Trailer Analysis - Drag Me To Hell

   

The name of this movie justifies to the target audience that the movie is aimed at a horror. It gives a negative mood and feeling to the audience and automatically it amplifies fear. Even though it doesn’t tell us the sub-genre, it leaves it to the trailer to explain it to us. The narrative of this movie is about a loan officer rejects an old women for an extension for her home, just to get promoted at her job. The old lady begs her and the loan officer rejects her and calls security, the old lady then warns her that she shouldn’t of done that and so she finds herself cursed. The loan officer then tries everything to save her soul, while the evil force drives her crazy.

The way in which the genre and the subgenre have been signalled to the audience has been done in many different ways. We firstly see an old woman with a different coloured eye which triggers to the audience that this is abnormal. Generally old women are the main targets for a possession as they tend to be vulnerable. The non diegetic sounds and diegetic sounds that have been used in this trailer are the typical codes and conventions of what we tend to hear such as the eerie music, the piano build up music and the screeching screams.  The type of lighting effects and locations that has been used again improvises the horror feeling such as the location of an isolated home, dark and dim areas enhance the horror effect, disgusting bugs and weird demonic symbols are used dramatically in these trailers which again are codes and conventions of a horror movie trailer. A way of signalling that this horror movie is a supernatural movie, we see demonic old ladies, random floating objects and haunting scenes. These little elements and features make it easier for the target audience to notice what sub genre it is and so it draws them in as they see codes and conventions which are always repeated in other horror movies.

During the trailer, we see a strap that says to the audience “From Sami Raimi” then is followed by “The director of Spiderman and the evil dead trilogy”. Movie lovers would know that Sami Raimi is a worldwide known director that is known for many famous movies and is very successful. By adding some of the movies he has directed such as Spiderman, which is one of the most successful movies of all time. This tells new audience that if it is directed by the same director of Spiderman then this movie has to be just as good and this encourages the new audience to go and watch the movie. This trailer also adds into the straps what studios and producers that have been used to film this movie, and having “universal pictures” again says to us that this movie has all the greatest producers and the best studios which means the movie has to be the next big hit. The straps that have been used in this trailer does not reveal any of the narrative which tends to make it more interesting and encourages the audience to go and watch the movie as for not much is given away.  However the straps have been used effectively to enhance the success of the movie by using the directors and producers that created this horror movie. Even though the straps don’t give away much horror, it has some elements like the faded, dirty white background and serif font that then grows as if it is blood. These make it more interesting and seem spookier as it isn’t basic and simple. It has a black fade around the corners to make it seem that there is something to hide. As the trailer goes on the straps get more distorted and more blood is spread across the font, this shows us and reflects that the mood is negative and something is after us. Towards the end, the trailers appear more at a faster pace to match the scene and moment of the trailer. Generally most horror trailers end on a sting but has a twist and ends on a strap that tell us the actors. Even though actors are not usually promoted in horror movies because it kills the realistic feeling, this has been cleverly done as for the storyline could be believable.

The narrative of this trailer is presented in the general and conventional way of showing us the equilibrium, and the disruption. This trailer has been cleverly done to tell us how and why the protagonist get chosen to be the one that is going to be killed and how the story of her death is going to be like and so this shows the audience what sub genre this movie is related to.  At the beginning of the trailer, we see a beautiful young lady at work doing her every day job, where she talks to her boss about a promotion. Her boss then says to her he hasn’t decided since there is another guy who is competing for that spot. This tells the audience that she wants something and she is going to get it no matter what it takes, since everyone in reality will do their best to get a promotion at work. An old lady then comes in, all calm and happy which looks like an innocent grandma, she begs the young female to extend her loans and so she said she will help, she then turns her down so that she impresses her boss which will therefore give her a chance to get promoted.  The young lady stays strong and sticks to her decision and calls for security when the old lady is begging her. The old lady then comes and says “You have shamed me”. This is where the story the twist happens as we see the women looking all terrifying and evil and so this hints to the audience that she is an issue and can cause a disruption. The mood of the movie then changes, the setting gets dark, the lighting gets dimmer and the music intensifies. The young lady is then going to her car after work, where the old woman comes and attacks her car throwing a brick into her window. She then mentions “Soon it will be you, who comes begging to me”. This triggers to the audience that she is the lady that will be after her soul or is going to do some frightening magic on her as for we see a shot of the old women taking a piece of her clothing and takes it in as if she is taking in her soul.   At this scene, this is where ALL the action, the horror starts. This structure works well as for it has told us the story as why she has been targeted. During the horror scenes, we have an over voice of the helper explaining the curse and what she can do about it. This helper then explains to us that she can give the curse away and no more dialogue or hints of what happens next is given. This will then allow the target audience to go and watch the movie as they would want to know about the rest which is the repair and the new equilibrium. The music, the dialogue and the storyline has all been set up clearly so the audience understands what’s going on and also it doesn’t give much away.

