The Woman In Black (2012) Trailer Analysis

The Woman In Black (2012) Trailer

                The trailer begins with showing the logos of production companies and a diegetic sound of wind blowing. We see several shots of old fashioned toys placed about a child’s room, the room seems like it has been left for a long time as you can see stains, chipped paint and cobwebs over the toys. We then hear the sound of one of these toys being turned on. The sound is elongated and played over the diegetic wind sound from before, leaving the viewer to feel suspense. We then see a shot of two men riding a horse and carriage from far away. The scene is very pale and blue tinted to leave the viewer to think the scene they’re in is haunted.
                We’re shown a handheld longshot of a deserted house, which shows the viewer that this is the place that the two men are travelling to. There is a little girl narrating a poem over the two diegetic sounds from before. The young girl’s voice itself is spooky as she is narrating a poem about the haunted house in a very calm voice. We see a mid-long shot of three little girls all turning their heads at the same time. This makes the viewer think that one of them is narrating the poem. We then see some shots of children and women looking at the camera in pity, and then we see the main actor looking confused. This makes the viewer feel that the townspeople know something about the house that he doesn’t and pity him for going there.
                Many of the shots are in very pale colours unless in the house. The shots within or around the house typically involve a lot of black and deep red colours. The shots change in time to the music, as each note is played the shot changes.
                We see shots within and around the house involving supernatural happenings (a body climbing out of the marsh, the edge of a black dress appearing from behind the door.) The shots from before have built suspense up to these paranormal shots. We see shots of the main actor screaming, running etc. but we don’t hear him, we hear the end of the poem “The woman in black”.
                We’re shown the name of the main actor (Daniel Radcliffe) along with a mid-long shot of him looking out of a window with a paranormal being appearing behind him. Only then are we shown the name of the movie. This technique is very effective in my opinion as it grabs the viewer’s attention before showing them the name of the movie. I like the techniques used in this trailer (especially the timing of shots to the music)

Amityville Horror (2005) Trailer Analysis

Amityville Horror (2005) Trailer

The trailer begins with the logos of sponsering production companies, and then the diegetic sound of a man saying he can’t afford the house, followed by a bird’s-eye-view panoramic shot of a large house, followed by a happy couple in the house who have just bought it. We’re shown a date (this, assumedly, is to show the audience when the movie is set). After which, there is a diegetic sound of a man asking what the ‘catch’ is on the house, followed by a non-diegetic crescendo leading the viewer to feel suspense. We then hear the diegetic sound of a woman explaining the previous murders within the house. The background music changes to a shot, sharp alarm sound. The pace of the shots quickens and displays shots such as a show of a small girl stood in front of a window. The colour scheme in this room is a blue colour to lead the audience to sense the eeriness of this scene. After this there is a succession of quick close ups of a clock set to the time of 3:15 AM, a phone left hanging from its wire and a man with a shot gun. After this we see police and a news article in sepia, showing the crime was a long time ago. The shots get quicker to build suspense; with pictures of blood splatters, someone walking up the stairs with a gun, etc. We see the house again but from a low angle shot, in the rain at night with lightening. This shows the audience that the house is the villain. We then hear a diegetic sound of a man saying “Houses don’t kill people”, which, obviously, leads the audience to think the exact opposite. After this we see text saying “Based on a true story”. I think this works better than showing this text at the beginning as the trailer has already frightened the viewer before saying it has happened in the real world. We see the same clock set at 3:15 AM again, and this leads the audience to feel like something bad is about to happen. We then hear the diegetic sound of the man speak again “I can’t sleep”, followed by an old video showing a child possessed, again in cold blue lighting to make the audience feel the spooky setting. After which, we hear the diegetic sound of a priest explain the crime again, whist being shown a clip of a woman looking at old newspaper reports of the crime. The newspapers are yellowed to show how old the crime was. There is a fast succession of shots usually close-ups or mid-shots, finishing with a close up of a Christian cross being turned upside down (to show that the house is demonized) We’re shown text about the director’s previous hit horror movies (Texas Chainsaw Massacre) before seeing a succession of shots showing demonized situations (e.g. Holy water boiling as soon as it touches the house, flickering lights, windows closing themselves etc.) and the background music for this is another crescendo, this time longer. After this, we hear the diegetic sound of a woman whispering “There’s something evil in my house” And two last paranormal shots before showing the name of the film. I think showing the name of the film at the end of the trailer works better than showing is at the beginning as you have already captured the attention of the audience beforehand.

