Paranormal Activity storyboard analysis

To get more knowledge about horror trailers, I looked at the one for Paranormal Activity 2 and analysed the content. As I will be doing a similar trailer hopefully. Whilst following the codes and conventions.

For the first 14 seconds of the Teaser Trailer all we see is a black screen with occasional grey distortion ( presumably edited in) added to it. This is to create the realism of the hand held camera effect. The black screen connotates the darkness and fear and is a conventional colour used in horror.

 Next, unlike most teaser trailers we see a clip from the first Paranormal Activity film. Also, it unconventionally starts with the disequliberium. I think this was done to create a impact from the start, to give more of a scare factor. A hand held camera is held still by tripod. Suddenly the body of a dead man is thrown at the camera. The camera is filming in Black and White (night vision so it seems). I believe Strauss Levi’s theory of binary oppositions has been applied here. (good vs evil, black vs white.) As we see the man with a white shirt being thrown back by possessed woman who is shown in black a few seconds later. In addition, this adds to the effect of the filming being done with a hand held camera and also gives the trailer a spooky feel. The location is quite typical, as stated in my research, it is conventional to film in homes. Also, the low diegetic sound (which sounds to me like the wind blowing in the background) creates a spooky and lonely atmosphere which makes the viewer feel tense about what is going to happen.

 The camera cuts to a mid-shot of the audience watching Paranormal Activity One, it then cuts back to the shot of the bedroom and the camera zooms in on the door. It seems as though the camera is on a canted angle because of it being knocked by the man. This is to add more of a disorientation to the situation The door being open seems to be iconography to me. As in the bedroom door is like a portal and this evil entity has made it's way in and causing havoc. The shakiness of the camera and the static which appears on the screen as the camera is cutting from one scene to another re-enforces the idea that this is being filmed on a hand held camera. So it gives it more realism.

The screen then goes black and then cut's to a shot of the audience. Waiting to see what will happen. The silence of this shot builds up tension and creates enigmas to the audience, such as, “What will happen next?” Suddenly the camera cuts and we see a woman leaping at the camera, this is conventionally found in trailers. The evil entity or possessed subject appears only for a split second (been edited in) as this creates more of a effect and to not spoil the film too much. The woman appears to be not in focus as well. You can't really see much of her due to the poor lighting on her face. I believe this is done to freak the audience out further, it makes us question "What was that just then?" This frightens us and creates further enigmas such as, “Why is this woman jumping at the screen?” Although people who have seen the first paranormal activity film will probably know the answers to these enigmas already. The camera cuts again and we see the audience viewing the film gasp and scream. The camera then goes static. By showing clips of the audience viewing the first paranormal activity film the creators of this trailer have emphasized that it was a popular film in 2009. The silence, both during and after this clip, make the viewer feel tense, wondering what will happen next

After that, we see a clip from the new Paranormal Activity film. We get the impression that the image is coming from a surveillance camera as a high angle shot allows us to look down on the room. The room is a bedroom with a baby sleeping in a cot and a dog sleeping on the floor. The high angle shot is used to make the dog and baby look weak. Connotating that they may be next. The mise-en-scene of the room adds to the creepy atmosphere. The baby toy props used and the crib denote innocence. The whole baby's room is juxtaposed with the current situation at hand. That the possessed woman is walking about somewhere. Also, it is to be noted that the lighting is more predominant in this scene. For the reason that babies are innocent, have no clue of the world just yet. The camera isn't shaky, which means that it must be stationary. The surveillance camera effect makes us want to pay attention to what is going on, as we would pay attention if we were watching a CCTV camera.

It then cuts to black, the words, “For What’s Next,” appear on the screen, this adds more suspense.

The camera cuts to a shot of the living room which seems normal and then cuts again to the bedroom where we see the baby and the dog have dissapeared, and now a woman is standing in the doorway to the bathroom. The woman is dressed in black which carries negative connotations of evil, danger and fear. As an the target audience we fear this woman. We are also left with several more enigmas, “Who is this woman?” “What happened to the baby and the dog?”

The screen goes black. The number 2 flashes on the screen 3 times before the title of the film, “Paranormal activity 2,” appears onto the screen. This is followed by the address of the films website The name of the movie flashes up again followed by the camera going static. Briefly, a shot of the bedroom flashes up again. Then the camera cuts out. The teaser trailer is over. This abrupt ending to the trailer is supposed to hook the reader and make them want to watch the film. It is a unconventional ending, however. As usually, there's one last scare from the demon or possessed being.