The Mise-en-scene changes dramatically throughout this trailer but is done really well. When the movie starts, we see the young girl looking very sophisticated, clean cut and extremely smart at work. The location is a typical work place with many desks, people talking and muttering doing their jobs. The lighting is very light, as in it’s from day light with artificial lighting from the room lights. This makes the mood calm and relaxed since there is a lot of light in that scene, this delivers security and assurance to the audience as for the can see everything going on. Even though it’s a light environment, the colours worn and the colours presented are rather pale and not colourful, this can relate to the horror movie feeling. The next scene is off the young female going to her car at the end of the night in an isolated, empty car park. This is a general code and convention for location in a horror movie. The lighting is shadowy and dim which adds effect to the scene. Again the cool colours that are used are grey and psychologically, grey is a colour which represents fear and depression.  Throughout the movie the location changes numerous of times. It is mostly set in the young ladies home and a big old fashioned, classic hall for where the communication with the demon happens. The lighting and colour is then again repeated to stay dark, gloomy and misty.  The typical colours we see in a supernatural movie is black which represents darkness, grey equals depression, white to show purity ( a contrasting colour) and red to represent blood, fear and anger. These colours have been used effectively and they give us the spooky feeling. The props and iconography that appear within this horror trailer are typical. We see the young female pull out a knife as a form of defence towards the end we see a grave yard and the sign of a cross. Usually the whole religious theme is used to show the demonic spiritual antagonist. The setting of the old fashioned hallway is again a symbolic link to match the sub genre – it has chandeliers, expensive designed flooring, design painted windows and a dark setting. This relates to demonic as for its an old fashion setting and this means that supernatural, spirits are linked because demonic possessions and curses come back from the black magic century. We see a bug going into the young female’s mouth whilst she is asleep and this can happen in reality and also it reflects a gruesome and horrific mood which of course symbolises death and horror.  Pictures, old articles and statues have been used dramatically to show the narrative of this movie also, these are also typical iconography and elements to guide the audience in the correct way and explaining them what the story is about. At the start of the movie, we see the antagonist looking like a cute, humble old lady that looks vulnerable and helpless. We also see that she has a different coloured eye, a lot of wrinkles which makes us think she has a story behind her. At first she is wearing a tacky coat, a long black skirt and cheap dark red and blue scarf. This makes us think that she is poor and it gives us the reaction that we need to feel sympathetic towards her and so we think that the young lady done the wrong decision. Her hair is pulled back and tied up with her grey roots coming out, she looks untidy and tacky. This is done so it represents that she has no time to fix herself up and she wouldn’t be the one to be able to hurt someone so young. Her body language and facial expressions changes severely throughout the trailer. Firstly she seems all quiet, consisted and to a bit cautious as by the way she sits and the way she talked, she seemed like an everyday old woman. Then once the disruption occurs, she changes from a small vulnerable woman to a fearless, full of power old lady. Her facial expressions become more chilling and angrier and her teeth are filled down to look like fangs. This explains to the audience that you should not mess with her as she is the one that will come and hunt you down. Towards the end, we don’t see her much as for it’s the curse that is after the young girl, this put in plain words that it’s a supernatural movie. The protagonist in this trailer is shown in a way where she’s always been targeted by her boss at work and this new demonic curse. At first we see her as a brave lady doing her own thing and decisions at work. This is a twist as the protagonist is usually dark haired and the blonde girls are the foolish girls. The producer has chosen this character and hair colour cleverly to show us that she has done a foolish decision. At first her hair is up with a little fringe to show her feminine and sophisticated side. Her clothing is shirts and a skirt slightly masculine but has a feminine fit. This is general work clothes so she looks normal in the working atmosphere. She tends to wear a small amount of makeup and especially around her eyes to show her emotions and facial expressions. She seems determined and also defenceless but is not scared to make the big decision. Her clothing then changes to dark colours of black which are either shirts or a black long dress. This is to emphasis on the darkness of the scene and her mood. Her hair is then put down to show us that she is feminine but feisty and fearless when she goes and looks for help.  Right through the horror trailer her facials still looks hopeless but her body expression and gestures change to fearless and brave with a lot of courage. Her look presents to the target audience that she is a scared normal girl but she wants to take the risk to find a cure for the curse.  All of these elements added together make a clearer understanding to what the genre is and what the plot.

