Film Magazine analysis - Empire

 

Empire is a British film magazine published monthly by Bauer Consumer Media. From the first issue in July 1989, the magazine was edited by Barry McIlheney and published by Emap. Bauer purchased Emap Consumer Media in early 2008. It is the biggest selling film magazine in Britain, consistently outselling its nearest market rival Total Film by over two-to-one and is also published in Australia, Turkey, Russia and Portugal. Empire Magazine is a magazine focussing exclusively on the release of new films and an in depth look at film culture and history.The age of most of Empire’s readers are between the ages of 15-44 and most of them are male with 76% so the target audience is people from the age of 15 – 44 and should have texts, imagery and colours that appeals to the male stereotypes.

The logo and title of the dark knight and batman on top first than anything else , implying its the main focus of the magazineThe date and price of the magazine is in very small fonts which helps make the ‘empire’ and the main film stand outThese words almost sums up the release or preview of Dark Knight making it seem big and successful.This also promotes the magazine saying it cant be read anywhere else.The dark red title of ‘Empire’ highlights the darkness and the sense of the film and mirrors the title ‘Dark Knight’. Also it show-cases or give clues about the genre of the film.Bright colours make the issue stand out and the two colour of purple and green are the Joker’s colours so already it promotes ‘ The Joker’. Quite subtle yet powerful use of graphics is used which may suggest that the magazine is unique with its crazy and funky fonts which looks eroded and very grunge like with paint sprays and scribbles, looking like its vandalized which also links to the theme of the film and joker.The word ‘plus’ suggests and highlights the fact that the dark knight is main focus of the issue and anything else is just extraThe main image is taken from a scene of the film and it is a very powerful picture which shows the jokers personality and style already with a particular cunning pose Nature of vandalism linking to the jokers actions.

face. This denotes the character itself as the Joker is surrounded by mystery, yet he is never shy to show his war-paint covered face. His white make up is an attempt to hide his identity, and successfully does so. The colour white could also connote death, especially if seen by Asian viewers – as white is the colour of death in countries such as Japan, where they wear white at a funeral. The lack of background lighting reinforces the fact there is much about The Joker we have yet to discover. We see a glimpse of his signature purple suit, also connoting that he is a very odd individual as it is a rarity for someone to wear a purple suit.

Through an extreme close up we are shown each and every minute detail of his face. These include the wrinkles and scars, telling us how much he has suffered in the past. The Joker’s non-verbal communication depicts a total lunatic. He appears to be smiling, but is clearly not very happy. It’s a very menacing half-smile. This kind of smile is seen by The Joker fairly often, but only when he is either inflicting pain on people, or thinking about inflicting pain. His eyes are wide open with a slightly upwards inflection. This look is very typical of The Joker and once again exemplifies how insane this man truly is. His eyes accompany the infamous half smile very well and are the most Joker-esque features of the overall non-verbal communication. Although deadly serious eyes would never be seen on someone with a smile on their face, The Joker executes the look flawlessly. This is because his smile is far more menacing than any other smile, and his eyes are pure evil. His eyes are clearly on the same wavelength as the smile, possibly hiding a wicked and intricate scheme behind them.

The colour pallet Empire have used for this issue are simply the colours that represent The Joker. This is quite typical of Empire, using the same colour scheme as whatever film character they are. 

The masthead title of the magazine ‘Empire’ is a sans serif typeface, which inclines to give it a lot more impact. This appeals to male audience and demonstrates the magazine’s upfront in depth look at exiting new movies, drawing the viewer’s attention into the page and making the title of the magazine memorable. It’s the iconography of Empire’s font typeface that makes it easy to recognize an Empire magazine front cover, as its most likely the first thing the viewers see on the page as its huge , often in red and its memory-triggery. The fact that the masthead is covered up with the head of the main image, the character of joker and the title dark knight being before the masthead highlights its importance and superiority to the title itself.

The strapline reads ‘Meet The Joker’; adding a sense of importance to the joker as he’s the main subject of the issue reinforced with the word ‘The’.This already has its fan base as the joker is a famous villain in the batman series and everyone knows him , so this is a subtle way of bringing insight to the new joker or the villain (which is the topic everyone talks about when a new Batman movie is coming out). But it delivers the right punchy line telling the reader everything they need to know in short about the upcoming feature ‘The Dark Knight’. In addition , the word ‘Meet’ already draws the readers giving them a sense of being exclusive and informing themselves about whose the villain.

