third Character

Still Camera, Eye Level

The beginning shot of this trailer shows masses of people queueing for the film and in the cinema. This automatically breaks trailer conventions as its focus is on the audiences perception of the film instead of the actual film. Typography, which is a conventional element, is placed over the top to give the audience an indication to where the screening is set. Non-diegetic sound is added whilst the people are queueing to give it a horror feel. The camera is then at eye level with the viewers to show the audience watching the film. It then fades to an establishing shot of a couple in a house, this is the shot that tells us the narrative of the film as the man says "My girlfriend Katie thinks that theres something in the house" which automatically makes her the victim in this film. As this is at a high angle it connotes vulnerability to the 'paranormal phenomena'. Also, it could suggest that she is powerless over the demon. When the woman whispers "somethings here" and "I feel it breathing on me" this juxtaposes the bang within the next shot, which makes the audience jump as there is a sudden change of volume. This is conventional for horror trailers as it adds suspense and hopes to frighten the audience in order for them to go watch it at the cinema. Throughout the trailer there are shots that keep showing the audiences reaction to show the viewers how scary the film actually is. The colour green is used in these shots as the camera is in night mode. In the middle of the trailer there is a quote saying "'PARANORMAL ACTIVITY' IS OF THE SCARIEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME" by Bloody-Disgusting.com. Having a quote in a trailer is a conventional element as it shows the film is popular and could make the audience want to watch it more. Nearer to the end of the trailer we are introduced to the third character of the film who seems to be a specialist of the situation they are in. The man is shown to be 'The Helper', which is one of the seven character types which Propp made. However, Propps theory was that 'The Helper' normally aids the hero but in this situation there is no hero. There are then a couple of shots afterwards of the woman rocking backwards and forth. Here she has gone from 'The Victim' to 'The Villian' and as this happens the pace of the trailer increases a lot. At the end of the trailer non-diegetic sounds are added of a gun firing when the man is thrown at the camera to make it more scarier. 

The Last House On The Left Trailer Analysis

The Last House On The Left.

Establishing Shot

Two Shot

High Angle Shot

Crane Shot

In this horror film, the setting is at an isolated house which means there are no other houses near by to help them when things begin to go wrong in the film, we know that this house is in the middle of no where at the beginning of the trailer as there is a sign that says 'Lake ends in the road'. Isolated houses are conventional of horror films as it is harder for the characters to escape and be saved if in danger. 

At the beginning of the trailer we also see an establishing shot of them driving, the camera tilts upwards so we can follow the car. We hear dialogue at the beginning too, the man says "Are we there yet? Its the last house on the left". This is so we know where they are going. Throughout the trailer, there are a lot of close ups and mid shots that focus on Mary, this is so the audience know that she is the main character in the film. Also, we see her driving her family to the house, this also implies that she is the protagonist. At the beginning of the trailer the editing is quite slow and the transitions used are mostly dissolves, they are soft which shows that there is a calm atmosphere at this point. Soft music is also played in the background to help. Sound effects and non-diegetic music have been used as the tension builds up, cuts have been used between frames as it is quicker and shows that a lot of events happen towards the end of the film. After the main action has happened it shows the villians walking to the nearest house (which happens to be Marys) in the rain at night which suggests danger as most things happen at night time as its more scarier, a High angle shot is used so we see the sign post in the  foreground that we saw earlier at the beginning of the trailer. When the villians arrive to Marys house we hear tense music in the background as the characters explain their situation. A lot of diegetic sounds are used in the background of the trailer such as, gun shots, knives, things breaking etc, this is used to create more drama to the trailer. When Marys parents find her lying on the porch non-diegetic music begins, the song is 'Sweet Child of Mine' but sung by a woman instead of Guns and Roses. This is quite unusual as its quite slow and contrasts to whats happening in the trailer. On the other hand, the lyrics are relevant to the plot. There is an intense part of the trailer where the villians realise they are at the Marys home. A close up is used to show his shocked facial expression and a eyeline match is used afterwards to show the picture of Mary that is stuck on the fridge, the camera then zooms in. When Mary's parents find her lying on the porch outside ambient lighting is used. A crane shot has been used a lot in the quick shots and it is repeated several times of Mary lying in the lake. This shows the audience that she is dead, but because it is repeated a lot it could suggest she may still be alive even though she got shot. The main colours in the trailer are blue and black, black being a conventional colour to use in horror as it represents danger. I think the blue is used a lot to show the importance of water in this film.  

The differences between a teaser trailer and a main theatrical trailer.

