Crafting a Fear of the Unknown: Genre Analysis of Supernatural Horror Film Trailers

Transcription

1 Dreyer 1 Courtney Dreyer Crafting a Fear of the Unknown: Genre Analysis of Supernatural Horror Film Trailers Film trailers are an integral part of the movie-going experience. No matter where you go or what film you see, there will inevitably be a long line of similar trailers preluding the feature presentation. These trailers all have one goal in mind: getting you to buy a ticket to see the film advertised. How the creators intend to do so will depend on the genre of the film. In horror film trailers, the rhetor wants to make the audience feel a strong tension that can only be relieved by seeing how the film advertised will unfold. This genre analysis will look into the genre script of supernatural horror film trailers, revealing the specific elements that are present throughout the trailers within the genre, despite how different they may seem at first glance. This analysis will cover a mainstream American film (Insidious), an arthouse piece (The Witch), and two foreign films from Austria and South Korea (Goodnight Mommy and The Tale of Two Sisters). Focusing on film techniques and various stylistic choices, this genre analysis will pick apart the supernatural horror film trailer genre script, showing the inherent similarities between the trailers for these very different films. I will show that supernatural horror film trailers utilize suggestions of violence, extreme close-ups and an intense sound design to generate the same fear of the unknown that tempts the viewing audience to purchase a ticket to the advertised film. Trailer Constructs A film trailer is a brief montage of scenes from a particular film, used to market that film to theatre goers. According to Charlotte Jensen in her work Reduced Narration, Intensified

2 Dreyer 2 Emotion, a film trailer has the task of communicating a variety of formal information about the film, such as title, release date, and actor names in approximately two minutes, (106) but it also must balance communicating the film while at the same time holding it back so to keep interest in the final product (106). Various research into the trailer genre suggest that trailers primarily focus on the emotional aspects of the film, the emotion being focused on depending on the genre of the particular narrative (Jensen, 112). With this known construct in mind, the remainder of this analysis will focus on how supernatural horror film trailers specifically create tension and fear to sell their product. The subgenre of supernatural horror will be defined as a film characterized by the inclusion (or seeming inclusion) of some type of supernatural entity such as ghosts, demons, or any other type of vengeful spirit, with the intention of scaring the audience. Selected Trailers Insidious is an American horror film released in 2011 by the production company Alliance Films. Directed by James Wan, the story follows a husband and wife who find their house terrorized by malevolent spirits shortly after their young son falls into a mysterious coma. Starring Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, and Ty Simpkins, the film made over $13 million in the U.S. its opening weekend and spawned its own franchise (IMDb, Insidious ). Considered by many to be an arthouse film due to its unconventional storyline and artistic choices, The Witch follows an isolated puritan family being terrorized by a mysterious forestdwelling witch. Also known under its original title The VVitch: A New-England Folktale, the piece was released in 2016 in the U.S. by the small production company A24. Starring rookie actress Anya Taylor-Joy, the film made $8 million it s opening weekend (IMDb, The Witch ).

3 Dreyer 3 Austria s submission for the 2015 Academy Awards (Kojen, 2015), Goodnight Mommy made a miniscule $57,000 during it s opening weekend in the U.S, according to the Internet Movie Database. Produced by the company Ulrich Seidl Film Produktion GmbH, the film is also known under its Austrian title Ich seh ich seh (translated as I see, I see in German) (IMDb, Goodnight Mommy). The story follows twin brothers (played by Lukas and Elias Schwarz) who believe their mother (Susanne Wuest) after coming home from cosmetic facial surgery has been replaced by something sinister. Produced by B.O.M. Film Productions Company, The Tale of Two Sisters is a South Korean film that only premiered in the U.S. at various horror film festivals. Also known under its original title Janghwa, Hongryeon (translated as rose flower, red lotus ), the film follows two sisters who return home from a hospital stay to be haunted by a vengeful ghost. The film made only $1,060 U.S. dollars in it s opening weekend in South Korea, however, the film has become a fan-favorite among foreign film aficionados in the United States (IMDb, A Tale of Two Sisters ). Suggestions of Violence One of the most shocking moments in the Goodnight Mommy trailer is when the woman (Susanne Wuest), after hearing one of the boys (Elias Schwarz) exclaim that she is not their mother, slaps him across the face. You may compare this scene to the father pointing his gun at his daughter in The Witch trailer, or the bloody attack of the young boy in the trailer for Insidious. However, one of these scenes is not like the other. The slap in Goodnight Mommy s trailer is the only actual violent shot shown in all four trailers. Instead of showing flat out violent shots, the trailers instead focus primarily on suggested acts of violence.

