I looked at the trailers for the films 'Don't be Afraid of the Dark' and 'The Blair Witch Project. I have made notes on the Media Language/Mise en Scene, the Narrative, Genre, Audience, Representation, Ideologies and Insitution through both of the trailers. I have learnt a lot about Horror Film trailers after studying these and I hope that this experience can aid my group's creation of our own Horror Film Trailer.
Here are my notes for 'Don't be Afraid of the Dark'
Media Language/Mise en scene
· Opening shot of House
· Leave blowing along the ground
· Wind blowing
· Fades to show an old fireplace
· In the dark
· Fades into close up of grill on wall
· ‘THEY HIDE IN THE DARK’ comes up on screen.
· Mirrored cupboard fades on screen which opens slowly
· A close up of plug/switch before fading into black
· ‘THEY WATCH FROM THE SHADOWS’ appears on screen, creating suspense and tension due to the slow start to the trailer
· Fades between scenes of an old dungeon and a close up of an old rusty grill, creating suspense wondering what is behind the grills. The rustic and historic look of house and inside it gives the idea that the film will contain historic references
· ‘AND THEY HAVE BEEN WAITING’ is the next to come up on screen. Creates even more suspension to wonder who ‘THEY’ are.
· Close up to hand opening front gate
· Quick cuts between the family members, change of pace in the trailer
· Little girl looking up at house scared, the family are moving into the old house
· ‘FOR YOU’ appears on screen, suggesting ‘they’ have been waiting for a family to move in.
· Little girl, shown in the dark with a torch, showing she is scared.
· Scenes are dark, the unknown, adding more suspense
· An Old door opening slowly, into a dark room
· Eye looking through the key hole, possible metaphor for unlocking something?
· Something comes through the keyhole to the man on other side before a close up of arms clawing at old fireplace grill earlier in the trailer
· Quick cuts between scenes, final one is father screaming daughter’s name as a door shuts on him, scene fades to dark.
· Trailer begins to slow again as little girl takes a bath in the dark
· Girl’s scream is heard before cutting to scene with ‘DON’T BE AFRAID OF THE DARK’, the title of the film is across the screen.
Audience
· Scary, horror/thriller, for thrillseekers who enjoy getting scared.
· Fulfils audience adrenaline needs
· Trailer leads you to believe you will be entertained and kept in suspense.
Ideologies/Media Values
·
Father protects daughter
· Little girl chosen to be target of ‘THEM’, the creatures in the film.
· Little girl chosen to be target of ‘THEM’, the creatures in the film.
Narrative
· Creepy, quiet voice over, not telling a direct story but more addressing the characters in the trailer and not the audience itself
· No real structure to the narrative, just short quotes and not from main characters, but from the unknown beasts.
Institution
· ‘Film District’ and ‘Miramax’, institutions who are well known for creating successful films
· Fade in to trailer so as not to take away from it, but still gets point across.
· Actors are not recognisable to add realism to it and make it more believable.
Genre
· Horror, creepy dark house and rooms. Darkness and the unknown are very typical in horror films
· Historical, the old building could be a big part in the storyline.
· Thriller, the quick cuts between scenes suggests a fast moving film.
Representation
· Young children are easily scared
· Girls are easily scared and likely to be picked on
· Male, the father, is shown as the protector, as he tries to save his daughter
Media Language/Mise en scene
- Dark screen, informative text appears on screen, “In October 1994, three student filmmakers disappeared in the woods near Burkittsville, Maryland while shooting a documentary” before a few seconds later “A year later their footage was found” appears underneath
- Black and white flashing cuts of woods with creepy witch signs with quotes from Film reviews
- Flashing screen between black and white, making the audience jump
- Close up of girl crying, no indication of why
- Handheld camera running through forest as man screams for help, suggesting
- Slight pause then the name of film flashes up on screen along with unknown symbol underneath
- The dark creates tension and suspense as it is very mysterious and unnerving.
- Hand held footage on screen, not very clear what is happening and the footage is accompanied by similar screaming
- Cuts and fades to ‘This Summer’ followed by website of the film
Audience
- The main characters are teenagers so will appeal to people of similar ages
- Described as ‘The Creepiest film since the Exorcist’ so people who like that film or similar films will be attracted to it.
- Quick flashes so could attract fans of action films.
- Ideologies/Media Values
- Students are interested in the woods and myths
- They are likely to fall into traps and may suffer horrific consequences
- That people who go into the woods alone will not return
- No Voice Over
- Just the muffled screams and sobbing of the characters, unstructured and doesn’t give away the story line
- Entices people to find out what happens in the film by not giving much away.
- Artisan Entertainment, a rather unknown company fades before the trailer starts
- Quotes from established institutions’ reviews such as ‘Entertainment Weekly’ improve the reputation of the film
- Horror; the dark scenes in the woods, the handheld camera and the sobbing and screaming are conventions of the horror genre
- Thriller/Action; the handheld camera running away suggests possible action
- Mystery; darkness, screaming and hard to make out scenes
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