Analysis Film Trailer: 1

The Inkeeper

USPThis films highlights its USP as soon as the trailer begins. This films USP is the fact that a

women is the main character in the film who is coming into contact with the ghosts, she takes on a male role of taking charge in the search for the ghost and organising the search. In many ghost stories it is a male who goes searching for the ghosts therefore a women surprizes the audience and further engages them into the trailer so that they can find out how the female

does. This is also surprizing for the audience because in many horror films the women is seen to be vulnerable and a liability, however, because for a lot of the trailer the women is seen to

be on her own , this is not the case.

What does sound do for the trailer?At the beginning of the trailer there is a range of eaiery, dark, swishing sounds which create an appropriate empty and hollow feeling for the visual scenes in the trailer which show an empty hotel.The scenes are also of the more darker and scary sides of the hotel which is why music which high suspense and bold blunt sudden bursts are used.

During the short small clips of the hotel are being shown, there is a dialogue over the top of it of someone talking and explaining why “Madalyn O'Malley” is. The first question is asked at the very start of the trailer “have you heard the story of Madalyn O'Malley” , asking the audience this original question starts to get the audience interested in who Madalyn O'Malley is and why there is such dark ecoy music over the top of the dialogues, this connotes the audience that Madalyn O'Malley must be a ghost or have something to do with some kind of scary abnormal accuracy.

The dialogues sets a scary storyline for the audience to get into and to get more interested in the trailer, the dialogue explains the story of Madalyn O'Malley after it has asked the question, if the audience are hooked by the original question then they will continue to pay close attention to the trailer to learn the story of Madalyn O'Malley and to then go onto see the film to see how the rest of the story plans out and if Madalyn O'Malley comes back .

Throughout the rest of the trailer there are various sharp, screaming and scary sounds which set the scene for the film, they match with the speed and intencing of the editing with the pace and sharp sounds which are sound in the music track, this creates a powerful duo and entitles a even stronger feel of horror and excitement.

Towards the end of the trailer as it climax's using scary scenes, the music playing over the top is 1920 swing jazz, this cheerful happy music creates a binary opposition which shows the difference between the two

What effect does editing have on the audience?At the beginnings of the film trailer, there are various small clips of the hotel being edited together using a black out fade, this gives the transitions between the clips a dark, mysterious and smooth effect to show that they are all linked together and are all of the same place, but are also of a place of great haunt, disturbance and darkness. The feelings the audience get from these clips being edited this way leaves them in suspense to what's coming next and keeps them on the edge of there seats waiting for the jump- which comes when the door slams in front of the camera, or as it would seem, in front of the audiences face.

The editing is also in pace with the music which is being used over the top of the clips which is slow paced and demonic, the editing being set to the pace of the music matches the two together and therefore, makes the connotations of the music and the scenes of being demonic, dark and eerier, stronger.

As the rest of the trailer continuous and the plot becomes more clear, the editing stays at short scenes quick cuts, this would suggest that the pace of the film is quite fast when the audience watch it and shows that it gets to the point and does not dander on one aspect of the film, in fact, it bonces between different ones.

During the trailer there are various jumps, such as the piano playing two major notes by it self, or the glass pendant dropping on the floor. When these clips are played during the trailer a quick editing transition is used to show the speed and intensity of the unusual and unnatural action which has just taken place.

Credit and IntertitlesInstitutional Reference

After the rough story as been explained by the voice over explaining why Madalyn O'Malley was etc., there is a institutional reference, the first section of the trailer is to hook you and to make you continue to watch the trailer due to the interesting and existing story which is the centre of the film, after the audience has been hooked by the scary story the trailer shows two institutional references to show that this trailer is being created by “dark sky films” and “ glass eye pix” who both have created some famous horror films which has been known to scare, excite and horrify audiences, the audience will remember these institution and therefore give them there trust to deliver a film similar to there other creations. The feeling of the audience knowing what there getting gives them comfort and allows them to relax more when watching the trailer in the thought that it is going to be a good film because it is being made by good creators.

As the trailer begins to climax and the shots get shorter there is another institutional reference which again enables the audience to give more trust into the production. “Directed by the house of the devil” , this reference will mean that if the audience have seen “the house of the devil” and enjoyed it, then they are likely to go and watch this film due to the fact that they know they will get quality with there purchase and that they can trust that the film is being made by the same mind than the previous one.

At the end of the trailer there is the name of the film on the screen, leaving the audaince with the name of the film after the heavy hitting, horrifying and scary jumps will imprint the name into there heads,the name of the film is therefore more likely to be remembered.

