Research into a similar film

I have found the movie ‘Carrie’ which is similar to the idea that my group and I have for our trailer, they are both about a young girl who feels like an outcast and sieves to cause terror upon others through an act of revenge:

Due to ‘Carrie’ also being a horror movie it would be quite useful for us to use the trailer for ‘Carrie’ as inspiration for our own work, for the following reasons that I have found whilst analysing the trailer;

• The use of chiaroscuro; low key and high contrast lighting, to create a dark, ominous effect

• Tracking shot towards the cupboard suggests something sinister to do with the cupboard

• Having the characters head down connotes insecurity and in the first few clips introducing her she seems very shy and lonely, a lot of the time people are laughing around her and sometimes even at her but she never joins in. Even the teacher picks on her and we can tell she feels anxious all the time

• 3 second long blackout after significant moment where the disruption is shown

• Various blackouts and bright flashes during fast paced edits to give a sense of disorientation

• A good use of editing technique is how one of the shots starts fast paced and then as it tracks down the shot slows down. I personally feel this is a very creative technique to use and also would give out trailer an added sense of professionalism.

• Lighting tends to be used in a way that casts shadows on the walls and on the floor

• End section shows a sequence of shots not in chronological order; however it is enough for you to get an idea of the major event within the movie but still leaves mystery and enigmas.

• Titles appear every so often breaking up the clips but also giving the viewer a little more detail about the film that perhaps are not obvious by just watching the clips, for example one sentence that appears in small sections is, ‘In every neighbourhood there is one family with a secret no one talks about’.

• Another example is ‘this fall everyone will know her name’ the next title shown is ‘Chloe Grace Moretz’ which is obviously there for the film to show off its ‘star’ appeal. Chloe is currently a very well-known actor with many fans and this would entice her fan base into watching the film, but also increase the films ranking because of the use of a famous actor

• The last title shown is the name ‘Carrie’ this is different to the other titles are has blood dripping down the letters. This associates the name Carrie with connotations such as danger and death.  

• Further analysis on the titles shows that the white font on a black background creates binary oppositions such as good vs evil and religious vs sinful which are themes made apparent within the trailer. Not only this but the Serif font suggests that the movie will not be easy-going and the viewer will have to concentrate.

• The trailer starts with quite a strange and sinister song sung by a woman, who we assume is the mother. In the background of this we can here screams and this opens the trailer on quite an ominous note.

• A deep bass not can be heard whenever a title is shown which further adds tension to the trailer

• There are a couple of J and L cuts where you can hear the diegetic voice of someone talking but you cannot see the clip in which they are speaking until later. This is quite a good technique to use in a trailer as it makes it seems less like the actual movie.

• To end the trailer there is a title page showing ways to get in touch with the movie etc and also the production logos which were also shown at the beginning of the trailer.