Length: 2.19 mins
Genre: Horror
Characters:There are 5 main characters (plus extras) in the trailer. By keeping a small amount of characters, the trailer is less complicated and easier for the audience to understand the narrative of the film which is shown in the trailer. We are aware that they are the main characters as they are the only characters who are repeatedly shown throughout the trailer, they are also involved in carrying the narrative. From watching the trailer the audience are left with an impression of the different characters. For example the old woman is first shown wearing very scruffy clothes with rotten teeth and therefore the audiences first impression of her would be that she is poor and vagrant, however it could also be that the audience feel sorry for her when she begs not to be kicked out of her house for not paying the mortgage.
As the trailer goes on and she smashed the car window and curses the young woman the audience impression of her would automatically change to evil, crafty and bizarre. Another example is when the young woman refuses to give the old woman an extension to pay her mortgage the audience may believe she is cruel and unkind, however when the old woman puts a curse on her and she gets traumatised the audience will feel sorry for her.
Music:The music starts of slow and quiet while showing a normal day in work for a woman and remains like this until the tension is built up where it gets faster and louder. This is done as sound plays an important part in adding to the intensity, therefore by the music being louder and faster the audience will feel more anxious and fearful. At the end of the trailer the music suddenly stops this is done so they tension is kept right until the end of the trailer which will leave the audience interested in wanting to know more.
Editing: There are approximately 92 shot in the trailer. These shots start off lasting about 2 – 3 seconds each and use a mixture of transitions for example fades and straight cuts. However as the tension is built up the shots only last for 1 – 2 seconds and use straight cuts. These shots help to build up tension as only the most intense parts of the film are shown, e.g the old woman throwing a brick through the car window. By only showing 1 – 2 seconds, the audience are left in suspense as they will want to find out what happens in between which will encourage them to watch the film.
The pace of the trailer starts off slow and then gets faster. This includes the music and length of shots which both speed up throughout the trailer. At the start of the trailer a mixture of straight cuts and fades to black are used. This helps to keep the atmosphere of the trailer fairly calm as the fading moves one shot into another smoothly. However as the pace picks up and the more intense shots are shown the length of the shorts is shortened and only straight cuts are used. This is done as straight cuts jump from one shot to the next and this builds up the tension quickly as you are shown so much intense moments in such a short space of time. These short shots also only allow you to see quick snippets of action so you are not given too much information as a reader of the text.
Production Company: Universal shown at 27 seconds& Ghost House Pictures shown at 29 seconds. Showing the production information can attract viewers. This is because if it is one which has a good reputation and is well known for making good films, people will automatically assume this film will be of the same high standard and want to watch it. Therefore this could be the unique selling point (USP) of the trailer.
Credits/Intertitles: The following intertitles appear throughout the trailer:
1.22 – 1.24 ‘From Sam Raini’ – This lasts 1 second more than the other intertitles as they want the audience to remember the directors name, which is another USP.
1. 29 – 1.30 ‘Director or spider-man’ – By showing this, people who enjoyed spider man may be encouraged to watch it as it is produced by the same director so they believe it will be as good as spider-man. He also directed films such as the ‘Evil Dead’ series, ‘Boogeyman’ and ‘The Grudge’, which is also a USP.
1.34- 1.35 ‘And the evil dean trilogy’
1.45 – 1.46 ‘This may’
1.51 – 1.52 ‘Universal pictures and Ghost house pictures
1.57 – 1.58 ‘Present’
2.04 – 2.05 ‘The return’
2.08 – 2.09 ‘Of true horror’
2.14 – 2.15 ‘Drag me to hell’
2.16 – 2.17 ‘In theatres May 29th’
2.18 – 2.20 ‘Universal pictures and Ghost house pictures present Alison Lohman “Drag me to hell” Justin Long Co-producers Cristen Carr Strubbe, Ivan Raimi – Showing the actors names can also encourage people who are fans of them to watch it, as they would enjoy watching their favourite actor in a film.
The main purpose of these intertitles is to help explain the narrative of the film.