The main image probably has the most impact, backed up with the dynamic and serious pose of the Joker – in which he looks very serious, cunning and evil which already give clues about who the joker is for the people who doesn’t know and for those who know, has its audience already as they know that the Joker is evil or cunning. Furthermore, the evil smile and his costumes also sums up the Joker.  Heath Ledger’s Joker is vastly different from the different Joker we have all grown accustom to. He is a much darker, far more insane joker than in any other Batman film. The raw insanity of the joker helped propel The Dark Knight to its status today. On the front cover we can see the worn out lipstick smeared over his face, the black circles around his eyes and the famous green hair. However this Joker’s green hair is far grungier and all these attributes connote the madness inside his head. The make up symbolizes he is hiding a number of things from the world. Moreover universally when people see red it tends to be used as a warning (an obvious example being the red traffic light). The same is true with The Joker, once people see his bright red lipstick they know they are in trouble. The roughly applied lipstick helps add to the utterly insane look. The bright colouring of the red lipstick is said to connote aggression, anger and fear, three attributes that The Joker embodies. Finally the black rings around his eyes emphasize how mysterious and secretive he is, as the colour black connotes a sense of mystery. . In Western countries black is the colour of death, thus making him look for more evil and sinister. The pitch black rings on top of the pale white make up ensure that he is symbolizing death all over the worldBut the way he sits in the middle of the cell implies he means business, which is ironic linking to his name ‘Joker’.The background of the cell looks dark and gloomy which reinforces the genre and themes of the film.

 

You can tell that Empire is more successful and more superior because the empire logo takes up almost half of the page whilst this takes up only the top left corner.  Also the boldness, font and the colours really goes well with the ‘art house’ style.Greyscale or black and white image of Clint Eastwood suggest that it is aimed at a more older audience and his expression implies that the magazine is more serious.Also the magazine often has close-ups and medium shots of characters or stars of films implying its more of a direct approachThe colours red and yellow matches the colours of the logo and its very subtle unlike Empire which has mixture of colours.Simple Serif font highlights the magazines formality and themes

Film Poster Analysis - The Unborn

This poster conforms to the narrative theory of Barthes’ codes, the reason for this is in the poster we can see the girl looking into the mirror and there is a boy looking back at her. There is the enigma code which makes the audience wonder why the boy is there. The poster looks very eerie; there is a tag line which establishes a general idea of film plot. The title suggests that the film is going to feature a child of some kind whilst also providing a indication to the audience what the narrative of the film is.  The colours which are used make the poster look dark, cold and chilling. Instantly the audience will identify that this is not going to be a pleasant film due to harsh tones and frosted glaze on the poster. Tzvetan Todorov’s theory does conform to the poster because there is a sign of disequilibrium which shows there is a disruption/something has happened. Vladimir Propp’s theory of folk tales does not conform to the poster because there is no evidence of who the hero is. Claude Levi Strauss’s opposition’s theory conforms to this poster because there is light vs. dark, male vs. female and good vs. evil.

The generic elements of this poster shows us, the mise-en-scene as the little boy is wearing a shirt, with a jacket over it and he looks almost like a ghostly figure in the girls mirror. This is a clever use of character placement as the audience will instantly feel a sense of fear as people expect to see their own reflection when they look in the mirror. Also, this image could imply that both these characters are connected in some way and that the ghost may be haunting the female in order to survive, hence the slogan.  The girl is wearing her vest top but is in her underwear this shows a sort of sexual attraction towards her. The setting is in the girl’s bathroom, this setting makes it recognisable that it’s a horror film because of the colours that are used, the way the boy’s face is and how she can see his reflection in the mirror. The horror genre is associated with villains and victims, in the poster the villain is the boy and the victim is a girl, who is the main character as this is one of the elements of a horror genre, on the poster we see a girl with her back towards us and she is looking in the mirror this tells the audience that she may be the victim. There is a boy staring back at her. The style of the poster uses a long shot of the girl standing in front of her bathroom mirror, the lighting is low key this goes with the feeling of the poster when the audience look at it. 

The title is in the centre at the bottom of the page, it is in medium font but it does not draw the audience’s attention as the picture takes up most of the right hand side of the page. Plus it has “the” written in the centre of the letter “O” and this is in small font this attracts the readers attention as they would look at the picture first then see the letter “O” and see “the” written inside it then they will know the title of the film, it would either be appealing to them or not appealing.

The different ages that are being represented are young children and teenagers. The reason for this is because there is a little boy and a teenage girl in the poster. The genders that are being represented are both male and female. By looking at this poster we can tell that this is going to be a horror/supernatural film. The ethnicity that is being represented in this poster is young attractive looking girl who has a dark complexion and a reflection of ghostly figure (a boy) who looks pale with dark circles under his eyes.

The target audience for this poster is a larger male audience as the attractive image of a , the reason for this is although there is a little boy in the poster we can tell that it will not be suitable for young children because of the way he is represented as a character. Moreover the girl looks like a teenager so it will attract this age group to go and watch this film. The tag-line is positioned clearly and is also next to image of the character that is portrayed to be evil. Initially the poster suggests it is (the agonist). Its positioning makes the tag-line more from the genre of a horror. It’s obvious, revealing its relevance and importance shown through the images and the relating to the genre. The font used for the tagline is mise-en-scene used. For example serif making it look more ‘old fashioned’ possibly the setting is eerie and the people suggesting it’s more ‘haunting’. The tagline also have certain make-up to portray a cleverly anchors the tile as it relates the word ghostly effect. ‘unborn’ and the word ‘living’. Also included in this is the word ‘Evil’, this may catch the audience’s There are no obvious actor’s names attention and appeal to certain people. on this poster, suggesting they aren’t very well known. 

