Trailer Analysis 1

House At the End of the Street

Personally I like this trailer because unlike many others this trailer does not follow the conventions of a horror film trailer making it stand out and therefore more interesting and appealing. Whereas most trailers start with an equilibrium that is then disrupted this trailer begins with a shot of a girl who is obviously distressed due to the expression of fear on her face and her sweaty, worn out, dirty attire. The use of profile lighting also shows that she is trying to hide away immediately showing that there is something to fear and run from. The trailer starts right in the middle of action and a fast montage. It also has a very green-ish grey-ish hue at the beginning indicating that normality has been tainted but gradually gets lighter and returns to a normal hue as the narrative rewinds to the beginning. This is a very good technique which I could use in my own trailer as it grips the audience as they are dropped straight into the middle of the narrative without knowing the background information; they will want to stay to find out how the final girl has reached this position. Using a final girl however does use horror film conventions and I hope to in cooperate this into my own narrative and trailer. This trailer also has footage that is being re-winded as the order of the narrative is the complete opposite of other trailers, beginning with the problem rather than the equilibrium, so it is rewinding to the beginning of the narrative giving the audience a sense of dramatic irony which many enjoy while watching horror films as they have a clue as to what is to come and like so many that watch horror films will shout advie at the character, like ‘Don’t go in there’, as they know that is she does she will probably meet the protagonist and ultimately her death. They are anxious for something to happen increasing their fear and therefore satisfying their needs as an audience that enjoys horror.

There is then a fast montage with different shots of her trying to escape. In the background there is a loud beat with the rhythm of a heart beating. This emphasises the fear felt by the girl as the audience will imagine that this is her own heart beating. The loud beating of a heart will leave the audience on the edge of their seat as a heart beat only increases when you are psychically strained or extremely anxious. As she is probably experiencing both the audience wait anxiously to find out why she feels this way and make them feel sympathetic towards her. This creates sympathy towards her and the audience wait in anticipation to see what is making her so nervous and compel her to overcome it, making the whole experience a little more personal and therefore more thrilling.

As the antagonist is approaching to stop the final girl’s escape a noise that sounds similar to radio noise is heard before everything cuts of and foes deadly silent. Silence is the most sinister type of sound an audience could hear because they start listening more intently to hear anything unusual as if somewhere is too quiet it gives a sense that something is wrong. A silence like this is usually followed by a stab of sound that will make the audience jump. In this trailer they do not stray from using this technique because as the antagonist appears on screen there is a loud stab of sound. It then cuts to black very sharply so the audience do not see the outcome of the antagonist and final girl meeting leaving them in suspense.

The production logos are then shown after another cut to black. They are both shown very quickly with sharp, rigid camera movements leaving the audience feeling uneasy as this is something they are not used to. These logos are usually not shown in this way showing that normality has been tainted. Along with this there is a sound of tape being rewound. The audience then sees the fast montage they have just witnessed being rewound which is not unlike watching a security tape making the audience feel like this has already happened and they are only watching evidence of it. It also means they feel sorry for the girl because once again they see her panicking and trying to escape. There is then a shot of the strap line which says ‘ before you experience the fear’ explaining the use of the footage being rewound as the trailer implies that the audience are not allowed to see what happens next until the trailer explains something else. The font of the text looks very distorted and almost hard to read as some of the letters are not even illegible while others are covered by dark shadows. This gives connotations of something not being right. Maybe implying that whatever has written this is not strictly sane or human leaving the audience in even more suspense as to what or who the antagonist is. The background of the tagline also shows a normal wall-papered wall. However the wall-paper is peeling away and it looks very aged and dirty. This gives the impression that no one has set foot in the house or has been maintaining implying that there is a reason not to enter this house. There is also a hand print in what appears to be blood obviously hinting at the suffering of the final girl as she tries to escape. This shows signs of desperation and fear and also that she has been injured in some way.

The shot of the ticking clock is very effective as it implies that the girl’s time is coming to an end and that if she doesn’t escape soon something bad will happen to her. The ticking also relates to the beating of her heart reinforcing her feelings of fear to the audience. The audience is then brought back to the shot at the beginning to show what the girl was afraid of. This means the audience are slowly piecing together the narrative like a puzzle in their head making them feel more engage with the narrative. However the lighting is soon dark and the protagonists hair is covering her face so she is not clearly shown to the audience. However it is clear to see that she is a young girl. Using a little girl as the antagonist makes the audience feel uneasy as children, especially little girls, are seen to be innocent meaning the audience's idea of what is acceptable is being challenged. Also the fact that the boy in the trailer says 'Promise me you won't tell anyone about Carrie-Anne' shows that whatever she has done is definitely not acceptable as he doesn’t want anyone to know she is there due to the terror, shock or disgust the people around him might feel towards her as I assume she is his sister and he is trying to protect her, leaving a sense of mystery and fear of the unknown. On the other hand he could also be protecting other people from her as the audience already knows she has killed her parents leaving the audience curious as to what else she is capable of. The narrative itself is easy enough to understand meaning the audience has enough information to be interested but still not enough so that they will need to see the movie to receive answers.

