Annotating Film Trailers - Two

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5CvZGv8yNs

'The Ring'

Genre -Horror/mystery/thriller

Narrative -A young journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone in a week of viewing it.

Target audience - 15 and over

Music/sound - It begins with one of the characters talking, there is no music at this point. By not using any music it doesn’t really create a particular atmosphere, this therefore puts the viewer in a safe and relaxing atmosphere. Shortly after music is added, there is a piano lightly playing and also the sound of charms, by using the sound of a piano it creates a much more sinister and creepy atmosphere. This is because it is not extremely loud and it makes you feel nervous and uneasy. Towards the middle the piano cuts out and upbeat, mysterious music begins to be play. This straight away puts the viewer on the edge of their seats as they were not expecting it. As the trailer comes to an end, the music suddenly becomes exceptionally fast and then dies out.

Pace - During this fast music, the clips and images which are being shown are shown at a extremely fast pace, they are so fast that you can just about see what the image is. By having it at this pace keeps the viewer focused and mesmerized as they do not want to miss anything important. The fast pace ends with a loud scream of a girl, this makes you jump and creates a huge climax.

Subtitles - There are no subtitles or words used throughout this trailer however there is lots of talking/conversations which help explain what is happening.

Dialouge - Begins with one of the young girls explaining about the ‘video’ that when you watch it you die after seven days, it is if she is telling us a story the we do not want to hear. Her voice is quiet and she talks very slow and this creates a sinister atmosphere. Throughout the trailer the dialouge between characters become faster and at the end there is less dialouge, just screaming and loud unknown sounds.

Camera angles/shot types - There is a range of different shots used, such as medium close ups, close ups and extreme close ups. In the trailer there is alot of emphasis on a phone ringing, when this happens there is a close up on the phone creating suspence and makes the audience question who is ringing.

Credits/intertitles - Shows the institution which is 'Dreamworks' at the start. Near the end it has a shot of the title of the film 'The Ring' then the last shot 'Coming soon'.

Form this trailer of ‘The ring’ we found two factors most effective, firstly the pace towards the end. We thought the way they showed a large number of images in just a few seconds was very effective. It keeps you entertained while also creating a sinister effect. Secondly the piano in the background was very effective as it created a frightening and eerie atmosphere.