Paranormal activity trailer analysis

Sound: The trailer begins with a deep, echo-like sound. It reflects the idea that something bad is about to happen. This is going on as the audience are seen queueing up to see the movie, it implies perhaps that they are victims for having to witness the film. The sound is very similar to thunder, conveying metaphorically that a "storm" is coming. While the dialogue is going on, this sound continues. There is a sudden loud crashing sound in time with a shrill scream which is supposadly from the audience. There are series of very conventional sounds such as screeching, deep instruments and unknown noises. The "sound" of silence is even more sinister, as it contrasts with the loud, tense sounds from before. This heightens the suspense. Again, this crescendos into a loud bang at the same time as the door slams and the audience scream at this sight. There is another series of conventional sounds, some of which sound like a mobile phone being cut off a if the victims are in complete isolation. The dialogue gives away some of the story, and shows the conversation between the central couple aswell as the professional help they recieve (psychologist). As the credits come on screen, there is a flickering sound as if the television is about to switch itself off- denoting the idea of paranormal activity.


Editing: At the start of the trailer the editing appears to be fairly normal. It shows regular length cuts of the audience coming into the cinema to watch the film. When the film has begun, the editing becomes more obvious. Each shot slowly fades into another giving it an eerie feel. The editing becomes particularly clever as it alternates between shots of the audience and shots of the actual film that they are watching. This shows both the action on screen and the audience reaction. It gives the film a sense of reality. A caption describing how scary the film is as a quote by critics fades slowly on to the screen, again sustaining that eerie feel. The editing in this trailer much like other trailers becomes increasingly faster and fits in time with the sounds that can be heard. More captions then fade onto the screen. The shots seem to flicker before they fade onto the screen conveying a sense of disorientation.


Mise en scene: This trailer is particularly clever in that it conveys a sense of realism. It begins by showing the audience queing up to see the film, so that the audience watching the trailer can share the reaction of the audience watching the film at the time. The on- screen captions make the audience aware that this was the first audience that viewed the film and "this is what they saw". The alternation between the action on screen and the audiences reaction is particularly clever as it shows their reaction and sustains the idea of reality. The audience are shown in a green light that looks like they are in night vision, which gives the trailer a dark feel and makes it immediatley conventional of the horror genre. The action on screen shows a sense of equilibrium. It is clear that the film has been produced to look like a hand-held camera has captured all the action, and this an interesting idea. Throughout the trailer, at several times the audiences reactions are shown. This is particularly importan because you can see the horror in their faces. This shows how scary the film really is and will therefore increase its success.