Mise en sceneAt he start of the trailer during the scenes of the hotel, the light is low and dark to show that the hotel is a run down and not active as normal hotels would be. In the scenes there is shown to be dark lighting in the hotel however it is clear that there is high lighting, this shows a contrast in the lighting in and out of the hotel. This connotes that the life, activity and happiness is low in the hotel, the hotel is connoted to be dark and demonic to show the audience that it Is not a place were they would want to be. It also sets the scenes for the rest of the film as being the main centre environment for were the unnatural occurrences happen.

During the trailer a microphone is shown several times, it also covers the main frame in a close up during which a charter says “I have my microphone”, the emphasis placed on the microphone shows that the characters who are looking into the ghost have done this before and are experienced in looking for ghosts. This connotes to the audience that they are not amateur ghost hunters.

StructureAct One

Act one primarily consists of the main character explaining who Madalyn O'Malley was and why she is interesting, the entail ghost story gets the audience interested as ghost story's are abnormal and the audience will be interested in occurrences that are not normal in everyday life.

During the non diegetic sound of the female voice over, there are a number of black fades clips which set the scene for the film, the clips represent the hotel as being a place of horror and disturbances. In this trailer act one is mostly used to introduce the scene for the film ( the

hotel), which gives the audience an idea of what kind of place the majority of the horror will be set. Act one is also mainly used to explain to the audience the general storyline behind the film and to hook the audience with the scary ghost story. The ghost story and the dark, haunting and old style views of the hotel show the audience what this trailer is mainly about, at this point in time the audience can then decide whether they

are going to continue paying attention to the trailer or if they are going to not. Act 1 finishes at 30 seconds into the trailer.

Act TwoAct two begins after the main story has been explained. The voice over of the women speaking changes to voice segments from the film of her talking to someone about how they need to find some evidence to prove that the ghost exists before the hotel closes down, this gives a sense of rush and anticipation to the audience as they will understand from life experience what it is like to be under pressure and under a time slip, the audience also gain further understanding about how the women is able to communicate with the sprits- by using another

person who has done it before, this shows the character not having the skills to tackle a problem but then resolving the problem using help from others. Act two gives more information about the film by showing some of the key narrative twists such as “don’t go into the

basement”, these narrative twists are not fully explained and therefore a question is left in the audience thoughts of “why cant she go into the basements” and “ what's in the basement”, for the audience to find the answers to these they have to go and see the film.

Act ThreeAfter the basic narrative has been explained and the problems which the characters have in the film have been determined, the trailer begins to climax with a range of fast paced, quick cut action and horror shots which get the audience existed and wanting to see the

film. Act three really starts at 1 minuet and 33 seconds when the first jump clip is shown of her turning around to a uncanny face, there are a range of clips from the film which show jumpy pars which will get the audience jumping and existed, the feeling that the

audience feel will be wanted more by the audience and therefore they will go and see the film. During act three the clips are so short and fast paced that the audience does not see how the characters escapes or gets out of the trouble that the audience only see momentarily. The act finishes with one final paced clip of the camera speeding towards the main characters who is bleeding and

clearly terrified, this connotes to the audience that something is approaching the main characters quickly, this something or someone is clearly scary and seen to be horrify by the main characters due to the scared expression she pulls, the audience can also see she is in

danger from the blood pouring from her face, this leaves the audience asking one last question about the trailer to which again, can only be answered if they go and see the film.

Narrative/Genre

Due to the trailer following various horror conventions such as fast paced short fades and quick jumps towards the end of the trailer, it is clear that the genre of this film is horror. The narrative is also a strong indicator that the genre is horror due to it being about someone who has died and is back as a ghost or some kind of unnatural form.

The narrative is explained in the trailer at the beginning and shows a strong progression in the trailer of the main female characters meeting another female character who helps her tackle her problem off “communicating with the sprits”. The narrative is continue to shown to be the main female characters being put in dangerous and horrifying circumstances which excite the audience as they want to find out what her fate is.

RepresentationAt the beginnings of the trailer the female is shown to be strong, organised and determined to get

evidence of the ghost existence. She is shown to be a strong independent women who is the leader of the hunt and not the male she is with, the voice over is her speaking which shows her knowledge of the

ghost to be more than the male and she also is shown to be doing he main frontline work of trying to pick up sounds on the microphone of any abnormal activity. This connotes to the audience that women can also be powerful and take charge of a dangerous and scary operation, this connotation may attract

women themselves and persuade them to watch the film to hopefully connect with the main character in the film.

This strong and powerful representation of women in the horror film is not normal and therefore interests the audience.

Although this is the representation at the start of the film, the representation changes to see the women by her self and in danger, is shows her being scared and running away from scary and dangerous

situations, this now represents her as venerable and scared.