Name of the film- Paranormal
Activity
Year released- 2009
Film genre- Horror
Your mark after viewing- 6/10
Year released- 2009
Film genre- Horror
Your mark after viewing- 6/10
What happened in the trailer?
The trailer started by showing a queue of people about to enter a cinema to see Paranormal Activity. Once they’re all seated the film starts and we’re shown a variety of highlights form the film and we also get the narrative established and find out that a couple are living with a ghost who’s hauntings become progressively worse and intrusive and results in them setting up a camera in order to capture the actions as they unfold. The trailer builds up a quick paced montage and ends in a jump scare where a body flies backwards towards the camera followed by giving “tour dates” for the film before its general release.
The trailer started by showing a queue of people about to enter a cinema to see Paranormal Activity. Once they’re all seated the film starts and we’re shown a variety of highlights form the film and we also get the narrative established and find out that a couple are living with a ghost who’s hauntings become progressively worse and intrusive and results in them setting up a camera in order to capture the actions as they unfold. The trailer builds up a quick paced montage and ends in a jump scare where a body flies backwards towards the camera followed by giving “tour dates” for the film before its general release.
What positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could
include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The trailer has clever and interesting aspects surrounding it including the usage of shaky handheld camera shots, a cinematography convention, in order to connote fear, uncertainty and represent that the characters are amateurs in filming, similar to the group in The Blair Witch Project (1999) who are an amateur group too. As the trailer progresses it, it returns to a motif of a wide shot with the couple lying in bed as different supernatural events happen around them. The return to this wide shot connotes it’s a central location for the narrative of the film. The trailer also features collision cutting, from a slow pace to a quick pace, when the bedroom door slams and connotes the start of a quick paced montage. The door slam also signals another collision cut between quiet and loud with a static noise that connotes interference and represents that the ghosts are intruding on the couple. As the trailer gets close to the end the static parallel music increases in volume representing that the ghosts are becoming more intrusive and haunting as the film would go on. The quick paced montage also features a heartbeat noise which picks up in pace, connoting fear, tension and anxiety and is parallel to the feelings felt by both the characters of the film and the audience. The intertitles also give positive reviews of the film connoting that it would be god to see as it’s received so much praise from different sources. The quotes are also small and readable so the audience can read them for the short time they’re on the screen.
The trailer has clever and interesting aspects surrounding it including the usage of shaky handheld camera shots, a cinematography convention, in order to connote fear, uncertainty and represent that the characters are amateurs in filming, similar to the group in The Blair Witch Project (1999) who are an amateur group too. As the trailer progresses it, it returns to a motif of a wide shot with the couple lying in bed as different supernatural events happen around them. The return to this wide shot connotes it’s a central location for the narrative of the film. The trailer also features collision cutting, from a slow pace to a quick pace, when the bedroom door slams and connotes the start of a quick paced montage. The door slam also signals another collision cut between quiet and loud with a static noise that connotes interference and represents that the ghosts are intruding on the couple. As the trailer gets close to the end the static parallel music increases in volume representing that the ghosts are becoming more intrusive and haunting as the film would go on. The quick paced montage also features a heartbeat noise which picks up in pace, connoting fear, tension and anxiety and is parallel to the feelings felt by both the characters of the film and the audience. The intertitles also give positive reviews of the film connoting that it would be god to see as it’s received so much praise from different sources. The quotes are also small and readable so the audience can read them for the short time they’re on the screen.
What aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would
put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The unsuccessful, disappointing and off-putting aspects of the trailer for the target audience include the shots from inside the cinema where people are watching the film live. The reason this is off-putting is because you can the audiences’ heads illuminated by the green night vision light which distracts you from the movie footage. Due to the low key lighting of the cinema and the green light emitted, the high key cinema screen looks it’s been added in the editing process and makes the screen have connotations of being fake and amateur.
The trailer also ruins the only jump scares the film has to offer and shows of the scariest bits of hem film representing the fact that the audience will already be prepared to watch the film and won’t be as easily shocked or spooked by the film. On top of this the ghosts presence and attacks in the trailer weren’t scary enough and used a cliché of horror conventions to connote supernatural fear and suspense by using techniques like slamming doors, moving chandeliers and no footsteps in flour that’s been placed on the ground.
The unsuccessful, disappointing and off-putting aspects of the trailer for the target audience include the shots from inside the cinema where people are watching the film live. The reason this is off-putting is because you can the audiences’ heads illuminated by the green night vision light which distracts you from the movie footage. Due to the low key lighting of the cinema and the green light emitted, the high key cinema screen looks it’s been added in the editing process and makes the screen have connotations of being fake and amateur.
The trailer also ruins the only jump scares the film has to offer and shows of the scariest bits of hem film representing the fact that the audience will already be prepared to watch the film and won’t be as easily shocked or spooked by the film. On top of this the ghosts presence and attacks in the trailer weren’t scary enough and used a cliché of horror conventions to connote supernatural fear and suspense by using techniques like slamming doors, moving chandeliers and no footsteps in flour that’s been placed on the ground.
Why did it receive the mark you gave it?
Despite the fact it used a variety of horror conventions it also spoiled the main aspect of the narrative and didn’t leave much for the target audience to figure out. It also showed the main jump scare which appears at the end of the film, along with the other scariest pats of the film, meaning the audience won’t be as scared or shocked as they’ll have literally seen it all before. Also, like the Day of the Dead (1985) trailer, it also shows shots from inside a cinema which is very off-putting and distracting and draws the audience away from the action and horror of the film.
Despite the fact it used a variety of horror conventions it also spoiled the main aspect of the narrative and didn’t leave much for the target audience to figure out. It also showed the main jump scare which appears at the end of the film, along with the other scariest pats of the film, meaning the audience won’t be as scared or shocked as they’ll have literally seen it all before. Also, like the Day of the Dead (1985) trailer, it also shows shots from inside a cinema which is very off-putting and distracting and draws the audience away from the action and horror of the film.
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