Initial research: non genre trailer analysis - Conjuring 2

Institutional information

Conjuring 2 is a sequel to the first film, both of which have the genre of horror. With the length of 134 minutes, the film is rated.....; it achieved 7.9 stars out of 10 on the IMDB website. It was produced by New Line Cinema and directed by James Wan, who also produced Saw, Insidious and Annabelle all of which are horror films. The film fetched $96,621,770 over all, with a budget of $40,000,000.

Narrative

Starring Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson and Madison Wolfe, the narrative begins in 1977, where paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren travel to London, England, where single mother Peggy Hodgson believes that something evil is in her home. When Peggy's youngest daughter starts showing signs of demonic possession, Ed and Lorraine attempt to help the besieged girl, only to find themselves targeted by the malicious spirits.

Mise en scene

The beginning of the trailer starts with the ident of the production company 'Warner Bros'. The ident gradually zooms in to the ident before fading to black and a second ident appears. The Warner Bros ident is shown in grayscale, which is different from the normal golden colour that is in other productions; the colour connotes darkness and danger and therefore helps to represent the genre of the film. The clouds in the background of the logo create the idea of pathetic fallacy, where the weather reflects the tone and feeling within the film; it therefore presents the genre to the audience in a way that doesn't require the audience to fully notice. The idents are used to inform the audience about the production company behind the making of the film and it also allows the audience to connect the Conjuring 2 to other films that have been made by the same production company.
The opening scene to this trailer is a high angle shot looking down onto a table with an old fashioned tape recorder in the middle, surrounded by 3 people. This immediately suggests the time period that this film is set in, as well as the fact that the situation is portrayed as being formal; with two people on one side of the table and one on the other. The shadows cast in this shot are a stereotypical feature of the genre horror, as it represents the idea of there being something sinister within the narrative. 

The camera then spins round and zooms into the tape recorder, which is accompanied with the diegetic sound of an old man talking from the tape player. The tone of voice that the old man is talking in is very eerie, which is a stereotypical convention of the horror genre and so will appeal to the target audience.

Part way through the film trailer there is an establishing shot that shows a busy street. I can assume that it is London because there is the use of black cabs which is a stereotypical object that would be seen in London. The clothes that the characters are using in this scene represent that the film isn't modern day, as they are a style of clothing that is was common in the 1970s/80s; this is also supported by the tape recorder in the middle of the table in the opening scene of the trailer which is an older model that wouldn't be seen today.

A mis shot is used half way through the trailer to show the main character in a dark room. The way that the girls is looking directly at the camera helps to capture her emotions which is then presented to the audience, allowing them to form a connection with the character. The severe low key lighting that was used portrays that something bad is happening, and with the crosses on the wall in the background, it suggests that something paranormal is occurring; as the cross in a scene like this a convention if films that involve some type of paranormal activity. The fear that is shown in her face closely relates to the genre of this film, as it signifies that there is something bad happening which is a stereotypical convention of horror.

Editing 

The Conjuring 2 frequently uses fade to black edits between shots, and this is normally done when there is a scene change within the trailer (for example from a bedroom to the kitchen). This creates an eerie atmosphere for the audience because they don't know what is going to happen next, which is something that is a convention of horror films; to create suspension in order to appeal to the target audience. The trailer also uses jump cuts to create tension and to provide the adreneline that is associated with horror films and that is expected when viewing one. An example of this is a jump cut to an extreme close up of a girl screaming under what looks like a duvet. The girl is illuminated by a torch-like light, which creates a sense that she is being attacked. There is an example of a shot reverse

shot during the scene of the girl in the room when ten the crosses begin to turn when on the wall. The first shot is of the crosses turning and it cuts back to a close up of the face of the girl that gradually zooms in, which shows her emotions and allows the audience to empathise with her situation. The camera then cuts back to the wall to show the progression of the first shot and how it will affect the girl. A shot reverse shot means that the audience are able to see how a situation develops and the reaction of either the people involved or how an action will be received by another person.

Camera angles

There are a variety of over the shoulder shots involving the little girl, who I assume is the main character, and this helps to give the audience a chance to view the situation from her point of view. Doing this not only allows the audience to develop a relationship with the character, but also shows the emotions that she is experiencing, which is then transferred to allow the audience to experience similar feelings and sights. The opening of the trailer shows a high angle shot that looks directly down on a table with a tape recorder and three people sat around the table. Using the shot has made the three people present seem vulnerable as they are being looked down upon, with the camera being seen as dominant; with the presence of the voice coming from the recorder, the point of view from the camera can be seen as person who's voice is being played. The camera gradually rotates clockwise and zooms into the recorder, making it the focus of the scene. Throughout the film trailer there are a number of occasions where the camera zooms into the main image of the shot; doing this puts more focus onto the object/person that is central to the shot, and therefore signifies that the central person/object holds the most importance out of the things that surround it.

Sound

The trailer begins with a diegetic voice coming from the tape recorder that is in the middle of the table. The voice has an eerie tone to it which signifies that the film will also follow this tone; the voice is then stopped and the characters surrounding the recorder realise that the voice is part of a paranormal activity occurring to a little girl. over the top of this diegetic dialogue is a non diegetic high pitched sound track, that represents tension as it gives the impression that something bad is going to happen. The soundtrack picks up tempo throughout the trailer with the beat increasing, until the track is cut and there is silence; the absence of music signifies suspense. Following this there is a climax in the music along side a loud scream that provides adreneline and tension that is expected in this genre. This change in the music tempo and style signifies that there has been a disequilibrium, a stereotypical feature of the horror  narrative. Throughout the trailer there is non diegetic dialogue that accompanies scenes with no sound - it helps to describe the situation to the audience.