Trailer Overview
I will be discussing each of the following trailers, stating the common features and conventions that are seen throughout each of the trailers. The trailers are: The Possession, Insidious 2, The Devil Inside, The Exorcism of Emily Rose, The Rite and The Last Exorcism Part 2.
I have created a check list that shows what trailer conventions each trailer follows:
Narrative
The narrative of each film contains many similarities. They all revolve around an evil spirit or the devil himself possessing an innocent person. Both science and religion fight to stop the evil spirit from taking over the person and the films normally feature exorcisms.
There are two types of characters that try to save the possessed human: an expert in demonic possession or a religious leader from the Jewish or Christian religion.
There are two types of characters that try to save the possessed human: an expert in demonic possession or a religious leader from the Jewish or Christian religion.
Narrative Structure
Typical horror trailers conform to certain conventions and the Possession genre is no different. In each of the trailers we see the same narrative structure proposed by Todorov. In this proposal he said that every Horror film starts with an Equilibrium, where we see what normal life is like for the characters. Then there is the Disruption, where everyday life is disrupted for the characters. Following this is the Reaction and Repair stage in which we see the characters reacting to the Disruption and then try to repair the damage that has been dealt. The final stage is the New Equilibrium when the evil force has been stopped and the characters can go back to their normal life.
In Horror trailers we see the first two stages, followed by a fast montage of quick shots and edits. Sometimes a stinger is used once the trailer has ended to give one final shock and scare for the audience.
At the beginning of the trailers, the pace is slower but still at a decent speed, then the trailer reaches the Disruption stage where the pace starts to get faster and a fast montage of quick edits and shots take place, normally showing the horrific things that the evil force does to the characters. The final strap shows the institutional information at the end, making the audience believe that the they are safe, when an unexpected stinger is shown and scares the audience one last time.
Stingers are still very effective to those who have seen a number of horror trailers that expect the stinger to come because they are waiting and anticipating for it.
Conventions
The trailers feature many of the same conventions of the Possession genre and the overall genre of Horror. One convention that they all share (apart from Insidious 2) is the use of religious imagery from the Jewish and Christian faith such as The Bible, a church, a Rabbi or a Priest and the Torah. These items have become the typical iconography of Possession films because they are used so much. Possession films use religious imagery to show the fight between good and evil.
Another convention that they all use is the shots of horrific imagery. This can range from blood, dead bodies, demonic faces and humans being contortion-ised because of the evil being possessing them.
Lighting
Another convention that they all use is the shots of horrific imagery. This can range from blood, dead bodies, demonic faces and humans being contortion-ised because of the evil being possessing them.
Mise-en-Scene
Mise-en-Scene is an interesting topic to compare because it often varies from film to film. However the trailers do share some features of mise-en-scene that help the audience identify that the film is part of the Possession genre and part of the wider Horror genre.
Lighting
During the Equilibrium stage of the narrative, the lighting is usually bright using ambient lighting. The lighting is normally dark during the Disruption stage of the narrative, with scenes being lit up by matches, candles or lanterns (as seen in the trailer for Insidious 2). This process shows that darkness is taking over the light and that evil is attacking the good.
Costume
Since that most Possession films are set in present day, the characters are seen wearing modern clothes. However some costumes are old fashioned like in Insidious 2 and this is done to show the history of the film and help convey the idea that the setting and the characters have a dark past.
Setting
The settings featured vary from film to film but they all have some things in common. The settings are all in isolated locations and this is to show that the characters cannot get any outside help and they also can't escape from the evil being. Settings usually include an old-fashioned house in the middle of nowhere, abandoned hospitals (The Possession) and mental institutions (The Devil Inside).
Body Language
Many characters that appear in Possession films tend not to show very obvious body language to show their emotions. They are all ready to face the evil being head-on even though they are scared.
Someone that is possessed shows a different style of body language. They are normally controlled by the spirit themselves and usually their limbs are contortion-ed.
Facial Expression
The characters normally have a scared facial expression when they are being haunted and tormented by the evil spirit.
The possessed human typically has an angry expression on their face and their eye colour changes to pure white or pure black. Our eyes are believed to contain our souls, so seeing someone's eyes change colour completely because of an evil spirit shows that they have no soul, innocence and purity in them and they are just a shell for the evil spirit to live.
Props
Props are used in each of the trailers effectively to convey the setting of the film and also to scare the audience. Props will vary between film since the settings of each film varies. Usually these props are old-fashioned and innocent (such as the baby monitor in Insidious 2). These props are then used by the evil spirit to scare the characters and the audience.
Key iconography of the Possession sub-genre also includes religious imagery from the Catholic and Jewish faith. This is seen in many of the trailers such as The Possession, The Rite, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Last Exorcism.
Costume
Since that most Possession films are set in present day, the characters are seen wearing modern clothes. However some costumes are old fashioned like in Insidious 2 and this is done to show the history of the film and help convey the idea that the setting and the characters have a dark past.
Setting
The settings featured vary from film to film but they all have some things in common. The settings are all in isolated locations and this is to show that the characters cannot get any outside help and they also can't escape from the evil being. Settings usually include an old-fashioned house in the middle of nowhere, abandoned hospitals (The Possession) and mental institutions (The Devil Inside).
Body Language
Many characters that appear in Possession films tend not to show very obvious body language to show their emotions. They are all ready to face the evil being head-on even though they are scared.
Someone that is possessed shows a different style of body language. They are normally controlled by the spirit themselves and usually their limbs are contortion-ed.
Facial Expression
The characters normally have a scared facial expression when they are being haunted and tormented by the evil spirit.
The possessed human typically has an angry expression on their face and their eye colour changes to pure white or pure black. Our eyes are believed to contain our souls, so seeing someone's eyes change colour completely because of an evil spirit shows that they have no soul, innocence and purity in them and they are just a shell for the evil spirit to live.
Props
Props are used in each of the trailers effectively to convey the setting of the film and also to scare the audience. Props will vary between film since the settings of each film varies. Usually these props are old-fashioned and innocent (such as the baby monitor in Insidious 2). These props are then used by the evil spirit to scare the characters and the audience.
Key iconography of the Possession sub-genre also includes religious imagery from the Catholic and Jewish faith. This is seen in many of the trailers such as The Possession, The Rite, The Exorcism of Emily Rose and The Last Exorcism.
Sound
Throughout each of the trailers common sounds are used to scare the audience. Contrapuntal sound is not used very much and only appears in Insidious 2 when we hear a woman singing nursery rhymes to a child through a baby monitor. The Insidious 2 trailer uses contrapuntal sound again when a baby walker moves into frame from the right, playing innocent and childish music.
Stab sounds are used frequently throughout each of the trailers and are normally accompanied by the straps of the trailer. This is to give the straps more of an impact on the audience, making them remember the information.
All trailers use effective script-writing to scare the audience too, with phrases such as "Make it stop!" being shouted by one of the characters in The Last Exorcism Part 2.
All trailers use effective script-writing to scare the audience too, with phrases such as "Make it stop!" being shouted by one of the characters in The Last Exorcism Part 2.
Conclusion
All trailers share many conventions of the Horror genre and the Possession sub-genre. They all use these conventions effectively to impact the audience and to let them know that the film they are watching is part of the Possession sub-genre.
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