HOUSE OF WAXTrailer analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-DnFKwVcM10

PLOTThe House of Wax starts with a group of teenagers driving to a

campsite and then they get lost. The place they end up in is not

listed on any maps and is unrecognisable on the sat nav. While they

are in this abandoned place they enter ‘the house of wax’ which as

the name states, is a house made out of wax. They start exploring

around and find some wax figures which look like real life people.

Later on in the trailer the teenagers get attacked and try too

escape. They soon realise that the people in the wax house looked

so real because they were, this makes them more terrified and they

attempt to run away. We then later get a clip of the teenagers being

chased and then tormented. The final clip is of a person trapped

down on a chair, unable to move. We then see a man start spraying

him with hot wax, this then concludes our suspicion that the man

running the house of wax tortures people and then covers them in

wax to have in his museum.

WHAT I ANALYSED

I analysed that there are roughly 64 edits in the house of wax trailer

There are fades which are used to open the trailer, close the trailer and when text is

present. For example when it says ‘six friends are lost’ a fade opens and closes this bit of text

There are 5 different locations featured in the house of wax trailer

Quick pace of editing: About 40 seconds into the trailer we get quick fades as the

teenagers enter the room, this tells us as an audience something bad is going to happen and

that they shouldn’t be in there. 1.01 there is more quick pace of editing , shows that the

teenagers are being chased and the camera follows them trying to get away. From 1.10 until

1.27 there is quick pace of editing to show the trouble the teenagers are in and what is

happening to them. It then starts too slow down as it shows us the man slowly being covered

in wax, this is so we focus on what is happening as this is going to be a key event.

Characters: 6 teenagers

OTHER FEATURESThe name of the film is featured at the end of the clip, this is done so the

audience has to watch the whole trailer to find out what film it is. We then also

get a clip of someone’s hand in wax after the title has been shown, this doesn’t

happen a lot in trailers so when it is used it provides a good effect. This is done

to constantly remind the audience that this film is about wax, it also scares

them as they think the trailer has finished and then you get a hand come up.

We do not get told who is featuring in this film because there is nobody

famous starring in it.

‘Coming soon’ is featured at the end of the clip which is telling us this film is

new and will be in cinemas shortly.

We get given a website as well which is where the audience can find out more

information about the film, where we can watch hidden clips and the trailer.

We later then get another clip of the film, this is done deliberately so the

audience is constantly reminded about what's happening.

OTHER FEATURES

The house of wax opens with a fade of them driving to a place we are unsure of at the

moment. This is used to show us the surrounding areas and to make us aware that is night.

The unique selling point in this trailer is that it is based around a wax museum, this is an

original idea that hasn’t ever been done before therefore this is the unique selling point.

We do not get told who is featuring in this trailer because there is nobody famous in it. It

focuses on a group of teenagers.

There is no voice over in the house of wax, because we follow the story with the teenagers.

There is also dialogue that tells us what a voice over would.

At the end of the House of wax we are told that it is ‘Coming soon’ and we also have a website

in which we are able to find out more about the film if we want. The warner brothers badge is

shown at the end as well which tells us what movie production company made it.

12 seconds into the trailer when it says ‘3 friends are lost’ are when we as an audience, start

to develop an understanding that this is a horror, due to the fact they are lost and the music.

WHAT WE SEE/EXPECT

The house of wax is an American horror film which

was directed by Jaume collett-serra. When we think

of ‘American horror films’ we normally expect an

accent and quite middle classed people. We also

expect a scare that will make us jump and constantly

keeps us thinking ‘what’s going to happen next?’ We

normally expect to see a group of people, age

ranging from mid teens to late adults.

HORROR CONVENTIONS

The horror conventions that are included in this trailer are

Screams

Darkness

There’s no people around- isolated

Nobody around to help them

Quick pace of editing throughout the torture

Knife

Blood

Fire

Restriction

Villain/victim

Hot wax

HOW IT FITS THE GENRE

I think the trailer of ‘The house of wax’ fits the

genre because most of what we expect is met. We

expect to see a group and we have a group of six. We

also expect there age range to be from teens to late

adults, the people featured in this are in the middle

of this range.

MISE-EN-SCENE

During the house of wax trailer the group of teenagers are all in

casual clothes which connotes that they are relaxed and ready to enjoy

themselves. They are driving at night which is also a big give away that

something is about to go wrong. When they enter the village, there is

nobody in sight, this ‘abandoned’ feeling with no one to help them is a

typical horror convention. As the teenagers begin to get chased and

tortured their hair and face are wet which signifies sweat, because they

have been running. We also get blood down there heads which shows us

that something based has happened to them, ‘blood’ also fits the horror

genre.

SOUNDThe music at the start of the trailer is up tempo beats, this could represent the

suspense we have as an audience. This music supports the realisation of the film and

the normality, as nothing has happened yet. There is no voiceover throughout the

whole trailer, which is very unusual, instead they have just put the characters voices

high in the sound mix, we also get clips informing us of information which would

expect to hear from a voice over, for example the first clip is ‘Six friends are lost’ 14

minutes into the trailer when we find out they are lost we then get music which

sounds like ticking, this represents the build up to what is about to happen. We also

get loud bangs when clips are shown from the ‘villains’ point of view. 40 seconds into

the trailer when there are quick cuts of the people inside the house of wax, there is

then a heart beat sound which is to represent how scared they must be while they are

in there. 56 minutes into the trailer is the build up of what is about to happen, we hear

a door creak which tells us as an audience that something is coming for the teenagers

inside. We then hear the slash of knives and screams from the teenagers. The music

then stops and we hear ‘What are you going to do to me’ Then a smash of glass, a car

engine and concession of screams. As we see quick cuts we have up tempo music

which gets louder and quicker and then it stops and we see a clip of a boy sitting in the

chair. We hear the sound of the metal tightening on his face, the sprinkler of wax and

him quivering.