Textual Analysis by Blesson Bangula-Zola
Horror Posters Analysis
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Horror Magazine Front Cover Analysis
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Horror Trailers Analysis
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Title: Sinister
Release date: 5 Oct 2012 Director: Scott Derrickson Production Company: Alliance Films, IM Global, Blumhouse Productions Film info: The first Sinister followed by a sequel (Sinister 2) which was released in 2015 Synopsis: True-crime writer Ellison Oswalt moves himself and his family into a house where a horrific crime took place earlier, but his family doesn't know. He begins researching the crime so that he can write a new book about it to help his flailing career. He uses some "snuff" film footage he finds in the house to help him in his research, but he soon finds more than he bargained for. There is a figure in each of the films but who or what is it? As a result, his family start to suffer (as does he) and things take a turn for the worse. Will they survive?Written by Michael Hallows Eve Priniciple cast: Ethan Hawke, Juliet Rylance, Fred Dalton Thompson, James Ransone, Michael Hall D’Adarrio, Clare Foley, Rob Riley, Travis Smiley, Janet Zappala Mise-en-scene: the trailer starts off with a shot of the house. During this shot, you see a split-second of a symbol which appears to be written in blood. This already creates this distorted ambience to this trailer and already gets you prepared for the worse. The symbol appears to be satanic which means a lot of religious symbols is going to be portrayed. So, the good vs evil binary opposite is going to be played out in the battle of Christianity vs Satanism. Camera and editing: the trailer initiates with an establishing shot of the home but it is interrupted by the shot of the symbol written in blood. At the end, there were quick cuts between a series of montages which makes this trailer very distorted Typography: the texts is written in blood. Mood and styling: this trailer gives off this twisted and distorted atmosphere with the split second cuts of the symbol and the one shot of the car exploding. Sound: the dialogue of the characters in their intense moments. Alos, when the symbol shows up for a split-second, the static sound that comes from televisions play. This is to make this trailer look twisted. Location: this appears to be located in a home. Pacing: throughout most of the trailer,the pacing was slow to create that suspense. However, at the end, the pacing got quicker and shows very intense situations. |
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Title: Lights Out
Release date: 19 Oct 2016 Director: David F. Sandberg Production Company: New Line Cinema, RatPac-Dune Entertainment, Grey Matter Productions Synopsis: Rebecca must unlock the terror behind her little brother's experiences that once tested her sanity, bringing her face to face with an entity attached to their mother. - IMDb Priniciple cast: Teresa Palmer, Grabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke, Maria Bello, Alicia Vela-Bailey, Andi Osho, Rolando Boyce, Maria Russell, Elizabeth Pan Mise-en-scene: the trailer starts off with the New Line Cinema production logo. Then, we see the lady walking down a corridor with lowkey lighting. The woman in the first scene is seen flicking the light on and off because she sees an unknown figure when the light is off. This suggests that it is recommended to not let the lights turn off because danger awaits. Camera and editing: the first shot was an establishing shot which shows us the warehouse. Then it fades into a master shot of a room with clothing which looks like a open closet room with mannequins which already tells us that this is a clothing warehouse. But this master shot already makes it quite eerie. Then we see another master shot of the woman walking through the corridor. When the woman was flicking the lights, there were couple instances of over the shoulder shots to really experience what she was feeling when she saw the unknown figure as a viewer since we see it through a third person view at couple shots of that scene alone. We see close-ups of the woman to capture her facial expression. Also, later on, there are close ups of other characters when walking through a certain place which creates this spine-chilling suspense because of this fear of the unknown. Typography: the film title is written in ink at the end. During the cuts, there were texts and the font was the typical type in white. Mood and styling: the mood was spine-chilling to say at least and starts off like that with the woman in the warehouse. This film playing with the fear of the dark due to the fear of the unknown was really evident as the unknown figure popsup every time the light is off hence the name 'Lights Out'. Judging by the clothing and location, this film is set in the modern times so it becomes more relatable in a sense Sound: the music was very eerie as well as suspenseful; it wasquiet but loud enough for you to feel the suspense. The sound effects were used at the right times to create the jumpscares. There was character's dialogues during suspenseful moments. Pacing: the pacing was slow most of the time. This trailer was mostly built around suspense rather than intensity. Narrative: there is no narrator |
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Title: Anabelle Creation
Release date: 11 August 2017 Director: David F. Sandberg Production Company: Atomic Monster, New Line Cinema Synopsis: 12 years after the tragic death of their little girl, a dollmaker and his wife welcome a nun and several girls from a shuttered orphanage into their home, where they soon become the target of the dollmaker's possessed creation, Annabelle.- IMDb Priniciple cast: Anthony LaPaglia, Samara Lee, Miranda Otto, Brad Greenquist, Lulu Wilson, Talitha Eliana Bateman, Stephanie Sigman, Mark Bramhall, Grace Fulton Mise-en-scene: the trailer already starts with a creepy vibe (i.e. the eye of the Annabelle doll was moving during its creation). Most horror trailers don't do this. Then it fades into the equilibrium of the movie which was the nun and the girls moving into their new home. Also, it seems to be old-fashioned judging from the location, clothing that the characters are wearing and soon. Also, you can tell it is a supernatural movie with the typical house and the possession of something meaning that there are demonic spirits lurking which makes the supernatural genre. Camera and editing: firstly it starts off with the a close up of the Annabelle doll's eye which was moving. Then there's a medium close up of the doll in the box with its eyes moving as the it gets shut inside. Also, there were Typography: the font resembles some sort of glass like element. Mood and styling: the mood was typically suspenseful; it makes you feel you're there with the orphans. The styling seems old=fashioned and it also contains religious symbols (e.g. the woman holding the crucifix against the Annabelle demon). This relates to the binary opposites (good vs evil) Sound: most of the sound was the characters dialogue when realising that there is something wrong and them screaming which makes it quite empathetic as well as sympathetic. Location: this was located at a traditional family home which is what you would normally see in supernatural movies sometimes. Pacing: the pacing was quite slow during the middle of the trailer to build up the suspense but near the end, it starts getting quicker so that viewers feel the intensity of the situation. the trailer already starts off quite intense with the music speeding up during the transition between the close ups of the doll. |