History of Horror

German expressionism (1920 – 1930)
The horror genre was kick-started in the 1920’s after the First World War with German expressionism. Most of these films had no dialogue, such as Nosferatu. To portray the dialogue, they would film the speaker with their lips moving and over-exaggerated body language, then the scene was cut to a picture of their dialogue. This works well as it helps the audience put emotion to the dialogue without hearing it. The dominant props seemed relatively normal, but in the background the scene is distorted, ‘The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari’ portrays this point beautifully. The film makers used this idea to portray that, although we look the same and do the same things, the world we live in is mad and needs to change. The expressionism era was mainly confined to Germany due to Germany becoming separate during WW1, also, the German Government banned any foreign films to be screened within Germany.. At the time, Germans were attending cinemas more freely as the inflation was rising (their money was worth less). The demand for films was increasing rapidly and films could only be produced within Germany, which led from 25 films being made in 1914 to 130 films being produced in 1918.

How dialogue was portrayed in 'Nosferatu'

A scene taken from 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari'















Monsters and Mad scientists (1930 – 1940)
Sound was introduced into films, and these films were produced mainly within America, but were influenced by European Filmmakers as they left Germany because of World War Two. These new films involve monsters and mad scientists. These portray the fears at the time, Mad Scientists portrayed Hitler, as he had created madness and horror himself. The monsters represented as Hitler’s creation; Grotesque, human-like but dangerous.

A scene taken from 'Maniac'
















Warewolves and Cat People (1940 – 1950)
No advances were made in the filming process itself. However, at this time the Horror genre was based on WW2. The Americans looked at themselves as “safe”, whereas everything else, particularly anything from Europe was dangerous. However, they couldn’t keep themselves separate and were eventually pulled into World War Two. This was shown in horror films at the time in the form of mankind going backwards and acting like primal animals fighting against each other for survival.

A scene taken from 'The Ape Man'








Mutant Creatures and Alien Invaders (1950 – 1960)
The monster movies stem from the fears generated by the atom bomb. The audience was typically teenagers so the quality in movies dropped dramatically (Mainly using stop motion, models and miniaturised sets). America had to deal with the after effect of using nuclear weapons, and also the fear of another war happening again. Monster movies offered a way to make humans represent goodness, and made the audience fear the world ending from something else, not themselves, thereby making the audience escape the realities of the recent war.

A scene taken from 'A Beast From 20,000 Fathoms'











Ghosts, Zombies, Satanism and Your Family (1960 -1970)
This period of films went the opposite direction of the last ten years. The quality of films was a lot better, and the perception of scary was no longer an animal or an alien, but instead, normal people were used as game pieces. This showed the audience that anyone could be perceived as a villain, including themselves. For example, in ‘Psycho’, the villain is only shown as a villain in the last segment of the film, only then can we see just how dangerous we can be.

A scene taken from 'Night of the Living Dead'

The final section showing how dangerous we can be from 'Psycho'













Hammer Horror
Hammer Films was founded in 1934 and is based in the United Kingdom. During 1950-1970, Hammer Films made a series of horror films, known as Hammer Horror. Hammer films ceased production in the mid 1980’s and resumed in 2007 after being acquired by another company.

Slasher Movies and Body Horror (1980-1990)
The perception of scary had, by this point, changed to the human anatomy becoming mutilated. This became a lot easier to film as stage makeup had advanced into liquid latex and fake blood. Therefore, no bars were held against the amount of gore shown on screen. For example, In Alien, an alien bursts through a man’s abdominal area etc.

A scene taken from 'Alien'














‘Gore-nography’/Torture-Porn’ (2000 – Present)
Horror films had started to aim themselves to please the audience. Film makers had filled the movies with gore because we enjoy watching other people become mutilated, these movies have had little to no plot but make up for this with the amount of gore on-screen. A classic example of ‘gore-nography’ would be the Saw series. These movies have one villain who has disguised himself through the use of a puppet and forces his victims to mutilate themselves in order to survive. The movies have little plot other than a lot of gore on-screen.

A scene taken from 'Saw V' in shich the victims saw their hand lengthways in order to get out of a room