Trailer Analysis – Insidious (2010)

The trailer for the Horror Film Insidious is fairly short, but contains a large amount of action, which is typical for a Horror Trailer. But this one Cuts between different scenes a lot quicker than the others that I have seen.

As with others, this shows the Rating screen at the beginning, as well as the names of the companies involved with the production of the film. In this case, it happens to only be one, Film District.

Similar to the Evil Dead trailer saying that it has been made by the same people who made the original, this one tells the viewer that it has been made by the same people who made the iconic horror films Saw and Paranormal Activity. This immediately tells the viewer that this film is going to be of the same calibre as these other two, allowing the viewer to become interested in what is going to happen in the film and whether or not they want to watch it.

What is different from this trailer that is not typically done in others is the changing of the name of the film. When the title of the film is shown at the beginning of the trailer, it’s normal and as you would expect.

But the name “Insidious” then gets erased, and the word “Is” appears on the screen.

Once more the word gets erased and replaced again with the title of the film, “insidious”

This immediately shows that the film will involve some type of creature or entity that will possess a character in the film. But it also goes further in trying to scare the viewer of the trailer. Because all of these changes resemble the phrase “Insidious is inside us” This makes the viewer feel that what is going to be shown in the film is something that is very real and could potentially happen to them.

We can then see a man sitting in a chair looking toward the camera. From behind the camera we can hear another man’s voice say “Are you ready?” This is both addressing the man that we can see and also addressing the audience. As if to say “Are you ready to watch this film?” This adds to expectation of the trailer and what type of film this is going to be. We then see a hand starting a Music Timer.

The significance of the Music Timer represents that a certain time is required for a spirit or demon to fully consume or possess a person. Although this is not directly apparent to someone watching the trailer, to anyone who is interested in this type of thing, this makes the trailer very appealing.

The next part of the trailer shows an Establishing Shot of a regular American house. It then goes onto to show that same man in a range of different rooms within the house with his family. All the time, the cuts are happening in sequence with the ticking of the Music Clock. This shows that this is a normal, regular family, but that it is only a matter of time before something bad happens to them.

Then cut to a Close Up of a boy’s foot on a ladder just as the rung that he is standing on gives way. We see the boy fall from the ladder onto the floor in a Long Shot. We can then see the boy laying in a hospital bed and, who we presume to be his mother saying that he is not in a coma and that do not know what this is. This shows the Complication in the Narrative of the film, as this is the moment when things go wrong.

The pace of the trailer then dramatically slows to allow the suspense to build up. We see the mother walking towards a dull, rhythmic noise, which is still in sync with the sound of the Music Clock ticking in the background. When the mother sees that the noise is coming from a Rocking Horse that is moving on its own, she stops it. At this point, the sound coming from the Music Clock and the Rocking Horse is replaced by the sound of a heart beat. But the heart beat that we can hear would be the same sound that the woman can hear of her own heart. She can hear this because she is terrified that the Horse was moving on its own.

After this scene, the trailer becomes a lot darker. The colour used suddenly become a lot duller than they were before and the lighting in the setting virtually disappears. This is to create the effects that the house has been haunted or taken over by the ghost. This is then reinforced by a shadow that can be seen against a wall.

This suggests that because we cannot see what the shadow is being cast by, that there is something that is not normal within the house, and something that could pose a threat to the family living within.

After this, there is an Over-the-Shoulder shot looking at a baby monitor. The mother, who is looking at the monitor, can hear noises coming from the room that the receiver is in. We then see the mother walking towards the stair and looking up through the middle in the direction of the baby’s room.

A High Angle shot is used to show that the woman is no longer in charge of the household, and that she, as well as her family, is vulnerable to whatever has come into their house. She hears a loud voice shouting “Now!” that sounds as though it is no longer coming from the baby monitor, but loud enough for her to hear it with her own ears. There is then a Jump Cut to the mother bursting into the baby’s room, only to find that there is nothing in the room with it.

There is a Long Shot of the son’s room, and at the same time a voice over from the mother saying that there is something in the room with her son. This builds further upon the idea that the house is haunted. But it places a theory that it is just the boy’s room that is haunted, not the whole house. It’s not directly apparent, but we can see a body in the left hand side of the screen.

After this an extremely fast paced sequence occurs. You can hear Dalton (the son) screaming and the handle on his door moving up and down suggesting that he is trying to get out of the room but is unable. We then see his family running in his direction whilst shouting his name, we they get there the dad barges the door open, suggesting that there was someone, or something, keeping it shut.

