Analyse: The Hills Have Eyes trailer

I looked at another horror film called The Hills Have Eyes. It is about a suburban American family that are being stalked by a group of psychotic people who live in the desert, far away from civilization.

The beginning of the trailer starts with some white text against a black background. The text gives the audience some information about the story line of the film. The text is easy to read and is central on the screen. There is non-diegetic sound of a high pitch, nuclear siren noise which doesn't seem to relate to the text straight away which makes the audience question what is about to happen next.

The next few images show flickering images of abnormal/ usual looking body parts. The flickering effect makes them seem even more usual and as if they arent ment to be seen. The black and white colouring makes the images seem old and rare. There is a sound which almost sounds like a tv being tuned. These images are then followd by exploding buildings and bombs going off which matches the text at the beginning. There is a lot of bright light which at points makes it hard to see what is happening.

After the exploding building images the screen fadesa to black and the sound also fades out. The non-diegetic sound completely changes to an upbeat, country song. The whole atmosphere of the trailer completely changes, creating a happy, holiday feel. The colouring of the trailer also changes from black and white to bright colours. This change may represent how the family are going to be affected by the unknown people that the audience saw at the beginning of the trailer.

This establishing shot shows the location that the film will take place. It is the first shot we see of the location, it also makes the family look very vunerable as there is no one else around. Just before this shot there are quite a few close-up shots of the family which identifies the main characters of the film. They all look very happy and as if they are enjoying themselves, however the audience are clearly away that something is about the change that. All these shots are companied with non-diegetic happy music which implies that the happiest is all about to change. 



This close up shot is the last shot before the non-diegetic music stops. The close up shot looks as if it gets stuck on the page and flickers up and down. The last dialogue comes from the local man, 'Have a safe journey.' This is use of dramatic irony as the audience are aware that they wont be having a safe journey however the characters arent away of this.

After the screen fades to black and the music stops the atompshere of the trailer chnages again. There is diegetic sounds of the wind blowing, birds and the trucking driving along. The pace of the editng becomes faster with more shots fo the action and quicker shots that fade to black. A non-diegetic beat begins which almost sounds like a heavy heart beat which creates a spooky sense. 



At this point in the trailer there are lots of fast pace shots of the mian characters being attacked by the unknown creatures. The characters going in pain and scared which matches the sounds of them screaming. The colouring of the images changes slightly and becomes a yellow tone. These images give the audience a clue as to what happens to them but at the same time doesnt give away too much detail. the audience also hardly see the unknown creatures and only see the characters reactions which may makes the audience intrigued to find out who the 'baddies' are.

Towards the end of the trailer the title of the film is shown on screen. The text flickers and looks as if it is glowing, almost like fire. The background is dark and shows the country thay they are in. The colouring of the text makes it stand out against the dark background. There is non-diegetic sound of a girl grasping for breathe then screaming. The trailer then fades to black and the audience then see where the sound is coming from; a young girl is being touched on her face by one of the usual creatures.

This is the last image we see on trailer. It is a close up of one of the family members being touched by the scary creatures. Again the audience dont actually see the creature but only the young innocent girl. This leaves the audience wonderign what is wrong with these people. The close up shot allows the audience to see the girls expressions and to see how she is really feeling. This being the last shot we see of the characters it leaves a lasting impression as she looks so scared and worried. It makes the audience want to find out what happens.





 

Reflection on Trailer

 

Text

I like how the text of the title of the film flickers and glows when on screen. It stands out and almost represents fire. This title as inspired me to try and do something interesting with my film title which would create a spooky effect. The title is a really important part of a trailer as it is the name of the film that will stick in your head after watching the trailer. Therefore, I want to present my title in an interesting way.