Media Language Investigation

By Danielle Kibble

I will be analyzing 3 trailers of the horror genre within the following slides, these trailers are:

The Ring

House at the End of the Street

The Chernobyl Diaries

I will analyse the cinematography, mise-en-scene, editing and sound within each of these horror film

trailers.

The RingSound:

The voice of the person saying the voiceover sounds like a creepy little girl which parallels the creepy little girl in the film, so it almost makes you think that she is the one speaking and telling her own story.

Tape noises which coincides with the footage of a fuzzy tape which also goes along with the story.

It changes from a voiceover and the actual speech in the film. The voiceover tells the story/plot in the film without it giving away too much information like the ending of the film.

Creepy music which portrays the mood of the film.

Screaming which is typically used in horror films and the trailers.

The Ring

Editing:

There are a lot of small takes which mean that you get snippets of key scenes within the film which would then interest a potential viewer of the film.

Editing is used to create things such as the opening of the well to then create the logo for the film, and certain scenes in the film which would make them seem more realistic.

Near the end of the trailer there are a lot of small takes meaning that a lot of different images and scenes are shown which show you other action which happens between the previous scenes and the ending.

The RingCinematography:

The logo of the film is frequently shown and referred back to. It’s of a worms eye view of someone looking up in a well to reveal and ring of light where the light is coming through from the top of the well. This is important to the film and is a key element. (Screenshot 1)

Close up/reaction shots of the characters reaction to when they find out that it is real which creates tension. (Screenshot 2)

Establishing shots of key locations. (Screenshot 3)

Close up of key objects which are important to the storyline. (Screenshots 4&5)

Screenshot 2

Screenshot 3

Screenshot 6

Screenshot 4

Screenshot 5

Screenshot 1

Tape/TV static which go along with the storyline. (Screenshot 6)

Handheld Camera as it shakes around.

The Ring

Mise-en-scene

Different locations to show where the characters are and key places in the film.

Dark lighting/blue toned lighting to convey the dark theme within the film.

Props including telephones, tapes and drawings which are key and essential.

Their costume shows their surroundings e.g. normal clothes=normal people, white gown=mental hospital.

House at the End of the Street

Sound:

Scary music which appears in short bursts to create and build tension.

Dialogue and speech from the actual film from the characters as they almost tell the story.

Screaming which portrays that this is a horror film and is normally included in trailers.

House at the End of the Street

Editing:

Small takes which cut to black to only reveal small snippets of action at one time.

Realistic effects like making someone look creepier and to alter things including the lights and the writing which appears in between certain snippets.

Near the end of the trailer there are a lot of small takes meaning that a lot of different images and scenes are shown which show you other action which happens between the previous scenes and the ending.

Certain shots are repeated and reversed constantly throughout the trailer.

House at the End of the Street

Cinematography:

Reaction shots & close ups so that the viewer can see that something bad is going to happen in the film by the reaction. (Screenshot 1)

Handheld camera as it shakes around during certain scenes.

Close up of key props so that we know it is an important object to the storyline. (Screenshot 2)

Writing which tells you the storyline of the film in short sentences. It is on a background which is a torn wall in a house with blood and handprints on to make it look eerie and scary. (Screenshot 3)

Screenshot 1

Screenshot 4

Screenshot 2

Screenshot 3

Screenshot 5

Establishing/location shots to show the viewer where the action takes place. (Screenshot 4&5)

House at the End of the Street

Mise-en-scene

Different locations to show where the characters are and key places in the film.

Dark lighting/warm toned lighting to convey the dark theme within the film.

Props including knives, cars and specific rooms which are key and essential.

Their costume depicts their characters e.g. normal=normal(seemingly)people.

The Chernobyl Diaries:

Sound:

Static noises which go along with the reader which tells you the amount of static.

Music which builds and gets louder to build tension which contrasts the happy music at the beginning of the film as you can see that these are normal people wanting to do something different and fun.

Dialogue and speech from the actual film from the characters as they almost tell the story.

Screaming which portrays that this is a horror film and is normally included in trailers.

Radar sounds from during the war when the news report plays.

Voiceovers of both actors in the film and from the news report about the disaster.

The Chernobyl Diaries:

Editing:

Small takes which cut to black to only reveal small snippets of action at one time.

Realistic effects like making someone look creepier and to alter things including the lights and the writing which appears in between certain snippets.

Near the end of the trailer there are a lot of small takes meaning that a lot of different images and scenes are shown which show you other action which happens between the previous scenes and the ending.

Flashbacks of news report to make the audience familiar to what happened in Chernobyl if they didn’t know already, otherwise they wouldn’t understand the storyline.

Fade to black at the end of most individual cut.

The Chernobyl DiariesCinematography:

Reaction shots & close ups so that the viewer can see that something bad is going to happen in the film by the reaction. (Screenshot 1)

Handheld camera as it shakes around during certain scenes.

Close up of key props so that we know it is an important object to the storyline. (Screenshot 2)

Establishing/location shots to show the viewer where the action takes place. (Screenshot 3)

Screenshot 2

Screenshot 5

Screenshot 4 Screenshot 3

Screenshot 1

Flashbacks of old footage from the disaster and old news reports. (Screenshot 4&5)

The Chernobyl Diaries:

Mise-en-scene:

Different locations to show where the characters are and key places in the film.

Dark lighting/warm and cold toned lighting to convey the dark theme within the film.

Props including cars/trucks, radiation reader and specific rooms which are key and essential.

Their costume depicts their characters e.g. normal=normal people.