 The image reinforces for the actor’s names to show their the genre of a horror as introduction to the film business. we can see the main Furthermore, the fact they have characters face showing chosen not to show the actor’s fear as she looks into names this suggests the movie is the mirror at a ghostly based on the storyline, therefore image of a boy promoted by this and appealing to setting of the image audiences looking for this. along with the character’s costume The atmosphere of the poster suggests the event is suggests that the target audience unexpected. would be of the age of 18, this is emphasised by the ‘horror’ genre The title suggests the images e.g. the boys ghostly face movie genre is a horror. It gives the the poster’s design is appropriate audience an for the genre as the props used and impression that the rooms design are supposed to movie is fictional look dated and ‘old fashioned’, anchoring the fonts they’ve used The font has been along with other elements displayed edited to reveal a e.g. the scratched effects and the sinister atmosphere, The distributors label is presented on the poster fogged mirror emphasising on the which may be beneficial and promote the movie genre suggestion. They further as some people might recognise this and have chosen to use a wish to see the movie as they know of their ghostly font with a reputation with possible successful movies, white glow to help the continuity of genre yet again.

Film Poster Analysis - Prom Night

 Analysis of a Horror Film Poster I have chosen to analyse the film poster for the horror film ‘Prom Night’. I was attracted to this poster because it is simple yet really effective. There are a lot of mise-en-scene elements, such as props, that instantly connote to the target audience that this is a horror film. The target audience for this film are teenagers and young adults because the title shows that it contains characters of the same age and events that they may have or will experience, for example, a prom. Firstly, there are only 4 noticeable colours of red, white, grey and black in the poster. This makes the poster more effective because bright and colourful elements do not draw the target audiences attention away from the raw image. The colour palette is another signal of the horror genre to the target audience because it is very dark and therefore the audience has a sense of not seeing the whole picture in its true light. 

The title is in red which has connotations of blood, passion and evil. The colouring makes the title stand out against the dark setting without stealing the focus from the main picture because it is neatly sized and in a basic font. The edges of the writing blur into the picture which gives a sense that the writing is glowing or it is written in blood which is now dripping down. This once again establishes the genre to the target audience by implying that violence and harm will be inflicted upon the victims such as the character on the poster. The tiara is one of the main focuses of the poster and is cleverly used as the glamour is juxtaposed with fear. It is a stereotypical element of a high school prom which reinforces the setting of the title. The placement of the tiara on the characters head as well as the untidiness of the hair suggests that she is distressed and has been involved in some sort of violent struggle as the prop has become displaced and her hair (which would look professional at a prom) is messy. The headpiece covers the character’s eyes which makes the target audience focus on her mouth and the connotations of fear that are associated with this expression. 

This expression is the other main focus of the poster as it portrays pure terror and fear. These 2 elements are common to horror films and therefore this factor of the poster displays the genre to the target audience. The mouth takes up around one third of the poster which highlights the importance and presence of the fear that will surround events in the movie. Also, the size of the picture represents the size of the scream which this expression would cause and thus involves the target audience as they imagine the noise this would make when they see the poster. 

The poster has a worn and damaged look to it. This reflects the possible struggle that the character in the poster has experienced. It also means that the poster doesn’t have a glossy effect to it. This once again mirrors the action that is suggested in the film as a prom suggests gloss and grace but here this is obviously not the case. The target audience would have to watch the film to see why this elegance has been disrupted. 

The tagline of ‘A NIGHT TO DIE FOR’ is a play on words as it is a phrase generally used by the target audience but in this context the word ‘die’ suggests that this will actually happen in the film. The tagline is placed under the title so it is the second thing the target audience reads after the name of the production. The text fits in with the colour palette as it is in white and this also helps it to stand out from the main title as well as the background. At the very bottom of the poster is an indication of the release date. This is obviously a teaser poster as the specific date is not stated. This tactic of teaser elements captures the target audience’s interest and curiosity in the film from an early stage and also involves them in the distribution process as they are forced to look out for the exact dates of the release. Under the indication of release, the official website for the film is shown. This is some of the smallest text on the poster so it does not steal attention away from any of the bigger factors such as the film’s title or the posters picture. The official website is included because people who are interested in the film can go on there to find out more about information, such as the official release date as well as being able to view teaser trailers . 

At the bottom right-hand corner of the poster is the logo of the company that produced the film which in this case is ‘Screen Gems’. The production logo is displayed because it wants to receive recognition if the film does well plus the fact that some people are attracted to the film because a certain company has been involved in it’s production. In the bottom left-hand corner there are a few details about people involved in production. This is the smallest writing on the poster because it is only a teaser poster and therefore this information is not as important as when the film is officially released because its purpose is just to create interest in it. The function of these details are to inform the audience of who was involved in the production and thus give credit to them. In the official poster the credits are much more detailed and at the bottom, underneath the tagline and title.
10. There are obviously no big celebrities in this film as their names have not been used as a main focus to attract the target audience. If the poster were to contain celebrity names for the ‘star factor’, they would stereotypically be at the top of the poster as it is where the audience’s eyes would be drawn to. This film has followed the conventions of the horror genre as the victim is female. Females are often chosen as victims in horror as they are classed as weaker than men and therefore they are more vulnerable to the actions of the villain.
 

