Textual analysis - Mirrors

The horror film 'Mirrors' was released in 2008, the film is all based around mirrors (as reflected in the title) and their reflection which carry out horrific and gory actions carried out by their own accord.

The trailer opens with pleasant weather to reflect that the mood is neutral and normal, however pathetic fallacy is then used as the weather and colouring turns darker to reflect the mood and feeling of storyline and the characters. The trailer also opens with mysterious music quickly showing and establishing the family house to the audience, however we then hear the sound of a young childlike voice talking to himself or so we think. Many horror films choose to feature young children in their films as it often adds a creepy effect to the film for example in the film 'the sixth sense' the main focus in the film is the young boy who has a sixth sense to see ghosts, this makes the film more mysterious as children are often seen as happy and viewed in a more positive light. When the young boy in mirrors is asked a question at the beginning of the teaser trailer the background music appears to get higher in pitch adding tension which alerts the audience that something is not right about the situation, this is also created by the hand held camera shot creeping behind the boy's mother which gives the effect that someone is behind her, the over the shoulder shot is reguarly used as it gives off the impression someone/something is possibly watching them. A loud thud followed by a scream reflects to the audience that there is something more to the mirrors, this is then followed by the repition of loud, deep beats this could possibly reflect the frantic heartbeat of the mother and father. The close up of the door handle and the squeeky diegetic sound is stereotypical in horror and makes the audience feel uneasy about the situation. To add more nail-biting effects the director's have used quick, fast paced editing which almost looks like a blink of an eye focusing on different shots. In the conventions screaming/crying voices are usually featured in most teaser trailers, 'Mirrors' does use this convention to create panic and confusion. The trailer also displays narration but through the form of text which in every several seconds shows the audiences messages such as 'Within these walls', 'Lives an evil', 'Beyond our world' all of these pieces of text are very confusing and mysterious to the audience which makes them want to discover the meaning. The director uses the adjective 'evil' to describe the terror existing in the film, this is viewed by many people as a negative word and harsh to describe something which therefore makes the narration more dramatic.
I have noticed that the trailer uses nearly all of the typical codes and conventions such as the use of picking out dramatic words and sentences which the character's used for example "I'm so scared" reflects the fear in which the family are going through, another example would be "what if the mirrors are making us do things which we don't want to do" this piece of speech which is used in the trailer projects to the audience that the family must have a lack of control over the mirrors and have to figure out how to stop the weird goings on.
A further example of a convention which is used is that the title of the film is featured at the end of the trailer to add a thrilling and suspensful ending. However towards the ending of the trailer a creepy and spine chilling child's laugh is heard this also adds a shuddersome affect to the audience.
"Don't be scared mummy i just want you to come and play with us" this phrase again reflects the weird creepyness in which a child can create in a horror film, the use of the word 'mummy' almost adds inoscence to the phrase which is also deepened with the use of editing which displays his 'other person' in the mirror, as this is said the close up reveals to the audience not only the child but also his reflection.