Film Trailer Deconstructions

The Last Exorcism Trailer

The last exorcism is a film told from the prospective of a delusional evangelical minister who after years of performing exorcisms decides to participate in a documentary chronicling his last exorcism while exposing the fraud of his ministry. After receiving a letter from a local farmer asking for help in driving out the devil, he meets the farmer afflicted daughter.

Mise en Scene

The mise en scene deals with many aspects of the trailer such as location, props, costumes, make-up etc. In terms of the location, it is a very rural remote place that looks slightly run down as represented by the derelict-looking house and the fields as well as the barn. The film is hosted in America in a lower/working class environment. In terms of costume and props, a lot of it represents religious ideologies such as the bible, priest outfitting, crucifix, holy water, the devil etc. Other props included are props such as guns, cars, farming equipment etc, of which all represent a stereotypical lifestyle of a working class farmer.

The verb exorcism means "the attempted expulsion of an evil spirit" which then links to the bible as being possessed by the devil. This film promotes the biblical ideologies of good and evil, God and the Devil. The farmers daughter that has been possessed by the evil spirit and is bed ridden and wears an evening gown which has a semantic field with hospitals and their gowns so this can represent illness and death. The costume is all very stereotypical for example the farmer wears an open, usually scruffy shirt with a pair of jeans and boots which represents lower working class. Make-up is used specifically for the girl to show when she is possessed as her pigment in her face turns to pale white and her eyes and mouth become very red, also blood is part of the make-up not only on the characters faces but on the girls blouse.

Camera Shots

There are many medium, close up and long shots used in the trailer. For example there is a panning long shot when the priest drives past a derelict, haunted looking house. This sets the mood, scenery and location of which the priest is about to enter. At the beginning of the film there is a point-of-view shot of someone looking out the window at the priest praying. This is mysterious as we (the viewers) do not know who is gazing at the priest and it influences imagery, some may think its the possessed girl some may even think its a nosey neighbour. There is filming (camera shot and angle) in the jeep that almost puts the viewer next to the character in the film. This is affective as it feels like you are in the jeep with the priest and experiencing first hand what he is going through. There is a high angle close up when the possessed girl is on the floor in the barn, it shows her terrified facial expressions and the high angle has an effect of showing that the girl is in a vulnerable state. Approaching the end of the trailer there is a montage of rapid close-ups of the farmers, priests and girls face to build suspense and tension of not knowing what is happening or going to happen.

Editing

Throughout the movie trailer there are many rapid cuts from shot to shot. In the opening 16seconds of the trailer there are 10cuts of which creates pace, interest and suspense. The fast cuts alternate from location, characters and props such as the crucifix. There is also graphic editing towards the end of the trailer, there are shots of the possessed girl with colour distortion and camera distortion giving an effect of evil and supernatural "species". Editing can also include chiaroscuro lighting, this is used in a shot of the girl, she is brightly lit, but the back ground is dark. The bright light may have connotations that there is "light at the end of the tunnel" in other words there is some sort of Godly presence as represented by the white gown and lighting as well as there being the darkness of the room and location behind her. This shot is also copied when looking at the priest which may represent that he is the saviour. Non diegetic plays from the beginning of the trailer, orchestral music with high pitches and tones haunts the trailer as well as the non diegetic voice over the priest giving an effect of a documentary. In the voice over the person says "if you believe in God, you believe in the Devil" of which sums up the storyline in a sentence as is also an issue that arrises in the bible with the idea of good and evil, God and the Devil. There is also diegetic sounds that play throughout such as screaming, shouting, loud bangs, a gun being reloaded etc. By the use of keeping both non-diegetic sounds and diegetic sounds playing throughout the trailer, its causes a lot of noise therefore creates an uncomfortable atmosphere.

Genre

Undoubtably this is a Horror movie that provokes the emotion of fear through a malevolent presence possessing a girl. This films deals with  ideologies of good and evil, the devil possesses a girl and as there are many reported stories of exorcism it bring the horror film to reality and adds that extra dose of fear as it could actually happen in the minds of the viewers. In terms of sub genres this can be easily categorised into Religion as the devil is the key villain that is causing all the pain.

Insidious Trailer

I am going to be analysing a horror-film trailer. I will be looking at many things such as the:
Iconography
Mise en scene
Editing
Camera Angle (and positioning)
Lighting etc.
I will be looking at how all of these contribute to the typical conventions of a horror movie and what the audience expect to see.