Film Poster Analysis - Drag Me To Hell

I have decided to analyse this poster because it involves an element of the supernatural which establishes to the target audience the kind of villain that is in the film. The poster conveys the horror and pain that can be expected in the film in a simple yet effective way. It is clear from the poster that the character shown is the victim. The film has followed the stereotypical horror convention of having a female victim as they are seen as weaker than men and therefore defenceless against the villain. Her facial expression coveys pain, like the hands are torturing her and also a sense that she is possessed. These elements attract the target audience of a horror film because some of the most iconic horror films, such as ‘The Exorcist’, include elements of the paranormal. The mise-en-scene, such as the costume, hair and make up, of the character suggests that she is an average person. This makes the film even more scary because members of the target audience can imagine themselves in this position. 

 
The hands are the element that tells the target audience that the villain in this film is something supernatural because they appear mummified and inhuman. They are grabbing at the female victim and pulling her down into the fire, an element that connotates hell and the devil. This element combined with the hands reinforces the title as it appears they are dragging her down to hell. The orange and red tones of the fire are a contrast to the other dark colours and therefore the fire becomes one of the main focuses of the poster. This is done purposely so that the symbols and connotations associated with fire also become a main focus of the poster as well.
 

 The setting in the background is an average suburban home which once again heightens the target audience’s fear as it is another reminder of how average the victim is. This means that the audience can relate to this character and thus they become more involved in her situation and feel more empathy for her. The house is surrounded by darkness which suggests that it is the victims house as darkness signifies evil and the unknown that is lurking which you cannot see the. The presence of the setting in the poster as well as the minimal lighting in the house combined with the dark and gloomy weather surrounding it, hints that something bad may happen there.
 

The tagline reads ‘Christine Brown has a good job, a great boyfriend, and a bright future. But in three days, she’s going to hell.’ This is a hook for the target audience because it already supplies them with lots of questions such as ‘Why is she going to hell?’. This also informs the audience of the character’s name and in turn, the audience is becomes more involved as they are beginning to find out more about her just by the poster. The title font is very simple as not to steal attention from the main image but it still stands out because it is all in capitals and the white stands out against the fire in the background.  

The credit block is at the bottom and is the last element of the poster that the target audience looks at because it is in the smallest font and blends into the background. The credit block acknowledges the cast and crew involved in the production so the target audience can see whether a reputable actor or director etc are involved with the film. This is a teaser poster as it says ‘coming soon’ rather than stating an official release date. This indicates that the audience will have to be proactive to find out more information about the film and look out for more information or media, such as official posters and trailers, of the film. The names of the production and distribution companies are shown so that they can stake their claim in the films revenue as well as advertise their company on the official media products. The official website for the film is stated under the credit block. This is so that the film can generate more interest through other media technologies.
 

Film Trailer analysis - Grave Encounters

Grave Encounters is a supernatural horror film shot in the found footage style where it is recorded by a video camera in a first person point of view as made famous by The Blair Witch Project. The crew of "Grave Encounters", a ghost-hunting reality television show, are shooting an episode inside the abandoned Psychiatric Hospital, where the show host, Lance, takes the crew for investigation of the unexplained phenomena that has been reported for years. Accompanied with him are Sasha, a supernatural expert, Camera Man "T.C.", a technical expert named Matt, and a psychic named Houston. At first, while filming an introduction before the lock down, Lance is skeptical of the existence of ghosts and even bribes the gardener into claiming on film about supernatural occurrences.

The name of the film appears quite near the end of the trailer because the trailer features a lot of text instead of a voice over meaning the trailer doesn't appear too text-heavy. By showing the audience the film's title at the end of the trailer it creates a sustained memory of the footage they have just seen.

The typography, effects and colour used in the title are evocative of ghosts (bright and glowing), suggesting as well as the language -'grave' has connotations of death- that the film's plot involves the characters meeting with the ghosts. The word encounters is enlarged indicating that the movie's focus is on the conflict between ghosts and humans. As it is a low budget independent film, the trailer does not mention the actors but it does include information about the production team, expanding on its ‘caught in the moment’ style of filming. The name 'The Vicious Brothers' indicates that the director and writers of the film specialise in the horror genre. 

