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LIIAR Analysis 2 - Sinister Trailer

This 2012 American horror film follows a true-crime writer who finds a cache of 8mm home movie films that suggest the murder he is currently researching is the work of a serial killer whose career dates back to the 1960s. The film follows him as he tries to uncover the truth of the tapes whilst protecting his family. 

Language - This film uses a lot of low key lighting to connote the darkness of the themes within the film. This combined with the use of empty space within the set leaves the audience constantly looking in the shadows. The film uses this well as the antagonist is known for being hidden in the background, and so this use of light and space keeps you in suspense throughout the film.Even during the scenes which are set in the middle of the day the set is still dark and gloomy, despite there being daylight outside. It is like the family are living within a shadow. There are also a lot of small and confined spaces such as the attic and the office. The protagonist does not really leave the house until the end of the film, and so the audience ends up feeling quite trapped within the same small environment. 

Ideology - There is a very clear message in this film about the importance of family and how you treat them. The main character is constantly uprooting his family, moving them from pillar to post for his own selfish needs. He constantly ignores his daughter who wants to interact with him, but he locks himself away in his room separate from the rest of his family. He lies to his wife and never listens to what she says, even though she in concerned for the families safety. This does not bother him and he insists that they stay so he can chase his dreams of becoming a writer. Even though his son has night terrors and becomes disruptive at school because of the things he's seen in his dad's study, he still does not give them any thought. This eventually leads to their demise as they are killed by the daughter who has clearly been mislead by the antagonist after she is neglected by her family.

Institution - This film was produced by Alliance Films and distributed by Summit Entertainment who distribute a lot of horror films.. It was written and directed by Scott Derrickson who has directed 8 films, all of them horror/sci-fi films including the very popular "Deliver us from Evil" and "The day the earth stood still".

Audience - This film has and age rating of 15 immediately ruling out anyone under this age. I feel like this film would appeal to a younger audience as when it came out the trailer promoted the scare-factor, making it appealing to young people. However it does feature Ethan Hawke playing the main character so there is a chance that it could also appeal to a slightly older audience who would recognise and be appealed to the actor.

Representation - The film represents punishment. It is about punishing the father for his selfish behaviour. This could be seen as re-enforcing Christian values as selfishness is a sin in this religion. The antagonist is seen to be an interpretation of the devil who misleads the young daughter, and as the parents pay her no attention they do not help to lead her back down the right path, and inevitably the whole family ends up being punished for their selfish ways. The main character is represented as selfish and focused on his work. Even at the point where he has to choose between his family and his work, he chooses the work. He has a helper throughout the film in the form of a young deputy police officer. He is represented as the calm advice giver as he initially overwhelmed to meet the main character, he then proceeds to give him advice and eventually solve the murders before the main character, warning him of what is going to happen next. He is a warning to the main character and can be seen as the good character who tries to save the protagonist from their selfish ways, but it inevitably too late. The other officer is initially represented negatively as in the beginning of the film as he insults the protagonist who the audience initially wants to stand up for. However as the film goes on we soon see that he was right all along and our impression of him changes from good to bad.

LIIAR Analysis 1 - As Above, So Below

As Above, So Below is a 2014 American found footage horror set in the catacombs of Paris, France. It has an age rating of 15 and was directed by John Erick Dowdle. It was produced by Legendary Pictures and distributed by Universal Pictures.

The films sees British Scarlett Marlowe, a young alchemy scholar who is searching for the legendary "philosopher's stone", a mythological mineral which can grant eternal life. After finding the rose key in a cave in Iran, she travels to Paris where she enlists the help of her ex-lover who already knew about her work, as well as a crew of cameramen and an underground guide who knows the area well. During their expedition their passage is blocked and they have to work though the caves and tunnels to reach the outside word again, yet on their way they pass through the gates to hell, and unexpected things start to happen as their past comes back to haunt them.

Language - The film uses a lot of low key lighting in order to connote the darkness and the danger of the place that the characters are in. As the characters descend deeper into the catacombs, the lighting of the set becomes darker, with the characters headlamps going off one by one. The use of colour is also very important, as the set starts to take on an orange-red hue, colours which connote danger. Later on in the film, the characters enter Hell. The audience can tell this as there is fire around them, which is associated with the fiery depths of Hell. They also meet a dark hooded figure which chases the character through Hell. This character is very similar to the grim reaper with the costume, connoting death to the characters.

Ideology - The ideology in this film re-enforces Christian values. The film shows a group of people who all travel down into Hell, and in order to escape must repent for the bad things they have done and regret. The film portrays the message that no one is perfect, and all people have done something wrong in life. It also shows that you must show regret and accept the wrong things you have done in order to escape from Hell. The film also carries the message of facing up to past regrets, and moving on from events accepting the past for what it is.

