Film Trailer Analysis- The Hills Have Eyes

The title of the film is The Hills Have Eyes; the title immediately shows the audience that the genre of the film is horror. The title is shown at the end after a sequence of highlighting that some kind of ‘people’ live in the hills and this is why the film is called ‘The Hills Have Eyes’ as these people are constantly watching. It shows that the film is going to be about these people and the location looks rural and very isolated, connoting separation from society and also the element of danger.

The font is serif and the colour is red/orange against a background which is the typical colours of the horror genre, however there is the shape of the USA and South America behind the title also emphasising the setting but also triggering stereotypes of Deep South USA and also South America in the audiences mind such as: isolated landscapes, lawlessness, extremely heat, lack of police and 'rednecks'. The red/ orange usually symbolises blood but can also be linked with the desert setting in this case and the black connotes evil. The title is shown after a sequence of extreme gore and violence, also the title is supporting the previous sequence shown, followed by a another title in the same font and colour scheme saying ‘The lucky ones die first.’ This is a powerful statement aimed to shock the audience and highlight the extreme horror content in the film. Also it appeals to the audience and is trying to highlight the genre by using a strong and powerful tagline/ slogan people will remember.

The characters established in the film are an extended family who seem to be on a vacation travelling across America. The use of a family immediately triggers stereotypes and immediate identification with the characters. The audience are shown a baby; this makes the events that are going to happen more shocking and horrific to the audience as babies are seen to be extremely vulnerable and weak.  They are not being sold on ‘star’ appeal as the actors and actresses in the film aren’t very well known. We are shown a Mother, Father, a teenage daughter, a teenage son, an older daughter her husband and their baby.

A family makes the audience immediately relate with them and have a connection, they are the stereotypical nice family on holiday. Another character introduced in the trailer is the owner of the gas station in the middle of the desert. We see he is dirty and scruffy with horrible teeth and speaks like a stereotypical ‘redneck’ who we immediately suspect is odd, confirmed in a mid shot showing him give an unusual smile as they drive off.  We cut to a close up of a rack of nails be thrown out in the road by an unseen ‘person’  and the family car and trailer ride over it and crash and the nails are removed by the person who put them there. This adheres to Barthes Proairetic Code and is used to build tension, indicating something else is going to happen, which creates an enigma in the audiences mind as they question ‘who did that? And why?’ It gets the reader guessing as to what will happen next.

The audience is shown characters getting no signal on their mobile phones, immediately signifying that they are in an isolated place where there is no help, creating sudden fear and anticipation. We then see in the next sequence of action, we see witness deformed and mutilated people that live in the ‘hills', they are the miners that lived in the local area when the government tested nuclear weapons, so now are severely physically handicapped. It is shown that these people are watching the family and connotes that they want something from them. These deformed miners are the unique selling point of the film, they firmly establish the horror genre as they look monstrous and are deliberately attacking the family.

The location is essential in this film trailer, as the isolated desert is where the action and gore is going to take place, it highlights to the audience that there is no help and the family are miles and miles away from human civilization. It also highlights how the family are at an unfair disadvantage as the ‘people’ who live in the mines in the hill know the area and can survive here, whereas the family feel lost and desolate. Binary oppositions are highlighted in the trailer; Good vs Evil, Humans vs ‘Monsters’, Weak vs Strong, Light vs Dark and Civilisation  vs Savage.  

Barthes' enigma code is also evident in the trailer, as the reason for the deformed people attacking this innocent family is not shown and creates an enigma in the audiences mind. The use of Barthes Proairetic code is also used as the action events and the gory violence make the audience want to know what will happen to the family.  For example we see someone jump at the window of the trailer while the eldest daughter is looking out; this makes the audience wonder what’s going to happen to her and who/what’s attacking her. Another example of this is when we see a tracking shot behind the teenage son and he suddenly looks back, connoting that someone is behind him and that he is going to be attacked also triggering more enigma’s in the audiences mind.

The beginning of the trailer is in black and white and is showing where the army tested nuclear bombs. The black and white to connotes realism but also establishes what happened in the past, it then changes to colour to show the consequences of the nuclear bombs being tested. It is to also show the back story behind the film to establish meaning with the audience and gain a tiny bit of sympathy with the deformed miners that are this way due to the government testing. At first the editing is quite slow to establish what happened and so that the audience can read the titles that are telling the audience what happened.  There are numerous shots of deformed babies that are in a flashing sequence, to back up the titles.

