White Noise Trailer Analysis

This film is about a man Jonathan Rivers who looses his wife Anna. Jonathan is then contacted by a man claiming to have heard from Anna through EVP (Electronic Voice Phenomenon). Jonathan becomes convinced the messages are real and becomes obsessed with trying to contact Anna. Exploring further into EVP on his own Jonathan unwillingly opens a door to another world, allowing the uninvited into his life.

http://www.youtube.com/v/haHHr5_VX7I?fs=1

• The first thing that appears on the trailer is the Universal logo, this advertises that this is the production company, because this company is well known and has produced successful films in the past people trust that this too will be a good film.
• Not much typography is used in this trailer other than small bits to emphasise what is being told by the voice over. The font used relates much to the film as it is written as if it were 'white noise' itself. Typography is also used to display the tagline on the screen towards the end of the trailer.
• Visual codes are used to create questions that the audience will come to see the film to get answered. Clips from the film itself are used to to this, there is a clip of a coffin being taken down the aisle, this creates the questions, who is in the coffin? What happened to them? How does it affect the outcome? The next clip used was a close up of a phone ringing, this leaves the questions, who is ringing? Who is it for? What do they want? Why is it so significant? Another clip used to create visual codes was a close up of a screen and a monster suddenly appearing through the white noise, this makes the audience question, What is it? What does it want? What can it do? How will it affect the film? The final scene used to create a visual code is the clip of the woman calmly falling off the edge of a building, this leaves the questions, Why is she doing this? Is there something forcing her? Will she be saved? Is it real?
• The speed and style of editing started slow with fades of different clips of white noise and peoples faces with typography on top with the names and dates of the people in the trailer being spoken about and shown, this gently eases the audience into the trailer with a slow detailed explanation of what the film is about. Towards the end of the trailer the editing begins to speed up with fast cuts and flashes in between clips, this builds tension with the audience, and tension usually equates to excitement in a film. This use of speed is typical of a conventional thriller film trailer.
• The music used in the trailer is background eerie music created with wind and string instruments, this immediately introduces the audience into which genre the film belongs to. The trailer also contains short bursts of 'white noise' played over the backing track. When the trailers editing speeds up so does the music, drums are also used to place emphasis on the jumpy and dramatic scenes used in the trailer.
• A voice over is used throughout most of the trailer, at the beginning it is used to explain what the film is about 'EVP' rather than what happens in the film itself. The voice over has a really deep, controlled and slow voice, everything in the trailer is said as if it is a warning, this excites the audience and leaves them with the question, why do we need to be warned? What can happen if we don't take notice? At the end of the trailer the voice over warns that some films you watch will change you forever, this uses the theory that if we are told not to do something we are instantly more tempted to do it.
• the penultimate and ultimate frames both contain information, penultimate being a website to go onto to find out more about EVP, the voice over also reinforces this information. The ultimate frame simply says 'coming soon' and has the production companies logo in the corner. Having the most important information in the ultimate frame leaves it fresh in the audiences minds, making them more likely to remember it.