BY SABA KEBEDE

Teaser / Trailer Analysis of Horror-Thrillers

The Woman in Black

Film TE/TR Questions Raised

Category (True story, novel, comic fictional, film, documentary)

Comments (Genre, own reaction)

Shot list (B/W, SFX etc)

The Woman in Black

TR

Why is Daniel Radcliffe on his way to this house? What are his intentions? Who are the children in it? Why are there connotations of children, such as the dolls and toys? Why are there pictures of the family? What is the significance of the weather? Why is there a voiceover? What is his relationship with the woman in black? Has he seen her before, is that why he visiting her?

Directed by James Watkins and written by Jane Goldman

Horror-thriller film, the child’s voiceover added the scary affect because of the fact that children are usually one of the conventions used in a horror film. The use of the childish toys were also used to scare the audience, as it is contradictory, because children are lively and happy as oppose to this.

-Low angle shot of the woman in black to show her significance and power.- Close up of Daniel Radcliffe’s face to emphasise his facial expression. -High angle shots of the children, perhaps to portray their insignificance as oppose to the woman in black. -Establishing shots of the house and the scenery with Daniel Radcliffe on the horse and carriage.

Hostel

Film TE/TR Questions Raised

Category (True story, novel, comic fictional, film, documentary)

Comments (Genre, own reaction)

Shot list (B/W, SFX etc)

Hostel: Part II TR

What persuaded them to leave t and go to the hostel? Why has the man chosen these particular people? Why did they follow him? How did the others get captured? Who is the person behind all of this? Who built this place? Why are they in a dungeon-like room? Why is there so many people allowing this to happen? Is it for entertainment or have they signed a pact?

Written, produced and directed by Eli Roth

Horror-thriller film, the diegetic sound makes it sound realistic coming from the torture of the people. The screams seem realistic. The non-diegetic sounds create a sense of suspense and climax towards the end the music sounds predatory. It was quite conventional at times with the eerie look and feel to it as well as the taunting music.

-Panning and tracking shots, emphasising the journey from one room to the other with different people. This gives it the shock factor as the audience gets suspicious as to who’s next to be tortured and in what other method. - Close up on the feet or fingers and showing the slow progression of certain features on the body getting tortured.

7500

Film TE/TR Questions Raised

Category (True story, novel, comic fictional, film, documentary)

Comments (Genre, own reaction)

Shot list (B/W, SFX etc)

7500 TR

What is the significance of this happening on a plane? Why are the people so casual? Is this to create irony? What is the force that is doing this to the passengers? How could all this start from technology? Why specifically does the plane go to Tokyo and not anywhere else? What is the importance of the phone? How does the phone link with the supernatural force that is doing this.

Directed by Takashi Shimizu, written by Craig Rosenberg.

Horror – thriller film. The use of the voiceovers and the text on the screen is effective to create a bit of suspense and a climax, as well as to guide the audience through the story as it is a trailer not a teaser, where snippets of the film is being shown.

-Low angle shots of the force and a medium shot of the hostess that is being dragged. - Medium shots of the hostess and the man in the seat. - High angle shot of the man in his seat – which could show his helplessness within this situation. - Close up of the faces of the passengers and their reactions to the unfortunate events.

Hostage

Film TE/TR Questions Raised

Category (True story, novel, comic fictional, film, documentary)

Comments (Genre, own reaction)

Shot list (B/W, SFX etc)

Hostage TR

What’s the significance of the house? Why are there victims within this house? Why is Bruce Willis walking into this house? What are his intentions? Why is the person after Bruce Willis? Is he a victim or villain? Is there some sort of force that needs to be identified? Why do things disappear? How did the man in the car get there? Why are they in what looks like a field? Whose house is it?

Directed by Emilio Siri, written by Doug Richardson and Robert Crais.

Thriller film – It looks like a typical thriller, with the similar conventions, such as an eerie atmosphere, a big house etc. The use of the non-diegetic sounds in the house was effective because it brings out the horror within the trailer. He has blood on his hands, which is effective due to the fact that the colour “red” is very conventional, and satisfies the audience.

-Over the shoulder shots, with Bruce Willis and Joseph Gordon-Levitt during conversation. - Close up of Bruce Willis hands a face – to create a climax and the reactions of the characters. - Medium shots of the man in the house with the gun and the police man – this is to possibly create tension, as the audience knows what’s going to happen, whereas the policeman doesn’t.

Fright Night

Film TE/TR Questions Raised

Category (True story, novel, comic fictional, film, documentary)

Comments (Genre, own reaction)

Shot list (B/W, SFX etc)

Fright Night TR

How long is it until they realise that their neighbour is a vampire? Why does he want to hurt his neighbours? Why did he move to that area in particular? Was the fact that he didn’t tell his neighbours until they found out significant in any way? Does the diegetic sound relate to the theme of the trailer? Has he tortured anyone else before? How and why did he capture the woman?

Directed by Craig Gillespie, produced by Michael De Luca and Alison R. Rosenzweig, story by Tom Holland and Based on Original screenplay by Tom Holland.

Comedy horror film. The fact of using diegetic sounds create a sense of realism within this trailer, and the use of non-diegetic sounds accordingly, because of the eerie music. It was quite typical again, because seeing as it is a vampire film it is going to be compared with one of the biggest vampire films such as Twilight, but this trailer was more horrifying.

-Low angle shot of the vampire – to show his significance and how he is the powerful character. -Close up of the key-hole and the woman’s face jumping up on it to scare the audience and go against conventions as it was unexpected. - Long shots and establishing shots of the woman’s and vampire face as well as the houses from a long shot.