For my media language analysis, I have chosen to look at "The Uninvited." This trailer is in the genre of Thriller/Horror with elements of murder, which makes it close to the type of film my group wants to make.
The trailer is 2:17 long, this is an average time for a trailer, but our group is going to make a teaser trailer so it will have to be about a minute long. This trailer consists of several clips throughout the film, as it is trying to sump up and highlight the film in a linear narrative of events. The editor has concentrated on two types of transitions: cuts to show the events that are more close to normality and fades for the thrilling, creepy and scary parts. This differentiating is good as it helps to divide the trailer into "Normal and Abnormal."
Each clip is around a second or two seconds long. This is a good technique to use, because it shows parts of the film to the audience, but at the same time does not reveal too much information to keep the enigma and interest. The trailer begins with a green approval screen that almost every film trailer has, which also tells the audience that the film is PG 13. Then it tells us that the film was made by Dream Works SKG. Around the middle of the trailer, as the thrilling and tense parts broaden and increase, there is a text saying "From the producers of The Ring and Disturbia." This is a good type to advertise the film to the people, if they liked the two films mentioned. It is also a good way to establish the audience, as this texts creates an assumption that this film is aimed at the audience similar to those two films. Towards the end of the trailer there is also the tag line mentioned "Some secrets, just won't die." This identifies the theme of death and creates enigmas about the secrets. The last textual piece in the trailer is the title of the film "The Uninvited," which is just the basic information that audience can try to associate with the trailer.
There is a minor presence of graphics and special effects, because thrillers tend to stick to realistic filming. However there is a fire explosion shown in the beginning, which underlines the basic idea behind the film. There is a colour change present where everything goes into black and white, which highlights the twisting point of the trailer as from this moment it increases the effects of tension and fear. This colour is also used when dreaming is mentioned, to make it seem more unrealistic. The lighting that is day-time relevantly bright in the first part of the trailer, is made into darkness and low key lighting in the second part to again emphasise the change of events and the increase of fear. The speed of the trailer both increases at points to make the audience jump and decreases at creepy points to freak them out. The "jumpy" moments are used a few times, because they provide the best effect of thrilling and the last one, just before the title of the film is specifically loud and unexpected, to perhaps show the audience that the film will have a scary and shocking ending. From the beginning of the trailer the music is low key and it would keep someone on edge. The key sound effects such as explosions are increased in volume for emphasis and bang sounds at important scary parts of the trailer are also used for that reason. There is a change in music from about the middle of the trailer and it goes into piano, haunting and eery music. This is done to take the first impressions of fear and transform and broaden them and together with the video create a tense, creepy and shocking atmosphere. The typography is in capital, black letters, which aren't too bold and this reduction has contrast with all of the big impact and emotions of the trailer and this also helps to increase the thrill. What increases it even more is the cloudy background, which can be linked to the "dreaming" in the film and that makes it a key theme.
Overall this is an effective trailer, because it manages to take a variety of clips from the film in a linear narrative and by adding fades, cuts, creepy music, increasing and decreasing the speed-the discturbing, scary and shocking atmosphere that the director aims to bring with the film, is shown well in the trailer.
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