Grave Encounters is a movie which
has been created in the style of found footage. The plot of this story is a
group of young adults go to a mental hospital which has been closed down for
many years. These young adults are known as “investigators” on a television
program that go to haunted places and look for ghostly/ demonic spirits but the
catch is, they fake it. They film these programs in order to make a profit and
they don’t believe in the spirit but what they didn’t know is that the mental
home is actually full of horror which then makes them snap and go crazy. In the
trailer we don’t not see that they are faking it and so this will make the
audience think it’s all real.
The way in which this movie trailer explains
to the audience what genre it is from is by using the typical codes and
conventions which we generally tend to see. This trailer offers a range of
conventions that makes us realise that it is from the sub-genre, supernatural.
We see and hear technical elements such as fuzzy sounds, screens, bangs and
eerie music, the lighting as well is dark and haunting which expands on the
supernatural and horror genre. We see a range of self moving objects in the
trailer such as the window opening by itself at night, this hints to us that
it’s not a slasher since the killer isn’t moving it, there is no presence
moving the window and so we know it’s a supernatural movie. The characters are
wearing dark and simple clothing with symbolic designs of tribal and cult
symbols which can indicate a hidden curse that has a story behind it. In the
trailer we encounter a range of spooky events such as a shadows moving about,
cuts were a change of lighting happens and a random person or demonic spirit
suddenly appears and finally communication with these evil spirits. Typical
props and iconography that appear are objects like, state of the art
communication technology which will allow us to see or hear the demons,
scratches and symbols written on the walls of the location and night light
vision. The location and Mise-en-scene is the biggest hint to the audience that
this movie is about the supernatural world. They are located in a mental home
where obviously many have died there and so the myths of peoples spirits are
still in the room will freak the audience out. The long hallways are definitely
a spooky factor since they never end and also they tend to have many doors
which the audience will feel on edge since they wouldn’t know what going to
come out of the rooms. The spot lighting is effective and the dim colour again
informs the audience that it’s a horror movie. This appeals to the target
audience since they are used to seeing these codes and conventions in other
movies and so it will be easier for them to know what they are watching.
This trailer has different ways
of luring in the target audience and one way that generally works well is by
using the producing studios and also the producers of the movie. As the trailer
starts we see the production advert of “Darclight”. Darclight is one of the
most common horror movie production team that has some of the most successful
movies going. They have created we known movies like The Wild Hunt and sick
house. The regular horror movie audience would see their logo appear many times
in other films and so they will know that the movie would be successful. The
producer/ director that created grave encounters is called Shawn Angelski.
Again he has directed many worldwide movies that have caught the horror target
audience attention, by seeing his name appear, it will encourage them to go and
watch Grave Encounters. Straps were used effectively to enhance the story of
the movie and also the important elements which will lure the target audience
in. It firstly starts off with one that
states the location of the area that they are filming in, and so this area can
be researched and could be found to be a true location, this adds fear and a
clearer understanding of the story. The next strap comes in at around 30
seconds later saying “ it is widely considered the most haunted building in
north America” this will extreme terrify the audience as for a “fact” has been
used. Throughout the trailer facts are
used to make it more believable and so this will lure and attract the audience
by making them believe that it is all real. As we reach to a minute, straps
stop appearing for quite a while, this is done so the audience can focus on the
real found footage. At the end, they have added the movie title in a strap
which is a general trailer convention and this will leave them with a memory of
what it is called and so they would want to search for it. Adding Shawn
Angelski’s name at the end is a way of assuring the audience that this movie is
worth watching since he is a great producer that has created some of the target
audience’s favourite horror movies. The straps have a black background with
white plain, san serif text. This is a good way of making the movie and editing
believable because since it is a found footage, if a lot of graphics and
animation is added the target audience will think it’s fake and so it will put
them off the whole realistic feeling. These straps reveal the horror and plot
of the movie which of course sends shivers down the audiences back.
The way in which this trailer has
been set out and pieced is in the general conventional structure. It starts off
with the main character (Lance) introducing the reality TV show which is grave encounters.