Throughout weapons such as knives, hammers and chloroform are seen. This indicates the sub-genre of the movie as in slashers the weapons that are used are everyday objects that can be used to create damage. The fact that they are everyday objects only makes it more realistic for the audience as can now picture this happening to them. This feeling is only emphasised by the fact that it is happening to a normal girl who moves in to what seems like a normal house.  

After the antagonist is shown there is then a fast montage showing the girl suffering and being held captive. She is either tied up in a chair or being dragged down a dusty hall way showing how forceful this antagonist is. It also makes the audience feel like every attempt the girl makes to escape will not be good enough to overcome the antagonist leaving them fearful for her life. Also her frightened question at the beginning of the montage ‘What are you doing?’ shows that she is innocent to such evil and may not have the knowledge or power to overcome it. Again another strap line is shown on the same background showing that she is still trapped in this house. This time it says ‘Before you know the pain’ emphasising that there is something to found out in the use of repetition. Also the strap lines relate to the montages as the montage shown before this strap line was showing the girls pain where as the montage before that was showing the girls fear and the audience was then hit with ‘before you know the fear’. Also by putting ‘the’ in front of pain and fear it makes it seem as this is the greatest source of pain and fear because it not just before you feel pain which is a more generalised term. It implies that these two feelings were invented by the ordeals in this trailer.

The constant screaming in the background leaves the audience scared as screaming is the a well known expression of fear. So they know that terrible things are happening within the narrative. The mother then bangs on the door and it swings open sharply. Using a slight over-the-shoulder shot to concentrate on the boys guilty expression as he denies knowing where the mother’s daughter is only heightens the sense that he and the narrative is hiding something. The close-up of his face while he asks the final girl to keep his sister a secret also shows how badly he wants this to be hidden away.

As the trailer reaches the end we begin to see the equilibrium. However it is tainted by the fact that it keeps cutting away to shots of the past where Carrie-Anne kills her parents. The boy is then heard say ‘I want you to leave them alone’ implying that she terrorises anyone that comes close to the boy or that she has killed more people than her parents and he knows this so pleads his sister to leave the girl he likes alone and safe from her harm. There is then a medium close up shot of the little girl. The lighting in this shot is very dark and almost looks like the darkness is emanating from her giving the impression that she is evil. Her hair also covers her face again in this shot emphasising that she has something to hide. There is also a bolt of lightning heard in the background and a bright light is flashed across the shot making it look like the lights are flickering on and off implying something is not right. Lighting is also a conventionally used within horrors keeping the genre of the film strong in the audiences mind. This is also emphasised in the shot of a dripping tap as this is shown in many horror films to show that something is wrong in the house as taps should not be leaking.

There is a strange distortion to the editing to show the parts that are in the past. The editing being so distorted shows that the girl has had something terrible happen in the past which has possibly made her become a murderer. The lighting is also a lot brighter signifying times of happiness and normality, before it was all tainted. The little girl’s laugh also seems distorted, like it is coming from a ghost possibly implying that this happy little girl doesn’t exist anymore giving the audience a clue as to why she is creating such terror.

There is then the first shot of the house. The camera is slightly tilted upwards so that the audience are looking up at it giving it a sense of dominance and therefore making the audience fear it. There is then a montage of normal objects such as a snow globe. But they all look tainted with the red and blue hue washed over them, along with the light from lighting flash over them. They are also not very clear leaving the audience struggling to see them and also hinting again that they need to be hidden away.

The sting at the end shows the little girls expression of anger and hatred as she charges towards her parents who the audience previously saw in close-up shots to show their fear of the daughter. The door is flung wide open with such force that it will scare the audience and then to see the little girl running towards her parents and knowing that they will be killed leaves the audience feeling helpless, not unlike the final girl creating a sense of empathy.

The strap lines, editing and speech all clearly imply that the little girl has something to hide and that everyone should fear her, including the audience as they are invited to feel ‘the fear’ and ‘the pain’.