Infra red/night vision/low key lighting Cinematography enhances spine-chilling mood and somehow. Medium close up shot of actress allows for a enables the shot to look realistic yet still more sinister and intense atmosphere dramatic . Actress is positioned in the middle of frame, •almost all the scenes are filled with greys, makes the audience focus entirely on her beiges, and other neutrals colours. No use of transition methods, taken in one murky , supernatural atmosphere shot , fast paced– increases audiences horrified. Depressed, low ambience achieved reaction to 3rd shot as suspense is not gradually. The gloomy colour and lighting is perfectly Sound associated with the horror genre. Dialogue between characters increases highlights the importance of the character realism within the frame by drawing the audiences Diegetic sound of actress screaming - such a attention towards her even though there is shrilling and horrifying sound makes the not a bright light source. viewer jump. Connotations of the lighting and colours  followed by low background and ambient sounds which give depth to the scene gives the scene atmosphere Editing Mise-en-scene. Back turned to the audience builds gradual image taken in one shot- purpose of this was tension to fully intensify the scene. Actresses hair is tangled and un-brushed, This fast paced editing also allows for a white dressing gown is dirty suggests she will bigger reaction/impact from the audience be unruly and untamed, before she even Emphasises the action od the trailer and turns around. works well with the horror genre. Facial expression when actress turns around is alarming yet strangely innocent, direct eye Special Effects contact with camera therefore direct eye 3rd screen shot of actors eyes and mouth contact with audience amplifies terror. blackening shocks the audience- unexpected • Chilling hand gestures – fingers curled and awful thus adding immensely to the •Bathroom setting –this choice of setting horror, could even be the climatic point of gives a claustrophobic feel, drawing viewers the trailer. more deeply into the horror.

Diegetic sounds throughout each scene, dialogue between characters gives the audience a brief Cinematography overview of the narrative before any action occurs. Dialogue between characters gives wide frame audience an insight into the dilemma of the film.  Over the shoulder close up shot of light whistling wind as old lady speaks , old lady, hooded man positioned slightly cut out creates a supernatural eerie aura. of the shot. Simulates the view of the lady as Ddrect dialogue with camera, eye contact seen from the mans eyes makes viewer believe they are being spoken directly •3rd image: main character placed in the middle to. of the shot to enable focus solely on him, could Mise-en-scene even be a point of view shot. Actors and actress wearing predominantly dark, Lighting&Colour dull colours mainly black- this advocates a High-key /natural lighting in 1st and 3rd image - gloomy aura and viewer will immediately recognise shot in the daytime. This makes the beginning what genre it is. of the trailer appear realistic and connotes ideas •Stern facial expressions of the characters, no smiling of normality before the trailer transcends into or indications of happiness to specify anything but a the supernatural and spooky. This technique is horror film. typical of the horror genre. 1st image of character in a dark hallway, streaks of .The lighting in the 1st and 3rd shot also creates sunlight coming through, a lot of shadows creating a relatively calm and stable mood . miserable atmosphere. 2nd image is still set in the daytime, however as image set in a graveyard, typical horror genre nd the trailer begins to deepen the lighting has setting, typical frail lady foreshadowing gloomy become slightly darker enabling more shadows Image set outside the main setting of the plot rd to appear and creating a paranormal (psychiatric hospital), main character introducing atmosphere. audience to the plot of the film. Although it is possible that the lighting could Editing be artificial and the shadows could have been. Each shot lasts for about 2-3 seconds generating a edited in the 2st image fast paced trailer. The choice of high key lighting in the 1st and 3rd Uses the most common of transition– simple cut image highlights the important characters Abrupt cuts to move the narrative forward and within the frame by drawing the audiences emphasise the action. attention towards who is in the light source. Each image replaces the other immediately making the scenes more abrupt, giving that ‘shock factor’

During these images there is a image of trees, tall big voiceover explaining the setting of haunted buildings, clouds Cinematography the film and the characters who gathering, daylight. A crane long shot previously inhabited in it. transcending into night-time of the building at the .This provides the viewer with typical horror genre beginning of trailer, in information that the moving images techniques. order to establish setting in itself would not clarify. forlorn rooms, peeling paint, and location. .Diegetic sounds in the 3 rd image of and decaying structure are 2nd and 3rd image are actor howling and scratching the paramount in this production establishing shots with a wide walls. The derelict turned over frame to denote the context Editing bath tubs makes it more for the scene by showing the Cutaway shot haunted, suggests presence of relationship between ‘Grave Each shot last for around 3-4 a n unseen character. Encounters’ important figures seconds 3rd image: writings on the wall, and objects. The speed of editing single bed, actor scratching at Lighting & Colour contextualizes the trailer cleverly the walls; indications to the blue-grey tones and harsh giving the audience historical and audience of madness. Also the shadows synchronized with the fact that the actor is not locational information . tortured , haunting themes. wearing any clothes intrigues The slower speed of these Use of infra red lighting images gradually builds up the the viewer, placing a lot of spotlight in 3rd shot allows action rather than emphasising it. questions in their mind. audience to focus solely on Cross-fades from one image to actor, setting and the writings the next on the wall . Low lighting dramatizes the accurate description of the setting scene making it more spooky of the film, whilst the viewer Lighting and colour used reads this the clouds are moving associates well with the genre. rapidly suggesting shifts in time. Highlights important objects. Caption in 3rd image denotes within the frame by drawing the “archival footage 1932-1949”, audiences attention towards giving historical pretext sets a them more lifelike yet thrilling tone. Colour creates a ghostly mood and contributes to the narrative which usually have connotations of supernaturalism 

