MIGRAIN – Film Trailers

The Evil Inside (2013)

There is a lot of connotation used in this film trailer. For example, the antagonist is wearing white, which symbolises purity however; from the sound clips we are told that she is evil. Therefore they have created an enigma, getting the audience to ask question, as they are unsure why this evil character is wearing colour used to represent purity and that one is

virginal or hasn’t committed any sins. The fact that she is wearing white could also symbolise new life as she is dead but had her life reformed as someone evil, creating a contrast between her past and her present. It is very hard to show supernatural elements so instead they have used editing really well. They have made the screen gitter which shows disorientation. But it

is also the small details such as the inter titles, they are not only used to express more information about the film but it is also used to evoke and tell people what to feel. For

example, after the woman appears (as seen in the picture) after the sound clip the inter title appears with the words ‘FEAR’. It is almost telling the audience what they should be feeling.

There is not a lot of music used but in the beginning I could denote the harsh drum beats which has connotation of fear but it also sounded like a heartbeat, this was juxtaposed with a

woman saying ‘they’re hear with us now’ and then the drum beats came to an abrupt end, the editing used here helped create the enigma and keep the audience on edge

M

The Film District is well known for this successful release of Insidious which received a many

good reviews. The production company is well known in American and its success as an

independent company uniting with companies such as Sony Pictures and Culver city. The inter

title also suggest that The Evil Dead was put together by many successful production

companies which have many success with Horror classic film, many which we seen

advertised, reviewed and spoken about with other people. Although some of the production companies are ‘missing’ an ideology that help builds the enigma of the film, like ‘the fear of the unknown’ and therefore do not know what

to expect consistently from the production companies.

i

Tristar Film District

Ghost House Pictures

This film belongs to genre Horror and the supernatural sub-genre. They have used many generic conventions of this genre. There is a lot of deep, harsh beats, low key lighting used in some places and an

immense amount of editing used. However, I do think that this film has

treated the genre in a playful way as the character who is possessed is very

melodramatic and sing ‘I’m coming to get you’ in a lullaby way and she tilts her head to the side smiling. This might have

been done for a comedic effect rather than to evoke the emotion of fear into

someone.

G

The people being presented are quite young possible between the ages of 20-28 years old, they are

portrayed in a quite naïve way as, the guy opens the book and even though it says ‘LEAVE THIS BOOK ALONE’ he laughs and reads it anyway

unleashing the evil. I don’t think this is an accurate representation of young adults, because they have decided to generalise a whole group of people and not every single young adult is as naïve as many of the characters are presented as. However, it could be an accurate representation of those individuals

who are naïve but it is not an accurate representation of young people as a whole.

R

The Evil Dead is targeted at a mass audience; those who have seen the original film, will be aged between 30-45 years old men but the people who are targeted in this horror film could also be

young people as the people who were casted in the play are quite young therefore it will appeal to a similar and younger generation, both men and women. However, people will also watch this if they have watched/ are fans of The Evil Dead franchise, and as they have seen

the other films before they are likely to go and watch this film if they enjoyed the others. Ghost House Pictures are also well-known for producing film such as ‘The Possession’, ‘The

Grudge’ and ‘Boogeyman’ these are all well-known films across the horror film industry, therefore, people will assume that this particular institution is well known for producing some good horror movie and as a result people will go and what the film with the intention of being

thoroughly entertained by Ghost House Pictures. The psychographic of this film would be those who are interest in contemporary evil/possession, have watched other films such as ‘The Ring’ or ‘The Conjuring’. The people to go and see this horror movie might not necessarily be

religious as the subject of evil does cause a lot of controversy in many religions.

A

Although some of the production companies are ‘missing’ an ideology

that help builds the enigma of the film, like ‘the fear of the unknown’ and

therefore do not know what to expect consistently from the production

companies.

i

The narrative is very basic and therefore it could happen to anyone. This allows the audience to relate the situation to them knowing that it could happen to them. There are clear villains which are not so obvious to decipher at first but as the story progress they become more evident to the audience. The techniques of alienation that is applied to this film, is that they are in an isolate area in the woods which has connotations of the supernatural spirits and elements that are in the woods. Major narrative themes in this film that are used is the isolation and the supernatural. This maybe a theme that is commonly used however it is done in a way that is very contemporary and differentiates it from any similar film which have been previously done.