The editing is still at a slow pace whilst establishing the family, and numerous close ups are used to introduce the audience to the characters.  There is the use of long shots, showing the car and trailer driving in the desert to enhance the feeling of isolation to the audience. The editing pace starts to increase when their car tires run over the nails. This shows the audience something is wrong and the use of quick edits build tension and creates enigmas for the audience. The point of view shots make it appear someone is watching them and the use of sound effects and sinister  laughing builds fear and terror with the audience. There is the use of a montage which is very fast and therefore only showing glimpses of the violence and gore and the deformed people after them This shows the audience how scary the films going to be without fully revealing the 'monsters' and is a typical convention in a horror trailer as it lures the audience in, having to see the movie to find out more. In the final, action montage they have picked many quick shots and edited them together to build a tense atmosphere and emphasised the sheer violence to be expected. These glimpses are shown fast and all edited together as it would be unacceptable to show a certain scene of violence, because a child may see the trailer on TV. Also a sense of horror, fear and violence is created without showing really graphic scenes the horror fan will have to see the whole film to have their appetite sated.

The opening of the trailer starts with a bomb siren sound which immediately makes the audience uneasy. This is to highlight the story they are trying to tell at the beginning and creates a tense and dramatic mood. There is a then actual bomb sounds which are diegetic sounds but are likely to be sound effects. There is an electronic style of music behind the bomb sounds which is non-diegetic and adds a tense mood while reading these titles about what the bombs caused and when they were. Then after one explosion, we cut to the family car driving past while a happy family song is playing which is ambient, this non-diegetic sound is to portray they are just a normal family travelling across the desert. When this music is disturbed abruptly and changes to the sound of crows the audience immediately recognise something is wrong and is going to happen. The sound of crows is normally associated with bad events and creates tension and suspense. There is an enhanced diegetic sound of the stinger’s nails using Foley sound effect as the sound of the metal is much louder than it would be in reality. This is to also build tension and create an eerie mood as the audience want to know who has put the stinger there and why. 

The sound of the family car crashing is also a diegetic sound effect as it is extremely loud to shock the audience and show the change in mood. There is also a diegetic sound effect of a phone not having signal which shows the audience they have no communication with the outside world, and once again backing up the idea they are isolated with no help. The pace of tension building music increases and the tempo increase, there is a very low thudding kind of music and the tempo increases with the pace of editing, building anticipation and tension. The use of sound effects is key near the end of the trailer, screaming sound effects and heavy breathing adds to the tension and fear and is also a common convention in horror trailers. There isn’t a voice over in the trailer as fear and terror is created by the use of dialogue from the film such as laughing and talking between family members. The dramatic music  is common in horror films as they don’t want to spoil the sinister and suspenseful mood being created with a voice over. This highlights that the increasing pace of the music helps build the tension.

This trailer creates enigmas as the audience want to find out why these deformed miners are attacking people, what happens to the family, who these miners actually are and why does no-one know about it. The trailer makes you emphasise with the family and makes you to want to survive. In the action sequences shown, the genre is clearly established, as gore, violence and high pitched screams are all typical of horror trailers. The music, pace of editing and the mise-en-scene all show that this is a horror film but also has a unique selling point, the unique selling point of this film is the people attacking them and their reason for doing it. The audience are made to fear these people as they are shown to have extreme strength and humans seem weak in comparison. 

The trailer does play on stereotypes on inbred, deformed 'rednecks'  and the typical redneck guy who works in the isolated gas station. It also shows typical gender stereotypes as, in the trailer, the women seem extremely vulnerable and are portrayed as screaming damsel in distress character types. However these representations could be read in a subtle satirical way, as they are showing the effects the government and the army have had on their own people and could be mocking their policies and actions.

The audience of this film is 18+ as it contains high amounts of violence, rape, murder, gore, blood/guts and swearing. The 18+ certificate makes the audience know that the content must be scary and quite bad for it to get that rating as this restricts the audience as normally teenagers are the biggest cinema goers. The 18 certificate lets the audience know that this is a horror film with adult content and some people like this as it will contain extreme horror. For this film I would say it is for both genders as it would appeal to both, I think the rating is key as if it was a 15 some people who enjoy horror films might think the content won’t be ‘scary’ enough and might not go to see it.

