PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 4

Trailer analysis

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7Xn2JqH5ng

PLOT

Paranormal activity 4 follows the same layout and structure as all of the previous paranormal Activity’s. This is a

home video that focuses on the families everyday life. At the start of the trailer we see the daughter and her

boyfriend together in the house, the mum and the little boy ‘Hunter’ this gives us familiarity with the characters.

We later see a chandelier fall from the wall and then a cut to hunter, this gives us the impression that he will be

responsible for bad things later to come. We see that hunters mum is going to be looking after their neighbours son

‘Robbie’ while his mum and dad are away. We then see Hunters name written on the wall and we start to wonder if

he is linked in with the actions that are happening around the house. We see a little boy go into his sisters room

and just stare at her. And then him standing in complete darkness with small lights everywhere and then a blur go

past him. We start to question if it is hunter or Robbie that is responsible for these actions. We then start to

wonder if the blur was a spirit and if so, why was it near hunter. They later find a symbol that has been written in

the sand which hunter has done and they decide to research it to see what it means. Then later on the cover is

taken away from the girl in the bed and she starts to float in mid air and hunter is in the background. We then can

confirm our first idea that hunter is causing these occurrences to happen as he is always around when they happen.

The camera then starts to become kinetic and a boy is dragged under the water when he’s in the bath. We get to

see the girl running and being dragged as she tries to run away, we can now tell that she is the main victim.

WHAT I ANALYSED

Throughout watching Paranormal activity 4 trailer, me and

my group were able to determine there were about 65 edits

in total.

There was 1 environment featured in the whole trailer

There were 14 close ups used

There was a quick pace of editing towards the end

Character types include (Girl) who was the victim, helper

that was the boyfriend and the possessed spirit/boy.

OTHER FEATURES

The title is shown at end of trailer for suspense and for recognition of the film

Paramount logo at end of trailer in last frame

Release date at end of trailer

Reverse scream, dark atmosphere, we recognise horror genre from previous sequels,

unstable camera movements

There is no mention of who is starring in it as there is no one famous in it as it is a

home documentary

Also this may be because there have been previous films and this sequel includes

some of the same characters

‘Katie and hunters whereabouts remained unknown, until now’ this shows us that

actions happened that we weren’t supposed to know about.

‘This October’ this is written to let the audience know when this film is coming out

‘Its closer than you think’ this is a statement trying to terrify the audience.

‘It has all lead to this’ This is the final sentence in the trail and it concludes all of the

things that have been happening.

There is no voice over in paranormal activity 4, I think this is because all we

need to know is expressed through the characters featuring in the trailer. Also

because this is a home documentary, the trailer is meant to come across as if it

has been taking straight of a camera with nothing added in.

At the end of the paranormal activity 4 trailer it says ‘see it everywhere, October

19th’ so we get the title and when it is released in cinemas.

The unique selling point in paranormal activity is that it is a home documentary,

this make it different from other trailers that are purposely filmed. It also makes

us more scared because we are able to relate to it as it is filmed in someone's

house and based on a true story.

This film was made by Paramount pictures

OTHER FEATURES

WHAT WE SEE/EXPECT

Paranormal Activity 4 is an American supernatural horror film. In

horror films we expect to see a possession of some kind,

paranormal and a night time atmosphere when disturbances occur.

Suspense, supernatural events from the film, characters

Contrast between calm and dangerous action

Disorientated scenes

Follows narrative structure

Quick pace of editing when action takes place

HORROR CONVENTIONS

Darkness

Evil spirit

Bangs

Destruction of objects

People being hurt

Child

Concerned parents

Creak of doors

HOW IT FITS THE GENRE

Paranormal activity fits the supernatural genre

very well. This film has a vulnerable boy in it who is

about 6 years old. He is the main target and this

meets our expectations as we expect to see a young

child become the victim as they are more vulnerable.

Also most of the spiritual activity occurs at night

time.

When hunters standing at the top of the stairs when the

chandelier falls, he has a black jacket on, black signifies evil and

this is what gives is the impression evil things are going to happen

because of him. When Hunter is in the darkness in the lounge you

see him in white, this is portraying how young and innocent he is.

This contrasts with out initial thoughts of him. Then towards the

end when you see all the quick cuts to what's been happening, you

see hunter always in black or grey. Black and grey signify, death

and danger, these are what we the associate with him.

MIS-EN-SCENE

Immediately we can tell that this trailer is a ‘horror’ trailer because at the

start of the trailer we see a black blur on the camera which could represent the

paranormal. Shortly after this we hear a baby cry, we could then start to

develop a link that these too will be connected in some way. We then hear

police sirens which represent that something has happened, this leaves us

thinking ‘what’. We later see the chandelier in the lounge swinging and we hear

the beads on it rattling and then we hear a crash from the one in the hall that

has just fallen. This leads us to question whether this was an accident or done

purposely. When it is late at night and the little boy is in the lounge, we hear

him whispering back to his sisters questions. The fact that he is whispering

helps set the time of day and the atmosphere he is in. We then see something

go past him and this loud deep bang. When we see the girl in the bed we hear

low muffled whispers. Quick cuts are then shown of the events that are

happening in their lives along with screams and bangs representing these. The

trailer then ends with the girl breathing heavily and saying ‘omg’ then she

screams as she is dragged away, this lets us know that something negative has

happened.

SOUND