N

The Quite Ones(2013)

MThe connotation at the very beginning, the uses of an establishing shot shows

an immense authentic, periodical building which not only has connotations of its historical background and the amount of people that may have died their but from this shot we can see that the building is in

complete isolation. That not only allows the film to be generic to its chosen genre but it is also emphasise the solitary of many characters in

the film. The fact that there is a close up on the man as he locks his ‘subject’ into a room, that shows that she is being confined to small place

against her will and that too draws in the intentions of the audience especially in this trailer as they are wondering what reason why she has

been trapped in the room and if she is a reliable character or not. The addition of the black and white video and the focus on historical background helps evoke fear as the black and white image is very eerie, putting a barrier between the text and the audience as it is difficult for us

to relate to a particular character, also making it difficult for us to consume their physical appearance properly. And that is what the

producers would have wanted for the audience to want more from a character but blocked by this barrier

The fact that this film has been influenced by the British Production company Hammer, it is clear

to see some of the influenced that has been used in this film trailer. Especially when the

young girl who is being studied is sitting next to a machine that is revolving, the audience can make clear allusions to The Woman In Black

when another machine is revolving and image appear, then a couple of seconds later, it

comes to an abrupt end by a loud harsh bass tone which is very similar to The Woman In

Black.Hammer was founded in 1934 by William Hinds

whose stage name was William Hammer. He used to be very theatrical and we can see

element of this in his clear balance between, lighting, sound and narrative. They all

compliment each other well in order to achieve the best thrilling result.

i

Hammer production company is a public ownership

The film belong to the genre of horror and this is easily recognisable through the generic conventions that are used such as a focus on objects/people who are a threat to the other characters . There is also a lot of generic themes for example, the student is in many ways naïve and believes everything that his professor has told him. The theme of

naivety is very generic as it was also used in The Evil Dead. In many ways the generic expectations are fulfilled however,

there is also some naivety not only on the students behalf but of the professor to as he encourages the testing

believing that not much harm will be done. The screenplay was written by Craig Rosenberg who has

directed many contemporary films such as the upcoming ‘7500’ , and the later 2009 ‘Uninvited’ which is another

horror film. His writing allows the audience to be taken on a clear journey from the characters naivety to his recognition

(stage 3 of Todorov’s theory).

G

The people who are being represented is young people especially those who are in education and passively take in

everything that they are taught without questioning it. Therefore, they are presented in a negative way but also teachers are presented in negative way, as the professor has assigned a task which causes disruption to the whole

lives and ultimately the plot.The professor reflects the ideology of Hammer Productions as

they wanted to explore anti-realism situations as well as the realms of myth. The professor similarly to Hammer’s values

they wanted to expressed their ideology, which was commonly hidden within the text, through the film a whole.

The extreme gothic nature towards the film and their ideology in many ways isnt a fair representation of professional teachers as they are given a negative,

malevolent way which is not a clear representation of many teachers. There is a lot of negative connotations associated

with teachers in this film.

R

The target audience for this film is those who are 17 to 40 years old, both men as women, as they can related to those who are in

education and those who are have left full time education and are in or considering teach may watch this just to observe the

representation of professors. The film has not yet been released yet but there has been some reviews on the film which show

that people are interested and talking about the film. This would possibly encourage their intended audience to go and see the

film. I assume the audience will be a mass audience as they have used,

well known actors which both have their own target audience, as Sam Clifin played Fin in The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, therefore he would be appealing to young girls, ages 13 – 20 years olds, which may possible be the films secondary target

audience. The demographics of this film could be those in A, B, C1, C2. The Psychographics would be those who are interested in history and enjoy watching supernatural programmes. Also fans of ‘Let Me In’ will enjoy this horror movie as they’ll know

the producers work.

