Research and Planning: Trailer Analysis Two

The Descent (2005)

Genre-
The Genre of The Descent is Horror, and has other genre aspects such as Fantasy, Thriller and Adventure. The mise-en-scene and cinematography is very 'claustrophobic' (as the titles say) which already gives us the insight of the characters being trapped and that there is no way out. The genre is also represented through the non-diegetic piercing eerie music that is played throughout. At the equilibrium of the Trailer there are many fade-to-black editing transitions which suggest death, and due to it being at the start it shows they are happiest here but all will go downhill for the characters. The lighting is low-key which is a usual strategy done in Horror films.

Representation-
The representation of the characters is very contrasting. We are introduced to this group of strong women who are brave and not the stereotypical 'princess' character films usually portray. The trailer is also not shown through the Male Glaze as the female characters are not represented as sexually attractive and need men to survive, they are represented as a strong force together. Having said that, the female characters are then trapped in this underworld needed to be saved and only having each other as their hero. This contrasts with the representation of them being non-stereotypical female roles as the trailer is then showing them weak and also, going by Propps theory, 'princesses' - however, they are still reliant on themselves to survive. This gives a whole new perspective to the representation of the women in this film trailer as it is arguable that there are points both for and against being a non-stereotypical female role.

Narrative-
From the narrative we can see that the film is about a group of strong female characters who are proceeding to go potholing down a cave until they get trapped within the underworld. Whilst they are trapped, the narrative flows around the scenes of the unknown and how the characters believe they are not alone. Whilst this is happening, titles describing the emotions of the characters are shown with a black background saying 'claustrophobia,  disorientation, fear' etc. These tags make the trailer more eerie and also add to the suspense building up. After the title of 'Fear' we are shown a clip through what seems like a handheld camera (held by one of the female characters) using night vision, the characters are screaming for help and then in a chaotic pan from one character to another we see a scary looking mythical creature stood right behind the character the camera had panned to. With this comes diegetic screams and a non-diegetic sting of noise. Following on from this disruption, the editing becomes very fast and action packed, until we again return to slow paced shots transitioning to fade-to-blacks. This intensifies the scary tone the trailer wanted to create as it goes from slow pace and tense scenes to high action scary scenes, then back to slow pace and tense scenes. The slow pace shots also highlight the fear of the unknown. The trailer ends with a few captions of quotes bigging up the film, with shots of the characters in action sequences. Throughout the trailer, we never really see the 'monster', which is a strategy most trailers used so the audience are curious and want to see the film to witness the monster themselves.

Audience-
The audience of the Trailer isn't specifically targeted just at teenagers, as the Trailer also seems very appealing to adults who are fans of horror films. The reason I say this is because it is quite literally a one-dimensional film where there is no comedy or points of feel-good moments throughout the trailer (which are usually used in films aimed at teenagers/the younger adults being introduced to horror films). The rating of the film I haven't been given a definite for because some sights say it is certified a 15, others an 18. If I were to classify it myself judged on the Trailer only, I would say it is a 15 because there is no shown brutality or extremely scary moments in the trailer that could make it an 18, however this could have been a strategy used by the company (classifying the film an 18 whereas making the trailer a 15) for the trailer to have more air-time success.

Media Language

Cinematography-
 tight framing. The tight framing conveys the feeling of the characters and makes it look uncomfortable for the characters. Also, in one shot of the trailer the characters use a night-vision handheld camera as they are shouting for help then a scary looking creature appears behind one of the characters. This creates realism within the trailer as it portrays the message that it is home filmed footage that is real life. Most of the shots are at eye-level which could carry on the realistic tone as the audience will feel more involved because it is shot to show them as if they are within the film. Shots in The Descent trailer are also mainly off centre point, which makes the characters seem unbalanced in this underworld. I have also noticed that at the beginning of the trailer when one of the characters takes a picture of the rest of the girls, the image is then shown in a black and white/yellow faded wash still - this very much looks as if the image has been published in a news paper after the film which, again, carries on with the realism and making the trailer more believable.

Editing-
During the trailer there are plenty of fade-to-black's at the beginning which shows that the film is dark and deathly, portraying the genre. The editing at the start of the trailer starts off at a relatively normal pace, using straight cuts to show realism as the audience aren't aware of the editing transitions. As the characters go into the cave and become stuck, the editing becomes very slow and tense; which is naturalistic as we as an audience are feeling what the characters are feeling. The editing pace increases as the disruption starts (the scary creature behind character) and from then on the editing becomes very roller-coaster style - being fast at high points of action, then all of a sudden the pace is slow because a character is shown vulnerable and lonely etc. The trailer ends on fast pace editing, making the audience intrigued to see the film as to what happens after this as we are just chucked into the deep end with no answer if the characters come out okay and alive or not okay and dead.

Sound-
The trailer uses many non-diegetic stings next to diegetic dialogue. In the start of the trailer, there is an eerie non-diegetic noise playing that lasts throughout underneath the diegetic dialogue of the characters talking. Loud stings of loud whoosh noises slam into the sound as the editing shows fade-to-blacks add to the tense atmosphere. When the title 'fear' appears, the text becomes dissorientated and jumpy and parrallel to it the sound becomes very alien and bizarre, sounding like some sort of creature. There is a non-diegetic sting of a loud bang as the scary creature appears behind a character, and with it comes along a faster pace of sound along with diegetic screams from the female characters. Typical horror sounds for genre conventions are used in this trailer, shown by the points made above (screams, eerie/tense music and also heavy breathing) all creating suspense and keeping the viewer on the edge of their seat.

Mise-en-Scene-
The location for the majority of the trailer is inside the cave. We do also see a small snippet of the characters outside a cabin and driving to the cave, however all these places are only building the tension up for the main cave location. The cave is extremely claustrophobic at first and the characters are shown in tight spaces, however as they get trapped the cave is more open and free for them to rome around but they are scared and fragile at this point as the location is alien to them. Typical horror conventions are used such as low key lighting with an orange tinge creating a sense of urgency and alarm for the audience. The orange also creates the dirty, underground, claustrophobic feel which is also shown through the mise-en-scene. The low key lighting used in the trailer is sometimes that dark that there is only minute detail the audience can see, which adds to the intensity. Costumes and Props show typical potholers clothing and essentials (helmets, ropes, torches etc) which makes the audience feel that at least one of the characters is very experienced in potholing.