It Follows – Trailer DeconstructionJOSEPH GRIMES

Audiences & Institutions Trailer Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96Itg4gjtts Length of Trailer: 1 minute, 46 seconds Title of Film: It Follows Director: David Robert Mitchell Release Date: 27th March 2015 (USA) Certificate: 15 (R) Top Billing: Maika Monroe, Keir Gilchrist and Olivia Luccardi Awards: 8 wins & 5 nominations Genre: It is classified as a Horror/Mystery. I agree with this as it incorporates the usual Horror elements but the antagonist remains

unclear within the trailer subsequently displaying the mystery element. However, I believe it should be primarily promoted as a Psychological Horror because it does revolve a lot around the mind and insanity.

Production Companies: Animal Kingdom, Northern Lights Films and Two Flints. Distribution Companies: RADiUS-TWC and Dimension Films. Worldwide Gross: $14,674,076 Target Audiences: Their primary audience was teenagers, considering the age of the main characters and the stereotypical

demographic for this genre. Secondary audience could possibly be youth between 20-25 but that would still be an unlikely audience to see the film. Aimed at both genders but slightly more to the female side due to a female protagonist and the film taste of the gender.

Marketing: This was an independently produced film so the marketing campaign wasn’t very high profile. Trailers were the main source of it showing in cinemas both in the US and the UK months before the release.

Marketing Success? The film received an average of $3,129 in its opening weekend and managed to gain a gross of nearly 15 million dollars. The budget was nowhere near north of 5 million so financially it was quite a success and it remains RADiUS-TWC’s biggest success. Critically, it was described as being its own new version of Horror so it was a success in that sense too.

Micro Analysis – Camera Work Throughout the trailer, the camera appears to be tracking in slowly within the shots. This is illustrated

nicely in the first 5 shots of the trailer as the camera is gradually drawing in closer and closer on one particular female character. This is the protagonist of the film and therefore, the camera is already displaying the genre and the plot synopsis of this film well as it revolves someone following and getting closer to this character eerily throughout its narrative. It is almost as if the camera here is emulating the same story. One particular shot I thought was very effective was the one of her in a wheelchair as the camera shakes vividly as she attempts to escape leading the audience to think that they are trying to escape with her. Furthermore, most of the shots are entirely focused on this female lead from a variety of angles.

Another iconic shot for me is the long shot when she is standing in front of the house with her friends and turns towards the camera. This can perhaps give the audience a sense that they have indeed embodied a character that is watching her, which leads us to the presumption that there is always something or someone that has eyes on her. In fact, the trailer consists of a dominating amount of long shots and mid shots; mainly being focused on the protagonist. The long shots I believe just establishes the variety of locations used within this production and consequently illustrating the fact that this follower/antagonist is stalking the protagonist, and the viewer in the metaphorical sense, in a diverse range of places. The mid shots are definitely used to build up the emotions of the protagonist showing the state of equilibrium at the beginning of the trailer and then gradually changing to a much more nervous and anxious state before showing her at her most distraught state in the high angle shot of her crying in the corner of a room.

Micro Analysis – Mise En Scene First of all the lighting is very bright stating the equilibrium quite clearly until it quickly snaps to

night time dark lighting creating a very tense mood. This is to highlight the source of the disequilibrium in the film as it happens that night as the boy passes on the curse of the follower onto this girl. Following on from that, the protagonist is shown as being quite bright most of the trailer until towards the end which is perhaps demonstrating how she is the character we are meant to be rooting for and hoping she will win this battle but as the film develops it is gradually taking over her life and her physical body. Finally, towards the end we see the colour blue being captivated by a smudge of red. Blue is usually associated with the calming effect of the mind and the body. On the other hand, red is associated with anger, blood and death. As a result, we can interpret the fact that the producer is saying that this antagonist is taking control of her mind and body considering that it is indeed following her everywhere and ruining the character’s life.

The costumes within this trailer are very generic and not too vibrant as this film is aimed at quite a mainstream audience. The female lead is shown in some shots wearing very little clothing which employs the conventions of this genre as Horror does tend to exploit the bodies of women. Shen also wears a lot of white symbolizing the purity and the solace we can conceive within her character. Having said that, most characters are not exactly shown to be wearing anything complex which appeals to the lower class audience as well. The prop of the wheelchair is also very effective to me as it gives the audience a sense of entrapment and danger which can give us a feeling of struggling to escape and having the face the horror of the truth.

Micro Analysis – Sound & Editing Sound The voiceover in this trailer is very vital to the mood the producer is setting here. You can slightly hear an echo in

her voice connoting that she is alone and therefore, promoting the themes of loneliness and isolation when you have this horrible curse that she entails in the film. The male voiceover is juxtaposed with the female as she speaks with very light, high-pitched music compared to his eerie piano tune in the background. This highlights the evil act that he performed by passing on the stalker to her in the shot displayed at the same time. Following on from this point of disequilibrium in the trailer all the dialogue has quite nervous breathing in between words illustrating how each character is most likely very on edge and scared in the film enhancing the scare factor in the audience as well.

