Horror trailer analysis

Christelle Elwin
Jessabelle
In the early part of the trailer we are shown Jessabelle
being pushed in a wheelchair up a ramp and a fade to black
before she reaches the top. This was done to represent that
for Jessabelle life is going to be an uphill battle from here as
she was fatally injured in a car accident crippling her.
All the females in this film have been dressed in flowy or
flowery dresses the classic representation of women as
they are normally seen as soft and weak.
Throughout the entire trailer Jessabelle is portrayed as
handicap and always in need of assistance. This looks at
John Bergers theory of women act and men appear. It also
looks at Jessabelle being the damsel in distress especially
when in one part of the trailer she is being carried like a
baby by her uncle in the rain. This obscured image of a
forest is done
intentionally to make you
feel disorientated in order
to make you feel scared.
The trailer opens with the sound of a phone ringing to show
the characters isolation followed by eerie music (soft
playing of the piano) and continues with the angelic chant
of a choir after we are shown a flashback to Jessabelles
boyfriends death. This was done in order to show that he
has passed on into another life but that evil is soon about to
consume Jessabelles life. The diegetic sound of talking is
then input to explain the story to the viewers.
There is a lot of sound of interference throughout the trailer
after we are shown Jessabelle putting the tape of her dead
mother into the tape recorder. This is done to keep the theme of
the film as the evil all starts from the video tape and that is also
when the trailer begins to evil things happening to Jessabelle.
There is a high angle shot of
Jessabelle on the phone
making her look like a little
girl, vulnerable and weak as
she is made to look like
throughout the trailer with
low angle shots on all the
men in the trailer.
The trailer seems to have a dark or blue filter after the horror
starts to take place in order to make the film appear cold and give
it a more chilling effect.
There are many fade to blacks throughout the trailer after
Jessabelle moves into the house almost as though something is
watching Jessabelle, blinking.
There is a motivated cut to the mom (sic) when the
father says The thing on those tapes is not your
mother, however this time a close up of
Jessabelles mother shows her as a frightening
creature. This again shows the men in this film as
being correct and therefore being in control.
This film keeps to the generic conventions of the horror genre as the horror takes place in an isolated house by a lake. Its
target audience is teenagers, young adults and fans of horror flicks.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoBCEdt_B
C8
Perfect Sisters
The play opens with upbeat guitar music as we are shown the car the
main characters are in driving, before the diegetic sound of the
mother talking takes place. The filter being used to film is at first
bright but then becomes dark as the mood changes in the trailer after
the mother says I lost my job.
The editor has used plain a plain font to write based on a true story to represent how life is plain .
The music changes from upbeat to slower music in order to create suspense after the
mother says I lost my job, and that is the turning point of the trailer also, as from that
point the trailer begins to show horror such as abuse, glasses being smashed and general
chaos.
The meaningless scenes in
the trailer that are there to
show the sisterly
connection are sped up,
because they are less
important but sort of set
the mood of the film of the
tight bond these sisters
have, which is probably why
they were able to plot to kill
their mother together.
Pans and master shots are used to show the suburban
location of the house the sisters live in. This location is
shown because suburban neighbourhoods are usually seen
as quiet and a good place to raise children, but the film acts
as a juxtaposition because it displays all the chaos and evil
that can take place in a supposedly lovely neighbourhood.
We are shown the reflection of the sisters in a mirror as at
this time they are trying to make an impression on their
first day of school. Therefore this was done as
representation in order to show their untrue surface
personalities of what they want people to see.
Perfect Sisters
Many two shots shown quickly follow the sentence I lost my job, ending with a single shot of Abigail Breslin screaming
Im so tired of her dragging us down right before a shot where the sisters mother drops her head on a steering wheel
in what looks like fatigue. This is shown with rule of thirds as Breslin and her mother are put on the left-hand side of the
screen representing that the mother is really dragging her down. The quick two-shots ended with the shot of Breslin
screaming Im so tired of her dragging us down, is done to foreshadow the death of her mother, showing that one of
the sisters has actually done something about the mother.
Mise en scene of black
gothic make-up is used to
show actress Georgie
Henley as the more evil
sister. Evidence that this
sister is more evil is shown
with the trailers ending of
just Henley sitting in the
classroom centre frame
which could indicate that
she may have killed her own
sister as well her mother.
The main target audience of this film are horror lovers and those who love mysteries. Also
this film is probably targeting teenagers or those still in school.
This film goes against generic conventions because it has 2 main leads, instead of one main
character that the story focuses on. This means we get two point of views.
The film touches on Dick Hebdidges theory of subculture, because the film looks at 2 girls
wanting to belong to a group or subculture (popular and emo) on their first day of school.
The film also touches on Giddens' traditional theory because the film goes against the
traditional norms of having a male in the lead part.
Creepy sounds that match the sounds of whispering accompanies the last
part of the trailer as the gothic sister (Henley) directly addresses the
audience with her eyes. This may have been done to represent the
madness of this sister and how she may hear voices in her head, or the
voices of the people who may have pushed her to kill. Also the whispers
could be of the people she has killed.