THE CONJURING TRAILER ANALYSIS

The Conjuring trailer at the beginning portrays a found footage type of horror, which gives the idea to the audience that it is a paranormal cause rather than a possession because within supernatural film the found footage visual is typically used so that it makes it more realistic to the audience. It conveys a conventions of horror as there is use of extreme dark lighting to show that they may be in a scary daunting surroundings. It also gives the the awaiting feeling as if something is going to appear unexpectedly. The props and costume shows that the film is set in the past perhaps 1960s or 1970s; this is common considering the sub-genre, for supernatural films are usually set in a different age because of the popular beliefs of paranormal activities back then. Non diegetic sound is placed while Ed and Lorraine are walking up stairs, this creates a sense of fear because there is something sinister behind them; contrapuntal sound is in the mix of that as you hear a child’s laughter, perhaps to indicate that the ghost in the film is a child. A tagline that reads ‘Based on a True Story’ is a very common convention of horror trailers as it provokes fear from the audience because it is evidence that what they are view has actually happened in reality, it also teases their curiousness of the true story which in fact perhaps convincing them to watch the film. Continuing from there is a small montage of images, which links to the previous tagline because this physical evidence of the real ghost hunters. There a few cuts and fades to present the narratives, one fade displays an isolated house surrounded by trees and mist, giving the idea that it is set in the past because it looks like a setting of a Gothic film which were very often set centuries back.  A voice-over of the victim telling the story of haunted family, The background music begins to fade as there shots of a family asleep during the night, it then cuts to a ticking clock; the sound of the clock has been enhanced to create an awaiting tense motion till there is a stab to make a frightening atmosphere. The synchronous sound of when a characters leg is dragged while she is sleeping, this creates a stab effect because it is very dramatic and it was used to give the audience a jumpy feel also followed by breaking glass and screams which carries on the excitement for the audience. A strap is presented again, giving detail of other horror films that the director has been involved with. This gives an advantage, for the following horror films were successful then it is claiming that the present one will also follow on with the success; its used to convince the audience to watch the film because it lives up to high expectations. There is a long shot of the family home with ambient lighting, it further exposes the location allowing the audience to see just how isolated the family are from any form of safety. This imposes the idea that whatever evil spirit that is in the house has trapped the family and they can no longer be saved, there is no hope for them. There are continued faded shots which then leads to an exposure of  horrific image, matched with a screeching sound; a medium close up is used in this scene to show the fear the of the characters which intrigues the audience.