By muhammed usman

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY TRAILER ANALYSIS

Narrative The trailer is told from the perspective ofan audience who are watching the film at the cinema. By using this, a consumer of the trailer are able to see the reactions of a real audience.

The trailer is revealed from the viewpoint of an actual audience, who are watching the film at the cinema (where the movie will be released first).

By doing this the director of the movie absorbs his audience by presenting the reactions of other audiences, which raises enigmas in the persons head to why they are reacting that way? What made them react in such a way? To seek an answer to the enigmas in the individuals head he/she would go and watch the movie.

Todorov’s Narrative Structure

At the start of the trailer, the audience enter the cinema and the

atmosphere is very calm. As the audience in the trailer appear

comfortable, the consumer watching the trailer is too as

everything seems balanced. However, when the lights go out in

the house, the audience reactions in the trailer become restless

and tense as there is a shift from being balanced to unbalanced

as supernatural activity begins to happen in the house. At the

end of the trailer, there is no equilibrium as this will hopefully

help to entice the audience to go and watch the film to find out

the ending.

Performance

• The actors used in Paranormal Activity are

unknown or aren't really in the ‘spotlight’.

• This can be thought to be quite successful as

the plot is set in an ordinary house and this

means that the characters are more relatable to

the audience.

• The fact that the actors are not very famous

allows various audience to connect to the

characters more because they are very similar

to them.

• Furthermore, by using actors that are unknown,

an audience may be curious to find out more

about the film as they are new rising stars.

Camerawork

• The camerawork in the trailer uses point of view

shots as characters are filming in their house with

a hand held camera. This allows an audience to

connect with the characters as everything is

shown from their point of view meaning that a

consumer finds out information at the same time

as the characters. Similarly, point of view puts the

audience in the shoes of the character and this

means that there is no dramatic irony as the

audience know no more than the characters

themselves.

• The camera movements are very shaky to reflect

that the characters are filming. This is a

convention of the horror genre as it makes the

audience feel involved as they share the nerves

and unease that the characters do.

• This choice of camera movement allows the film

to look more realistic as the medium shots only

show what the characters can see in the house.

• The trailer includes camera shots that

are filmed from the perspective of an

audience watching the film.

• These can be classified as as a point of

view shot and an over the shoulder shot

as this allows a consumer of the trailer to

share the same experience as the

audience at the cinema.

• Similarly, mid-shots and close-ups are

used to show the audiences reactions to

certain scenes in the film. The reactions

shown are often of shock and this makes

the consumer curious as they are unable

to see the visuals that the cinema

audience are seeing on screen and

perhaps makes it more likely that people

will go and watch the film.

Editing

• Montage is also used in this trailer. This is where cuts from throughout the film are

pieced together so that these scenes are edited in a way that allow the trailer to have

maximum impact on the audience.

• The calmer, more balanced scenes are shown at the beginning and the more

frightening, shocking scenes are shown towards the end causing the trailer to appear

unbalanced.

• By doing this, the exciting scenes are more likely to be remembered by the audience

as it is the last thing they see.

Fast Paced Editing & Cutaways

• Instead of using straight cuts, the trailer uses

dissolve transitions to white noise to remind the

audience this is a home video.

• The pace of the trailer is made fast through

quick cuts of the video camera becoming

faded. By doing this, if becomes difficult for

the audience to be able to see what is

happening, so encourages them to rely on

their senses and use their imagination.

• This also reminds the audience that the

characters are filming what is happening

themselves and highlights the more personal

connection the audience have towards the

characters.

• The fast pace of the trailer is emphasised

through cutaways as this makes the trailer seem

disjointed which creates an uneasy feel.

Sound – Incidental Music

• The trailer uses very little sound, there is no incidental music to create an atmosphere

however, because there is very little sound tension is built because audiences are

waiting and expecting that something will make them jump.

• Furthermore, by having no incidental music, a sense of verisimilitude is created as the

setting is a normal, quiet home where background music is not needed in order to

create an atmosphere. This makes the plot more relatable to an audience as this is

something that they can connect to as they can apply the situation to their own lives.

• Using silence or very little sound is another convention of horror films as this helps to

build suspense and tension for an audience.