 1st image at the very beginning of the trailer is the institution that produced the film, viewer may already be familiar with company and their previous works therefore encourages them to go and watch the film. As the text glows the letters slowly disappears creating a sinister mood before any images have been shown.• Slow transitions of text, allures the viewer, each caption lasting for around 2 seconds. Black background - very typical colour convention of a horror trailer dark, gloomy colour to create a sense of mystery and suspense. white Adobe Garamond Pro font , simplistic not anything to stand out or deter viewers from the action of the trailer. Diegetic sounds ; woman weeping throughout the slow transitions of the credits , this keeps the viewer engaged even when taglines are being shown, tells the reader that there is a lot more to come if they watch the actual film. At the very end there are a series of a high pitched, shrilling screams leaving an impact on the viewer as it is unanticipated, gives the shock factor that a horror genre is renown for. 
 

However variation is employed as well. The trailer doesn't include a release date and it doesn't feature all of the visual identifiers of a horror film (such as props and costume) because it is not marketed as a normal horror feature with conflict resolution. Instead the premise of the film is that it is a 'film-within-a-film' about ghost hunting. The concept is postmodern and quite novel so the audience would expect the trailer not to adhere to all the horror film conventions. In my own horror film trailer, I would be careful to use a mix of conventions and variations because the interested viewer could not find out when the film comes out on DVD or in cinemas by watching this trailer. Although it's a limited release movie, it could diminish a potential audience's interest in the film.

The type of action from the film presented to the audience emphasises that it is a horror film. At first it is less scary because the plot is being introduced but towards the end the images become quite graphic. The trailer indicates that the film's USP is that it has a strong plot as well as the type of action horror fans would expect. The contrapunctual change that takes place in the middle of the clip (where it becomes about making the programme about the hospital) is signified by the different style of text. The soundtrack of the trailer is a mixture of a pulsating beat to mirror the build-up of momentum and a high pitched drone sound is more typical of a horror film score, enhancing the eeriness of the action. Instead of a voice-over, dialogue is used from the actual film so it helps to establish familiarity with the character when the audience sees the film. We can also infer that the man narrating is the film's protagonist so when the trailer begins to show the scarier moments of the film we begin to sympathise with the character. The voice used creates a serious tone initially yet shifts to a more frightened tone to generate excitement within the audience.
The action shown in the trailer is initially shown at the same pace of a clip in the film and as the trailer goes on, the clip lengths become shorter and shorter leading to a slightly longer clip at the 'climax'. The shifting pace mirrors the use of sound effects, keeping the viewer engaged with everything going on all at once.

The last frames of the trailer are the title, the credits for the film and its website. The production notes emphasise that it is going to be a scary film; the writer and director's name ('The Vicious brothers') lead the audience to expect this. Unusually there is no release date for the film which would help build up anticipation for it.

cinema at a late time before a film aimed at a teenage or older audience because of some of the images that appear in it. Likewise, on television it would probably be shown after family viewing hours to make sure it only reaches its intended target audience. Also, horror and thriller films are shown on TV during the late hours so it could potentially be reaching fans of those genres likely to see this film.

Film Trailer Analysis - Paranormal Activity 3

  

Paranormal Activity 3 is a supernatural horror film it is the third film of the Paranormal Activity series and serves as a prequel; set 18 years prior to the events of the first two films, released October 2011 and produced by Oren Peli.

A brief synopsis about the film is that in 1998 a young Katie and Kristi live with their mother, Julie, and her boyfriend, Dennis, Kristi begins interacting with an invisible friend named Toby. Dennis notices that since Kristi's friend appeared, strange things have been happening in the house. Dennis and Julie try to make a sex tape, but are interrupted by an earthquake. While they look for the girls, the camera shows dust fall from the ceiling and land onto an invisible figure in the room from this stage onwards many ghost and spirits begin to cause issues.

The teaser opens up with a technical TV connection problem to give us that sense of reality feeling more than fiction feel which makes the audience straight away view this movie as a type of reality scene where we should believe anything happening after the misconnection is real footage, a wide shot is then shown of Katie and Daniel wife Julie playing in the garden, the format of the camera is set as real life footage were we can identify the time and date this took place (Sept 03 1998 at 1:05:05) this denotation is again trying to stress that this is reality. A camera faulty transition is then used to cut to Katie showing a wide angle shot of her playing on the trampoline with Kristie watching, whilst the camera zooms in to Katie as Daniel is asking Katie to wave into the camera another camera faulty transition is used to cut to a medium close up of a female in in a room with Low-key lighting as the room has no type of high key lighting to create that cold darkness feel, to help push effect there’s a female shown rapidly moving towards the camera with a non-diegetic dramatic sound  effect. The quick change between the scenes from a family enjoying themselves out in the garden to a horrific looking woman in a dark room tells audience that they should be expecting some type of conflict, fans from the previous sequel would be able to relate to this.

