Analysis Trailer - The Crazies

I am analysing the trailer for The Crazies inspired by a George Romero horror from the 1970’s. The movie is created for mass audience in boundary’s E-C.

The trailer starts very tranquilly and inviting to the audience. It does this by using 3 main clips the first used is a establishing shot of a field of corn on a nice summer day this is followed by a long shot of two children riding there bike the scene then fades to a tilt of a peaceful street. Each of these scenes are very common to what you may see in a romance or something set with a nice tranquil film each of these scenes gives a sense of security to the audience. The piano score that is used as a bridge follows the theme of blissfulness helping keep this feel portrayed to the audience.

The tension starts to increase quite early on. The long shot of the man with a gun walking towards the children playing baseball increases curiosity however the sudden introduction of a string instrument into the audio adds tension and foreshadows that something isn’t right. During the transition between the mid shot of the two police men and the fade to the long shot we have a very bass heavy noise this is something common in horror trailers as it is a loud “scary” noise.

Tension increases once again and builds up to a climax. One of the police men makes his way up to the man this is when we have a match cuts and multiple over the shoulder shots as it is dialogue. The mise-en-scene of the older man is not befitting to the tranquil feel we initial have, he does look very “out” of place and mind and this is something that builds tension as we as an audience know nothing about this man and his initial appearance is worrying. This is linked with the police mans acting who looks worried and this because of his stature of power  being in his job position works on role figures to add tension because if he is worried and being a police man then maybe we should be. The older man raises the gun  and we get a close up of it raising this increases tension because we know that he aims to shoot the other man. A quick transition is used to the crowd of the baseball where we see the majority of a blond woman’s face this build s more tension as we do not know who has been shot and killed. This woman may have been emplaced into the main focus to interest male audiences more. We then see the old man fall to the ground and the scene fades to black. During the scenes the piano from the music has gone an it is now mainly string we also get a loud bang that sounds like a door shutting when the screen fades to black.  All these features rise tension well from a previously calm full setting and would interest anyone that is interested in horror movies as tension is one of the biggest atmospheres they play on.

The next scenes are used to develop and give hints to the plot of the film. The police men is reassured by what could only be described as his partner the company names are also shown here after the build up of tension as this is when an audience most likely would be paying the most attention and so by placing this here they may be more likely to remember. We fade to an establishing shot of the town/city we slowly zoom into the scene and then fade into a doctors. Dialogue of “hes just not right” is used as a sound bridge between these scenes. This helps develop the story because we can divulge that perhaps whatever happens is to do with this man the doctor scene also helps us presume its linked to something medical such as a virus or infection.

A interesting use of fast paced editing synced with music played shows some of the residents of the area. This is played after a text graphic on a blank screen saying “your Neighbors” this leads on to a mid-shot of a blue house.  We then fade to inside a doctor’s office and we have a two shot of some story characters. We then see this again but instead with the graphic friends. This could connote that no one is safe from what is happening this would interest an audience because it gives the film story elements and a sense of no happy ending.

The trailer uses lots of dark scenes as these help provide tension and a dark atmosphere. A series of clips do this. One clip shows a woman standing in front of a combine harvester the only light source we see is from the lights of the vehicle and we get a clear view of the size scale between the woman and the vehicle. As the scene fades to another graphic the string non-diegetic music stops. Both this work well at rising tension because we know that if the vehicle was to move the woman would have no chance because of the difference the sudden stop in music that has been present for a while also works very well as it ends very abruptly meaning the audience notices the change and so would concentrate on the scene more.

We get a close up of a worried boy and a worried woman by the looks of it using previous graphics these are mother and son. Children are often seen as innocent and defenceless (apart from certain films where the play on this fact) this makes the audience fear for the childes well being. The mother is wearing a white dressing gown the whit could connote innocence and purity suggesting to the audience she has no done anything wrong yet still may suffer the consequences.

Shots of the event still in silent add more tension to the trailer. The tracking shot of the man walking up the stairs with the diegetic sound of his feet on the wooden steps this adds tension because we presume as an audience that he is going to the woman and child. During this we have very fast paced cutting to and throw from the child and mother to the man this builds up the speed we then get acting where by the child and mother are killed in cold blood. These scenes would interest and audience because if you enjoy horror films then these types of scenes are very common and so you know it would be suited to your taste.   

A pulse sound is introduced into the trailer and an interesting editing is added. The scene doesn’t necessarily change however we fade to black and then back to action every time a pulse happens this is a very interesting use of editing and it increases attention to the clips very well it also works well adding tension and it creates a very out of the ordinary atmosphere. We see pretty much the same shot we saw earlier of the street yet this time it is deserted although still bright it appears very dull in comparison this connotes to the audience something is out of the ordinary. This is supported by the actors acting as he appears confused as someone rides past him singing.

The trailer uses simple scare tactics by having a non-moving “scary” figure suddenly jump towards the camera this would interest any audience that is a fan of being scared. All the next scenes are high packed with action yet very dark and mysterious  the pulsing noise is removed and we get this almost static like sound instead. The main dialogue helps develop the story line this would interest and audience that maybe is not sold by just “you will be scared” techniques but instead wish for a core story. The pace of the clips puts the audience on edge as to what is going to happen we see lots of guns and other props that are associated with violence. The trailer resorts back to interesting the audience by scaring when they feature a shadowy figure scraping a knife against a wall in a pitch black room the noise is something that may cause some audiences to get a shiver down there spine. We have a loud crash noise as we fade to black.

The tempo of the trailer is lowered and we get this very interesting edit where by all movie noise is removed yet all we hear is music (Mad World – Gary Jules) which is very depressing and gives the trailer the feel of there being no hope as it is a very depressive song. This is linked with different clips of the characters we have previously focused on in different “end game” situations. The dialogue is reintroduced as is a raising in pitch and tempo string orchestra this is linked with some more high action we also have a close up of a very odd looking individual who appears to be crazy perhaps linking to the name of the film the last scene before another graphic and before we revert just to the song again appears to be a bomb being detonated this may interest audiences that more action based fans. We get a graphic of the name of the film this is normally if left so late  put at the very end of the trailer however we then get a very dark shot of what appears to be a blood covered pitch fork being dragged we also get a mid-shot of a woman attached to a bed looking fine and healthy. The trailers end before we see what happens. This is a method that may have been used the keep audiences on tenterhooks and has most likely been used as a cliff hanger to make audiences want to go and watch the film. However it may have not shown this because it would be too horrific for younger viewers or people that may not want to watch the film.