A

The major value are for to film to portray a subliminal message. The narrative itself will not strongly expresses the

views/ideologies of the production companies but the message within the storyline will express this.

As mentioned previously, Hammer expresses their strong adoration of the gothic and mystical values which are

shown through the some characters and scenery. This has also been done is The Quiet Ones, as the low key lighting, deep, low, drum sounds help convey their gothic ideology.

i

The narrative clearly follows Todorov’s 5 stage theory from what I can decipher from the trailer. It is organised in a way that is clearly structured allowing the audience to understand the

storyline, therefore they will fully commit all their attention to what they are watching. The hero’s and villain's are hard to

categorise like prop would suggest. The professor in many ways could be categorised as the villain as her stimulate the climax or disequilibrium of the film. The generic theme of alienation is shown through the camera angle as towards the disequilibrium

there isn’t many two or three shots used. The majority is singular shot which show alienation and isolation without

having to express this through dialogue. The editing and sound effects play a huge part in making the supernatural element

look more believable and convincing to the audience. For example when the antichrist symbol is being engraved into

their chest, we cannot physically see someone doing it but the editing is carefully done to convey to that element of the

supernatural.

N

The Conjuring (2013):

M

There is the frequent use of hand clapping, usually that would have positive connotations associated with it however the mum is hearing the clapping

noises and mistaking them for her children, and when she realises this the ghost traps her in the basement. The denotation of her being locked in the dark basement has a lot of negative connotations associated with generic horror films. The basement as we see is a dark, isolated place, where the mum is now trapped to confinement. Although the hands are non-verbal communications it is still very significant as they symbols ,

haunting and the fact that she is surrounded by an unknown spirit. The lighting transitions from very natural lighting to very low key lighting

especially when she is trapped in the basement, with the only source of light coming from her match. The low key lighting juxtaposed with very

abrupt dark, almost screeching noise, which keeps the audience on edge and stimulate fear in them without having to use any dialogue. The

editing that is used is effective with the sound and lighting as the editing is very intricate, for example, when the painting are being thrown off the

wall and down the stairs, we cannot see who is doing it or what is causing the images to fall but we automatically associate it with the

supernatural spirit.

i

Warner Brothers – have produced many successful and welll-known historical horror

film such as Gremlins, The Shining and therefore understand the history of horror films very well and have adapted that in producing contemporary horror films. For

example you can still see the Victorian style houses , the sound effects that are used are

not as dynamic as they are now but still effective.

New Line Cinema - is a Time Warner company which means that New Line Cinema work in

conjunction with Time Warner when it comes to producing this film. New Line

Cinema has a subsidiary called New Line House of Horror which is well known for

producing successful contemporary films such as A Nightmare on Elm street and the

Final Destination franchise.

GThe Conjuring belongs to the genre of Horror and the sub-

genre of Supernatural, this is very evident through generic horror film conventions such as objects flying

around in the room. A major generic convention is that a family move to a new house and are ecstatic to be there,

until they start having supernatural encounters, where the families life is put in danger. The audiences

expectations of this generic convention are fulfilled until the mother gets locked in the basement and that is when

the narrative differentiates itself from the generic conventions of other horror films. The conventions are not treated playfully but instead taken very seriously heighten

the realism the film is trying to create.The director who is James Wan is a well-known for producing

and writing for very successful films such as Saw (2004) and Insidious 2 (2013). Therefore his involvement in this

genre has led him apply his skill and making The Conjuring successful as well.

RThe people who is being presented in the film are those who

have experience a supernatural encounter or those who have moved into a new house and know that their family is being haunted by something or someone. As this is a true story the representation must true to the families

who have experienced situations like this. They are presented by James Wan in a way that attracts the his

intended audience but also is relatable to those who have experience a situation like this before.

The representation must be fair to the family that they have studied in order to create the film. As this the inter title

suggests that it was ‘Based On A True Story’ therefore the representation has to do the family justice whilst making it appealing/entertaining to the intended audience. The

family had some input therefore the representation is true to them and their story but might not be to everyone who

has experience a situation like this.

iThe major ideology is to replace broken ideological foundations with something new and more stable. This

ideology is not very dominant when watching The Conjuring however , if you were to explore the film in

more depth you can see that the narrative explores their ideology as the true story must of happened a long time

ago however they have taken that as a stimulus and interpreted it into a way that is contemporary and will

appeal to a mass audience.

