Showing posts with label film releases. Show all posts
Showing posts with label film releases. Show all posts

Wednesday, 20 July 2011

'The Woman in Black' Teaser deconstruction


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cSHEYVGaWok

'The Woman in Black' teaser trailer trades on its antiquity, highlighted through the protagonists old fashioned suit with a high white collar and mainl black or grey jackets. The age of the gothic horror novel from which this film is adapted gives the story a mythological quality. As one of the oldest and best known ghost stories it creates fear alone through its notoriety, possibly being the root/ inspiration of many modern tales.







The shot of the room with rich purple walls, old, ornate furniture and gloomy low key lighting are all striking features of a gothic horror location. The opening establishing shot and zoom of the house displays the grey, bleak weather which sets up the intial atmosphere of the trailer. Also the overgrown garden and old, grey stone building are typical depictions of a haunted house in horror films, displaying the wealth and yet the isolation and overlooked quality of the location. Numerous mid shots frame the main protagonist in darkened, greyed corridors, all of which aim at creating clarity of genre.



One such shot is a profile of the protagonsits centred in an almost black screen. As a hand reaches out from behind him for his shoulder the non-diegetic sound brings in a loud, low quivering noise which builds to a crash as the scene cuts to black. Throughout the trailer the use of low droning notes builds tension and an unnerving atmosphere. These notes grow in volume from the opening shot fading out in the shot of the main room when a picture drum is spun. The diegetic fast paced clicking noise of the drum is intensified during the close up and a high pitched piercing note of non-diegetic sound grows to a climax as an eye suddenly appears through the spinning drum. A sound bridge crash is synchronous with a flash of the same shot in negative. This emphasises the striking moment and aims at creating a jump in the audience. The sound in the trailer creates an atmosphere of dread, unnerving the audience.


Numerous fade transitions are used, particularly for bringing the white, cracked anchorage over the screen, either a shot or a plain black board. The white text may also remain at the forefront of the screen as the image behind it fades to black. This is effective in switching the focus of the screen to the words. The typography of the anchorage is also a convention of horror films, making the genre instantly recognisable, as well as branding the film, and the white on black makes it stand out for the audience. The poignant use of 'chilling' in the first shot is very apt as it surmises the feeling created by the trailer. A single black slide, following a dramatic mid shot of the protagonist backing away from the camera in fear, has only one name written on it 'Daniel Radcliffe' this emphasises that one of the main hooks of the trailer is the famous actor in the main role. This slide follows one of the only shots where Radcliffe's face is centred and in a degree of light.

An extreme close up on the protagonist's face, half in darkness, high highlighted by stark lighting shows his significance and draws focus to his eye which moves very slightly implying watchfulness, which creates tension for the audience. Close up and establishing shots are also conventions of a teaser trailer.



Towards the end of the trailer soft, high notes, reminiscent of a music box, are played slowly with a low droning undertone introduced as the name of the film fades onto a black screen. This is extremely effective at creating an eerie atmosphere. Ambience and music are particularly crucial to horror films in order to create fear in the audience. The effective use of no speech is very striking and creates a serene picture of growing dread. This also puts emphasis onto the other sounds used which start off quietly and build to a climax which is a convention of trailers. The limited number of shots and short length, only 5 scenes from the film arer revealed in 47 seconds, aligns this sequence with teaser trailers. The final screen has the words "In cinemas soon" leaving the audience with a sense of mystery and intrigue.



I felt that this teaser trailer was brilliant for not revealing too much, yet creating a memorable ambience and enough enigmas to tempt consumers to go and see the film upon its release. Its simplicity created an unnerving sense of mystery that was highly appealing.

Tuesday, 19 July 2011

Horror Film releases 2011/2012





I have noticed that there are five main, recurring themes: making prequels, sequels or remakes, the depiction or involvement of religion within the narrative, a return to period horrors set in the medieval period or old England for a gothic horror feel, supernatural horror with an emphasis on ghost tales and also on mental illness and the skewed perspectives of those who are psychologically damaged.


Organised religion is reflected in some of the films released or due to release this year. These have mainly presented a view of militarized men of religion. In the current political climate, with many wars, this may reflect many people turning to faith in order to understand. However this portrayal could also have a more sinister meaning and be an indication of the world's current fear of religion in its extremism. Although, these films such as 'The Rite' and 'Priest', show religion fighting against demonic evils such as spirits and vampires. This could be a distinction being made between organised religion and extremism, which is represented through the battle between the 'good' priest fighting the 'bad' demons that have invaded the society of the film. The narratives involve themes of war and religion (particularly seen in 'Priest') which could also be a parallel with the War on Terror currently in the news.


Films based in Medieval periods or faux medieval periods, where inspiration is drawn only from the styling of the horror's world, and in time frames associated with gothic horror, for example 'The Woman in Black' an adaptation of a classic gothic horror. These patterns highlight the cyclical nature of the film genre. Scriptwriters have returned to old conventions to create fear because audiences have become overly familiar with modern conventions and are no longer entirely frightened by them. A social point about the advantage of these period plots is that characters are more easily isolated or put in vulnerable situations due to their lack of technology. Writers must resort to literary devices and cliches in order to cut off modern protagonists such as power cuts, dead mobile batteries and loss of service.



The increase number of remakes, prequels and sequels are not uncommon within any film genre. These films build on an already successful enterprise or franchise using a winning narrative formula which meets audience expectation.




The increased interest in mental illness plotlines builds on the fear of losing your own identity; being unable to trust yourself and hallucinations or tricks of the mind. Being unable to distinguish reality from pretend is a main theme of these films and tricking the audience by positioning them alongside this character is another narrative twist. Even in the modern world and particularly outside the scientific fields, the brain is still largely not understood and mystery is the breeding ground for horror. Psychological illness allows the protagonist to be terrorised by targeted personal fears. These individuals' stories, however, still retain the element of 'it could happen to anyone' and that you wouldn't know if you also were mentally ill. The irrational behaviour shown in films such as 'The Ward' and 'Shutter Island' is often linked to psychopaths which subconsciously creates tension and fear.



Ghosts and the supernatural present the idea of the fear of the unknown; possibly being a reflection of the War on Terror, which is the fight against an idea not a united movement of people and is thereby undefined or intangible. Ghosts represent that which, seemingly, can not be destroyed or killed. They are also, occasionally, linked to mental illness, as they are shown to be created by the paranoia of the mind. One popular ghost film franchise recently started is 'Paranormal Activity'.