Since lance is doing a TV show he introduces the story of what he and his crew
are going to do, where and how. This trailer follows Todorovs theory. The equilibrium
is the start of him explaining what is going on, the disruption is that they
need to go and “find” these demonic and left over spirits in this psychiatric
hospital so that they can make a lot of hits on their TV show. To prove to us that this is a TV show, we see
the crew getting ready to film, marking the shot and practicing a couple of
times, we even see a fuzz in the camera shot which can indicate a disruption. As
the trailer goes on, the dialogue that is used makes it really easy for the
audience to understand what is going on in the certain scene that is being
filmed. This trailer shows us how they start to get haunted, such as we see
them filming outside the metal home, they go in and set up the cameras in each
of the rooms, it shows us flying objects and people running for their lives. It
starts of really calm and the crew look really brave since they have already experienced
these unreal horror events which they are trying to create. The narrative
speeds up as the action and exciting, thrilling scenes happens this makes it
easier for the audience to understand that something is out to get them. This movies narrative is more based on the dialogue
than the scenes that is happening, as in at first Lance is hosting his show and
he tells the audience what he is going to do, but he doesn’t mention to us what
is going to happen and so this adds more of a thrill to the audience. Even though
he doesn’t talk much through the trailer towards the end, he puts in a lot of
detail in what he said at the start which leads the audience in the right path
of knowing what is meant to happen such as we see a scene near the beginning where
there is old tapes of the people in the psychiatric home in around 1939-1945
which is listen as “archival footage” this makes it easier to understand what
spirits or what type of mental people there are and what they used to do. Towards
the end of the movie we count on straps and screams to understand what is going
on, we are presented with many supernatural scenes which informs the audience that
they are clearly getting haunted from the spirits in the mental hospital. This
is an effective way of keeping the audience interested and wanting them to go
watch the movie as for people react more to visual than listening and so it
plays a big part in the audience head and keeps them more focused on what’s
going on in the trailer.
General codes and conventions of
the Mise-en-scene are repeated immaculately through this trailer. The difference between the other two trailer
that I have analysed is that this one has no religious theme which makes more
sense to the modern society as religion has slowly become the audiences least
of interest. This would make them movie seem more realistic as it could be them
in that certain position. Since this is a found footage movie, we expect to see
people messing about, having fun with modern props like phones, hand held
cameras, sound equipments and computer programmes all to track down the
ghostly, demonic spirits that is meant to be scene. In this trailer we do not
see know weapons as a form of protection except we see a range of characters holding
cameras to make us witness what’s going on. Torch lights and scratches on people’s
bodies and walls are typical iconography that appears in a supernatural, found footage
movie. The setting is again a typical area for a horror movie which is a mental
home. This involves an isolated location which no one other than them can get
to. When the crew go inside, it’s clear to say it’s abandoned because we see
graffiti on the wall and usually in modern society that is tend to happen in
abandoned areas. The locations that are shown are a dark and dim area which
improvises the fact that the mental home is abandoned and there is no light to
see what is going on. The rooms are small and dirty which gives us the chilling
feeling that anything could be larking in the shadows and dust. The background
is usually pitching black due to the fact of the lighting that has been used. This
makes the setting more terrifying as for you cannot see anyone else from the
crew. The main colour that is used in this trailer is murky colours that associate
with darkness and fear. Dark green and black and white effect has been used due
to the lighting that has been used. In this trailer we are presented with artificial
lighting majority of the time. This is because they have used cameras that
provide us with night vision and torches that present spot lighting. This
effect is very effective due to the fact as it creates a sinister feeling. The setting
is empty and basic to also enhance the fact that it is deserted, Lance also
mentions that it’s a “dumping ground” which obviously means that the people who
were in it many years ago were waste and so the setting being dirty with old
things like empty, tipped furniture creates an edgy feeling. The crew members that
vary in this horror trailer are shown to be the protagonists of this movie but
one by one they tend to disappear is if this is a slasher movie. The crew
members all wear simple and basic clothing which is mostly black with white tribal
designs. The males look very dominant and brave and so we get presented with
the feeling that they are not scared of what’s coming to them. However the girl
that is in this trailer is presented to have a bit of a gothic looked which
links well with the genre of the movie. She has black straight, sleek hair,
heavy eye makeup and a lip pierce. This can reflect that she could be the main
victim as she is just that tad bit more closer to the “dark” side. The trailer
shows the men to be calm and relaxed when recording these scenes and there
facial expressions show us excitement. The female tends to be the damsel in
distress that needs the male’s protection to feel safe. Since the main theme of
this movie is that its supernatural spirits that are messing with the crew, we don’t
have much of an antagonist look. However we do become faced with a scene where
they find a lady in the corner of the room, bare feet, long white gown which
makes us think she is a patient, we see the back of her but as soon as she
turns around she looks very scared, but then she turns her facial expression
into something horrific which scares the crew and most likely the audience. Overall
the mood that is created in this horror and fear as the audience realise that
something is tormenting them and its clear to say that it is the spirits of the
mental home people that died many years ago, this gives it a clear
understanding and an expectation of what the movie is about.