Mise en scene

In terms of the mise en scene, this covers many aspects that a conventional horror film will include such as the props, costume, location, people etc. The trailer consists of a typical location, a middle class house in a nice, respectable, quiet neighbourhood occupied by a regular loving family. This house is out the norm though, being inhabited by a demon. The use of beds, windows, chairs and hospital equipment are used throughout the trailer. The windows and beds are used to create fear for when the demons presence is about. The windows, beds and doors slam to provoke fear and a "jumpy" and "creepy" scene to the audience. The bed is a key prop as this aids the plot of the film, in order for the demon to get into the mortal realm, he must pass via the child's body when he is sleeping. This has many connotations as beds are recognised to be a place of rest, peace, safety and comfort but in this film it represents the bed as being the complete opposite. Hospital equipment is used to represent death and pain as the parents believed he was in a coma due to an unknown cause after being perfectly healthy the day before.

Other props that aid the representation of childhood are things such as toys, baby monitors and a rocking horse. These things can be modified to the advantage of a horror genre. Toys and baby monitors can show a ghostly/evil presence by getting them to move or be played with or a voice played through the baby monitor. This is very powerful in provoking the audiences emotions. To keep your children safe is a parental instinct, so to hear a supernatural voice coming through the speakers where the baby should be, can be terrifying. A rocking horse is used in many films as it is an object that many can relate to in their own childhood, this is commonly used to show a ghostly presence as it rocks back and forth.


Camera Shots

There is a vast variety of camera shots used in the trailer of Insidious. They all are used to build pace and tension as well as represent a certain thing such as a close up of the metronome of which is used in the film to hynotize the father. There is an eye-line medium closeup of the distressed father which is a very powerful shot as it shows the characters facial expressions and emotions aswell as giving the affect that he is looking straight at you. It is also very affective as it opposes stereotypes that stereotypically males are supposed to be stong and protective but here he is clearly vulnerable and distressed.

There is a montage of shots when the child is in hospital. It begins with a close up of the distressed couple and then changes to an over-the-shoulder long shot of the child in the hospital bed. A hospital has connotations of death, pain and illness so seeing the couples gaze at their injured child can actually cause other people to emphasise with them as a parental instinct. There is an eye-line pan when the mother is investigating the rooms as she senses a presence, the camera angle is from her perspective and the pan represents her head movement as she gazes at one room and then to another. This creates suspense as the audience can only see what the character is seeing so it puts you in her perspective that creates a creepy tension.

There are many fast shots of extreme close ups later on in the trailer to show the characters terrified facial expressions and also some of the costumes and make up of the demons but the extreme close up as a very fast cut only leaves the viewer with a mental image of the demon actually looks like and this can vary on each viewers perception which then influences social interaction.

Editing

In the opening scene the cuts start off slowly cutting from firstly the film studio (Film District) to the fathers distressed face and then to the metronome. From here the cuts then become rapid showing many things such as locations, costumes, character expressions, make-up of demons etc. In the first 31seconds of the trailer there is 18cuts showing many important scenes of the film. It introduces the location, the characters, the demons etc. Throughout the trailer is cuts from the film to the insidious logo that continuously flashes and cross dissolves. The words "Insidious is" cross fades and changes place for example, "Insidious is...Is Insidious". This is a powerful technique.

The definition of Insidious is: "proceeding in a gradual, subtle way, causing harmful affects". As the words cross dissolves into each other its says Insidious is Insidious representing the film to start in a subtle way but gradually will enhance the feeling of fear.

There is many diegetic sounds throughout the trailer such as loud collisions, screaming, slamming of doors etc, but there is a diegetic sound of which transitions into a non-diegetic sound and plays throughout the trailer. There is a medium shot of a metronome of which is used to hypnotise the father, the onomatopoeic sound of the "tick tock" then plays throughout the trailer, this creates an image that "time is limited" as sound mimics the sound a clock.

Genre

This film trailer is certainly a horror film as it has all the typical conventions that the audience would expect. Horror films can then be categorised into sub-genres, this film deals with demons, spirits, and a sci-fi parallel universe so it has many sub genres such as religious due to the devil/demons but as it has a science fiction input it is very hard to categorise this film as it deals with many sub genres.


The Human Centipede

The human centipede is a story of a German doctor who kidnaps three tourists and joins them surgically, mouth to anus, forming a "human centipede". It stars Dieter Laser as the villain, Dr. Heiter, with Ashley C. Williams, Ashlynn Yennie, and Akihiro Kitamura as his victims. Six also stated that inspiration for the film came from Nazi medical experiments carried out during World War II, such as the actions of Josef Mengele at Auschwitz concentration camp.

Mise en scene

The human centipede is very typical, not particulary in the storyline but in the props and location used to create the predicament that the three tourists get into. Firstly they use phones to firstly communicate to each other which represents contemporary society with the technological advancement of society. When they have met they travel by a car going through the woods, the car then recieves a punctured tyre and the girls are left stranded. The props used in the opening sequence are unlucky props of which is how the story begins and the girls fate is decided. By the terms "unlucky props" i mean the broken cars, broken telephones etc.

