'The Conjuring'

The film trailer I am going to be is 'The Conjuring', which is almost a classic horror film, despite the fact it is fairly recent. A film is about Ed and Lorraine Warren, based on a true story about when they when to investigate paranormal activity in a home. The characters in the home are fairly standard in terms of the types of character you would expect in a horror film with this sort of storyline, for example they are a happy family with four children, however like in horror films with this sort of of storyline, all turns bad fairly quickly. This is quite a cliché horror film, especially because of the fact it states how it is 'based on a true story', which is becoming increasingly more recognisable in horror films. This is iconography of horror films as it makes the horror film that bit more real and furthermore makes the overall experience of the film scarier, which is the intention of horror films.

The trailer starts off in a dark cellar, which is classic of the horror movie setting. The Warrens seem to searching for some paranormal activity. It is being filmed through a vintage handheld camera, this helps create a darker image, especially with the only dim light, helps create a tense atmosphere and the audience doesn't know what is going to happen, which makes them feel uncomfortable. 'Found footage' films is appearing a lot more in horror films, and since the 'The Blair Witch Project', there has been a sub genre of horror films, so called 'found-footage' film. This camera work helps the audience engage with the characters, it makes us feel like we're there and sees what is happening through their eyes. This helps create a tense atmosphere with the audience. After that we see real life pictures pop up on the screen, this helps added legitimacy to the fact it is a true story. This creates a binary opposition of reality vs fantasy, as it makes us question whether what is happening in the trailer could have really happened in real life.

The text that follows helps set the scene, it states 'out of all the cases they investigated, they have kept one locked away, until now'. This helps set the scene and let's the audience know that it is almost
privilege for you to see the film. It also gives off the idea what you're about to see is going very frightening. After this we see and hear a grandfather clock, which again is seen in lots of horror films, it portrays a theme of time passing and we know it only a matter of time before the paranormal activity begins. This is one of many props we see in this trai,re that are often iconography in horror films , for example later on in the trailer we see a music box, which is part of the mise-en-scene in
many horror films.
The music isn't one usually found in horror films however it is fairly 'spooky'. The music suddenly
stops which creates an Erie feeling ,which is furthermore backed up by a ear piercing scream from the girl, and I don't need to speak about how deafining screams are iconography of horror films.

The equilibrium is then set with a long shot of the house and Patrick Wilson, who plays and Ed Warren, who is also iconography of horror films, states the date.


Next in the trailer it tells us that the director is 'from the director of Saw and Insidious', who is subsequently James Wan, who is renowned and is iconography with horror films. This raises the

audiences expectations and will make more people watch it. Throughout the trailer quick shot types are used, this means that the audience is put on edge and isn't given the chance to settle. Close ups are also used throughout the trailer, as is the same for most horror films, this is because it helps the character engage with the audience, in particular with the characters' fears and trepidation.

There are many themes shown in this trailer, which are often shown in other horror films too. For example, the theme of family is shown in the trailer, not only with the family the Warrens are being sent to investigate, but with the Warrens themselves, the theme of love also co-exists with the theme of family.