Which trailer does not have a good narrative?

All three trailers that we have looked at have a good narrative as you know what the story is about after you watched each of them, paranormal activity is probaly the most effective trailer as it using hand held footage throughout the trailer, showing real reactions from the audience that has gone and seen it. The trailer also shows staright away that it is about paranormal activity as it is being recorded by real people in their own homes.
I would think Devil also had a strong narrative as straight away the focus is on the main characters and the slow motion when the elevator opens shows us that the movie is going to be about these five people and what goes on inside the elevator. All the way through the trailer it shows bits of progressing scenes which effectivley outlines the narrative well without giving to much away.

Devil Movie poster

This is a movie poster for the Devil film, Devil is about five strangers that get trapped in an elevator and strange things start to happen to them. one of them is hurting others in the elevator but knowone knows who that is. 

The first thing that i notice is that the poster is very dark, this would be to give the poster a haunting feel to it. With the elevator on the front of the poster the audience automatically knows that the film would be based around, And with the elevator having the red cross running through the gaps it creates that link to the devil as it resembles to the devils pitchfork.

 The use of the red devil symbol is really affective as it draws the view in then at the bottom of the elevator it links on to the title of the film.

The coverline at the top of the poster ' Five strangers trapped. one of  them is not what they seem.' is a really eye catching sentence as it makes you want to know why are they not what they seem? the general public would relate to this could happen to anyone.

The elevator also has a 6 as the number floor it was on this is also there to relate to the devil as the devils number is 666, all these little details make the poster even more effective.

Movie poster

I could not find a Devil magazine cover, but if there was one i would think it would be set out like this. The   colours on this magazine work well as it relates the genre of thriller. The dark background would be ideal for Devil but i would think where there is blue it would work better as red. Red would then link it to the Devil and give people a sense of blood and horror.
where Batmans face is on this the picture, for Devil this could be the reflection that we see in the trailer when the security guard lights the match, this would really attract readers to this magazine and then hopefully too watch the film.
At the bottom of the magazine it would state that the producer M Night Shylamalan, and the other films he has been apart of such as the sixth sense and the happening, this would then attract readers that liked these films to watch Devil.

Production meeting

Our group come together for a meeting with our lecturer  to discuss some ideas for our trailer. We went over a range of elements so that our trailer will some together as planned, we discussed writing a synopsis which would basically outline the plot for our film, we talked about the characters, which there will be 3 female actors then we discussed whether we are going to have the characters within our trailer be scripted or improvised. We have decided that there will be a small scripted bit in it but that most of the audio would be improvised or with a backing track.
The location we decided on is Foxes Forest in Portsmouth which has some great features that would really make our trailer effective. As i did not know this area i used google street maps to have a look where it was and what it was like, which i then thought it would be an ideal place to shoot our trailer.
We will begin shooting our trailer in the october half term, ready for our first week back at college.
this is just a brief plan of what is going to happen, we will plan it in more detail when all he ideas have been confirmed.

Events within the trailer?

1. Upside down NY city/ Ordinary day.

Questions the event raises? - Is there a reason for this to be upside down ? is this the start of a day that is going to be different for some? why does it say on any ordinary day but the picture is the wrong way up?

2.Cast heading into work.

Questions this event raises?
Are these the cast that the film is going to be based around?
Is this where the Devil strikes?
Is one of these actors the main focus of the film?

3.The opening of the elevator in slow motion.

Questions this event raises?
Why is this scene shot in slow motion?
Is this the lift where the movie takes place?
is the older women looking at him first because she knows something is going to happen?
why do they both seem cautious to get into the lift?

4.Cast in the lift through the security cameras screen.

Questions this event raises?
Why did the director use this editing technique for this scene?
What is it the woman is showing the other cast?
Is someone in the lift responsible for what happened to the women?

5.Reflection in the mirror/window

Who is this person in the mask?
Why is it there?
Is it one of the cast members from the lift?
Is it targeting the security man in particular?
Is this the devil?
what happens after this end shot?

These 5 events i believe are the key elements/scenes throughout the trailer as they tell the story without even watching the actual trailer. All the questions that will arise in these scenes would make the viewer want to keep watching to find out more and at the end of the trailer they will have been most likely persuaded and enticed to go and view the film in the cinema.

Chosen genre. Horror

Devil is a new film out in September 2010.
When watching the trailer as a viewer I can automatically see that there are no huge well known movie stars present in the film, the actors used have usually been a small role in a well known movie or have had a main part in a smaller independent movie or t.v series so they will be recognisable to some but not to others, the film made $12,289,375 on opening weekend in the US which is good for this film. But when watching the trailer the fact that it doesn’t have well known movie stars doesn’t affect whether I want to see the film or not as the plot and storyline grabs your attention.  


The plot of the film is that five strangers get trapped in an elevator and realise that someone among them is the Devil, what is a usual day at work takes a sudden detour into terror when the elevator becomes stuck between floors. it is then when the passengers discover that the Devil does exist, and he's standing right before them. As emergency services work frantically to free them, some secrets are revealed and the passengers realise their only hope for survival is to confront their darkest sins in front of the others.


The first minute of the film the music is just a piano playing a piece of eery music, this music is to let the viewer know that the usual events that are happening while this piece of music is playing is leading up to   something unusual and tense that is about to happen. The music suddenly stops when the last person to get into the elevator nearly misses it. After that sequence of music there is no more music played throughout only sound effects, in the final around 15 seconds the trailer is silent all that you can here is 5 beeps (elevator beeps) where the trailer cuts to different events that happen in the film.


At the start of the trailer their is a view of the city, the city is upside down this could of been edited like that to show that something unusual is going to happen, and its not a normal day when it cuts to the people at work waiting for the elevator the scene is in slow motion as the elevator doors open and they turn to face the elevator, this grabs the audience by focusing on the elevator showing that this is what the film is based around.


The trailer uses a lot of computer graphics such as, when New York City is upside down to begin with, there is also text that appears to let the audience know what the trailer is also about from text and not just the trailer itself. This makes the trailer even more appealing as it has more time taken on it to get it as affective to the audience as possible.

Genre conventions

Each genre of film uses different conventions, but the conventions used in the specific film genre are kept the same/similar this is a base to write/produce their film on.

Horror- Horror films feature a wide range of styles, they use many different conventions, they are designed to cause frighten and panic, dread and alarm, often using plots and characters that are in our worst fears/nightmares, they captivate and entertain an audience at the same time. Suspense is key. The use of a silence provokes the viewer to watch even if they don’t want to as the suspense builds up inside them. Horrors usually conclude with a terrifying finale. 

Romantic Comedy- Romantic comedies are movies with light-hearted, humorous dramatic stories centered on romantic ideals such as a "true love" Romantic comedy films are a sub-genre of comedy films as well as of romance films. The basic conventions of a romantic comedy is that two people, usually a man and a woman, meet and then part ways due to an argument or other contrived obstacles. Initially, these two people do not become romantically involved, because they believe that they do not like each other, because one of them already has a partner, or social pressures. However, the screenwriters leave obvious clues that suggest that the characters are in fact attracted to each other, or that they would be a good love match.