Paranormal activity 4 trailer analysis
The trailer opens with reference to the previous film within the paranormal activity franchise chain. This is important as it is a brief reminder of what happened previously and helps to establish potential viewers who have watched the original films before. Paranormal activity 4 adheres to a number of horror codes and conventions, this is clear within the trailer through the mise-en-scene used. For example the setting is predominately shown through dark lighting and some long shots. The props used, for example the victim's clothing is an everyday attire compared to the villain who is seen dressed in black and stands out, also linking to the horror genre. Finally codes and conventions are shown through the diegetic sounds within the trailer of screams/ doors slamming combined with non- diegetic sounds of the tense and eerie music over the top.
The trailer then introduces the new storyline through a home camera/ web cam shot of the young teenage girl lying down adjusting the camera combined with the diegetic crackling sounds of the camera as she attempts to set it up accordingly. Additionally the home camera has a timestamp placed at the bottom of the shot throughout, all these features coincide and work together to help create realism for the audience. This is followed by a number of speedy short cuts showing the lighting change to dark combined with the tense non-diegetic music heightening. As the shot changes they have cleverly edited in a transition which flickers, this linked with a number of other codes and conventions helps to highlight how this film couldn’t be mistaken for a chick flick or coming of age genre.
A continuous shot shows how the young girl is on a video call to her friend, whilst this is happening the background third of the screen (behind the girl) begins to show clues/ enigma codes for the audience as they prepare for something bad to happen to the vulnerable girl. For example lights begin to flicker and a tall dark figure appears. When the girl recognises the figure through her screen the trailer cuts out and ends suddenly, this cliff hanger ending surprises and draws the audience in to watch the film.
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