A teaser trailer - A teaser trailer is quite a short trailer to advertise a film, television programme, video game etc. that is about to be released. It is also usually released long in advance of the product so it teases the audience. Unlike theatrical trailers, teaser trailers are very short and can last up to 30-60 seconds. Their purpose is to let the audience know less about a movie's content and to just tell them when it is coming out in the future to get everyone excited. They are usually made when the film is still

 A theatrical trailer - A theatrical trailer is a preview of a film that is going to be released in the cinema in the future. It contains a lot of scenes from the film that will give a hint of the story line to hopefully persuade the audience to go watch it. The series of shots from the trailer may not appear in the order in the film. A theatrical trailer lasts longer than a teaser trailer, it lasts about two and a half minutes.


This is an example of a teaser and a theatrical trailer from the film 'The Strangers'.

                                                                                                              Teaser trailer:

Theatrical trailer:

The Role Of The Distribution.

It is the task of distributors to make a distribution plan and to identify and then deliver the biggest audience for every film that is made.

Companies such as Sony and Warner receive films straight from production companies whereas quite small and independant companies such as Lionsgate and Metrodome purchase films at festivals to distribute instead.

Distributors are highly competitive with launching and sustaining films in the market place. The distributors take into account: Identifying the audience and conside why they would go and see the film, estimating the revenue potental across all the formats of its release, devloping plans and panerships and persuading cinema operators to play the film. Distributors also have to think what the film is roughly going to make whether its quite low or high so they know if they can make a profit from it.

The Distributor has to decide the USP, be very clear on their target audience, decide the release date as there is a lot of competition and the film companies must see when other films are going to be released.

The marketing the film the main objective is to engage instrest to the audience. There are a variety of ways you can advertise...

Trailers- there are three different types of trailers, the main trailer, the teaser treailer and the shorter version of the main trailer. Trailers are the most cost-effective marketing technique.

Billbaords- This is a very common way of promoting a film. It shows the title of the film, the stars in it, the genre and the release date.

There are a lot of other ways to advertise such as, internet, mobile, radio, television, word of mouth, but i feel that trailers and billboard/posters are the best way to promote a film as a lot of people like to watch trailers to know what the film is about and the story line. And with billboards a lot of people go out and they are placed in the most common places where people may go so they will see it a lot.

Many horror films are interesting in their representation of gender because they provide a female point of identification or a male core target audience. To what extent do you think horror represents gender progressively?

According to Carol J. Clover in her book, ‘Men, Women and Chainsaw’s’ the final girl is usually the last woman standing and who tries to beat the villain. A woman who is resourceful, intelligent, feisty, rarely sexual and hardly ever sexually active. For example, Lynda and Annie, Laurie’s friends in Halloween (1978), are killed. Lynda and Bob are killed after sex while Annie is despatched in her car on her way to see her boyfriend. Women who are sexually and morally transgressive are, seemingly, punished for being sexually active. Sometimes the final girls have unisex names, e.g. Teddy, Billie and Sidney. Occasionally the final girl will have shared a history with the killer. For example, in Halloween II, Michael Myers is revealed to be the brother to Laurie and in Scream 3 the killer is known to be Roman Bridger who is the half brother of the survivor, Sidney. The final girl is the “investigating consciousness” of the film, moving the narrative forward as such; she exhibits intelligence, curiosity and vigilance.

Usually, males in the media are shown to be more dominant, strong, active and independent. Whereas, females are shown as submissive, passive, with a focus on physical beauty, sexuality and emotionality, they are often defined through relationships with men. Jeremy Tunstall looked at a wide range of existing research that had been carried out on gender representation in the media. He argued that overall, women in the media were emphasized to be domestic, sexual, consumers and marital. In 1992 research verified that men outnumber women by two to one on screen. In the three horror films we have watched in class, there are more men but in Halloween it is equal. Women are depicted as housewives, as contented mothers, as eager consumers and as sex objects. This suggests that within films, certain camera techniques are used to show women in the position of a male character looking at her. The most common shots that are used are close ups and also tilting up her body, usually showing her legs. Mulvey says that the male gaze provides men with a sense of pleasure in controlling women.

