Blair Witch Project teaser trailer

Here I have posted probably one of the more well known horror films. Made in 1999 'The Blair Witch Project' was most likely one of the more well known films in the 1990's and was compared to the other famous horror films of the time such as 'The Exorcist'. Due to the way it is filmed and edited I believe much like the trailer for 'Paranormal Activity 2' atmosphere is created to the most fearful extent by just these two principles. Which is why I think it would be another good teaser trailer to look at to inspire our own trailer.

Genre: There is a clear indication that the film is going to be a horror film although the way in which it is filmed suggests a very realistic approach. This is hinted by the lighting, music and intertitles.

Narrative: The first intertitle that the audience is confronted with is the one that describes the narrative. Where typically a group of teenager who are up to mischief go into a wood and lots of strange and spooky things happen to them. But the format and blank text suggests the documented style, leading the audience to believe the film is actually real. The real events then seem to make the film the next level of horror.

Target audience: Again due to the common and well known themes of a horror teaser trailer, the conventional target audience are expected to enjoy the trailer and watch the film. Being mainly teenagers-early 20 year old.

Music: The non-diegetic music is perhaps the most frightening part of the trailer. The gong sort of sound prolonged and with an eerie hint to it makes the audience literally feel goose-bumps. The repetitiveness of the music only scares the audience more as each of the intertitles appear the 'gong' sound penetrates the audience and their attention is drawn to the intertitle. This also becomes more frightening as the screams are added into the mixture of eerie sounds and music, almost creating a climax of sound which is then suddenly cut out, leaving the audience unnerved.

Shot types/camera angles: The film is entirely seen on hand-held camera, which gives the indication that the entire film is going to be from a point of view shot. This is somewhat more scary for the audience as they are placed in the characters shoes and can only see what they see. This creates a string link between audience and trailer.

Pace: The entire trailer is fast paced keeping the audience in a constant state of unease and visual captivation. This is shown through the fast editing and only being on one scene for no more than ten seconds. This doesn't give the audience a chance to rest or take a break from the intense footage which is why the trailer works so well to evoke a response from it's audience.

Dialogue/Voiceover: There is no voice over throughout the trailer only minute pieces of coherent dialogue. The dialogue is completely unaimed at the audience. We realise that the footage is far to realistic to explain what is happening and find we only can see and hear what the characters are saying to each other through the small hand held cameras. There is very little dialogue only screaming, shouting and calling to one another, giving a sense of pandemonium and panic.

Special effects: Again there are little to no special effects within the trailer giving the impression of a very real film/documentary. The black and white effect gives the impression of the disorientated state and the negative appearance of the film, making it look bleak and the lighting more dramatic. This puts the audience on edge as it places the thought of 'It could happen to me'. I think this is a great technique that we should definitely consider for our final teaser trailer.

Credits and Intertitles: The intertitle are what perhaps creates the mood of fear within the audience as they feel that they cannot grasp the full concept of how realistic the film actually is. The comments that appear while the footage is up and running, and the names mention again suggests how scary the film really is and that the target audience are subconsciously hinted.

I really like this trailer as when i watched it I too was actually quite frightened by it. I would love to evoke the same response to the audience who watch our teaser trailer, which we can hopefully do by following some of the ideas used in 'The Blair Witch Project' teaser trailer.