In suspenseful moments, sound - both diegetic and non diegetic - are almost completely cut, this builds on the tension and the suspense within the audience.
The contrast in light between scenes where all is fine and scenes where it all goes wrong is very noticeable; the shot is filled with natural light when all seems fine, then as night draws in and the light is limited, the horror aspect begins to develop.
CUs in suspenseful scenes anchor the fear in the shot.
The initial POV, handicam style of the trailer connotes a holiday, and suggests the characters having fun.
Fades are used to cut between scenes to elongate them and build on the suspense - conventional of a horror film.
Bursts of non diegetic sound when something happens makes the audience 'jump'.
Motivated cuts are used to attract the audience in to the story which, in turn, makes it easier for the clip to be scary as the audience are more involved with the clip.
The fact that it is all the characters are in a group can lead to lots of different story lines; i.e. one of them going missing/dying.
Snap zooms from MS to CUs highlight the scariest parts or things the audience need to notice.
Thriller
Batman: The Dark Knight (Nolan, 2008)
The black/blue colour wash over the entire clip gives it a very cold feel, and somewhat distances the audience from the film.
The CUs of the antagonist, The Joker, highlight his insanity and convey's all the emotion.
The long fades to instant snap-back to the clip, anchored by non diegetic bursts of sound make the whole clip sharp and on-edge.
The diegetic sound of the characters talking is normally kept to a low, making the other aspects of the dense soundtrack more noticeable.
The idea of having a narrated voice over a blackout adds to the mystery of the antagonist, and builds tension.
The crime thriller aspect is highlighted through the use of detectives/police officers - the costumes of each of the characters distinguish what kind of character they are.
The orchestral, non diegetic soundtrack makes the clip powerful and full of action.
ESs/ELSs zooming in to the protagonist position the audience with him.
Excellent work Dan, some really detailed commentry here full of excellent terminology. Don't forget to include narrative conventions too - such as stock characters.
Excellent work Dan, some really detailed commentry here full of excellent terminology. Don't forget to include narrative conventions too - such as stock characters.
ReplyDelete