The Possession Trailer Analysis

            The trailer that I have decided to analyse is The Possession this is because it is recent and will give me an idea of what is put in current trailers. It is also for a horror film that focuses on the supernatural, which gives me an idea of what to expect in these types of horror film trailers.

            The title of the film is often shown at the end of a trailer, which is a similar method that is used in this trailer. Through using this technique it means that the audience of the trailer have to watch it till the end if they want to know what the name if the film is. This is a clever marketing point for the film as they will gain more of an audience that will watch the trailer till the finish. The reason for the title being shown towards the end is because this will be the last piece of text that the audience should remember due to it being shown in a large font with hardly anything else in the frame. As the title is the last thing that should stick in the audience’s minds, it makes it a lot easier for the audience to recall the name clearly at a later stage which is helpful to the audience if they want to go and see the film.

            Unusually, in the trailer for The Possession, there aren’t any big actors that are shown in the trailer and so as an audience; it is assumed that there will also be none in the film itself. For this trailer in particular the information on who is starring in the film is given to the audience in the penultimate frame, which isn’t shown on the screen for very long. However instead of highlighting who the more famous actors are, all actors shown are in a small font, which tells the audience that the actors are not being used as a selling point for the film. In other trailers where the actors are being used as a selling point, they will inform the audience during the trailer by using a much larger font, this is so that the audience are drawn to what is being displayed therefore recognising who is in the film. Usually if a film contains bigger actors it creates a reason for the audience to want to see it.

            The trailer goes through a series of events and as an audience it won’t be known if some of the events are in order until the film is seen. To begin the trailer, there is a regular family, where the audience can clearly see that the father and daughter have a close bond which will soon be broken. The two characters – who the audience can assume are the main characters – attend a garden sale where the daughter picks up a wooden box. Once the two of them are home, the daughter does what she is told not to do and opens the box, this is where strange things begin to occur within the daughter, and the parents think that something is wrong with her, maybe an illness. Before realising what has actually happened to their daughter, the dad goes to seek help from a priest and then doctors who soon find out that the daughter has been possessed and that there is something that is inside of her all due to the box that she shouldn’t have opened. It is known that films that have use of the supernatural usually include some kind of religious feature; in this case it is the priest.

            Another feature of a film that has a massive impact on whether the audience want to see it or not is the music that is included in it. If the music for the trailer doesn’t fit what the audience are watching, they are going to assume that the whole film does this. To begin the trailer the music is calm and holds a slow tempo, this is to draw the attention of the audience in and the music then stops once the box is found to create an intense atmosphere as to what is inside the box. The music then starts playing again once the girl has opened the box and begins to act strangely but instead this time the tempo has increased and it is no longer calm like it was to start with. Towards the end of the trailer, the music changes again, this time to a very common religious sound that is slightly operatic – this is often used in supernatural horror films that follow the theme of possession or the devil. This trailer does rely heavily on dialogue that is used between and on top of some clips and the music itself due to the fact that no voiceovers are used to tell the audience what is happening. This is a way of making the audience read what is on the screen instead of just hearing it, making them concentrate on what they are watching.

            For a trailer that lasts just over two minutes, there are around 140 edits that are used which is more than one edit per second. The editing pace starts of slow enough that the audience can register what is going on and process all the information they are being given, however this doesn’t last for long, and soon the pace quickens when the daughter becomes affected. The reason for the pace of editing quickening is so that the audience don’t have enough time to register everything and this makes them curious to what they are seeing, making them want to go and watch the film to find out what happens.

            For the last frame of the trailer, there is a large font that says ‘Coming Soon’ and it tells the audience the names of the writers and the films website. By giving the films website it allows the audience to find out more information about the film before and after they have watched it. Letting the audience gain more information about the film will hopefully broaden the audience of the film due to more people talking about over the internet as well as in person.

            Similarly to other trailers, The Possession does not show the audience the BBFC classification rating during it, this is because the trailer is usually suitable to the time of day it is being shown. If it does not comprehend with the time of day it is being shown, it may be that the film is the same classification as the film that is being shown after the adverts.