House at the end of the Street - Trailer analysis 2

 

 

The opening title ‘FILMNATION ENTERTAINMENT’ employs an unusual horror convention by having the background a yellow/orange colour with the graphic design made to look as if it’s the sun’s beams. It quickly transitions to a more typical or more expected opening title ‘momentum pictures..’ the text itself still resembles the sun, as its bright and almost a yellowish colour. The background however follows horror movie conventions as it is dark, with cracks and looks as if it has been worn away and is dated. The title appears to come out of the screen as if it is almost going to be a three dimensional movie, and just before it fades to the trailer, part of the text flashes as if it doesn’t work properly. This suggests to the audience that the clip is not working properly, but also makes the audience wonder if the evil creature is affecting the clip. The opening titles fade, which makes it a smooth transition and has a calming effect. The establishing shot is of a girl walking alone at night time in an isolated area, which suggests she is likely to be the victim as this is often the case in many horror movies. The surrounding area that she is walking through appears to be slightly run down and the older street lights imply that the area has not been modified or changed for a long period of time. The audience may question why the street lights have not been updated to a more modern standard. Later on in the trailer we can piece together that not many people want to live or enter this area through the mother telling the main character “you know that house is the reason we can afford to rent this house..” and the leading male character saying “the rumour is that you can see her in the woods”.

 

The establishing shot cuts to a shallow focus, a mid-close up of the girl- who is not dressed particularly conservatively- with the car in the background. The main character has long blonde hair and natural make-up, making her look quite innocent and connotes that she will probably be the victim in this movie. The car in the background is still out of focus and the audience cannot tell who is driving it, which adds an element of mystery and suspense. There is another cut to a long shot that includes the whole of the car and the girl walking besides it. This scene seems familiar as the audience assume she will be kidnapped or killed. The cuts keep a fast pace and ensure that the audience cannot get bored. The scene is cut to a black screen, which makes the audience wonder what happened to the girl, and as they cannot see anything it makes the trailer more frightening. The sound in the beginning is non-digetic and very subtle, we only hear white noise and a subtle eerie noise, allowing us to hear the digetic sound of the car pulling up more clearly. The non-digetic sound then culminates in a subtle stab as the screen fades to black. While the car is reversing, the audience realises that the driver is actually a young man- someone we assume is relatively safe and will not harm the girl. He politely offers her a “ride home” however she declines, we see this through the drivers point of view, with what the audience assumes to be part of his car partially blocking his view. It cuts to a black screen once again adding mystery to the scene, this then fades to the two people having a conversation. A close up shot of the man allows the audience to believe he is a ‘normal’ character and has nothing to hide. His costume- a light blue/grey t-shirt permits the audience to believe he is an innocent and ordinary young man.

 

 

 

 

The screen flashes black and white and then a long shot of a house is presented- connoting that the previous confusion (shown by the flashing black and white colours) is now relieved as a stable and common element for everyone- a house is now introduced, hinting that normality will proceed. This moves on to the mother and daughter talking about “that house”, which shakes the audiences beliefs up as they were led to believe normality was going to continue but are now suspicious of a neighbouring house. Shallow focus is used which makes the audience focus on just the mother and what she is saying. Also it makes the main actress seem as if her thoughts are pre-occupied or she is ‘not there’. The clip cuts to the girl looking out the window where a reflection of the forest can be seen- a typical horror movie setting. The scene fades to a sudden close up of a lamp being knocked over fills the screen. Usually when a lamp is knocked over it breaks and light no longer emits from it, this is not however the case in this trailer, it hints that there is something odd and abnormal in this house. The audience see a young girl walking past to the lamp, at first an audience member would be mistaken for thinking that the young girl may be sleep walking. The screen flashes and the lamp has gone, the girl seems to stagger and the lighting flashes on the set- while the lamp is suddenly standing upright again. A black screen is made use of which adds suspense and an element of surprise, this fades to an establishing shot of the next day.

 

A family appear to be having breakfast around a table together with a school, church or some older building in the background. The camera pans around the table in a circular motion, making everything seem normal but the speed of the pan implies that the girl is slightly panicking. This seemingly calm situation is disturbed by a bright light shining on the house, which is distorted by various shapes of light- this could possibly be the view of an animal or evil creature that is watching the house. An eye appears in the carnage for a brief moment and then the girl who knocked over the lamp appears on screen, she is holding what looks like a snow globe with the house in it. The snow globe as a prop contrasts with the young girls overall image as we associate such items as innocent and toys for children- not a prop in a horror movie. This is a convention of a lot of horror movies, taking innocent items or people and changing them into evil objects or characters. It is more shocking to see something innocent become something evil, as it goes against our expectations and is quite unsettling for the audience. The view inside the snow globe is initially distorted, which does not bode well and suggests that normality and life will become distorted. This could also be foreshadowing of the protagonist to be trapped within a distorted and scary world. The audience still hasn’t seen her face fully, so she is a frightening character- the technique of not showing who the killer or villain is a common feature in horror films as we cannot see what we should be afraid of we become un-necessarily afraid. A black screen is employed again, and then the camera has a bird’s eye view of a couple half asleep in bed, with lightning flashing into their room. A close up of the girl is appears on screen and then it cuts to a black screen again, implying that the girl is going to do something bad to the couple. The camera blinks and none of the shot is in focus, until we see a mid-close up of the man in bed, with a terrified and confused expression on his face.