The female characters in Halloween (1978) were Laurie, Linda, Annie, Judith Myers, baby sitting girl and the nurse. In this film there are roughly more girls or equal which makes the film progressive in this area. Also, it disproves the research that men outnumber women 2:1. Linda is

portrayed as a sex object as we see her and her boyfriend, Bob having sex while the phone rings continuously. Bob goes down stairs to go get beers for him and Linda but he dies. Upstairs, Linda thinks Bob is dressed as a ghost, but it is the killer. When she notices ‘Bob’ isn’t replying to her she then shows him her breasts, we then see a point of view shot from the killer ogling her. As well as Linda being portrayed as a sex object, Annie and Judith are too. For example, when Annie is in the kitchen making popcorn, she accidently pours butter all over her shirt and pants so removes all of her clothes while Michael continues to watch her from outside the window. As for Judith, when her and her boyfriend thinks they have the house to themselves, he suggests that they should go upstairs to go have sex. Also, the next day we see Judith is sitting in front of her mirror, nude except for a pair of knickers. On the other hand, Laurie, the nurse and the babysitting girl are shown to play the domestic role. Laurie was shown to be caring, intelligent and attractive and was the opposite of her best friends, Annie and Linda. Laurie is not objectified as she is the subject. The nurse and the babysitting girl take on the domestic role by caring and looking after other people. By the girls each being portrayed in these different ways makes the film seem conservative and progressive at the same time. Laurie is the final girl in this film and overall, more women die than men by 60% - 40%.

The Shining (1982) fits exactly with the 1992 research of how men outnumber women by two to one making this film very conservative. There were only five female characters. They were Wendy, Grady’s daughters, the hotel boss secretary and the bathtub woman. Unlike Halloween, when there were three characters shown as sex objects in The Shining, the bathtub woman was the only character who was portrayed as this. When she was shown naked in the bath the camera then changed to a point of view shot of Jack. But, as he goes to kiss her she transforms into a corpse, this undermines the gaze and gives the impression that it is bad of Jack to do that. Wendy is shown as and domestic as she is a strong woman and remains at Jack’s side as he struggles to stay sober, but is forced to fight for her and Danny’s life when Jack becomes completely possessed. She then helps Danny to escape to safety with her. The hotel boss secretary is portrayed as domestic as she makes him a drink in the beginning. Again, there is a final girl, Wendy and the deaths are equal. But the females that died in The Shining do not appear to have been punished for sexual activity, and Wendy, the final girl, like Laurie then strengthens the case for The Shining which supports Clover’s theories.

Eden Lake (2008) is shown to be conservative by the number of men appearing on screen compared to women. Men outnumber women by eleven to six. In Halloween and The Shining there are at least two sex objects in each film, but Eden Lake has none. We see Jenny, who is portrayed as familial and domestic as she works at a school and we see her in the classroom with the kids at the beginning of film. Likewise, in Halloween the nurse has a caring occupation, but, they break the domestic stereotype as they are careers instead of acting as wife’s and mothers. But, we can see that Jenny is very caring person and is a good teacher. On the other hand we see the waitress in the cafe that isn’t so caring, she plays the domestic role as she waits on people and maybe does the cooking. We also see Paige, who has a passive role in the gang as she videos everyone who stabs and hurts Steve. Although Jenny wasn’t portrayed as a sex object, we still see a point of view shot from the gang when she is sunbathing in her bikini on the beach. We then get a close up of her and do not identify with the boys as she covers herself up with a towel giving the impression that the gaze is perverted. Also, Paige refers to objectification as a way of insulting Steve by questioning “You looking at my tits?!” Similarly, in the other films, there is a final girl, Jenny, and women are not punished anymore than men.

Horror Trailers With Elements I'd Like To Use

This is from the trailer The Strangers. I love the broken record at the end of this trailer, it adds more effect and can speed up events to make the trailer scarier.


This is the second trailer I'd like to look into, Creep. I love the heartbeat at the end and it matches the black transitions with the clip.


This is from the trailer The Descent, I really like the noise from the camera and the photograph shown afterwards.

Narrative Theory

In class we explored the ideas of four narrative theorists; Propp, Todorov, Levi-Strauss and Bordwell and Thompson. We then tried to apply these theories to the 1980 horror, The Shining.
Propp worked on Russian folk tales and proposed a set of character and narrative functions which he argued were the universal undelying structure of all narrative. His ideas, at best, are only a partial just for The Shining.

FOUR MEDIA THEOISTS

TZETAN TODOROV

Tzetan Todorov’s narrative theory suggests that narratives follow a three part structure where they all begin with equilibrium, where everything is balanced out, progress as something comes along to disrupt that equilibrium, and lastly each a resolution. It is a more formal way of thinking about the beginning, middle and end.



VLADIMIR PROPP

Vladimir Propp studied the narrative structure of folk tales. He concluded that all the characters could be resolved into only seven character types. Propp looked at hundreds of folk tales and identified 8 character roles and 31 narrative functions.
The 8 character roles are (I used The Shining as my examples).
1. The Villain(s) Jack
2. The Hero Wendy/Danny
3. The Donor – who provides an object with some magic property Dick (The Chef)
4. The Helper who aids the hero Wendy/Danny
5. The rincess (the sought for person) -
6. Her Father – who rewards the hero -
7. The Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his way Wendy/Danny
8. The False Hero Jack
Although this theory can be used for certain films, characters very rarely fall simply into one role, and sometimes not all 8 roles are present in the narrative structure. For example, The Shining does not contain a princess or her father. This could be because the character functions were proposed from Propp's analysis of russian folk tales rather than modern day narratives.


