Analysis Trailer - The Woman In Black

 

The target audience for this film is mainly teenagers and adults due to the nature of the film, although its age rating is only a 12, this however could just be another way of bringing in audiences due to more people being able to watch the movie. This along with the fact that the star vehicle is Daniel Radcliffe who was the star in the recently concluded Harry potter Saga of films which will also help to attract an audience purely from his fanbase and also because he has starred in a highly successful series of films aimed at a younger audience it may help to attract younger viewers to the cinemas.

The film’s genre is horror, you can tell this from the trailers from the use of; Fog, Heavy rain, an abandoned mansion, barren fields, flooding, dark lighting and whispers and screams which have all been bundled into this one short trailer. The trailer also connotes the genre quite clearly because of the types of shot it uses, they include quite a few close ups of the protagonist going into dimly lit, ominous looking rooms and also a particularly interesting tracking shot of where they are watching the protagonist enter a room from the perspective of the doorway and slowly moving backwards as he is approaching them creating this mystery and tension as to where he is going.

The opening of the trailer starts with quick flashes of the producers’ logos and goes directly into building a background as to what is going on, from then it uses progressively quickening scenes where there is a voice - over giving a brief overview of what is occurring at the time. The scenes fade to black with each transition and there is a drum that is played during the climatic scenes in the trailer adding the overall tension to the video.

They used special effects in the trailer such as fog and heavy rain, although these seem generic they really add to the overall effect of mystery that the film portrays and help to connote the sinister setting that the directors where aiming to create. The trailer does not feature much else in the way of special effects, they do however, use colour to good effect which is demonstrated well inside the mansion itself where all of the metal work was coloured a dusty brass which helps to portray the age and state/condition of the mansion to the audience.