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.