Trailer Analysis - 'Mirrors'

‘Mirrors’ – Trailer Analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O92QxxgeCO8

Again, like with the trailer of ‘The Uninvited’ this trailer starts with a positive and happy feeling at the beginning, although this does not last as long as it does in ‘The Uninvited’. It shows a man with his family, hugging his children. We then get an establishing shot of a run-down building that’s looks dark and gloomy on both the inside and the outside. Run-down buildings or abandoned houses are often used for setting in horror movies as they suggest they have a “past” which will return.  We are then shown a few clips of the man being shown around the building as the audience finds out that he is going to be the new security guard for the run-down building and we also find out that the security guard before him was obsessed with the mirrors in the building. This information immediately pulls the audience in as they will want to know why the previous security guard was obsessed with the mirrors.

          From this point the audience knows that the new security guard is the films protagonist and the fact that he is a security guard tells the audience that he is more than likely able to handle himself. In most horror films, they use a female protagonist who is seen as weak and fragile so that the audience feels more scared for the protagonist and therefore more scared themselves.

          From this point we see a few clips of the security guard in the building and this part of the trailer is very dark and spooky. Ambient sounds in the background of people we cannot see groaning and screaming are used to add to the spooky atmosphere. These sorts of ambient sounds and things such as heartbeats and footsteps are common conventions in horror as they can develop suspense for the audience or increase the scare factor of the moment when the monster reveals itself. The colour black is the most commonly used colour in this part of the trailer which is very popular in horror as the colour black is usually a visual signifier that connotes darkness and evil. Also, the fact that these clips are very dark makes it harder for the audience to see and by doing this ‘keeps the monster in the dark’ allowing the audience to imagine their own personal frightening monster.

          We are then shown clips of the protagonist trying to find information on the situation showing that he now fully believes that something out of the ordinary is going on and following this we are shown clips of the previous security guards death. In these clips everything is very dark and hardly any colour is shown until the security guard cuts his own throat and a burst of bright red blood is shown which stands out in comparison to the darkness to the audience. This brings the theme of gore into the trailer which is very popular in the more recent horror movies. We then see a clip of the protagonist saying to his ex-girlfriend that he’s seeing things and following this are some more very dark and quick clips of distorted things for example a young girl in dirty clothes who’s head moves from side to side much more quickly than natural and we also see an over the shoulder shot of the protagonist looking in the mirror to find one side of his face is surprisingly demented.  Each of these clips are very quick as to only give the audience a quick glimpse of the unnatural and supernatural .  

          We then see clips of this ‘monster’ in the mirrors effecting the protagonists family members which gives the theme of ‘the monster in your own home’ which takes away the safety element of a certain place that is usually used in horror movies to make the audience feel calm for a short while.  Towards the end, the pace speeds up and like the other two trailers, shorter and faster action clips are used involving quick glimpses of the monster and CU’s of the victims face to show their horror. In my horror movie trailer I would like my ending to be jam-packed with short action clips as this is the part that shows the audience the most of what sort of things they can expect to see in the film and gets the audience more excited to see the film.

In total, around 98 shots.