Captivity Analysis

There are white overlay titles over establishing long shots of a city. It is night time so the titles almost appear white on black which is a common convention of horror and thriller films with the use of binary oppositions of light and dark, good and evil. After about twenty seconds there is the ‘After Dark Films’ institutional logo which is a company that has made many horror films and fits well with the common themes and conventions of horror films.
The Voice over, that matches titles, creates narrative exposition. To create a tense atmosphere there is slight sound stings to accompany the eerie tone of the voice over which is sometimes present in horror films to establish the story as are titles which as well as establishing a narrative, create enigmas. The editing starts of rather slow and speeds up which is common in most horror films as it creates tension and fear and makes the audience more likely to want to see the film. There are a series of shots of a blonde woman clearly establishing her as a target. Then there is a close up of drugs being put in a martini glass with an ellipsis cut to the woman drinking it; confirming that she is a victim. There are two closes ups of the woman’s face in pain and looking scared which are fast and are accompanied by sound stings. Close ups of the victims face and eyes are common in horror films and horror trailers as they show the fear and make it more emotive. There is a close up of the antagonists hand on the victims face and then it zooms out to show that it is on a television, with flickering transitions of a television with no signal in between; accompanied by the appropriate sound effects of a television with no signal.

There is an over the shoulder shot of a projection of a beach on the wall flickering and dying away to reveal the real walls and the truth hidden behind the pretend paradise. This shows the mind games that the antagonist is playing and showing the audience the psychological aspects of the film therefore creating a wider audience.  As well as fitting sound effects and sound stings there is the dialogue of the antagonist placed over a different scene so that it acts as a voice over.
There then is a series of shots with fades to black in between that establishes the woman as a desperate victim. Which is followed by close ups of the antagonist’s hands, clippings and words saying: ‘Selecting the victim’. This makes the villain seem scheming and psychotic and it is common in horror films for the villains to be psychotic as it makes them appear more ruthless therefore creating more fear and anticipation in the audience. As you cannot see who the killer is the enigma-‘who is the killer?’ is created creating more audience interest. There is an unnerving sounding voice over of the antagonist at the same time followed by the sound effect of glass smashing which connotes violence.

There is shot reverse shot between the man and the woman showing their conversation which can be heard as dialogue. This shows that there is perhaps the element of romance in this film which would give the film more depth and also appeal to a wider audience for example women may be interested in the romantic and psychological elements whereas male viewers may like the action and violence. There is alternation between dialogue and voice over to establish the narrative and shots of them on television screens adds to the idea that they are being watched which is common in horror films as it makes the victims more apparent and like they have no escape; therefore linking to the title ‘Captivity’.  The voice over continues over close ups of the woman and methods and equipment used to torture her creating dread and anxiety in the audience
The pace of editing starts to increase as shots of her attempted escape, for example in the air vents, are shown and the action starts to increase in violence and involves more guns. This is all accompanied by the voice over of the main character- the female victim, which makes it more personal and helps the audience connect with her as a protagonist. There is a zoom in on her terrified face which is followed by the dialogue-‘Are you going to kill me?’ which creates the question will she live or die which you would find out in the film. This therefore makes the audience want to find out therefore want to see the film.
The titles of the main actors, Elisha Cuthbert and Daniel Gilles, are shown and there is a flickering effect on the text and the background flashes red which connotes blood, gore and danger which are all common conventions of horror films. This is followed by a montage of clips with Elisha Cuthbert in them establishing who she is in the film. The main voice over goes with the titles, showing that they have an important role in the film. The titles are followed by a long tracking shot of the female victim in a glass container filling up with sand. At the same time there is a long rising crescendo sound until the main title ‘Captivity’ fills the screen. The screams of the female victim behind the glass are muted which emphasises the idea that she is trapped highlights the main enigma of the trailer –will she survive?

The lighting throughout the trailer and indeed more or less the whole film is chiaroscuro and many shadows are often created for example when the shadows cover a large part of the female victims face. This connotes that darkness and evil are taking over and highlights the lack of hope and makes the victim seem more desperate. Also the darkness creates a claustrophobic feel adding to the fear and intensity felt by both the female victim and the audience.
The target audience could be either male or female as it contains elements to attract both, for example the romance element stereotypically appeals to females and the violent content to males. However due to violent and bloody content the film has been rated as an 18 therefore aimed at an older audience.

