Paradigms are used to create meaning within a film, and in horror films typical paradigms such as masks and isolated house are used as a way of creating a sense of mystery. An effective example of a horror film that uses these typical paradigms is ‘Let Me In’; a film about a young girl and boy who have an unlikely friendship because the girl is supernatural.
Prop paradigms are used much less than other horror film trailers, but the ones that are used show the typical props used within a horror film. Towards the middle of the trailer the audience are presented with the killer in a mask, which looks like a black bag with only holes for the eyes and mouth. This is used as a way of concealing the killer’s identity from the audience causing a fear for his victims which passes onto the audience because they are unable to know who is attacking them. This makes the audience masochistic viewers. This also leads the audience to question his identity, proving Barthes enigma code to question things due to a sense of mystery. A metal pole in a romantic film will not connote any meaning, however, in a horror film an audience will instantly know it will be used as a weapon. An audience knows this will cause a lot of damage, which again creates a sense of fear.
The setting is very important in creating the mood of the film. A school is usually a busy place full of children creating the sense of innocence which it is portrayed to be in the trailer until mise-en-scene is used of flowers and a photo on the school fence, showing a memorial of a boy that has died. The audience are able to work out that something horrific will happen here later suggesting Barthes pleasure of text. A forest is a very isolated place, where no one will hear or see the victim when in need of help making it a dangerous place to be. However, it is shown covered in snow which almost creates a sense of innocence as white is seen as a pure and innocent colour. This contrasts with the horror that is about to happen. There are two settings that are shown to be empty at the beginning which are a railways crossing and underground foot tunnel. These are normally very public spots and reasonably busy, but her they are not, suggesting nothing major has happened yet. As tension builds up in the trailer, the audience are shown a roadside field with teenage boys in a panic. This creates a break in the before empty settings and the now busy settings; a train passing on the railway crossing and the supernatural girl sitting in the foot tunnel with a man walking into it. This lets the audience know things are beginning to happen.
Sound paradigms are used to build tension, and within a horror film string instruments are very popular. As the beginning of the trailer non-diegetic sound of string instruments have been combined with a piano to create a tense atmosphere. Gradually, the piano becomes louder, staying at a medium pitch making it sound innocent like. This is because it sounds like a child’s xylophone and of course children are the sign of innocence. It also suggests that the main boy and girl characters have an innocent relationship at this stage, meaning he doesn’t know about her supernatural powers. The piano’s pitch gets lower suggesting the innocence and happiness is dropping, which means something disastrous is going to happen. Levi Strauss’ binary opposites are shown here through sound because the audience gets the feel of innocence, which is then swapped for a much lower feeling atmosphere. Non-diegetic sound of a drum creates sounds like something is running past and towards the end it gets louder and quicker suggesting the pace of the trailer is speeding up. At times, it sounds like an irregular heartbeat, relating to how the characters are meant to feel which is frightened. This boosts the adrenaline making the audience feel slightly on edge. Diegetic sound of someone screaming in a horror film shows that someone is probably inflicting pain on someone.
The characters in the trailer are representing Propp’s theory of the eight character types. The young girl is represented as the hero as well as the villain and killer, as she says that she will help the young boy who is being bullied, but at the same time is killing people so she can stay alive. In a way, this challenges Propp’s theory of having one character for one character type. However, the masked man is shown in dark clothing all te time and mostly out during the night so he is harder to see in the dark. He is the killer in this situation wearing a mask. Within the trailer there are two victims, one, a boy in a car and a man who offers to help the young supernatural girl in the tunnel. The character types are shown throughout the trailer but also challenge them due to the young girl, with whom are normally seen as innocent, has been represented as the killer as well as the hero.
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