Analyse the characteristics of the genre of a film Trailer of your choice.

The Saw films trailer is typical of the Horror/Thriller genre and it has many themes and binary oppositions that portray this. One of the Binary Oppositions that this trailer provides us with is Life Vs Death. This is particularly shown through the characters when we see a man fighting his way through barbed wire signifying the differences between staying alive or falling to your death as the man is trying to escape from what is initially killing him as he does so. Also, we first see a flash of the over sized man standing before the barbed wired with already cuts on him, this shows connotations that maybe the man self harms and is abusing the life he is giving and then when we see another flash of him stuck within the barbed wires really challenges the binary opposition of Life and death as it questions whether abusing his life was really worth it because now it has placed him face to face with death. Another way the characters portray the Binary Opposition of Life and death is when we see the woman gagged and with a gun pointed to her head. Her gesture codes portray fear as she has tucked her knees up to her chin in an almost protective way to try and keep herself safe despite there being no way out. Her facial expressions also show her lips trembling and pleading eyes which connotes her fear and desperation to stay alive which slightly contrast with the man in the barbed wire who didn't seem bothered until he was actually put into a life or death situation.

The camera techniques used in this trailer also participates to the characteristics of a Horror/Thriller genre and also portrays a theme of Escape. This is illustrated in the close up shot of the man's foot  cuffed and chained to a pipe this connotes the feeling of being trapped suggesting that maybe the characters have been captured by something and need to escape and this also contributes to the plot of the film as it makes the audience question how the characters got into the chains in the first place and also why they have been chained up. It may also imply that the characters might be criminals or somebody thinks they have done something wrong. A close up was also used again on one of the men's faces who had been chained up creating a sense of claustrophobia and reinforcing the fact that the characters might be trapped and this shows connotations that there might not be anyway out. As well as this, about three quarters through the trailers the cross cutting between the clock and the characters gets faster and faster symbolising that time is running and that the characters do not have long left before something, presumingly bad, happens to them.

What I believe to be the main theme of the film, escape, the music that has been used in this trailer really enforces this and the Horror/Thriller genre. This is shown within first first 10 seconds of the film were no music is used at all and it is completely silent, creating tension as the audience isn't entirely sure what is going on and they are left in the unknown as it is also pitch black. The sudden loud sound of lights flickering on and an almost clinically bright light makes the audience question where this place is and why it is set in this particular place. At first a faint sound of a ticking clock kicks as well as the background music which starts off at a steady pace but as the trailer gets on its get the music gets faster building up tension and making the audience feel as though it is building up to a climatic finish. The music is particularly at it's fastest when the camera is cross cutting between the clock and characters reinforcing the idea that time is running out for the characters. As the music is getting faster, the faint sound of the ticking clock overlaps the background music and gradually gets louder and at one point it is that loud it drowns out every other sound until that is the only sound you can hear suggesting that time is the most important factor in this film or that maybe this clock is one of the main symbols also. The final sounds heard in this trailer are high pitched scream which connotes danger and pain and this was reinforced by the erratic, fast pace of the music which means that whatever happens it will lead up to pain or maybe even death. All of this factors contribute to the binary Opposition that this trailer provides for us which is the feeling of being trapped, opposed the need to escape and freedom.