Exploring the conventions

HEROES

The Incredible Hulk

There is a non-diegetic voice over for narrative exposition and sound stings on different shots to increase the impact that they have and make them more dramatic. There is fast paced music to match the fast paced editing which is used in order to create tension and emphasise the action that is a common convention of hero films. The titles are white on black which links to Strauss’s binary oppositions of good and evil and heroes and villans which are both Proppian character types commonly found in hero films. The trailer also contains something which is in all trailer; the institutional information and logos. There is the use of special effects such as CGI which is a common convention in hero films as they create characters and add to dramatic events and make the element of fantasy seem more real. They are present in the trailer as they are needed to introduce the characters as well as draw the audience in by creating impressive looking action using sound effects.

In the trailer there is Proppian character types which are clearly apparent, there is the hero, the damsel in distress and the villan. This is very common in big action films, especially ones based on comic books and characters. These characters types are normally always established in action films. Tordorov's narrative structure theory can also be found in various action films, it starts with an equillibrium, then the equilibrium is disrupted (often by the villian) which leads to a chain of events after the disruption, then normally there is a resultion of some kind. This typical narrative structure is often used in acton films and is a key convention used also in action trailers, but trailers usually show the disruption and and the chain of events after, and leave the resolution for the auidence to come and see. There is clear binary oppositions in the trailer between 'The Hulk' and the 'Abomination' where 'The Hulk' is fighting for good and the 'Abomination' is evil.




COMEDY

Angus thongs and perfect snogging

There is bright natural lighting, the use of bright daylight implies everyday life and that the film is going to be realistic and not contain elements of fantasy. Also that the context of the film is quite happy which is common in comedies as they are supposed to be humorous and about real people and real subjects that make people able to relate to it more. There is a non-diegetic voice over done by someone who is not a character in the film which makes it seem as though they have an outsiders viewpoint of telling the story which is common in comedies due to a large amount of characters and it makes it feel as though you are looking in on their lives. The context is shown to be bright and happy but also that the teenager faces problems she classes as 'major' which plays to the stereotype of a female teenager.

In this trailer there are also Proppian character types, but as it is comedy they are different to the action trailer. In comedy's there is normally the 'hero' but in comedy's they are the protagonist that the audience relates to, in this trailer it is the main character Georgia, and her aim is to obtain the 'prince/price' character. He is her love interest and in the film trailer it is shown that she wants to obtain him, however characters such as 'the father' give her advice and is a main character in the film. There is a narrative structure of a resolution, a disruption but events leading to a completely new resolution which benefits everybody. There is slight binary oppositions between the main character Georgia and a girl she refers to as 'slaggy lindsay' as they don't like each other has Lindsay is going out with the boy she desires, but as it is a comedy there is no violence or physical conflict between them.

 Meet Dave

There is positive sounding music from the start over the institutional logos which adds to the comedy of the film as well as drawing the audience in as a trailer should. This is common in comedy films as they need ways for the audience to remember the trailer and the music is an obvious way of doing that. Also the main character is walking in time to the music so it shows humour as if it is diegetic when it is really non-diegetic. The voice over which is common in comedies also adds to the humour, it is common as it is an easy way to establish the story as well introducing the characters. This voice over addresses the audience; ‘meet Dave’, which makes them feel more involved. The trailer is also quite bright and uses CGI as it shows little people live inside a robot and the robot has to act as a human being. The well known comedic actor Eddie Murphy emphasises the comedic element as he has been in many well know comedies. The music in the trailer seems up beat and quite optimistic which suits the comedic genre. It also seems to be family friendly as it has a child in the trailer and also has many obvious jokes which children would find funny.

In this trailer there isn't a conventional character as they normally is in comedy's as the main chacratcrer 'Eddie Murphy' is a robot and inside he is controlled my minuature people, so the main protagonist is a robot, but in the trailer it shows a possible love interest which could be what the film is about.

