Textual Analysis of a Horror Film Trailer

Readers,

I decided to make a textual analysis of the trailer of 'Deliver Us From Evil' (2014).

Story line:

The film is about a cop in New York called Ralph Sarchie who investigates paranormal disturbances on the sidelines of his normal career as a cop. The trailer begins with an escaped woman who is found at the zoo, digging and scratching at the ground until her hands bleed. She is taken to a mental asylum where the demon possessing her spreads to everyone in the asylum. Ralph Sarchie is forced to make alliances with a priest who practises in exorcism in order to keep control of the demon force.

Representation:

The hero of the film is Ralph who is unintentionally responsible in the first place for the spread of the demonic force.

The villain is the demonic force which possess everyone at the asylum.

Genre and Production Company:

The genre is horror and the film is produced by Screen Gems and Jerry Bruckheimer films. This is an unlikely film from Jerry Bruckheimer who tends to be in association with Disney, making much less horrific films like Pirates of The Caribbean.

Screen gems frequently produce horror films for example: The Exorcism of Emily Rose.

Mise-en-scene:

Sound:

The start of the trailer has no sound apart from the diegetic sounds of the thunderstorm in the city. A narrative begins over the top which the main character, Ralph Sarchie, says. He narrates his story with silent parts that build up the tension. One of the tense parts of the trailer is when Ralph Sarchie's daughter has a toy owl and it tweets without being touched. There is no music in the background to create the tension. The trailer ends with a possessed man using Ralph's child's voice to scare him.

Camera work:

The camera work in this trailer consists of close ups and long shots which display the emotions of the more 'human' characters in the film. The shots also display the emotionless people who are possessed.

Editing:

The editing is fast paced to create suspense. The cuts are in time with the sound and after every cut there is a second of a black screen which also helps build tension.




Beth