Film Trailer Analysis: IT

IT

This is an analysis of the trailer for the horror/thriller film, IT, which was released on 9^th September 2017:

              

Audience Appeal

• The primary target audience would be horror/thriller fans.
• The secondary target audience would be fans of the 1980 TV show 'It' and fans of the Stephen King's novel 'It'.
• The sudden music pause before the introduction of the clown figure in the gutter (0:40)  , creates suspense before presenting him to the audience for the first time. This creates tension and a possible jump scare, gratifying a thriller fan audiences' needs.
• The fast pace editing and a montage of shots where the children are trying to fight the 'clown' figure gives the audience a feel of the children's motives, but leaves how and if they can defeat the clown a mystery- persuades them to watch the film.
•  Establishing shot and following shots introduce a typical neighbourhood which is relatable for most of the audience but with a “dark history”, enhances the idea in the audiences mind that this may happen in the real world, enhancing the element of fear.
• There is a major appeal to thriller fans. For example, the last shot of the  clown running towards the camera indicates to the audience that they will get scared along with the characters, fulfilling their expectations of a horror/thriller film.
• There is a hint to a possible romance between 0:07 and 0:09 between two of the characters, which would be appealing to a wider audience. 

Genre Signifiers

• The genre of the film is  horror/thriller.
• The music is eerie and suspenseful and starts off by building tension and then becomes more sinister after the 'Warner Bros' logo is shown. The pace of the montage speeds up simultaneously with the music and non-diagetic sound can be heard such as the dripping of water getting louder. 
•  Predominantly dark shots with low-key lighting, especially towards the end.
• The ident is in a crooked font and glowing red, indicating blood/violence
• All of the title shots are in black and white
• The clown figure (antagonist) is a conventional creepy character, designed to cause fear.
•  Conventional settings of a horror film are shown in the trailer, for example a LA haunted house shot at 1:00.
• Typical structure i.e. antagonist must be fought by some someone, in this case a group of children.
• The innocence of the child with the paper boat means he is more isolated from others so he is more vulnerable.
•  Repetition of a child's voice throughout, repeating the phrase: “You’ll float too” creates fear and an eerie atmosphere. This gets phrase gets louder and more emphasised after every repetition.
• The inclusion of the author Stephen Kings name reinforces the horror genre for those in the audience who have read his books.

Characters/Representation

• The group of children are portrayed as strong at the beginning until the idea of their vulnerability is introduced at 0;15 using the voice over: "If you thought you'll always be protected and cared for....then one day you realise that's not true".
• The main characters are relatable for many people in the audience as they are young teenagers, which is a large amount of the films audience. 
• The antagonist, Pennywise, is portrayed as a character who should be feared from his first introduction to the audience at 0:49.
• From the trailer, the film appears to have mainly male characters, apart from one girl who joins the boys in their attempt to defeat the clown. 

Branding

• Distributed by: Warner Bros. Pictures- logo shown at 0:21
• Produced by: New Line Cinema- logo shown at 0:22
• ‘From Stephen King Terrifying Novel’- 0:56
• The film was released on September 9th, 27 after the end of the 1980 TV show 'IT'. The film suggests that the clown only comes out every 27 years, allowing a link to be made between the TV show and the film.
•  IT ident is placed after the action and is blood red, glowing and in a crooked font.
• The trailer ends with names of screenplay writers and directors name: Andy Muschietti
• The final shot has the hashtag: "#ITMOVIE" to attract interest on social media

TV Drama Still Evaluation

Analyse your chosen shot and identify in what way it could be described as signifying your chosen TV Drama genre/subgenre.

As a team, we decided to create four still shots following the TV drama subgenre of horror/thriller. In my chosen shot, I implemented several conventions of this genre. Firstly, the shot was taken in an area with very little lighting, creating a very dark shot which I was able to light artificially with paglights coming from the right side of the shot. This allowed an eerie atmosphere to be created due to the darkness behind the protagonist, which may connote the entry of the antagonist from the light which would be the dominant reading. 

How did you intend the audience to interpret your still?

In using artificial lighting, I attempted to create a shot in which the audience could apprehend the vulnerability of the character, while waiting for the antagonist to create a dramatic, scary moment.

What did you actually do to achieve this effect?

A crucial focus in signifying the theme of horror was the framing of the shot. It was taken as a MLS with the character in the centre of the frame, in order to present the characters entire body, which allowed me to denote his nervousness through his negative body language; hunched shoulders, eyes facing the floor and hands clasped together. This stance allows the theme of horror to be depicted successfully, by creating a suspenseful atmosphere, giving the audience an idea of how they should feel.
Identify what is successful about your shot

Along with the lighting, the scenery I used in this shot, or mise-en-scene was also vital in portraying the theme of horror. For example, the sofa in the shot is old fashioned and the floorboards are wooden which could connote that the setting is an old house, which is a convention of horror dramas. 
What would you do differently in hindsight?

In hindsight, if I were to do this again, I would possible change the position and facial expression of the character, to make him seem more vulnerable. Additionally, I may achieve this vulnerable look by using a HA shot.

Continuity Evaluation Task

Our task was to create a story featuring an accident in 6 shots, cut in camera. This is what we came up with:

1. Explain the story of your video 

Our video tells the story of two boys (played my myself and Morgan) playing catch with a tennis ball on a school playground. Not paying attention, the third character walks between the boys playing catch and subsequently gets hit by the ball. The story ends with the girl giving a look of disgust towards the boy who threw the ball at her.

2. How did you attempt to create 'narrative flow' (continuity)?

In an attempt to fulfill the demands of the brief, Morgan, Alize and I discussed and planned the story we were trying to present, the types of shots we would use and how we would create narrative flow. One of our key focuses was to follow the 30 degree rule which we achieved by ensuring that consecutive shots had camera angle changes of at least 30 degrees, in order to avoid jump cuts.

Another way we discussed, in order to create a narrative flow, was to use matched cuts. We tried to make sure that each character appeared in the same place as they were last seen. This proved to be one of our greatest challenges in this task, as we were a group of three people and our video included three characters. 

3. Did you achieve full continuity? If not, why not?

I do not think that we achieved full continuity in our video. The most notable lack of continuity was between shots 4 and 5 because in shot 4, the tennis ball moves from the left to the right of the screen, however in shot 5, it appears to be coming from behind the camera, creating a lack of continuity and confusing the audience. This could have been resolved by having the ball thrown in the same direction. Additionally, due to where we positioned the camera, it often seemed like the girl character changed direction, between shots 3 and 5. To resolve this, we could've placed the camera behind her, to make it clear to the audience that she is walking in the same direction. 

4. In hindsight, what would you do differently to improve the narrative flow of your video and tell your story more effectively?

Looking back, the video we attempted to create may have been too ambitious for the amount of people we had and the time limit. The narrative flow of the video could have been improved by the correct placement of the camera in order to avoid confusion about the direction of the characters movement. Additionally, minor detailed also could have been rethought, for example shortening the establishing shot and using a more simple and direct shot to introduce the third character, in order to avoid the unnecessary build up of suspense.