THEM - Official Trailer

 

Them is a movie about two people called Lucas and Clementine who live peacefully in an isolated country house. They wake up to a strange noise one night to find a group of hooded assailants begin to terrosrize them through the night. It was made in 2006, and is a Horror/ Thriller movie. The trailer effectively shows the plot of this film by:

• Sound - The first sound that you hear in this trailer is the telephone ringing. This immediatly leaves the audience questioning who is on the other side of the phone, and is it going to effect the way the plot turns. Using this sound to open up the film indicates to the viewer that this will be the killer on the other side of the line, and that this starts how they are going to die. The woman on the phone seems confused by the person on the other line, which immediatly draws the attention of the viewer as they will want to know what is being said.
• Intertitles - Straight after these two clips of the woman on the phone leads to thean intertile that shows the selection of film festivals that it has been selected for. This attracts audiences as it signals that this is a film that you are meant to go and see because of the mass popularity it already has. By doing this at the beginning of the trailer it attracts a larger fan base of audiences besides horror because of the different festivals it has been nominated for.
• Voiceover Narrative - The male voiceover given is a genre indicator of a horror, as it is spoken slowly and with effect to what is happening on screen.  The dialogue given with this is to add effect to the action that we see on screen, and it alerts the audience to be more observing to the situation the characters have been placed in.

'In the still of the night, we see things ..... we hear things .... that aren't always there ... but tonight. Your imagination isn't playing tricks. And neither are they.'

This is effective with the action because we only see a vulnerable woman alone in certain areas that are typically associated with horror films, such as big uninhabited buildings and the woods. These are usually the chosen places for horror because they are quiet and have a large area of ground for which the killer could be hidden in, which takes audiences out of their comfort zone.

• Signalling to the audience with another intertitle that the film they are watching is based on true events further adds tension because it becomes more realistic to them and they become eager to find out the plot of the story. The audience also want to connect more to the characters because of the realness of the situation and plot. It is effective for it to be included after the dialogue because this was the genre indicator that the audiance needed to know before it was revealed that the plot is true.
• The pace - The pace starts to become more fast and energetic because of the realisation to the audience of the choice of genre. It adds effect as the realisation that the plot is based on true events is revealed in the intertitles. The pace builds up to signal to the audience that the killer is about to emerge, and this is where it becomes more interesting to the audience as they want to know what the killer looks like.
• A shodow of the killer is placed coming down the stairs towards the audience. Although it is a mid shot is is placed to the side of the stirs, so each step down the killer takes gets closer to the screen. It is appealing to audiences interested in horror because of the lack of information about the killer, and the use of shadowing makes him more interesting and leaves an enigma that makes us question what he looks like.
• The big flash that highlights the terror from the womans face is the indicator that the killer has arrived. The noise had started to die down but at this precise moment it picks up noise again loudly to alert the audience of danger. This is when the pace flashes images of the characters in different situations, assuming hiding in case of death.

'Try to Run From Them.'

• This is effective because of the link between the films name and the intertitle caption that is shown. It is effective because you never get to find out the killers true name, which we want to know. We also want to see what the killer looks like as a result because this is who the film is based around. Near the end of the trailer you still don't get to see his face, but the mise-en-scene used is the choice of a hood as a costume covering the killers face. This is effective because it supports the stereotype that has been created of finding a hooded figure scary. We find this scary because of the link with death that we associate with hoods.
• The end of the trailer is signalled by an echoing scream. We have done this for our trailer, so this conforms with the cliched stereotype ending that we have done. It is effective for horror films because it leaves us questioning what has happened, and did she get killed? It also supports the view of the killer being something to fear.
• The voiceover dialougue comes back the last time to just say the name of the film. This is effective because of the bluntness of it, no words are expressed to show any signs of emotion. This leaves the audience on edge but because of the lack of information about the killer, the audience still finds themselves wanting to go and see the film.