Saw trailer analysis

Saw trailer analysis

• 1.
  Audience: The audiencein which this horror film is aimed at are 18 year olds and above. This age rating is suited for the genre and type of film as there are gruesome scenes with lots of blood and disturbing scenes. For any viewers below the age rating, they would be unsettled by the scenes within the film. Genre: The genre for this films is a horror, but more specifically a slashes/gore film. It is classed as a gore as there is lots of blood and incidents involved which are disturbing. It is also a gore as there are lots of deaths. The many deaths also link to the genre of slasher horror. Slasher is the idea of a number of murders Although they are not murdered directly themselves the idea of them finding a way to kill themselves links to the slasher theme. Movie release date: October 1st 2004 Genre: Horror Director: James Wan
• 2.
  Mise-En-Scene: Lighting- Atthe beginning of the trailer and throughout the majority of the trailer the lightning is very dark. The use of dark lighting helps to build suspense and also scares the viewer as they become paranoid that something may suddenly appear on the screen. It also reflects with the genre of the movie as you assume that horror movies will have something to do with the dark in them. Later on in the trailer, there are lighter clips of different people in the same setting. This is a good effect to use as it presents to the audience the dangers that the people in the setting face but also creates fluency as the setting is presented more than once in the film. Props- Within the film they use a variety of different props to add a sense of mystery to the film. The consistency of the prop of the live doll scares the audience as dolls are props in real life and this can scare viewers as the film links to real life. The use of chain saws is also a good prop to use within the film as it links to the title of the flim so shows fluency, but it also adds an element of gore to the film as they trailer talks about ‘sawing their feet off’. Costume- the costumes used of the victims are all light and have a slight colour of light blue. The use of the light blue clothing reveals a sense of vunerability of the people as blue is associated with new born, young baby boys. Diegetic sound- the diegetic sound presented in this trailer uses mainly the laughing of the doll. The consistent laughing of the doll makes the audience feel like the doll is following them and this helps to add fear.
• 3.
  Editing: At thebeginning of the trailer there are lots of jump shots from one clip to another. The jump shots are done and created as if there was is a man taking pictures and from each shot to another there is a camera noise and a flash to emphasise this effect. The quick jump shots intrigue the audience immediately and make them was to carry on watching to see what is going on. There is also use of a plain black screen before it goes from one clip to another. It will play a clip, then the screen will go black for a second and then the next clip is played. This is also to add suspense. There is also a transition between the clips from the 37th to the 39th second of the trailer. Tbhis transision goes from the outside of the screen into the middle of the screen creating a circle around the dolls head. This is done very quickly and this helps with the fluency of the trailer. From post production you can see that though the editing they have used an effect called vignette. This adds a dark rim around the screen to darken the screen and make the atmosphere more suspicious. Camera: All of the shots used within the trailer are close up shots. The close up shots consist of images of peoples faces, dangerous equipment, the doll which follows through the film and also images of news paper articles. The close up shots used of the peoples faces are used for effect and they show off the state in which the people are in. these shots reflect on the victims emotions during the trailer and the audience starts to sympathise with them as the state of their faces and emotions are tragic. The close ups of the dangerous equipment remind the audience that they are watching a horror movie. It also emphasises the danger or the equipment and the harm that they can do people and props. The close up images of the doll are short and frequent. This shows the audience that even though you cannot see the doll the whole time through the different clips, he is always there. This reflects in the constant laugh played over the clips also.
• 4.
  Narrative theory: Linkingthe film trailer to Propps theory, you cannot link all of the characters in the film the theory, however you could say that the doll is the villain. Although the doll is not trying to destroy or get in the way of any hero, it is causing pain for others and putting them into misery; this could be a characteristic of a villain character. You could say that all of the victims are hero's and that is why the doll is approaching them and trying to torture them, destroying their lives. Linking to Levi Strauss’s theory, the theme of the film links to binary opposites. The binary opposites shown in the film are good and evil. The good people are the victims who are seen to have not don’t anything wrong and the evil character is the doll which is trying to torture the good.