The camera movement in this trailer have been used in a way to create a meaning of the story line and plot. Regarding to the fact that movement and camera shots are very important to emphasises someone’s movements and emotions this trailer presents it well with a range of camera shots. We firstly see a bird’s eye view/ establishing shot of a motor way then a medium close up of the young lady. This is to show us she is on her way to work and it’s a normal typical day. This gives the audience the assurance that nothing is happening at the story is yet to develop.  We then get a cut to an over the shoulder shot of the young women and her boss and this again shows a daily task to do when you are going to work. A close up of the old lady is then shown to show us her facial features then we are then shown a close up of the young lady. This is to show the difference between the two females and how the demonic lady’s features compare. We see the old lady with her scarf up around her hair; we notice her different coloured eye which reflect evilness and rare.  A type of movement that occurs within this trailer is a zoom in, into the young ladies face, this is done to show emotion and what decision she is going to make on what the boss told her to do. When the young lady is talking to the old woman, we see a range of high angles and low angle shots to show domination and vulnerability. We see a shot of the old women begging the younger lady to give her an extension on her loan, we see a tilt up from a low angle point to show that the young lady she has all the power. This makes the old woman look vulnerable and hopeless as for she’s at a smaller position.   When the young lady goes to the car park, she is cornered on the screen at medium long shot.  This is to show what is around her, and how empty and alone she is. Putting her at the corner of the screen means she is not dominate at this stage. Once the old lady attacks her we get an extreme close up on the young lady’s face to show her emotion of her in pain and to show her screaming.  This trailer hosts a lot of scenes and shots of a spot focus. A spot focus is when one section of a spot is clear and the whole rest of the background is faded. This is to show that they are not thinking well and ways to make us feel like there is something in the background that we cannot see. We encounter many quick cuts to different angles such as when the young girl is leaning on her bed and as soon as she gets down, it goes from a medium shot to a close up to the old ladies face to show fear. At one point of the trailer we witness a long shot of the gate closing by itself, this is done to show that no one is around it and so it lets us know that this is a supernatural, spiritual doing, this adds effect to what the story is telling us and what curse is after her. We get camera shots that are slightly diagonal to create an edgy look; this is done to make the audience notice that something isn’t right, when doing this it promotes more fear as for it isn’t in its “normal” camera shot state as if it was in the rest of the trailer.  When we see the shot of the big hall, it is a high angle shot/ bird’s eye view looking down at the hall. This is to create a feeling that they are getting watched. This is then quickly cut to a close up too show four of the people trying to communicate with the demonic spirit, we also see the background which is dark and really dim lights from candles. This is to enhance the darkness and the evil vibe in this room. One effective shot that is used in this trailer is a really fast tracking shot of the people around the table. This is done to show each and everyone’s reaction and emotions of what’s going on and how they are feeling. Fast cuts and edits have been cleverly done such as flashes, stabs, fade from black and to black and flashes of white. All these edits give more of an exciting feel as for the flashes and fade to black add more tension because the audience would want to see what’s going to happen next and so it will leave them feeling on edge and this will get their blood pumping. It’s a way to add tension and create an adrenaline rush. The camera shot creates an understanding by making us feel like we are part of the movie, we see what the characters see, and we feel the tension and the reactions of the characters.

From watching this trailer, I personally would say the sounds that have been added and used give the trailer more of a frightening feeling.  The non diegetic sound that is used in the beginning of the trailer is calm relaxing music of piano and orchestra, once the old women asks “can you help me” the non diegetic sound changes to a sudden type of low eerie sounds. This is to hint of to the audience that a problem has occurred. It then turns back to some piano music at a really light pace. When the woman starts begging the old lady, the eerie music gets louder as the old woman starts shouting. We then see the old women drop to the ground and the non diegetic stab of sound occurs to reflect the woman’s drop. This is to hint that there is something that is going to happen and it isn’t going to be nice. Non diegetic sound stops and the woman’s dialogue turns a bit scarier as she whispers, this is to draw attention to what she is saying as for it’s a major important piece of dialogue.  Full silence for a couple of shots and then the woman’s face appears very haunting and scary and a sudden burst of diegetic screams appear. The eerie music and bangs start happening and speed up to pick up with the pace of what is going on in the screen. The music adds tension. Demonic screeching then comes out from the old woman which frightens the young lady. This also frightens us since she seemed so innocent and calm at the beginning and now it’s as scary as hell.  The old lady then mentions “soon it will be you who comes begging to me” this is to reflect on what happened before in the scene where she was begging her to extend her loan. This is a flip and a twist to show who actually has the most power. That piece of dialogue also hints to us what happens next. The word begging is generally a sad emotion and for her using it explains to us that this is going to be a bumpy ride for the young lady.  The orchestra music gets louder and more intense as the young girl goes and talks to a helper. We see a quick shot of him talking to her then he over voices over a couple of shots that relates to what he is saying. This is a good effect of showing what he is saying in more detail which makes the trailer more understanding to the target audience.  Screams and bangs happen all the way through the trailer and this is general sound conventions of a horror movie, this is done effectively as for we see why the people are screaming on screen and so it improvises that certain scene. High tensioned music arises as she says in a panting voice towards the end “where is it going to take me” it then has a sudden silent’s and he mentions “to burn in hell for eternity” it goes again all silence, a scary scene of the lady resting on her bed and then a stab of screams appear. Orchestra music is then the main music that is played, this is non diegetic sound. We see a strap that says “this may” and then an over voice of the young lady saying “it’s coming for me”. This adds tension and fear as for the audience could relate and they would put there selves in her position. The trailer stops with dialogue and then adds orchestra and opera music is used to add apprehension this is done towards the end and is really loud when the straps are on show for example “of true horror”. This makes the audience interested and anxious to go and watch this movie as it has got their blood pumping.

