I have decided to specifically analyise 'The Blair Witch Project' as this film was located in a wood, therefore this will be able to give me some ideas towards my final product.
The trailer opens with a birds eye view shot establishing the main desolate location which is the woods in which the students want to discover information about the Blair witch, it could also be said that the birds eye view shot is used to project to the audience the size of the forest in which the group will be investigating. A key film trailer convention is used which is the use of a voice over and in this case as it is a horror trailer the voice over is slightly more mysterious to help set the tone and the mood. Close up shots of each five members involved are shown to help the audience establish and make up their opinions about each character, several of the characters are featured smiling and laughing possibly used to create a sense of irony as mystetious happenings could possibly occur later on in the film. The use of the non-diegetic music which is the sound of a piano in the background almost creates a magical and supernatural feeling and is often stereotypically linked with witchcraft films and programmes. Extracts of perhaps useful and story telling phrases in which the characters have said in the film are used such as "If you don't believe in the Blair witch then why have you bothered to come?" therefore the audience immediately know that the group are there to find out and perhaps communicate with the witch.
The long shot of the graveyard reflects that there will be supernatural occurances in the film and is also a very stereotypical horror location. "The Witch is back" projects to the audience that this is dangerous! as this is said the editing becomes fast paced to possibly suggest panic and danger, eery non-diegetic music is heard and flashes of dead bodies, owls and screaming characters are all seen these are all also conventions of horror and are popular in many horror trailers. The montages of the film and the diegetic and non-diegetic music becomes so fast paced that it all together stops and a woman is seen to be frantically chanting however we as the audience do not know who she is, this is all part of the teaser trailer to make the audience want to know what occurs next.
Another form of narration is used which is text, dramatic pieces of text are used to frighten the audience and to not believe anything they've heard and to find out at the cinema itself what the film is about. As this is shown and spoken flashes of violent images and events are projected to the audience by using low angle shots up at the sky to show movement and perhaps referring to unknown spirits, which is very relevant to this film. A long shot of a woman spinning round in circles on her bed establishes to the audience that she has possibly been posessed and has been in contact with the witch, the mise-en-scene also helps the viewer think this by displaying books and candles which are often associated with spell casting. The use of showing short, teasing clips of characters getting killed and in this case a man falling off a bridge creates excitement and creates a cliff-hanger effect.
The effect of using a handheld camera to record their reactions creates verisimilitude we as the audience can imagine and see what it is like and have an understanding, this has given me ideas of how i could represent the stalker in my final product.
As the title of the film 'Blair Witch 2', this appears as if it is being viewed in a wave effect this could be perhaps to reflect the motion of waves and how they dissapear associating this with the group members who go in search of the Blair witch. We also know that this is a sequel due to the title 'The Blair Witch 2' therefore this is a popular and successful film, also a non-diegetic sound of a woman who appears to be a news reporter is speaking about the brutal murders and happenings which have occured in the woods, at the same time an establishing shot of the wood is being shown to the audience this creates a mysterious and ambiguous end to the trailer.
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