Poster Analysis: The Gift

Trailer Analysis: The Gift

• The use of cinematography, mise-en-scene, sound and editing in this trailer gives the movie a sinister mood to it. This is highly effective for a film because the conventions fits the genre psychological thriller so it’s easy to establish and draws fans of psychological thrillers in to the film.

• The first shot from The Gift trailer is a close up of a ribbon, which audiences would automatically link to a present. This connotes that the present is significant in the film and is the root of the story line. It is also unexpected for something as friendly as a gift to turn out to be something with a dark twist to it making the story line unpredictable.

• The colour of the ribbon is red, which is associated with danger, aggression as well as sin. This is one of the signs that it could be dangerous. The red ribbon is repeatedly shown in different shots within the trailer, this could also link to the psychological aspect of the genre.

• At the beginning of the trailer, the music is calm and slow until the story picks up. Once the story picks up eerie non-diegetic sounds are used to create a disturbing atmosphere.

• The volume of the music in the background changes overtime, which could increase and decrease tension. The change in volume also creates panic as it creates a mysterious effect. 

• Inter-titles are used in the trailer. One inter-title said "From Blumhouse the producer of insidious", as insidious is a popular scary movie this could suggest to the audience that this movie has the same potential and will be as good as insidious.

• There is repetition of the phrase 'Let bygones be bygones' which means leave the past in the past. There is also repetition of the phrase 'Simon says' which is a well-known children’s game. Overall the repetition will play with the audiences mind and keep them intrigued, it also implies that the phrases are significant.

• The trailer contains a number of jump cuts as well as quick cuts. This creates a sense of panic for the audience as everything is moving fast. It also makes the film seem very active and implies chaos.

Conventions Of Psychological Thriller

The conventions of a psychological thriller incorporate elements from the mystery and drama genre, in addition to the typical traits of the thriller genre.

Mise-en-scene:
Shadows and low key lighting - These conventions are used to add and create tension to the scene for the audience. They also represent the mood of the character or atmosphere of the scene or location at the specific time.

Costume - Characters in a psychological thriller are usually dressed casually or smartly as the locations are mostly set in a modern setting.

Location - Psychological thrillers are conventionally set in a family home, mostly where the family have just recently moved in to. They could also be set in an empty outdoor area to emphasise the mystery within the genre.

Sound:
The sound within a psychological thriller is commonly eerie and slow, this is used to build up tension, suspense and create a sense of fear.

Cinematography/Editing:
Quick cuts - This refers to numerous shots within a scene, in a brief duration. This is usually used to create panic.

Close up shots - This is a frame which tightly frames a person or object. In psychological thrillers this is typically used to emphasise the facial expressions of a character, enhancing their fear or anger. It is also used to emphasise the importance of an object.

Flashbacks - These are scenes in the films which are set at an earlier time. This is used to show what previously happened, giving the audience an insight into the characters past and showing us why they may act how they do.

Genre Mood Board: Psychological Thriller

Trailer Analysis: The Woman In Black

The trailer begins by introducing the audience to the setting, through a number of shots such as mid shots and long shots. These shots are accompanied by non-diegetic sounds made by the toys in different areas of the room. This immediately gives the target audience a disturbed atmosphere.

A child, using a voice over, narrates the trailer. The child narrates the story line in the form of a poem/ nursery rhyme, which can be identified due to the rhyming and constant pace of the speech. The use of a child and narration in the form of a nursery rhyme connotes innocence however by looking at the location of the trailer it makes the audience rather suspicious and engaged. In the voice over the word 'she' is repeated, this could link to the title of the trailer 'The Women In Black' as we could instantly assume the women is who is being referred to.

Diegetic sounds of the wind, rain, lightening and the slamming of objects associate the scenes within the trailer. These sounds are effectively used and repeated to create a sense of unease and discomfort.

As we get closer to the end of the trailer, the pace of the different scenes increases. The use of quick cuts creates and builds tension for the target audience as well as a sense of fear. The trailer also shows snippets the more active and exciting scenes at the end of the trailer, this is effective as they'll be memorable as well as attract the audience to watch the while film.

Trailer Analysis: The Girl on the Train

The trailer for the film 'The Girl on the Train' uses the formalistic conventions for a film effectively. One formalistic convention of a film trailer is the use of music. In the trailer the music used was a slowed down version of 'Heartless' by the well-known American recording artist Kanye West. The song was editing in order to emphasise the word 'heartless within the lyric, this could suggest the theme or the kind of personality within the film. The non-diegetic sound was also edited to sound auto-tuned compared to how the original song sounds. The use of this effect on the music allowed it to sound disturbing and kept the trailer its self engaging.

Inter titles are another formalistic convention which is present within the film trailer. At the beginning of trailer the inter titles used had a white background with black font. We are then told, through the inter titles, that 'a women disappeared', this then led to a change in background colour to black, which connotes mystery. Overall the change in colour could link to Todorov's narrative theory as this could suggest that this is where the disruption has taken place.
The trailer ends on a cliffhanger, which creates suspense and makes the audience eager to watch the film. The dull, grey weather and the eerie effect from the train tracks the trailer leaves at the end may also appeal tot he audience. Overall this could foreshadow what the atmosphere and mood could be throughout the film.

Production Roles

Director: A film director controls and visualises a film's artistic and dramatic aspects They have a key role in choosing the cast members, production design, and the creative aspects of filmmaking, whilst guiding other members of the production crew to the vision of the final product.

Producer: Producers have overall control on every aspect of a film's production. They bring together and approve the whole production team. Producers are accountable for the success of the finished film. They steer the film from beginning to completion.

The director of photography: They provide a film with its unique visual identity, or look. They are responsible for making artistic and technical decisions related to the image.

Editor: Responsible for assembling recorded material into a finished product that's suitable for broadcasting. The material may include camera footage, dialogue, sound effects, graphics and special effects.

Production Crew Shots