  

Non Mainstream

City of men

Even though less mainstream, City of Men still enraptures many of the distinctive occurrences in all typical trailers. Throughout, there is a male voice over in order to clearly establish and illustrate the narrative of the trailer, displaying Fiske’s theory of Narrative vs. story. There is also non-diegetic music, fitting of the Rio setting. The clips establish the two protagonists and the peripheral characters. The relationships are shown through the voice over. At first the setting appears calm and beautiful, yet it is disrupted by an ambiguous sound effect of either thunder or a gun shot, thus showing the film’s theme of violence. Guns are present throughout to reinforce this. After this, the slums are then shown consistently to show they are poor. Overlay titles are used to keep the focus on the image. The editing is fast to reflect the style of the film. The plot is exposed, but not given away to make viewers want to see the film. Diegetic sounds of the guns are exaggerated. The use of freeze frame is used for dramatic effect to direct the viewers attention to specific events. At the end ‘Coming soon’ is not actually shown. 

 
The fox and child
Throughout, a softness is created by the almost constant diegetic sound and images of birds, animals and nature, even through the production logos. A piano is heard again creating the same. Delicate fades are used as transitions rather than harsh straight cuts and the editing pace is slow. The overlay titles glow to give a magical feel. The young protagonist girl and fox are established. At the beginning they are in different shots, by the end they are always in shots together showing the developed relationship and friendship. Lots of extreme long shots are used to establish the surrounding nature and lots of extreme close ups create an intimacy and delicacy. They show very little of the disruption of danger at the very end. This time ‘Coming Soon’ is shown.

Horror

Prom Night

The editing is fast paced making the trailer griping and enticing. There is a male voice over and this adds authority to the trailer, also there is voiceover of dialogue from the actual film which makes it seem more realistic. The trailer has darkish colours which match the horror genre and shows the mood is dark and eerie. They are high pitched screams and the use of weapons highlighting the genre and showing the audience what to expect in the film and makes them interested. The psycho shown to be obsessed with the main character and he has a grudge with her immediately showing she is the damsel in distress. The setting is in a hotel making it harder to catch the ‘killer’, fear and anticipation created as shown the obsessed killer escaped maximum security prison and is after the main character. It shows a killing taking place and numerous scenes in a quick flashing motion to add fast pace and create enigmas with the audience. The music is very important in this trailer as it builds tension, it has an electronic and is fast paced and suits the genre. In horror trailers the music is important and the fast flashing scenes seems to be consistent in other horror trailers.

In this trailer there is clear Proppian character types, the most obvious is the damsel in distress, hoever as it is a horror film there is no big superhero. There is people trying to stop the 'killer' such as the police and fellow students but the 'villan' in this film is the kille holds major threat and is back fro revenge in a psychotic manner. The narrative structure starts with a equilibrium and this gets disrupted by the killer which then leads to a dramatic sequence of events, but because it is a trailer it doesnt show any resolution or this would give the film away to the audience. The binary oppostions shown in the trailer are the young student the killer is after and the killer himself.

  

Quarantine

Shows the ‘events’ filmed on a hand held camera to make it more personal and traumatic. The voice over is talking about ‘something’ that happened and is implying a government cover up theory. This created enigma’s with the audience already. Builds fear as audience question whether they can trust the government. There are scary sound effects and screams which seem to be in numerous horror trailers and is a key convention in them. Special effects/make up on the infected person makes her look scary and show film horror as she attacks the ‘filming crew’ which enable the audience to know what to expect. Night vision makes it more realistic and highlights it’s at night time which is a key convention of horror films. When the military find the tape it creates fear and anticipation because they are about to watch the horrific events that went on there previously to their arrival. Fear also created with audience as shows even the military over powered by the ‘infected.’ Music is fast paced and high pitched, adds an eerie atmosphere and makes events seem more fast and chaotic. The use of the voice over makes the events seem ‘real life’ which creates terror with audience and makes it a lot scarier. This trailer also has many of the horror conventions, fast paced with fast music and lots of sound effects and scary voice over all highlight the genre to the audience.

Claude levi strauss from ToviaBalo

Todorov from ToviaBalo

Vladimir propp from ToviaBalo

I'm Tovia Balo and I am studying Media Studies at A2, this is my blog for my coursework tasks and planning that go with my horror trailer me and my group are producing. We will also be doing anxillarly tasks such as making a website and poster.