 

 

 

The next shot is under the bed, with a tint to the image on screen making it un-recognisable, the girl’s foot then comes off the bed, the floor covered with feathers- which suggests she has attacked or killed him. The feathers also suggest that someone has pulled apart her bed clothes and pillows, as they are often made using feathers, while she was asleep. This would suggest an unwelcome presence in the house. The shot of her feet coming off the bed, is jumpy and flashes a lot, which makes the audience more scared. The fast editing allows the audience to realise there was no time for the man to save himself from the girl, as she was too fast and strong for him to fight off. Or another possibility is that the girl was his daughter or someone he knew and trusted, so he was not prepared or ready to defend himself.

 

 

 

A newspaper clipping appears on screen, notifying the audience that it is probable that this was a real event that occurred in the past. This fades to a crime scene in a forest, with police tape- implying that the girl has continued to kill or attack people. A cut is used to go to a scene in the woods, which is in a worms eye position, intimating the fact that something or someone is hiding low in the ground, waiting to attack. There seems to be a ‘bubble’ effect on the camera, as the woods look distorted similar to the scenes of the distorted house and the snow globe. Thus linking all the shots together allowing the audience to know that these events are connected and not just random parts of a story.

 

The camera appears to be there for a long time, as the audience see the shadows move around the trees, hinting that a long period of time has passed and the murders were committed a long time ago. Or it could be representative of the creature hiding and waiting to attack someone for a long period of time- possibly connecting to the same reason why the street lights had not been updated. A jump cut is made use of as well as another tint to the camera, making it more frightening, the screen is black again and then fades to a shot of the mother and daughter from behind trees. This shot is frightening for the audience as they assume someone is stalking the mother and daughter. The girl suddenly turns around when her and her mother are approaching the house. An eyeline shot shows she is just looking at the forest and cannot see anything that poses a threat to her. The camera zooms in to the forest then cuts to behind the trees, where someone or something is watching her again. We see a figure, that we guess is a man, move to the right and causes the screen to go black again. As expected it fades to the girl, who is standing near the blinds and looks out of them, the audience then sees this from further away, and only sees the light of the window, which is a strange occurrence. The shot cuts to the mother and daughter talking again and then fades to a couple kissing on the couch, and the editing is jumpy again, showing the audiences that their pulses are racing and something life changing may happen soon.

 This leads on to another black screen which cuts to a strange scene of a girl coming out of the floor, like a monster or creature of sorts. The fact that she is seemingly rising out of the floor boards, makes her seem less human and more evil, especially as hell is known to be underground we assume she has arrived back at the house after leaving hell. The shot cuts back to a close up of the couple, then back to a black screen, then back to the girl coming out of the floor, this sequence is repeated- allowing the audience to take all of the information in, but also makes them question whether they saw the girl rise out of floor boards twice or once. A close up of the young girls legs walking up stairs, a cut to a black screen, and then a cut to a close up of a door handle moving up and down on seemingly on its own. The audience wonder if this young girl/creature is controlling the door handles movements, as a few moments ago she seemed human by walking past. This idea of evil lurking within us is a convention used in modern horror movies, as we are no longer afraid of vampires or werewolves, we are afraid of who we have become and the evil within.  The girl opens a door and walks in- this scene is jumpy as the girl appears to move speedily and then very slowly through the passage way. A cut to a black screen is unsurprisingly used, making the audience wonder what will happen next. Another cut is employed, and focussed onto a close up of the girl from the beginning of the trailer, she calls out ‘Ryan’ and slowly walking towards a door, until a black screen appears. This fades to the girl opening the door where the young ghostly girl was earlier. The camera rolls up the side of the main character’s back and then cuts to a close up of the girl covering her mouth, looking down in shock and whispering “oh my God”. The now ghostly young girl is watching the main character from behind a wall, the audience assume that the young girl has killed someone or somehow uncovered a secret that the main character has found. The audience are anxiously waiting for the horrific discovery to be unveiled, but keeping the suspense the camera does not pan down to reveal what it is.

A strap is then added to the trailer, the text reading ‘THIS YEAR’ is a bright orange colour which contrasts with the overall theme of the trailer. When the footage of the trailer is presented the sound is digetic sound but when the strap lines with the wall paper come onto screen the sound consists of short stabs of high piercing sound. The background appears to be old wall paper, with mud or blood splattered onto it. This strap fades and then the girl seems to be asleep having a night-mare, with profile lighting, and all you can see is her face. A cut to another strap, reads ‘FEAR WILL FIND’, again the text contrasts with the background as it is bright orange and the background is wallpaper and wall which has plaster falling off it and ripped off wall paper- which follows the conventional setting of a horror movie taking place in a haunted house.

A cut to a mid-close up on the mother on the phone, is used then the camera cuts and zooms into a picture of a man and a girl which is lying on the floor, the mother ends the call and a strap is employed again. ‘A NEW HOME’ again is the same as the two previous straps however the background is different as there seems to be strange markings on the wall which is white and not almost black and grey. Spiders or ash seem to be falling in all of the straps, which makes the audience think that the disastrous event will occur soon.