When we finally see into the room, the mother and father are kneeling either side of Dalton, with what seems like a bloodied, adult sized hand print above his head. From this, we are unable to tell who’s blood this is, or even if it is blood. But what is clearly apparent is that there was someone in the room with him. This fully reveals to the viewer that there is something wrong with the son’s room or something wrong with the son. As this is only happening to him and no one else in the house.

A sequence happens where a man is explaining that they have done a number of tests within the house and that they couldn’t find anything out of the ordinary. Another woman then says “I don’t think bad wiring is the problem here” She then says a bit later on in the trailer “It’s not the house that’s haunted; it’s your son” This fully tells the plot of the film. It shows the viewer that it’s not the house that has been haunted or even just Dalton’s room, but Dalton himself. But it still leaves some things for the audience to find out if they watch the film. Like, is the boy just being haunted by the ghost, or has he been possessed. Like in Evil Dead or The Exorcist.

Once this vital piece of information has been told to the parents of the son, the audience is able to fully understand the significance of the title of the film changing from “Insidious” to “Is” and then again to “Insidious”

The overall pace of this trailer changes from fast to slow and then to fast again. This is to start off by scaring the viewer, then lull them into a false sense of security by calming them and making them think that the scares have stopped. Then hit them again with the ghost shouting “Now!”. This sets the tone of the film and what the viewer is to expect when they watch it.

As with Evil Dead, this trailer also makes use of Jump Scares. This is done twice within this trailer. Once when a red face is shown behind the man, this could either be the actual ghost or the boy, it’s hard to tell. And also at the very end of the trailer another Jump Scare is used, showing a woman either being thrown towards the screen, or being pulled away. These are used to leave the viewer’s heart beating fast, feeling exhilarated and the adrenalin flowing.

I feel that this is one of the better Horror Trailers as it leaves you completely enticed and already invested in the story. This is also one of the few trailers that actually left me wanting to see the film.

Trailer Analysis – The Conjuring (2013)

The trailer for the film The Conjuring is much the same as the others that I have analysed. However, the others use Jump Scares a small amount, the most of which being twice in the Insidious trailer. But this one relies on them heavily to create fear within the audience.

The beginning of the trailers shows two Paranormal Investigators, for lack of a better term. This introduces the two main characters of the film, the Warrens, Husband-and-Wife-Paranormal-Investigators. They are holding an event named “Seekers of the Supernatural” Through this sequence, the audience is able to get to know the two characters and begin to build a relationship with them, thus making what happens to them and what they have done seem very real.

Another sequence begins, telling the audience that this film is based upon true events and the Warrens are real people. This makes the audience even more immersed within the trailer because what they are going to see ‘really happened’. This also allows to audience to build more of a relationship with the Warrens because they would feel that anything that has happened to the characters could potentially happen to themselves.

It is also said that they have carried out thousands of Investigations in supposedly ‘haunted’ locations, but have never told anyone about this one. Knowing this information, the audience are lead to believe that they are privileged to know this information and it’s something that only the people who watch the film will know. Therefore making them want to find out what happened even more than before.

As is the same with the Insidious trailer, time is a major part of this one. A Grandfather Clock can be seen stopping its ticking. The significance of this is much the same as Insidious. In Insidious, the clock represented the time that it takes for a spirit to possess someone or somethi9ng. Whereas in this trailer, the clock represents that the time is up, so to speak, and that either the house or someone in the house has been taken over.

After this, the first Jump Scare of the trailer can be seen. This is when the woman laying on the bed is pulled by her leg. This is something that the audience would not be expecting to see happen. They would rather be expecting something in the background to move or twinge, at least in the beginning of the trailer. The puts the audience on edge about what else they might see and what else might shock them. Also the sound that is used at the moment when her foot it pulled is used to both add weight to what has just happened, but also to shock two different senses of the audience. Almost as if the audience have to be shocked, even if they don’t watch the screen, they are still going to her the loud sound.

Again, as with the other two trailers, we are told that the people who made this film were also involved with the making of two other well known horror films. In this case its Saw and Insidious. Telling the audience that this is going to be a good film, the are actually some similarities between this and the Insidious trailer. One example of this would be the Establishing Shot of the house that the majority of the film will take place in. They are both much the same as one another.

The music used in the first half of the trailer is something that would not typically be found in other horror trailers. This old-timey music is used to show that the two Investigators are veterans of their job. And it also shows that the investigation that is the subject of this film is an old one that had been locked away for a long time.

Soon after this, another Jump Scare is used. This on is not as bad as others that can be seen in horror trailers. In fact, it is more the accompanying sound that makes this one shocking. The shock is when we see a Mid Shot of the man and are also able to see two legs behind him, suggesting that a woman has been hanged/hanger herself in the tree beside him. Again, not long after this another Jump Scare can be seen. This one is of a woman jumping on top of a girl from a wardrobe. Both of these are used to really scare and shock the audience that is watching. Making their hearts beat faster and more adrenalin to pump through them.