CLAUDE LEVI-STRAUSS


Claude Levi-Strauss came up with an idea that in order to understand an idea, you have to know the opposite. For example, to know what is LIGHT you have to know what is DARK. To know when something is GOOD, you have to know when something is EVIL. Etc. For an exampe, in The Shining we see two young girls that appear quite innocent and cute but when they appear on screen with shots of blood pouring down elevator shafts etc. flash up suggesting they are a very hauntng/evil feeling within the hotel.


BORDWELL AND THOMPSON

Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as

"A chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occuring in time and space."

Whilst not creating a full thoery of narrative, they put together some ver interesting ideas. For them, a narrative begins with one situation, a series of changes occur according to a pattern of cause and efect; finally a new situation arises that brings the end of the narative.

Freud’s Concept of the return of the repressed & muse on how it might be useful for understanding horror.

Sigmund Freud developed a psychodynamic concept which suggests an individual’s psychological behaviour is influenced by pre-conscious, conscious and unconscious matter. The theory consists of 3 main components; the ID, ego and superego- which battle to balance and maintain a neutral state of mind. The ID and superego are constantly in psychological conflict, while the ego acts as a defence mechanism, repressing unpleasant memories or experiences into the unconscious mind. However, if the ego is weak or experiences such as sleep are able to surface this unconscious material abnormality of the mind can occur. Therefore the mind fights to contain these feelings and repress the undesired thoughts from returning into the conscious state.

Analysis of Orphan trailer.

THE PLOT
Kate and John are rebuilding their marriage as she had a drinking problem; however, she is in therapy and is doing well. They then decide to adopt a child. When they meet the nine-year-old Russian girl, Esther at an Orphanage they immediately fall in love with her. Their son, Daniel, is very unfriendly with his new sister but their deaf-mute daughter, Max, is thrilled with having a new sister – at first. Eventually, Kate begins to notice that Esther is manipulative and probably even psychologically disturbed. When Kate tells John he refuses to listen and the wounds in their marriage reopen. Kate calls Sister Abigail at the orphanage who which informs her that Esther has a troubled and mysterious history. Kate then researches further into Esther’s past to discover she is not at all who she pretends to be.


ANALYSIS
The trailer I am going to analyse is ‘Orphan’ from 2009.
The opening of the trailer denotes an orphanage school and of young girls playing, an establishing shot helps the audience to know where it is set. Dialogue is used a lot at the beginning to update the audience of what has happened, this is a common convention as it’s an easy way to set the scene. Throughout the next shots, Esther (the girl they adopt) is isolated from the others. There is then a mid shot of the mother and father (John and Kate) showing the audience that they are in a relationship, another mid shot is used of Esther and Kate holding hands, showing how they bonded quickly. The town is very snowy which makes the scene appear very cold, winter has connotations of being cold and dark and I think that is reflected in the trailer. When John and Kate take Esther to their home, a low shot is used to show their large house and to show that they are wealthy. Non diegetic music is played quite quietly at the beginning; however, as the tension builds up the music gets louder. Throughout the trailer, Esther continues to wear roughly the same old Victorian dress which shows that she is quite a mysterious character. When Esther is introduced to her class mates they bully her over what she is wearing and we then see Esther locking herself in a cubicle hitting and kicking the walls. The audience then realise that Esther isn’t as sweet and innocent as she is portrayed at the beginning of this trailer. Also, as she is enclosed in the cubicle this could suggest she is trapped within her character. Within this trailer there are a lot of low shots to show that Esther is dominant and has power over others. As the music gets louder we then hear her scream, then there is a lot of diegetic sounds within the trailer such as the eerie noise of the swings which then creates atmosphere. Text is placed within the trailer to give the audience hints of what the film about, these are effective and are a very common convention of a horror trailer. Nearer the end of the trailer we see Esther looking into a cracked mirror, this could connote that she has broken up the family which she was brought into. Also, nearer the end, as the trailer progresses, the cuts become faster to build up tension and to show that there is a lot of drama. In the final shots, the screen goes blank as the voice over is played to create tension, also, Esther then sings “that’s the story of, that’s the glory of love” which sounds very creepy and makes the film even more eerie. At the very end, we then see Esther jumping out at John which could make the audience jump and non diegetic sound is added for effect.