Diegetic Sounds

• Even though background music is not used, diegetic sounds are used in the trailer to

create a tense atmosphere as well as creating a sense of verisimilitude.

• The diegetic sound of the audience screaming reminds the consumer of the trailer that

this is a horror film as screams and shrieks are another convention of the horror

genre.

As the consumer is unable to see what is happening on screen, diegetic sounds

encourage an audience to use their imagination.

• Bangs and loud noises are also another convention of horror films as people often

associate this with making them jump or violence. These are played when something

frightening happens as this is more likely that the audience will jump.

• Similarly, the synchronous sound of the bang when the door closes means that this

makes more of an impact and the audience pay more attention to it.

• The trailer uses white noise of the video camera and this not only reminds the

audience that the characters are filming the events themselves but creates a sense of

mystery as it feels like the audience are becoming more distant.

Mise-En-Scene

Setting & Props

• The setting used is an ordinary family home and the choice of

décor and props used such as the laptop suggests that this is

a modern family and this would be something that the

audience watching the film can relate to as the modern feel to

the house, this suggests the young characters and this is

something that the target audience can connect with.

• The urban setting shows a middle class family and this is

representative of the typical American audience that the film

is appealing to. By doing this, the film is able to reach a wider

audience.

• Even though the setting appears modern, props

such as the chandelier in the hallway is a

traditional convention of horror and this implies

that the film is mixing old and new horror conventions.

• The bedroom is repeatedly used as a setting

where the supernatural events occur. Usually,

the bedroom is associated with comfort and safety however

the trailer takes this feeling away as the comfort is replaced

with feeling uneasy.

Lighting & Colour

• The lighting used throughout the trailer

is very dark and this is a convention of

the horror genre as darkness connotes the

idea of the unknown and danger.

• However, in several scenes, high key lighting

is used to place emphasis on the subject and

this makes the audience feel uncomfortable

as the lighting is very bright and harsh.

• The colours used in the house are quite plain

and simple reflecting the modern feel of the

house and the characters that live there.

• Even though the lighting is dark, a

juxtaposition is shown between the colours

black and white. The black suggests evil, and

darkness whereas the white implies purity and

innocence so perhaps demonstrates the

contrast between the goodness of the characters

and the evilness of the supernatural.

Mode of Address

• The trailer talks to the audience through

the slogan “Experience it for Yourself.”

By doing this, the impression is created that the

trailer is directly talking to the audience and

encourages consumers to go and watch the film as

people should experience the events like the cinema

audience who featured in the trailer.

• Furthermore, by using capitals, the text not only

appears bolder but an intimidating tone is created

which would be expected of a trailer from the horror

genre.

• The film’s website address is also shown at the

end of the trailer which is a synergistic technique.

Barthe’s Enigma Theory

• Barthe’s enigma theory can be applied to the

Paranormal Activity trailer as the purpose of it is to

promote and create mystery surrounding the films

release.

• The title, Paranormal Activity, instantly creates a sense

of mystery as it implies that the storyline will feature

the supernatural but it is unclear exactly what this

activity is. Therefore, the audience are intrigued to

watch the film to see what the mystery is.

• Similarly, some scenes audiences will only understand

once they have seen the film so this may entice

audiences to go and watch the film.

• Most of the scenes shown in the trailer are in the dark

and this adds to the sense of mystery as at times it is

unclear what is happening.

Influences

• Within camerawork, point of view shots allow consumers to take the place of the

character and feel like they are involved so this is something we are going to consider .

• From this trailer, we have been influenced to use a similar editing style by showing

calmer scenes at the start and building to the more exciting scenes as it is likely the

final scenes will be remembered more. This will allow Todorov’s narrative structure to

apply to our trailer as opening will start with an equilibrium and end unbalanced to

create a sense of mystery.

• We have found that silence is effective in creating a tense atmosphere as audiences

are expecting something to happen that will shock them but through silence when it will

happen is unclear. This will help our trailer to frighten the audience which is expected in

the horror genre.

• For the mise-en-scene, we plan to use low key lighting in the scariness of the trailer as

this helps to create fear as it is unknown what will happen.

• We are also going to add text in our trailer, like the text in this one, as it creates a more

personal feel and allows the trailer to directly talk to the audience.