The following shot is a close up of Kristie who looks like a troubled little girl compared to the normal Katie just by Kristie’s non-verbal communication, when Daniel asked her to also wave at the camera the audience straight away get a different feel from her as she looks at the camera in a type of shy mysterious looking way whilst smirking.

Another transition puts the audience back into this setting of the dark low key lighting house but this time it’s in a different room, a high angle shot Is used to show two people in this room of darkness walking until an invisible supernatural force drags them both across the floor into the same direction, a hard sound effect of like a gunshot is used for the match on action of the force. Still at this stage of the trailer the evil force stays unknown.

This trailer is put in an non-linear order as the audience is left in a state where they don’t know what’s coming next leaving them on the edge of their seats, as the next scene begins the pacing of the trailer starts to increase, the transitions and camera cuts pace increases to connoting that something big is about to happen as this is all taking place we hear two of voices which say “ what ever happened to us when we were little” another voice says “ I don’t remember anything” this  suggest that these two girls may have been the cause of the bad spirits leaving the audience wanting to know what happened in the past. As all this is taking place the background music starts build up and change the mood.

The rapid cuts start to show scenes of the past and present suggesting that it’s leading up to something, this theme has been common through this trailer the use of pace to demonstrate the activities that are going to take place is used a lot in this trailer. 

After the fast cuts it gets to a scene were everything slows down then a big part of the movie is put in the trailer were the two young girls Katie and Kristie are in a wide angle shot in the bathroom looking in the mirror, they turn of the light and chant “bloody Mary” three times but on the third chant non-diegetic sound is used to build up suspense making us think something may happen after the third chant, but Katie uses a prop to kill that suspense as she uses a torch light to scare Kristie leaving the audience thinking that’s the moral of that situation until they run of the bathroom the audience notice that a faint figure is there in the back of the bathroom standing there.

To conclude, after analyzing the elements that make a teaser trailer, based on what I’ve seen I’ve noticed that editing and sound and also camera angles are the most important factors of a good trailer the characters aren’t what make up a good trailer, the choice of sound has to match with the overall visual of what’s being seen, the camera shot has to be in the most relevant place so that we can be able to connect with it, editing has to be perfected so that we don’t see any faults. Also a teaser trailer shouldn’t give away the movie as it’s only made make audience what to watch more so this has to be thought in detail.

Film Trailer Analysis - The Devil Inside

 The film ‘The Devil Inside’ is about Paranormal Activity and was inspired by the release of Paranormal Activity 3 the film which was released in October 21st 2011 the comparison between both films is that they both contain a supernatural factor used to scare the targeted audience with religion, demons and ghosts which the film Paranormal Activity 3 also has.
 A summary of the plot is in 1989, emergency responders received a 9-1-1 call from Maria Rossi confessing that she had brutally killed three people. 20 years later, her daughter Isabella seeks to understand the truth about what happened that night. She travels to the Centrino Hospital for the Criminally Insane in Italy where her mother has been locked away to determine if her mother is mentally ill or demonically possessed. When she recruits two young exorcists to cure her mother using unconventional methods combining both science and religion, they come face-to-face with pure evil in the form of four powerful demons possessing Maria.

The trailer opens with an unconventional opening having text displayed on the screen showing the information recorded by the police of a 9-1-1 call made by a woman saying she has killed 3 people and also saying that the phone call was real, showing a brief but disturbing scene, telling the audience that this film is a record of real events scaring them to believe that supernatural beings are real. The use of sound in the beginning scene connotes a disturbing and unnatural feel. The diegetic sound in the scene where the characters are speaking creates a realistic feel which helps the film seem more realistic. When the woman speaks, her voice sounds like she is possessed which ties in with the films theme of paranormal activity. Then at the end the phone call hangs up, the use of diegetic sound helps the audience realise that something strange is occuring.

As soon as the scene ends there is some footage of women on the floor in an unnatural position in black and white and from this it can put the audience in a uneasy position as the camera shot was a quick flash making only visible for less than a second and also adding that the clip could have been an extract from real footage leaving the audiences minds to wander. As soon as the fade begins non- diegetic sound play e.g. eerie music plays through the shots. The music played suits the horror genre as it creates an uneasy atmosphere by playing music that’s at a slow pace which is also very eerie. Allowing the audience to wander when something will happen and also allowing the music to speed up when something happens in a rush or something terrifying happens.

Then the next shot is introduced with a fade in with diegetic sound of the main character narrating about her mother while being shot in a noddy shot with 3 characters listening to the women explain her story creating an intense atmosphere. Then cuts quickly to a close up of the female main character introducing her and showing how she relates to the story. Then quick cuts to a medium shot of a male priest, representing good over evil showing the priest religious authority in the film by the way he is posing in the shot.

Following a news broadcast of the women’s mum who killed 3 people being taken away in a police car. This is showing that the events did happen allowing the audience to thing what was wrong with her? And why did she do it? To question the film making the audience more scared of what is to come.

