Analysis of The Last Exorcism trailer

A chronological analysis of the last exorcism trailer, including aspects of camera work, editing, sound and mise en scene as well as typography.

From the very beginning of 'the last exorcism' trailer we are able to establish that this is a film of the horror genre. This is obvious because: The extablishing shot camera work is fuzzy then goes into focus, allowing us to establish that this is a documentary type of film which suggests that this isn't the norm so we automatically feel slightly uncomfortable and intruigued.
As the camera pans, it allows us to see the isolated setting of an old cabin like house which is on it's own, so we immediately assume that the people associated with this house are vulnerable. Non diegetic etheral music immediately begins accompnied with fades of the man, so we assume that death/memory/loss are themes to this narrative. The muisc is also quite creepy making the audience feel slightly on edge. The horror genre is also established through the fades on the peices of paper and pictures of devils, we instantly know that 'the devil' and 'exorcism' are obviuous aspects of the narrative.
Similar to 'the strangers' the typography is white lettering on top of a black background, suggesting that a vulnerable, innocent character is being engulfed, trapped by a darker spirit (represented by the negative black colour, which carries these connotations). The typography almost explains the notion of an exorcism. As the man is in his car and is driving away after being warned, there are sharp blasts of non deigetic music, setting the tense atmousphere and allowing the audience to know that something is wrong. The editing is very interesting at cetain points, when the reverend introduces himself the transition to the next shot fades to red and connotations of red are danger, so we assume that this man is in instant danger and we are being warned of this, which makes us feel uncomfortable.
As the exorcism begins the editing begins to quicken pace which builds up the tension of the trailer and transitions begin to have more effects, for example, there is a close up of the girl's face which then, through editing, is distorted by black and white effect, allowing us to establish that this film is of the horror genre. The non diegetic music also increases in volume as the girl is standing in the corridoor which builds up the tension and frightened emotions the viewer is now feeling. There is very effective camerawork also, there is a POV shot used when the girl's boots are in frame and she is heavily breathing, this is a good camera shot and diegetic sound (breathing) to use to really increase the tension and make the audience feel a part of the trailer, increasing their intruige. Before 1 minute 44 the camera work and editing changed from slow paced to fast paced to let us establish a narrative and also make us jump with certain random, scary mid/long shots.
From 1 minute 44 onwards the camera work and editing transitions speed up as well as the non diegetic music, allowing the tension to increase and the apprehension. The lighting is very low key for the majority of the trailer, naturalistic at times so that we can establish a narrative and become more involved as the situation appears real but it is low key in order to make the trailer appear more mysterious and frightening.
Props include, a gun, a cruxifix and an axe. The gun and the axe represent danger, they are used to elliminate things that are a threat suggesting that this film is of the horror genre because there is something evident (a devil) that needs getting rid of. It is interesting that the other set/location/props are very naturalistic, the house/barn look normal which is in a way more scary for the viewer as the situations evident in the film appear real/naturalistic which is disturbing, but using naturalistic/minimal props/location it gives the trailer a different feel to normal horror films. It is very naturalistic. By doing this, it makes the viewer focus on the characters more and this disturbs them further.

Conclusion

Some ideas that I am going to utilise in the construction of my teaser trailer are:
The use of the POV shot combined with the diegetic breathing, this puts the audience on edge and allows us to realize how effected the female character is. This is going to be part of my camerawork development throughout the trailer, there will be alot of long shots, mid shots to a lot of close ups and POV shots to convey how the female character is being effected. Another idea that I plan to develop is the naturalistic set and props. I plan to use a naturalistic home setting as well as naturalistic props so that when events do start to occur it will effectively scare the audience more as the setting appears so normal.