It may have become realised that "The Others" movie does not contain any murders/ killings, it has still be categorized under the psychological thriller genre which we want our on film to come under. Again although there may not be any murders/killings in within the film, it has been implied through the story outline that these acts have taken place, i.e the protagonist (Grace Stewart) did suffer from insanity due to her husband being at war and looking after her children full time at smoothers her children and then takes her own life, but this all becomes apparent to the viewer at the end.
To start off the trailer runs for approximately 2:30 minutes in which a brief outline of the story is given. When the trailer commences the viewer can see company that has "sponsered" this particular film, this being; Dimension films which is now since (2005) owned by The Weinstein Film, however due to the others being produced before that it is technically material owned by Walt Disney a major conglomerate in the media industry. Below is displayed the logo.
When this shot is played the audience begin to here Grace Stewart's (the main characters) voice i.e "Are you sitting..(pause)..then i'll begin" In my opinion by using colloquial language and speaking in a soft voice it gives a personal touch to the viewer by her narrating/orating the opening scenes the viewer would be thinking that they are directly being told. Plus the pause in her voice emphases her maybe even wanting to tell you the story!
Then it follows into an establishing shot of the manor house, with a tree branch and mist surrounding them. By using the manor house it makes things appear more archaic and gives the onlookers a conception of the families class and monetary status in addition the mist makes and the branch (which bares no leaves) makes things more 'cold', dark, mischievous and mystifying. This then leads into a panning shot of the interior of the house which again portrays how rich the family is and the staircase, intreingly the house looks empty, and unoccupied generating an uncomfortable feeling.
The long shot of Grace that then follows, establishes her character and the conventions behind it for example her costume illustrates the epoch in which it has been set, her strictness. And the music that coincides with this scene makes the viewer ponder why the other members of staff have disappeared and leaves them with questions wanting to be answered, however the following shot of the three cleaners with the nanny in front shows her status amoung the members of the staff with her at the front speaking.
The scene where the protagonist introduces her children to the members of the staff, is one that should be de-constructed and analysed in this scene an ambient lighting technique is exercised, meaning that all light in this scene is done from the prop in this case it being a oil lamp. As i picked up the transitions mostly seem to be the same- a black flash with a "wooshing sound" this quickly transfers into another shot that takes place in the kitchen with the childern eating breakfast, when the girl asks the nanny about leaving. In this film it is the young girl child is the one who is most outspoken about the odd occurrences happening at the manor.
The close up of the girl in her bed and then the close up of the door handle and then it doors handle starts shaking, which is a technique that is used in many horror films that we as a group wanted to use in our film this makes the audience wonder who or what is behind the door, however this is quickly brushed off when the mum's voice cuts in and starts narrating again, making the viewers what to go back to the scene.
Another technique that i have also noticed which was used in this film was the close up of the young boys face trying to get asleep and then the viewer can see something happening behind him, which i thought would be a good idea for us to use in our film as it gives a feeling of venerability to the character.
The next scene that will be evaluated will be the argument scene between mother and daughter over the young girl telling her brother that there is someone else in the hosue by the name of "Victor" By grace standing high and straight and the little girl being lower this demonstrates the hierarchy in the house and that authority that Grace obtains hence she is overall in charge.
The junk room scene is one of the first scenes within the trailer that Grace realises that something unnatural is happening when the chandler starts to shake when the person she thinks it is, is actually outside. This creates suspense as the viewer then wants to know who is making that noise? Why are they? and even if so "Why are they there?" From here on strange things start happening to Grace which starts to make her believe what the children are saying for example the scene when she goes into a room and in there are funiture that isn't hers after looking in the mirror she then sees the door closing, this makes things a lot worse for her character as many think she is going mad. The music/ sound affects that co-occur with this are also "edgy" and anxious the the spooky high pitched sound, with the squeakiness of the door.
This then transcends into Grace walking in the house's grounds, mist surrounding her, gives the audience a sense of loneliness and sends out a more empahtic approach, and her child calling her making her turn around, which in itself is a clever device which then starts another scene of with her child calling her, but this time to tell her about the drawings, which adds a childish attitude and we as watchers can see for once, the childs interpretations and perspective on the matter, and by using the zoom affect on the drawing of the nan makes things a little more scary and as she has the largest number,only reinforcing the fearsome happenings that come about. The mums reaction makes the viewers jump and before they are given another chance to look it quickly switches to another shot and the a within the next scene a stereotype is broken this being the character in the white dress, with the nans face, white usually being associated with innocence and perfection...it is clearly not here.
The flashing shots of what appear to be the nursery, the foot shots and the sound, look as if someone is there ready...to get them. And by flashing between characters makes things seem rushed and gives the idea that there is a limited amount of time. The following shot where Grace is screaming no at the banisters portray her despiration for things in her eyes to be normal...but then were things ever normal here? and then when seeing the servants at the door with pale and dark faces then it makes you wonder...is it them? what have they done?! The whispering scene between the 2 children again shows that things are rushed...why are they whispering? these questions are presented to the viewers throughout the trailer, a typical marketing promotion used in most trailers, leaving the viewer thinking or even determined to go and see the film, the music only emphasizing the genre of the film as well.
Finally some of the last scenes would be vital to mention; the nanny saying the films logo/caption quote and the child humming both surrounded by darkness, the place were most horrifying things happen, the nanny's voice is soft yet cetain as if saying this IS going to happen and the child humming makes things peacful yet scary and worrying..maybe the viewers are wondering if the children are ok, giving the children alone a sense of venerability.
In conclusion we have noticed as a group that we need to be looking at the amount of shots that are in professionally created trailers in order to see how many we have make ours, within The Others trailer there is roughly 62 shots so we now have an idea how many shots we will need in our trailer and it will have to be well over the 50+ mark.
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