Institution - This film was produced by Legendary Pictures, a major production company. The company usually focuses on actions films rather than horror, however it has produced a diverse range of genres. It was directed by John Erick Dowdle, who also wrote the film. He has written and directed his other 6 films, which were all horror/thriller.

Audience - The film is rated at 15 so people under this age are automatically rejected as part of the target audience. As the main protagonist is a female, this might make the film more appealing to women, however the film is a horror which has a wider audience of men than women.

Representation - The film represents punishment. This is achieved through the characters as they are faced with their past regrets, where they must repent for what they have done in order to escape from Hell. Failing to do this results in a traumatic and violent death, with no hope of escape. This is clear as the emotions of the characters are very exaggerated in order to match the extreme circumstances that they are in. The main protagonist is represented as a strong character as she is the person who commissioned the expedition, and when faced with difficulties she was the only character who wanted to continue, and convinced the other characters to follow her. She is presented as a strong leader as she can convince people who originally did not want to join her on the expedition to come along and help her. Each time a problem occurs during the film she manages to calm the group down and work out what to do next. It is this character who eventually figures out what is happening and how the characters can escape from Hell. The main French character Papion is initially presented as a strong character through his rebellious behavior, coming across as confident as he brags about how he can get into any cave or part of the catacombs. However, later on in the film this changes as he is reluctant to go down a certain part of the tunnel following an incident in the past where he lost his friend down there, saying that people who go in do not come back out. He then proceeds to become more disturbed throughout the events of the film, and he is strongly effected changing from being a strong character to a weaker one. In the film Hell is represented as a place of death where peoples nightmares come alive. During the film the characters are haunted by their memories from the past and forced to suffer, showing Hell as an evil and torturous place.

Trailer Timings 2

Trailer Timings (Structure)

Annabelle (2014) 

0-4 secs - Warner Bro's logo

4-5 secs - establishing shot of house 

6-8 secs - shot introducing the character

8-12 secs - MCU of character

12-14 secs - mid shot of character

14-16 secs - second character is introduced

16-17 secs - MCU of character

17-20 secs - MCU of characetrs
20-22 secs - CU of doll
22-27 secs - LS of character and doll
27-29 secs - putting doll on shelf
30-32 secs - black screen
32-34 secs - text
34-35 secs - establishing shot of house
36-51 secs - tracking shot of bed/murder
52-55 secs - characters wake up
55-56 secs - blank screen
56-57 secs - character opens door
57-59 secs - character goes to investigate
59-1 min - blank screen
1:00-1:13 - woman dressing and walking through room
1:14-1:15 - shadowy figure in doorway
1:15-1:25 - woman backing into room
1:26 - blank screen
1:27 - flickering clip of murderer
1:28 - flickering clip of character
1:29 - flickering CU of knife
1:29-1:30 - flickering clip of murderer
1:31 - blank screen
1:32-1:34 - clip of woman against wall
1:34-1:37 - titles
1:38-1:40  - zoom in on doll
1:40-1:43 - titles
1:44-1:49 - close up of blood drop
1:50-1:54 - main title
1:54-2:00 - blank screen
2:01-2:10 - doll in rocking chair
2:11-2:17 - credits

Film Trailer Narrative Structure (Evil Dead 2013)

Levi Strauss - The binary oppositions in this film are good Vs evil. The protagonist (good) releases the evil antagonist through a book, and is consequently chased by the evil entity. The narrative follows the protagonist as they try to overcome the antagonist, and reach a state of re-equilibrium.

Laura Mulvey - The male gaze theory cannot really be applied to this trailer as the female characters are not dressed provocatively, and are not dressed up to appeal to a male audience. There is not any emphasis on the female body or on the sexuality of the female characters.

Todorov - The theory of equilibrium shows the progression of a narrative, and the journey of the protagonist. This trailer, unusually, starts with disruption, which is usually seen half way through the trailer. The disruption is immediately made apparent the character announcing that the main characters are unsafe. A threat is presented by the character. This is followed by a clip of the disruption first occurring through a character reading a passage from a book. Although we have not yet seen the antagonist, the chase sequences and dialogue make it apparent that they are there. The antagonist is then shown for the first time. Another clip of the disruption is then shown as the character is seen being trapped in the woods and changed into evil. More disruption is then seen as the antagonist attacks the characters. Subsequent shots show the characters trying to defeat the evil and cause re-equilibrium, however this state is never shown in order to make the trailer more tempting.