For me the music in this trailer may very well be the most iconic part. At the very beginning, it is quite joyful and calm until it quickly snaps to the eerie piano tune. I believed this fitted the genre really well as it emulates some Horror classics such as ‘The Exorcist’ and ‘Halloween’ both films that also are about a person or entity stalking you and taking over your life. Then we hear a repeated four beat tune that gives us a sense of a climax about to happen as if it will all come down to her strength of dealing with it and passing it on to someone else. To end the trailer we hear an alarm-like tune which resembles the themes of danger and alert at every corner. The audience can only take horror and the coming of something horrific if they watch this film just through the music.

Editing Overall, the editing within this trailer is quite distorted and unclear which in a way already sets the tone of the film

as it revolves around the jump between reality and fantasy and whether what we’re seeing is in fact clear and real. The repeated transition we see is the fading of total, pitch-black darkness symbolizing how the darkness is the main part of the plot and it is in fact taking over this film. Additionally, we see the evident use of slow-motion furtherly adding to the distorted nature of this trailer.

Text

It is quite interesting how this trailer employs text considering there is not one cast member or related film company mentioned. The majority of the text just uses the reviews the film has been awarded with which is understandable considering the amount of praising reviews the films has received. The most likely reason no cast member is mentioned as they are all not very well-known so it would most probably be quite a difficult technique to use to promote the film. Similarly, the production and distribution companies are very independent organizations that would most likely not be very widely recognized by the viewers of this trailer supported by the fact that the target audience is teenagers.

The fact that the letters are all uppercase fits very well with the genre and the mood the producers are setting here. It is just like the reviewers are screaming at the audience just like you would at a Horror picture so it is implying the audience will feel the same way. They also swivel as if they are underwater which hints at one of the biggest scenes in the film shown briefly in this trailer.

The style of the text here is also quite effective as it links very nicely with the topic of the film. Again, it is displayed in a much distorted manner which connects well with the editing but it is also once more displayed in a vivid, bright blue colour showing how its once more all about the mental state of yourself and how that relates to the surroundings around you. Additionally, there is a faint splash of red in the background of this illustrating that there is always a sense of danger and blood in this story.

List of text within this trailer:1. ICON2. Visit Films, Northern Lights Films and Animal Kingdom3. ‘A Horror fan’s dream come true’ The Telegraph4. ‘A Future Classic’ Danny Leigh, Film 20155. ‘2015’s must see Horror’ Total Film6. ‘Spine-Tingling’ The List7. ‘Gripping’ Hollywood Reporter8. ‘Chilling’ Little White Lies9. ‘Scary as Hell’ First Showing10. ‘Terrifying’ Indiewire11. It Follows12. February 27

Macro Analysis - Representation I believe the main stereotype of this genre displayed in the trailer is the

stereotypical female character. She has an essence of a ‘Damsel in Distress’ which is quite clear from the moment the problem arrives in the story. This is developed further by adding a male character that needs to be there to protect her and ends up becoming very close to her in order to aid her from the antagonist attempting to destroy her. In addition to that, we are exposed to her in very little clothing and we are lead to see her attractive appearance so we can see how her character is a typical one we would see in a Horror genre. Having said that, at the beginning of the trailer we also see her being represented as quite a typical teenage girl dreaming of her ‘Prince Charming’ coming along to fall in love with her. As a result, this connects more with the female audience supported even further by the possible thought of being lied to by an ex-boyfriend or a person similar to that kind. Moreover, the rest of the characters within this trailer also seem to be vulnerable to some level of distress. They are all in their clear youth; relating more to the target audience and representing the particular age group to be in danger of this horror chasing after them.

Macro Analysis – Genre & Narrative Theory

The genre of this film is classified as a Horror/Mystery/Thriller. Whilst I believe all of these genres are most certainly incorporated within this trailer, I think, to be specific, this film narrows down to a Psychological Horror. This is mainly because of my analysis of the camera work, sound and the very nature of the narrative. The camera has some shaky shots with blurry vision on occasions which I believe highlights the state of the character’s mind. To extend that further, I believe it also is supposed to play with the audience’s expectations as they may expect it to be yet another paranormal entity haunting this stereotypical female character when in fact it may very well be her losing her mind or an actual person stalking her and ruining her life piece by piece. The music is also very much linked towards the stereotypical Horror music you would hear but to me it ties more in with the Mystery element due to its placement within the trailer whilst she’s attempting to figure out what it is that has possessed her. To that end, the narrative is certainly the key factor to the psychological element as it all revolves around someone or something playing with your mind and your life in order to simply sabotage them as a person. Overall, the genre is still slightly scattered but for me it is circled around the Psychological emotions of this main character.

Todorov – Equilibrium TheoryEquilibrium – Girl meets guy and starts a normal relationshipDisequilibrium – Guy leaves girl with horrible affliction of a constant stalkerRecognition – Girl realises that there is someone following her and she struggles to handle itAttempt to repair – Girl attempts to find out how to stop it or passes it someone elseEquilibrium – Girl gets rid of the affliction

Roland Barthes – Enigma CodeWill the girl survive the affliction?What is it exactly that is haunting this female character?How will she destroy the affliction?