A

The people who are being targeted are families who might be in a similar situation or know someone in a similar

predicament, the target audience would range from 16 – 48 years old, male and female. People who might watch this film would share a similar characteristic of enjoying horror programmes but a percentage of the audience

might enjoy documentaries as there are many programmes such as ‘Paranormal’ which explores similar

situations as The Conjuring. It is also based on a true story which will attract people who enjoy reading

biographies and hearing about people lives. Therefore they will share the same psychographics.

The intended target audience will be a mass audience as the narrative doesn’t really sway to one group of people, it is quite broad. Therefore that will increase the size of the

audience, however stereotypically men watch a lot more horror movies than women so if the production company

followed that stereotype then it would be a mass audience who are predominantly male, from any region

and wealth

NThe narrative is structure in a way that conforms to Todorov’s narrative theory

involving the 5 stages: Equilibrium – which is the family moving into their beautiful periodic new

houseDisequilibrium – the house they are living in is haunted with supernatural

spiritsRecognition of Disequilibrium – the mother see her children asleep but can

hear loud noises in the house.Attempt to stop the disequilibrium – she goes to the basement and tries to

stop the ghost from hurting herself and her children but the ghost locks her down in the basement.

That is the only information we receive from watching the trailer however the full movie does finish off Todorov’s narrative cycle. The villains are not tangible therefore the audience clearly know the ghost is trying to harm them however they cannot put a solid character to that. The editing and sound effects play a huge part in making the supernatural element look more

believable and convincing to the audience. For example when the door slams shut then is a high pitched screeching sound which heightens the tension.

Historic Supernatural Horror Films:

The sixth sense:

•The people who are being represented are those mature and young who believe that they have the ability to see supernatural beings.•The fact that we are able to denote that the child can see ghost there are many connotations behind it, whether or not the being he can see is a figure of his imagination of if it’s actually a ghost.•The narrative is done in a very diverse way that keeps the audience intrigued . The narrative starts with the boy seeing ghost however by the end of the film it jumps back to home the protagonist died, and ultimately how the story unfolded.•This is directed at those who are 13 to 39 years old as the narrative is very broad and the content could appeal to anyone. Ranging from mothers, to young children possibly in the same position as the protagonist.•The genre is horror with the sub genre of supernatural. And this is evident through the common use of deep base sounds and exaggerated editing.• the productions company’s ideology is •It was written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan and is well-know for the success he achieved with The Sixth Sense•The ideology is to produce new films and that is what they are doing producing new films •Hollywood Pictures: have produced many successful films such as Jaws and E.T the Extra Terrestrial (1982)

Historic Supernatural Horror Films:

Apartment 1303:

•The people who are being represented are those who are young and naive and moving into a new flat/house and are unaware of the history the building.•We are able to denote from the trailer the girl who has moved into the house is not aware of the supernatural being the audience is left wondering if it’s the little girl who is left next door or a random girl. The connotations of the dark lighting juxtaposed with the spirit acting the owner of the house. This dark lighting suggest the supernatural spirit has engulfed the whole room with their negative energy. • the narrative follows Todorov’s five stage theory. However the film trailer does provide the audience with 3 stages of his narrative theory therefore creating an enigma as if the audience want to find out more they’ll have to watch the film.•The genre that this film belong to Horror and the sub-genre of Supernatural. This is evident through their deep, octave notes which aid the tense in the trailer. Also the theme of isolation is commonly used with many horror clearly associating it with the genre of horror. Although the film didn’t have any well-known actors it allows the audience to go in with an open mind and clearly devote their attention to the film.•The audience that is being directed is young people ages between 13 – 27 as they would soon be in a similar situation of moving into a new house or that they would have already experienced this.•It was initially directed by Ataru Oikawa and produced by Chiaki Harada however they has now been a remake which could be reflected of the films potential to success.