Through the next sequence, the audience learn that this is neither a haunting nor is it a possession. It says that it’s the “truth that will consume you”. This both further shows that audience that this is a true story, this is very similar to the plot line of the film Mama, and also tells the audience that they will be captivated by the film’s plot and be scared witless in the process.

The end of the trailer sees the last of the Jump Scares. This is when the Investigator is told to look into a mirror, and that the ghost of a woman will appear. After, what feels like a long time, the woman pulls the mirror away to reveal the ghost’s face behind said mirror. This one is particularly jumpy because the woman first looks into the mirror, then looks behind her and looks back before actually pulling the mirror down. This leaves a long time for the audience to wait for the scare. First expecting it to appear straight away, then thinking that there never was going to be anything there and calming down. Only then to be terrified when they weren’t expecting it.

The overall effect of this trailer, I feel, is brilliant. It gets straight to the point without including much else. It shows the audience that they are to expect plenty of shocks and terrifying moments whilst keeping their attention on and building a relationship between the two main characters.

Also, not a lot of people would have noticed that the woman who stares the Investigators in the beginning of the trailer, is also the same woman who’s house is investigated in the film.

Trailer Analysis – Evil Dead (2013)

This trailer starts, as most trailers of any genre do, with the green rating screen. This shows that the trailer is safe to be viewed, and that it doesn’t contain any real-life violence or terror.

Also, as with most other trailers, the names of the production companies involved in the film can be seen. There are two common ways in which this is done. One; by showing each name individually or by showing all of them at once. This trailer opts for the latter of the two options. This would be to allow for more time to show off the film, instead of wasting too much time on displaying the names.

 The ‘meat’ of the trailer opens with an Establishing Shot of the cabin that the majority of the films takes place. This is used to show the people who have seen the original Evil Dead Trilogy that this re-make will be keeping true to it’s ancestor, and also to show new-comers to the films where this version will be taking place and to show them that the characters in the film are, in a sense, isolated away from the rest of the world, and any chance of help.

These types of shots in a trailer are often shown in a longer, not dramatically longer but longer nonetheless that the rest of the cuts within. This is done to show the drama, and possibly the danger that this cabin holds.

After this shot, we can see a man open a door to a bedroom. Using an Over-the-Shoulder Shot we can see that he is looking at a woman who is sitting on a bed within the room. The camera then Hard Cuts to a Close-Up Shot of the woman. She has a scared, even terrified, expression on her face. This shows to the viewer that she is either scared to be in the room, or scared that something bad is going to happen.

 We then hear this woman say “You have to get me out of here” She says in a very slow deliberate tone. Implying that she is really trying to get her point across to the man, and to show him that she is being serious and not joking around.

Both of the two assets (the expression on the woman’s face and what she says) tell the viewer that there is something wrong with the building, or room, that they are in and that she is frightened to stay there. This is used to really build up the tension of the trailer, and allow the viewer to become both enticed and apprehensive about the rest of the trailer.

Another way that this trailer draws in the viewers, especially those who are familiar with the original Trilogy of films, is by telling them that this film is “From the Producers of the Horror Classic” This informs them that this film is going to be the same quality, if not better than the originals because the same people were involved in making it.

After this, there is a scene where a man is ripping open a black plastic bag wrapped with barbed wire to reveal a book within. The book is then opened to reveal the words “Leave this book alone” Straight away, this shows the viewer something that is crucial to the plot of the film, without giving too much away. It is at this point that the viewer is also able to make the connection between the frightened woman and the book that has just been shown. This method allows the viewer to make them feel as though they have made sense of the general idea of the film without them actually knowing any major plot points.

This trailer then goes onto to show the mad looking through the pages of the book, those of which will be very familiar to fans of the original Trilogy, grabbing their attention, and also showing the same woman from the beginning of the trailer running through the woods as she explains that there was something in the woods with her and how she now thinks that whatever is was out there, is now in the room with them.

This section of the trailer is shown through a series of Jump Cuts that occur very quickly, one after another. This shows the sense of panic that the woman was going through in the woods and the sense of panic that the man is experiencing when looking through the book.

These Jump Cuts are a very common convention that is used in almost every ?Horror Film Trailer. It really helps to draw the viewer in and prepare them for what they should expect in the full film. 

Another convention that is commonly used when making a Horror Trailer is the use of Jump Scares. This is when an image or a person will appear on the screen unexpectedly for a short amount of time. This convention is used during this trailer. This is the first time that the viewer see this girl, her character is not explained in the trailer, but becomes apparent during the film.