The opening of the Paranormal Activity trailer shows a queue of people, captions appear on the bottom left hand corner of the screen; ‘In September 2009 a screening was held in Hollywood, California’. The font type used is simple and easy to read, the camera is clearly hand held to show that this is not part of the film. Throughout the trailer there is the diegetic sound of the audience. The next shot shows the audience taking their seats in the cinema, a caption again fades onto the screen; ‘This audience was amongst the first to experience the movie “Paranormal Activity”’. Throughout this part of the trailer the editing is very simple; apart from the title of the film the audience has no reason to fear this film, yet. There is then a mid shot of the audience in their seats looking at the cinema screen, another caption appears; 'This is what they saw...' The camera then zooms into the audience, this shows their calm expressions, this also shows that the camera is representing a 'home video' as zooming is considered to be unprofessional.
The trailer then cuts to a black screen, this fades to a shot taken from behind the audience, it shows the backs of their heads and the cinema screen, we are now watching the audience watch the film. This might make the person watching the trailer feel uncomfortable as it seems strange that you are watching people watch a film. The trailer takes this opportunity to show that 'Paramount' are involved with this film, the movie then begins. There is non diegectic sound to build tension and there is a shot of the audience, now in the dark, looking up at the screen. There is a mans voice, he says 'camera on' and the trailer cuts to a home video of a man filming his girlfriend as he says that she likes there is 'something' in the house, she asks if he believes her, this home video style is used to try and convince this audience that this is real and it will then therefore make them more afraid. There is a shot reverse shot of them talking, the trailer then cuts back to a mid shot of the audience, they still look calm and not at all scared. It then cuts back to the home video, the people watching the trailer can still see the backs of the audiences heads, because of the light from the screen the audience have a blueish supernatural glow. The male lead in the film takes about supernatural activity, this is a clear genre indicator along with the name of the film and that it is filmed like the Blair Witch Project. The man puts the camera down so that it shows there whole bedroom, you can tell by what he is saying that he doesn't really believe is ghosts etc. The shot has the time in the bottom right hand corner 11:23:53pm, this is a convention of a home video. At this point in the trailer there is again non diegetic sound, this builds tension and makes the trailer seem more dramatic. There is then a shot of the audience, they look less comfortable and also a bit tense, most are sitting up straight, interested in what is happening on screen. The trailer the cuts to the man going round his house closing blinds, locking windows etc, the diegetic sound of this is enhanced for dramatic effect, he speaks to the camera and states that all the doors and windows are locked. There is then a fade to black, the image of their bedroom then appears, the time on the side of the camera is 3:14:48am, the female lead sits up and looks around confused, she hears a strange noise, this is also enhanced for dramatic effect.
The camera is shaky and there is a voice over of the man and women talking to each other confused, the trailer cuts back to the audience in a CU/mid shot, it shows a couple that looked relaxed before now clinging to each other, they look scared, there is also a women with a hand over her month to stop herself from screaming. The audience watching the trailer now knows it is a serious horror film. There is then a fast editing sequence, there is a loud bang as the camera cuts quickly back to the couple in their bed room and then back to the audience. The trailer shows the audiences reactions to that bang, some of them jump, some scream and some gasp, the diegetic sound of the audience is still present in the trailer. The trailer the fades back to the film as the characters talk about the supernatural, there are also shots of the 'scary' parts of the film such as there being foot steps on the floor. There is then the voice over 'no foot steps out' over the top of a shot of the audience members hiding a screaming. It then cuts to show the foot steps the voice over was talking about, and then again shows the audiences dramatic reaction.
There is another fade to black and the couples bed room appears on the screen, the time in the corner is 4:31:59am. There is then a shot that looks like the tape is stuck or rewinding/fast forwarding, white noise on a black screen. The trailer cuts back to the couple asleep in their bed, the bed covers lift as if a ghost is lying there with them and then the door slams shut. There is the diegetic sound of the audience gasping and screaming as this happens and the trailer cuts to show there terrified reactions.
Then the screen is just white noise (like when a TV channel has no signal), this then cuts to a black screen which has a quote on it from film critics, this tells the audience it is a very scary horror film. It then cuts back to various scary parts of the film and the again to the audience watching it. It shows the audience jumping and even a girl how has to look away as she is too scared to look at the screen. There is a quick sequence of shots which show the female lead with bite marks on her arm. There is then another black screen with a quote from different critics . The trailer cuts back to the women, she is extremely stressed, there is then another quote advertising the film.
There is a mid shot of the audience, they look terrified as the trailer cuts to various shots of a women rocking back a forth on the floor in her bed room, it also shows fast shots of other bits of the film. This then cuts to a black screen and the words 'EXPERIENCE IT' appear, they have a white light behind them and some are slightly red, this could show the danger the characters are in. There are fast shots of the women crying and asking 'what's happening to me?', this then cuts back the the black screen and the word 'FOR' appears in the same font and colours as before. There is then a quick edit of shots showing thing supernatural like a board you can use to connect with the dead etc, the screen the goes black and the word 'YOURSELF' appears in again the same font and colours as the words before. This references back to the beginning when the trailer states that the California audience is experiencing the film, it is now telling the audience watching the trailer that they should go and see the film like the California audience did as it is an 'experience' not just a movie. There is then a montage of shots showing the women being possessed, the man looking scared etc and then asking repeatably 'what is it' they also make a reference to ghosts. It the cuts to a girl screaming in the audience and they all still look extremely scared and on edge. The trailer then cuts back to the film and a body is thrown at the camera, the camera brakes and switches off to a black screen. On the black screen the title of the film appears 'Paranormal Activity' the words flicker for a couple of seconds before it then cuts to a list of cities where the film is screening and the release date 'September 25th'. There is also another credit slide after this as the screen tells the audience that if the film is not being shown in their area then they can ;demand it' by visiting the films website. After this shot the trailer ends.
Rach.
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