The speed of editing that has been used started off slowly with calm sluggish fades and towards the end, quick cuts and fade to white arose. This is a way to build tension and horror instead of just having smooth transitions which would make the trailer not as effective at it is. The speed of the editing picks up rather quickly about a minute in leaving around another minute to show off the action and disturbing scenes. By adding fades into a shot or to leave a shot, it will leave the audience feeling scared and even powerless as they don’t know what to do since they are in complete darkness. An example of this is where the old woman falls to the ground and says “you have shamed me” it then goes into a fade to black. This leaves us thinking what is going to happen and then the audience see a complete change of mis en scene and we see the young ladies courage change to venerability. It is then repeated when she gets into her car, and she is turning on her engine, it is then cut to show her facials and emotions. This adds tension and excites the audience since they want to see why she is in darkness and what is going to happen. The speed of editing shifts well with the narrative and it fits the general codes and conventions of a horror movie.  One type of editing and camera movement that create a lot of excitement was where the tracking shot between the four people occurred at a really fast pace, this is where the music got faster, the disturbing scenes and where the audience were left with a mystery which encountered them to go and watch the move so they could find out this mystery. They editing is very effective since it goes quiet on the most important part of the dialogue, this creates a sense of fear but also the important short dialogue stands out. This trailer is so effective that it left people in fear without having a sting in it. Generally horror movies all have a sting to leave them with a little memorable scene of the movie and so this trailer doesn’t include one because it gives off a lot of blood curdling vibes that will be scarred with us. This will make the audience want to watch the movie as for it has all the elements and features to scare then and this is what wide-ranging horror movie audience look for, a fright.

This trailer shows two types of representation for the females. At the beginning the protagonist seems very confident, has courage and rather knowledgeable, but towards the middle where she is confronted by the older women when she is begging her to expand her loan date, she losses this confidence and is represented as a small young typical “blonde” girl that gets everything wrong. The old woman as well is represented as cute, innocent lady that wouldn’t harm a bug then turns into the most horrific and demonic creature ever. This is to show the contrast of reality of when she goes to work and the supernatural events. Since she knows what she is doing at work and has had years of experience she will be confident of what she does but when she faces these supernatural events, she becomes vulnerable and more scared yet willing to take the risk. The old lady is then portrayed to a devil, dragging the young lady to hell. The representation of horror and fear is created by the scars, the teeth and the weird eye that the old woman has. The men in this trailer which have been shown is the young ladies boyfriend and the helper. The boyfriend is presented in a way in which he is helpful and reliable, the typical daily guy. This is to show a normal relationship of a man being dominant and also taking care of the one he loves. He is shown to be fearless and brave. The helper looks rather rugged, mysterious and rather clever ethnic. This is done since ethnic people tend to have more myths and tales that American white people wouldn’t know about, this representation works well.

This trailer is really effective due to the elements and processes of editing which have been used. The editing and the non diegetic sound is the most effective and outstanding elements due to the fact that it relates well with everything, from the narrative to the general conventions of a horror movie trailer. The way in which the movie is told to the audience is very clever as for it fits a lot of detail of why she is getting haunted down and the way in which the curse is going to torment her. The fact that the movie goes straight to the point also adds more tension, it doesn’t reveal a lot of the story line. I personally think this is one of the best trailers ever made, it’s really effective and interesting due to the fact it kept me interested the whole way through, I was scared throughout the whole thing and so I would want to watch this movie that it’s trying to add. The elements that I would consider using for my groups promotional package is the pace of the movie and the way in which it goes straight to the point of the story line.