The camera shots that have been
used through this trailer are very simple and consistent. At the beginning of
the trailer we have a long shot zoomed out into a medium shot of Lance and his
crew getting ready to film. This is to show us where, and it clearly shows us
the isolated location that he is in, there is rails, moss on the stairs big old
trees covering the majority of the building. This is to contrast the difference
later on and how trapped they are when they get into the building. We then see
a time lapse of the metal home at an establishing shot to show us how big it
actually is which will mean that there will be
a lot of travelling and walking when they are in the mental home. After this,
the whole trailer focuses on hand held cameras and CCTV camera to make it feel
more realistic and scarier. To relate to the plot that the mental home is abandoned
the camera style used works really well since there is a flash light such as
known as a spot lighting that moves with the camera. This creates a haunting
and terrifying mood because only a spot of the scene can be seen. Regardless to the point that it is found
footage movie, this means that the crew themselves will be the ones that would be
filming this. This suggest that the camera will be at a point of view which
makes the audience feel like they are in the movie and are in that exact
position. The next main camera type that is repeated is the CCTV shots, these
cameras are looking down into the room from a corner that are always in the
same spot and are placed in many rooms. The editing involved with the camera
moves from the same angle but from different rooms, this creates a chilling
feeling since when the next camera appears we don’t know what going to come up,
this leaves the audience feeling on edge. The CCTV is in black and white which associates
with the horror mood and genre. This reflects the general codes and conventions
which are meant to be presented and so it is done well. Having the black and white
effect gives the scene more of a ghostly feeling, this generates the audience to
try and pick point any spiritual movement and this means that they are always
going to be interested. When the handheld cameras are on scene, they are either
in colour with a spot light or night vision which is green. The night vision
gives the negative colours for example black would be white and white will be
black, this contrasts with what the audience are used to seeing and so they
would get freaked out by it even if it was the crew. We have a range of camera
shots, for example we see long shots of hallways showing the darkness and how
long they are, this effect makes us feel insecure and paranoid as for the audience
are worried at what can come out from the dark. At one point of the trailer we
see a CCTV of all of the crew sitting down calmly, we then get a zoom in at the
end of the hallway where we see a shadow walking passed, this is done so the
audience focus on what is going on and the shadow walking past whilst the crew
is sitting down, makes them realise that there is something unusual going on. We get a range of shots from low angles and
close ups to show the crews reaction, feelings and emotions. This will scare
the audience due to the fact that they would feel as if they are right next to them;
this gets the audiences’ blood pumping and makes them more excited. Since Lance
tends to be the main character of the movie, we see many close ups and shots of
him filming himself, this generates the feeling that he is alone and no one is
there to film him. The most effective
type of movement that is used in this trailer is the shaking camera. This is
because it can reflect the audience’s feelings and reactions to the scene. It also
makes it more realistic and believable that this movie is actually real. Overall
the camera that has been used is very effective due to the fact that it puts
across the feeling that the movie is actually real, this will interest the
audience in wanting to watch the movie.
At the start of the trailer we
are introduced with the non diegetic sound of the camera messing up, this shows
that there is a disruption. Generally in horror movies supernatural elements
generally play with technology and mess up the equipment, this hints out to the
audience that it is a horror movie. We
then hear the girl saying “MARK” with a clipper which enhances the fact that it’s
a reality show and that they are recording it themselves. After Lance says “grave
encounters” we again hear a fuzz of sound and the non diegetic eerie music plays
in the background of when Lance is explaining the story in a voice over whilst
we see an establishing shot of the mental hospital. As he is explaining the
story, the eerie music is then turned down as an older woman speaks saying “they
were severely disturbed” in the background it was a sound of an old video
player playing. This makes us understand that what we are seeing is an old
piece of information. As the scene changes the eerie music changes into like a vacuum
sound and starts with a new beat, this is for us to see the change of scene. It
then goes quiet so that we focus on what the old man is explaining to Lance
about the window, as he is speaking we get a night vision shot that shows the
window at night, the window then opens by itself and the eerie music amplifies
and ends on a bang as the scene goes into a black fade. Action music is then
added to make us feel like it is a real TV show that has been edited for our
own purpose and excitement, it works well as the trailer goes on. The beat that
is used when he is talking makes us feel the action that is about to happen. A scene
where he is communicating with the spirits we hear a random bang then a high
pitch scream that is done by the girl. The eerie music continues but gets
faster and stronger with more tempos; this adds more excitement as the fast montage
of horror appears. Many ranges of screams and the crew panting when they are
talking make us feel the adrenaline rush and fear that the crew are experiencing.
