Thursday, 24 April 2014

Analysis of Magazine Cover


The Orphanage: Solo Trailer Review 3

NAME OF FILM: The Orphanage                                        YEAR RELEASED: 2013

GENRE OF TRAILER: Horror                                                MARK AFTER VIEWING: 6.5/10






WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TRAILER?

A boy and a woman enter into a cave. After entering the cave the little boy begins to see things and draw strange pictures. We then see children playing in the orphanage as strange things begin happening. The woman then sees a boy with a masked face and is being terrorised by him. The little boy then goes missing and the woman searches for him throughout the orphanage. She learns about the background of the orphanage, finding clues and at the end of the trailer we see the masked boy again standing behind the woman.

WHICH CLEVER OR INTERESTING ASPECTS DO YOU THINK YOU COULD INCLUDE IN YOUR OWN TRAILER? WHAT GENERIC FEATURES ARE FULFILLED WELL?

I like how in the beginning of the trailer we can see a very large and old looking building. This shows the setting for the film and that this is a very isolated place, an ideal and generic setting for a horror film. There is pathetic fallacy as we see a storm-like sky instantly presenting the genre and gloom of the film. Pathetic fallacy is a useful technique which i will use in my own trailer. One of my favorite things in the trailer is the costume of the little boy. The sack covering his face is disturbing and mysterious, i also like the fact that the main villain is played by a child. This is unnatural as children are often seen as innocent therefor making it more uncomfortable to watch. I would like to use high angle shots such as over the woman as she is sitting down which reflects her vulnerability. There is use of hand held camera when looking back at old footage from the orphanage this helps to make the events seem more realistic. 

WHICH ASPECTS OF THE TRAILER DID YOU THINK WERE UNSUCCESSFUL, AND WOULD PUT OF IT'S TARGET AUDIENCE? HOW IS IT DISAPPOINTING?

I really disliked the voice over used throughout the trailer. It comes across as very cheesy and diverts away from the horror genre almost giving it a humorous side. Even though this may have been done because the film is originally in a different language it is not successful in promoting the film in the desired way. I would avoid adding any voice overs in my own trailer as i see it as being quite old fashioned and outdated especially for a modern horror. I also felt that within this trailer the narrative is quite hard to understand until you see the film. It is hard to know the relation of the woman and boy and why an Orphanage is the setting for this horror.

The Conjuring: Solo Trailer Review 2

NAME OF FILM: The Conjuring                                                       YEAR RELEASED: 2013

GENRE OF TRAILER: Horror                                                MARK AFTER VIEWING: 7.5/10



 
WHAT HAPPENED IN THE TRAILER?

We are presented with a couple who are ghost hunters who investigate paranormal events. They are apprached for help by a woman who's family is experiencing weird things in their farmhouse. There is a short quick montage of some of the events, then we are shown the couple exploring the house. There is then collison cutting from quiet to loud with a jump scare and the quick montage happens again of unnatural occurances in the house with a final jumpscare at the end while the woman in looking into the mirror and a face appears behind it.

WHICH CLEVER OR INTERESTING ASPECTS DO YOU THINK YOU COULD INCLUDE IN YOUR OWN TRAILER? WHAT GENERIC FEATURES ARE FULFILLED WELL?

I enjoyed the generic establishing scene which then built into a climax of disturbing the equilibirim which is typical for a horror genre narrative. The use of the torch in the beginning scene accompanied by the low key lighting adds an aspect of the unknown and is an effective technique i would try to use. With the black and white flash back images this historical context adds to the narrative and gives the trailer more depth. This is an interesting idea that i would also look into for my own trailer. When we are shown shots outside of the farmhouse, pathetic fallacy has been used in order to represent the genre. The mist connotes a hounting and mysterious vibe. There is a low angle shot looking up towards the farmhouse. This suggests that whatever is within the house is very powerful and something to be aware of. Angles such as this conote powerful meanings and so i would use these within my own trailer. Restricted Narration can be seen as we seen a womans feet hovering behind a man suggesting to us that she has been hung. This is a clever technique as it makes the audience imagine about what is off screen, i would definantly like to replicate this in my trailer.

WHICH ASPECTS OF THE TRAILER DID YOU THINK WERE UNSUCCESSFUL, AND WOULD PUT OF IT'S TARGET AUDIENCE? HOW IS IT DISAPPOINTING?

I feel that this trailer gave away too much of the storyline. This is a problem as it makes an audience feel like they already know what happens in the film and they will not anticipate to see anymore if they decide to go and watch it. This may have happened because the trailer is rather long in length and spend much of its time establishing the story. I would like to avoid this in my own trailer as i would not want the audience to become bored.