Due to being left stranded in the woods with no mobile phone or mode of transport they are unable to escape, which by its self gives a sense of horror, everyone's worst nightmare is to be left stranded in the woods so the audience can relate to them. The woodland location that the girls are stranded in is very typical, the "woods" or "woodland" has connotations of darkness, evil, mysterious and unknown. The location that they end up is a dutch neighbourhood, this gives the sense that they are vulnerable as they are American tourists, do not know the area and can't even speak the language in order to seek assistance. In terms of costumes, everything is relatively stereotypical, the young American tourists are in dresses and heels ready to go out and the surgeon that they come across is wearing a shirt and trousers so everything is pretty regular.

Further on in the trailer, occupation costumes are also very stereotypical, as the man is a surgeon is dressed in a long white jacket that u would see many sergeons wear. The occupation of a "surgeon" is commonly seen as heros and they perform operations that save peoples lives, but in this movie, he performs an operation that is more of a twisted experiment that puts each of their lives in jerperdy. In terms of the props used by the surgeon it is all very stereotypical to his professions, hospital and operative equipment such as knives, saws, saringes, hopsital beds etc.

There are iconic colours and props used throughout the trailer, when the girls first meet the surgeon, he is in a black shirt. The colour black has connotations of darkness and evil. One of the women is dressed in grey, this may appear to be slightly ambiguous. As white has connotations of heaven, purity and justice and on the other hand black has connotations of darkness and evil, grey may appear to represent something in between the both of those, almost an idea of pergatory and that her fate is undecided. There are also iconic props of horror movies such as knives that are present in this trailer.

Camera Shots

The trailer is fairly long with it being over 3 minutes. The beggining of the trailer starts off with limited cuts but the pace increases with rapid close up cuts. During a period of 20seconds there is 13 cuts which alternates from close up to medium shots of the characters and props used in the trailer. The fast cuts seem to give the viewer an idea of the climax of the film, also as the cuts are very fast it builds suspense and tension to what is happening. There is a mixture of title slides throughout that almost tell the storyline.

There is a closeup of a man with his mouth tied which then turns to an extreme close up of his eyes, this is to show his facial expressions as he is extremely distressed and terrified. Throughout the trailer it alternates from long shots to medium shots to close ups of which gives us a sense of the location and the facial expressions, this is used to build an atmosphere and imagery.

There is a long shot of the car driving through the woods and then a close up of the punctured tyre, this has been put there so we fully understand the situation and what has happened. When the surgeon opens the door to the 2 helpless American tourists, there is an over the shoulder shot, this is very affective in enforcing the storyline. This camera angle may represent that he is now in control of the situation. When the surgeon is walking down the stairs there is a high angled pan of which is also a tilt. This has many connotations. As he is walking down it may represent that he is evil and going beneath ground level of which promotes religious ideologies of hell. A low angel medium shot is also very affective where the dimented sergeon is in his sergical outfit holding a saringe, the low angle gives him the representation of being powerful and fully in control.

Editing

At the beginning of the trailer there aren't many cuts, this is to show the storyline aswell as it promoting ideas that everything is regular with a slow pace. This then dramatically increases to influence tension and atmosphere, the quick cuts create pace of which makes the audience feel on edge and its signifies the extent of where the climax happens.

There is no continuity as this will slow the trailer down, they want to create a fast pace with a scary atmosphere to draw the target audience in. The technique used in order to do this is called jump cutting. Cross shots are another technique that is used in the trailer to merge scenes together in order to create almost a short story to the trailer, although the events may not happen like that in the film, it is created in the trailer to add a more dramatic storyline.

Throughout the trailer it fades out from black. The colour black has many connotations in itself promoting ideologies of evil and darkness. The fade out from black shows how the story line is evolving. The fade out from black constantly goes to a screen of writing of which narrates the the storyline for example "the demented surgeon...to perform the unspeakable".

Throughout the trailer there is a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound. The diegetic sound is offered through the voices of the characters which includes; conversations, screaming, whispering etc. The Non-diegetic sound is offered through the backing track, this also influences drama and tension as well as pace to the trailer.

All of this creates an atmosphere of fear.

Genre

The genre is obviously horror as the film is all about provoking fear. It also fits into a slight sub-genre of sci-fi as it deals with subjects that have never been performed in today's society excluding the Nazi' era.

Film trailers consist of many, rapid cuts from scene to scene showing the mise-en-scene of this film.

Graphics of which is enhanced by costume and make-up is also a type of editing, to create a demons presence graphics, In this trailer there is a quick shot of the demon floating.