One of the most effective sounding that was done was where the camera sound
arises at 1:44. The eerie music drops and this ads tension to the scene. They are
then faced with a spirit that is not facing them, as soon as it turns around it
turns into a ghostly look and a massive scream and bang is amplified. Once this
is done it all goes quiet and the strap of the movie name comes up with non
diegetic sound of embossed type music as if it is off an action/horror movie. We
are then encountered with low paced eerie music but with the girl talking in a
panic. This adds fear to the audience as we cannot see her in the scene, this
gets our bloods pumping. She then whispers “do you hear that” with no non
diegetic sound added, we then here an outburst of screams and a demonic voice. This
automatically thrills the audience as for they don’t know what’s going on. This
aids the audience well to understand the scene and shot and what’s going to
happen, it leads the audience in the correct path to understand the narrative.
The way in which the editing has
been created to represent a certain scene is done to the best of standards. In the
beginning of the trailer, it starts of slow and simple as if the editing is
telling us a story. The first edit that appears is the fuzz and freeze of the
camera, again this makes us feel like there is a disruption with them. As the
narrative goes on and paces up, the editing and speed follows the same pattern
and is parallel to what is on the screen. After around a minute, once the fast montage
of the horrific events appears, the editing becomes sharper, faster and
quicker. This reflects the mood of the scene well as it creates more tension
and anticipation as for the audience want to know what’s going on. It is the
conventional type of edits such as fade into black, fade into white, stabs of
sounds, flashing images done by fast cutting and also the most important the
distorted image freezing. These are typical type of edits which we tend to observe
in horror movies and especially in supernatural as it adds more of a spiritual
effect. An example of a fade into black is at the start where we see a spot
light of a room and then is faded into black which becomes a graphic edit into
the room hallway of darkness from the black fade. This is a type of merging. It’s
a type of a smooth transaction that works very well against the scene, it
explains the narrative and it flows well with what’s going on in that certain scene.
Fades tend to be a calming transition between two shots but also adds fear and
tension as black is a sign of darkness. Once the action starts around a minute into
the trailer, the cuts change from fades to black to sharp cuts from scene to
scene. Sharp cuts give the scene more of an intense and dramatic effect which of
course the audience feel feared by. The darkness to dissolve into white as if
it is a camera light makes us feel like we can finally see after the whole
montage of darkness but again the only type of editing that we can see is a
spot of light, when the camera moves about the effect edit from the fade into
white makes us feel safe but as soon as we see the room we feel insecure again.
The scene where Lance communicates with the spirit and the bang appears on
screen we encounter TV fuzz as if the frequency and the quality of the camera become
terrible. This means that there is something with them as I have explain
before, supernatural spirits can effect technology, this makes us feel like
there is a presence with them and the editing used at this shot is done well. We
end on a cut to black to make the audience feel like there is nothing else
coming but will still make them feel insecure as the blackness can hide
anything, this edit is done well and explain the narrative clearly as something
is always out there to get you.
The representation within the
text makes the males of the movie seem more dominant, have a lot of courage and
bravery. Throughout the movie we see Lance as the most fearless male and so we
see him as a protective person and we can rely on him to make us feel safe. His
confidence makes us feel a bit more relieved when he is on screen. The other
males are not much shown on scene and when they are they tend to be more
specific on what they do for example the camera guy sticks to being a camera, this
show to us that he isn’t as important as Lance and so he isn’t the main target
that the spirits are aiming for. The other male characters are masculine and
brave but not as brave as Lance. We realise that there is a black guy in this
movie and generally horror movies are rather racism as for the “black guy”
always dies first. This links with a slasher movie and so it’s a slight mix. He
is shown a bit more frightened from the rest and so we can say that he knows he
is going to die first. The female that is featured in this trailer changes
dramatically. At first she seems all brave and up for the challenge as for she
thinks it’s all fake, but as soon as the spiritual events happens she becomes
into a little girl that needs protection. She would be the one that the guys
have to look out for her and so this creates the general modern generation of
girls. Since the characters tend to be young, it slightly reflects with the rebellious
side of modern society, the youth in the 21st century are always
taking risks before thinking about the outcome and so this is represented in
the way they go in to fake a recording TV show.
Overall this horror movie is
different from majority of the supernatural movies. Supernatural movies tend to
focus on one victim and in this movie there is a crew which is most likely to
happen. The whole hand held camera makes it feel like a real story which will
encourage them to go and watch this movie. With all the elements added together
it creates a really haunting trailer and so it means that this horror movie is successful.
Personally, I have watched this movie and I thought the trailer is scarier than
the movie as for all the scary scenes are added into the trailer, this is a
good way of making the audience go and watch the movie since they would think
that there would be more haunting moments.
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