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.