Analysis Group Reflection

We decided to read each others textual analysis of the trailers to finally decide which sub-genre of horror we would like to do. We did this in the lesson while we were all together to then discuss our decision. By reading each others analysis we were able to get some idea of what each sub-genre has in common and what's is different between them.

We first went onto each others blog's to read the analysis of the trailers. 

Kayleigh's Analysis - Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Firstly, I read Kayleigh's analysis which was of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre trailer and  I learnt that the Killer sub-genre of horror includes a lot of violence and gruesome scenes, that maybe difficult to complete for our trailer. However some scenes show the characters under pressure and there emotions are revealed in high tension scenes which would be possible to do, but using dangerous weapons for example in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre a chainsaw was used which would be extremely dangerous to use for filming as there could be accidents involved and the actors safety may be at risk. 

Amber's Analysis - The Strangers 

Next, I read Amber's analysis which was of The Strangers trailer and I learnt that some conventions of psychological were similar  to the paranormal conventions, however the main difference I found was that the antagonist was very different, for example in the Annabelle trailer, the antagonist was a possessed doll which performed actions which many would see as impossible, whereas in The Strangers trailer the antagonist was far more realistic and could actually occur in real life, which would actually scare the audience more. This type of sub-genre could be possible to do for our trailer from looking at the analysis of the trailer on Amber's blog as it involves the least amount of special equipment which we don't have access to, but we can still be as creative as we want with creating a plot for the trailer.

So from reading the other group member's analysis and after discussion we came to the conclusion that the psychological sub-genre of horror maybe the most realistic to do as we don't have access to a lot of equipment and we would be worried that if we chose paranormal we may go to far with the idea of supernatural creatures like demonic dolls and ghosts, so the trailer may look more comical rather than frightening the audience.  

Textual Analysis: Annabelle

I have decided to analyse a film trailer to further my research into genre codes and conventions, also this will help me identity the structure of horror genre film trailers.

This scene shows the husband, who is expected to be the protagonist and the woman who is heavily pregnant, however the male characters facial expressions is shocked which tells the audience something is wrong, also the man’s clothes are covered in blood which shows violence has occurred which gets the audience excited yet frightened as they may believe that the characters’ lives are in danger. There is limited natural lighting from the moon which creates low key lighting and creates a dark and eerie atmosphere. Also the costumes used in this scene show that the characters are wearing pyjamas which gives the audience a sense that the characters aren’t ready for what is to come as they have been sleeping therefore there are not fully alert which can actually make them seem vulnerable.

 

This part of the horror trailer shows a mysterious woman who appears from the bedroom; however the audience would be confused to how she had gotten into the room. Also the makeup on the woman makes her face look dark and intimidating to the audience; also the fact that she is wearing a white gown makes the audience more terrified as the woman herself appears to be a threat but the colour white symbolises innocence and purity which is not the case.

This part of the trailer, the audience sees a fast paced sequence of shots, which empathises the point that there is violence and it is relating to the tension and confusion of the moment. In this part we see the mysterious woman holding a knife which appears to have blood stains on. This shows that the woman is acting violently towards the couple we first see and presume to be the protagonists and victims. The mans facial expressions shows he is acting on the defence to protect his pregnant wife which tells us that he is a caring person. Also the setting we see is in a normal and average town house which scares the audience as this relates to there own lives.

After the violent scene, we see that the woman has been defeated as she lies dead on the ground, however because she is sat upright, we still get a sense of fear as she still seems alive. Also the fact she is holding the doll tells the audience that the prop she is holding is a key part of the film, as the camera zooms in on her. Furthermore the dead body is in a nursery which doesnt seem at all right as the audience would associate a nursery with children and innocence whereas in the trailer we see blood stains on the wall where violence has took place. Lastly the lighting that has been used is natural which is from the moonlight, the lighting shines directly onto the body making this the dominant part of the shot. Also the sound used in this part becomes quiter which makes the audience focus on the shot more and lets them concentrate on what comes next.

This part of the trailer zooms into the dolls face, which shows the doll is a key part of the films plot. Also the blood which falls into the dolls eye tells the audience that this doll is going to cause violent related accidents later in the film. Plus in this shot there is very little non-diegtic sound as the audience is focused on what is happening in the shot.