Then the next two following shots are of the priest and one of the other characters in a close up shot showing the expressions on their faces showing how worried they actually are after the women says the word “exorcism”, reflecting on how the audience should be feeling as well the director has done this to show how serious the subject is and wants the audience to feel the same way the characters feel in the film as they don’t know what will happen either. After the shots a picture of the women appears showing the audience who she is and what she looks like and then the camera zooms in to the picture which could have meaning, by zooming in to the picture it could mean that the director is trying to get the audience to raise questions about this women creating more of a mystery.

The scene in the trailer is of the women traveling to the mental hospital within Rome. The director demonstrates this is through a number of shots like establishing shot showing the buildings where the hospital is. Also showing the environment on a dull day with white cloudy day was done on purpose by the director because he wanting to show that something bad could happen as not many people were out. The next shot was a medium shot of the women walking to the hospital and the expression on her face showed that she was worried and scared and this means that she doesn’t know what she is to expect and if she goes she don’t know what will happen.

The next following shots are of the women within the cell where her mother is contained and this where her mother screams in the daughters face randomly. The first shot is of the women and the doctor in a white hall way and the reason why the colour white is repetitive is because of colour connotation because the colour white would connote madness that’s why all films use white rooms in mental hospitals. The next shot is shown through the security camera as soon as the women enters the cell showing that her mother can be potentially dangerous so they need to watch what happens. The next shot is a close up of the women’s mums arm showing the cuts, showing the audience that there is something wrong with women’s mum and that there is a reason why she is in a mental unit.  Then a quick cut to a close up of the women’s lip is shown where a cross has been carved into her lip showing that the problem she has, has to be with religion and this ties in with the theme of the film.  Then the next two shots show the mum calling her daughter towards her then with a close up of the mum and partly the women’s face the mum screams unnaturally in her face showing that the mum has been possessed by demons. Then the through the use of editing quick cuts have been used and sound effects are used in the next shots through the use of the security camera so it allows you to see everything in the room , how everyone is panicking and the abnormal behaviour of the mother. Through all of these shots put together you see that the director wants you to believe that it’s not an illness she has but something possessing her by the use of makeup and props like the cuts of crosses meaning that it has something to do with religion which then could lead on to her trying to protect herself from demons and also through the random drawings on her wall as well.

The next scene they decide to take the women to see a real exorcism looks like. The first shot is a wide shot allowing to capture most of the footage in the room showing the people revealing what is under the covers showing that have something that is so disturbing that had to hide it. The next shot is of a girl with a body in a unnatural and impossible position to be in and the reason she is like this to show that this girl is not normal and is possessed by some spiritual being and the idea was taken from the film ‘The Last Exorcism’ because in the film the girl who possessed is able to bend and break her body parts to be in weird positions.

The lighting in this room is low key the reason why the director would need low key lighting is so he can have a main focus point and also to hide things within the dark to have things pop out creating a more scarier experience for the audience. The next shots are close ups of movement of body parts and put together using quick cuts in the editing to create a fast pace to make the scene more horrifying for the audience.

Then the following shot is of the girl levitating and being bent by some supernatural force shot at a low angle to show it from a better angle so you the pain that is being caused but as this happens the screen starts to fuzz and this is through the editing used and used so the audience can see something else is in the room causing the problem e.g. demons/ ghosts. The next 5 shots are close ups of each characters face to obtain the emotion of what the characters are feeling while the priest spoke through the 5 shots using a voice over. Having the priest say ‘I am sorry Isabella’ suggests to the audience that there is nothing they can do to help her.

Then follows a series of shots showing the people being attacked by a spiritual being and by having the shots editing so they are quick cuts it creates a more effective and dramatic scare effect to scare the audience as it loud sounds to make the audience jump. Also during the series of shots the mother sings the children’s song the ‘itsy bitys spider’ and one shot zooms straight to a close up of the daughters face showing that it has meaning to her as the expressions on her face was shocked. The reason why I think he chose a that child song is to show that there still may be a connection with the mother but the demon is singing it to trick the people but ends up hurting them anyway.

In the final shot of the trailer it’s a close up of the daughter holding her mother close to her face saying ‘Let my mother go’  and the mother says ‘you’ll die’. The meaning of this shot is to show the affection she has for her mother and wants the demon to leave her but when the mother says ‘you’ll die’ this says that in the end she will die meaning that death is inevitable. Before the end one final medium shot is shown with the mum eyes closed then quickly cuts to a shot firing one other characters to the wall and the reason for this is so it ties in with the horror genre as the use of the sound effects and good editing will make the audience jump . The mother face in the trailer was really pale the use of make-up to do this was done because they wanted her to been seen as sick, unhealthy and not clean.

Overall the trailer was shot with a hand held camera to give a more rugged and documentary feel to the film since it was inspired by paranormal activity 3. The reason why is because I think the idea was to make the film look like a documentary of real life moments trying to prove that demons and spiritual beings are real.