Sinister trailer analysis
Sinister follows a genre of a thriller/ mystery as it tells the story of the main male character Ellison Oswald finding himself in a 10 year slump as he fails to release any successful crime books. He later discovers an existing film showing the death of a family living in a particular home. To explore this film further and solve the mystery he moves his family into the same house, this decision may be fatal for him and his family as things begin to go wrong. I believe the target audience for this film is around the age of 25 to 35 and would attract both males and females, my reasoning is a lot of people aim to start a family between these ages and the film follows the lives of a regular family. This could potentially reflect the audience's personal lives, for example moving house, having children and pursuing their careers. The unique selling point of Sinister is it had directors working on the film such as Scott Derrickson who also worked on films such as paranormal activity and Insidious. This will also attract a number of fans who loved those films to try out this one.
The narrative is easily discovered as the trailer opens with a number of short creepy, fast paced shots, the first is a medium establishing shot of a house at night time looking misty and eerie, this is combined with a off screen diegetic voice over of a news report illustrating that a family who lived there had been brutally murdered. The second and third shots relate to the family who have been murdered, one is a still photo which has been drawn on with red pen and the second is a drawing from a child's perspective of a family being hung from a tree. These first few shots easily identify that the film follows codes and conventions of a thriller/ horror genre, especially the red pen showing markings or circling around a young girl which could have been a photograph used for the investigation or a photograph used by the murderer to target her somehow. This instantly draws the audience's attention in as they would have begun to ask enigma codes such as ‘What happened to the family who have been murdered’ or ‘Why were they chosen’. These shots are briefly followed by a title indicating it was ‘9 months later’ showing the story was travelling through a time period.
Todorov’s theory is used within the trailer of sinister, however it is ordered differently the opening of the trailer indicates a disruption which is the death of the family. The trailer then reveals a medium establishing shot of the same house 9 months on and during the daytime, this reflects a completely different mood as the house is seen to be more stereotypical like any other American house, allowing the audience to relax. The trailer begins to enter an equilibrium as a new family is moving in, this is shown through a number of medium shots and close up shots showing the family acting out their everyday lives looking rather happy and pleased with the move. This was combined with dialogue between the main male character Ellison who plays the role of the father and either his wife or his children, indicating how he thinks things are going change for the better.
As the trailer continues, the equilibrium comes to an end and a recognition occurs. The use of a long shot shows Ellison opening the attic door to an empty room apart from one box sat in front of him. He opens the box to discover a number of tapes from the family who previously lived there, as he continues to watch them. The tape switches from a happy family to legs dangling from the tree dripping with blood. This causes Ellison to jump up and shield his eyes from the screen, which is shown through a medium wide angled shot. This indicates that the father is afraid of what he has just seen and is in shock. As the camera is slightly distorted to the left hand side due to the bright beam of light it can also reflect how Ellison is feeling after seeing the terrifying image.
An attempt to repair the disruption begins to take place as Ellison researches further into the tapes and the hidden meanings of symbols and other clues. One shot which stands out is the medium close up of the father's face who is looking away from the computer screen. The computer screen shows a moving image of ‘Bagul’s’ face watching him. The lighting used is predominantly dark so the audience focus on the computer screen. This reveals dramatic irony for the audience as they want the father to discover Bagul is watching him. It can also insert fear into the audience as they feel targeted as Bagul also looks at them. This causes a further disruption as his children are threatened and possessed by Bagul. One close up shot shows the possessed face of the little boy bending backwards out of the box, he has a pale face, cloudy eyes and is an uncomfortable position. This causes the audience to feel scared and uncomfortable as they watch the little boy in pain.
As the trailer comes to an end, the non diegetic eerie music heightens and the shots are more frequent, revealing a chain of props being dragged along the floor eg. the axe which is a typical code and convention of a horror film. As it is being dragged across the floor it suggests that it may be a child carrying it as it is a heavy object. There is also a number of creepy shots revealing more possessed children and blood drawn symbols on the walls and doors. The character Bagul is presented as the villain and Ellison as the hero, they relate to Propps theory as they are in conflict with each other. Bagul is scary and powerful where as Ellison is brave and wise.
No comments:
Post a Comment