4 Dreyer 4 A suggestion of violence is made when editors show certain imagery or position different shots together to make the audience believe some violent act has or will occur without specifically showing that action. One way this can be accomplished is by showing the supposed aftermath of an attack, such as the parents (Rose Byrne and Patrick Wilson) discovering their son (Ty Simpkin) s room in complete disarray, bed toppled over with a bloody handprint, in Insidious or the shattered photo and bloody knife in A Tale of Two Sisters. The audience is fearful for the characters shown and are left uneasy, not knowing how these supposed attacks occur. Through purchasing a ticket to see the film, they hope to better piece together the puzzle. Suggested violence can also be shown in shots that are juxtaposed to make you believe a potential attack will occur. In The Witch trailer, we see a shot of the teenage daughter (Anya Taylor Joy) in distress, questioning Why have you turned against me? (A24, The Witch ), followed directly by a shot of her father (Ralph Ineson) pointing a gun. There is no evidence that the gun is pointed at the girl in this shot, but given the editing and tone of the music, it suggests that the two must be connected, giving a sense of dread and uncertainty about the situation of the young girl. Extreme Close-Up According to the American Movie Classics filmsite, an extreme close-up is a shot of a part of a character (e.g., face, head, hands) to emphasize detail; also known as a detail shot. This technique not only shows the audience exactly what the director wants them to see, but it leaves a sense of mystery and, in some extreme cases, dehumanization. The most common type of extreme close-up seen in horror trailers is showing only the hand of a person in a shot. The hand could be doing a variety of things, such as opening a door

5 Dreyer 5 (A Tale of Two Sisters), holding a weapon (Goodnight Mommy), or working with technical equipment (Insidious). The focus of the hand not only further emphasizes the object, but gives the audience a sense of mystery as to who is holding or touching the object, especially depending on the corresponding shots in the trailer. When a detail shot is used in a way that dehumanizes a character, the audience is given a sense of unease. In the trailer for The Witch, there is a shot of a pair of lips speaking into the ears of a black goat, this shot being shown various times throughout the trailer. Because the audience is unable to see the entire face, especially the eyes, there is a sense of unease because they are not able to fully piece together the image. They don t know who is speaking to the goat, or if it s even a person at all. Where refusing to show the eyes causes dehumanization, showing just the eyes is quite different. In the Insidious trailer, a scene focuses on the eyes of an older women (Lin Shaye) as she nervously scans the room. This close-up of her worried eyes better allows the audience to emphasize with her fear and unease about the situation. The intense close-up of the eye in the Goodnight Mommy trailer, on the other hand, gives us a sense of dread. The eye of the women (Susanne Wuest) is seen in a reflection, looking back at the audience with blood around the iris. The eye, partly due to the distortion caused by the mirror, clearly shows a malice anger. Although this image makes the audience feel very differently from the Insidious close up, it still serves the same function. It allows us a clear picture of the character s emotional state of mind. Sound Design According to the Oxford s A Dictionary of Film Studies, sound design is a term used to refer to the completed sound of a film after post-production. This can include music,

6 Dreyer 6 dialogue, sound effects, and anything else that can be heard in a film, or in our case, a film trailer. At first glance, the sound design of these film trailers seems to be dramatically different, especially when focusing on the sound effects. Sound effects are generally used to describe any sound other than the soundtrack or dialogue in a piece. Where The Witch focuses on natural sounds, such as rustling grass and walking through the woods, Insidious primarily focuses on mechanical noises, intensifying every click of a recorder. Goodnight Mommy uses a mix of natural sounds akin to The Witch, but also utilizes every-day noises, such as a door opening or the closing of blinds, similar to the sound effects in A Tale of Two Sisters. Although these specific sound effects are very different, they hold a similar function in all four trailers. The sound effects chosen are heightened, often overriding the dialogue and music in the trailer. This focus on noises that the human ear normally ignores, especially in the presence of music or a conversation, causes tension and sense of unease. The audience is focused in on the sounds due to their unnatural intensity. They feel that something is off, but often can t quite place it. This adds to the overall tension and unease created by the trailer s visuals. Conclusion At first viewing, the four trailers that were analyzed seemed diverse, however, through analysis, it s easy to see a common pattern going through each. Although the details may be different, these various details accomplish the same overall purpose. They generate in the audience a fear of the unknown. They feel tension when they watch these films and must purchase a ticket to the film to relieve it.

7 Dreyer 7 Although this may cause someone to become disappointed with the state of the film industry, crying out that Hollywood is no longer original, only looking to make a profit, I argue that this is not the case. As many scholars have argued, no story has ever been original. What is original are the small details that make a story (film, trailer, book, or otherwise) something beautiful and unique. Works Cited A24. The Witch- Paranoia- Official Trailer HD- A24. Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube.12

8 Dreyer 8 Jan Web. 13 April A Tale of Two Sisters (2003). The Internet Movie Database. IMDb. n.d. Web. 15 April 2016 Dirks, Tim. Film Term Glossary. filmsite. AMC, n.d. Web. 19 April 2016 Goodnight Mommy (2015). The Internet Movie Database. IMDb. n.d. Web. 15 April Insidious (2013). The Internet Movie Database. IMDb. n.d. Web. 15 April Jensen, Charlotte Sun. Reduced Narration, Intensified Emotion. Projections: The Journal for Movies and Mind. 8.1 (2014): Web. 22 April Kojen, Natalie. 81 countries in competition for 2015 foreign language film Oscar. Oscars. Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. 8 Oct Web. 20 April Kuhn, Annette, Westwell, Guy. Sound Design. A Dictionary of Film Studies. Oxford University Press. (2012) Web. 20 April Movieclips Trailer Vault. Insidious (2010) Official Trailer #1- James Wan Movie HD. Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube, 15 Oct Web. 13 April RADiUS. Goodnight Mommy Official Trailer. Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube. 30 July Web. 13 April The Witch (2015). The Internet Movie Database. IMDb. n.d. Web. 15 April Ustumallagram s Pit of Horror. A Tale of Two Sisters 2003 trailer. Online video clip. Youtube. Youtube. 16 Nov Web. 13 April 2016.

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