Analysis Of A Film Trailer: The Babadook

Trailer analysis

The Babadook

Jennifer Kent

22 May 2014

URLlink: https://vimeo.com/84994300  

Length: 2.25

Genre & sub genre: Drama/Thriller

Target Audience

This film was classified as a 15 by the BBFC. This means that the target audience for this film is be teenagers both female and male aged 15-24.

Narrative/plot

A troubled widow finds out that her son is exploring a monster that enters their house through a children's book.

Number of Characters:  representation

Amelia plays a troubled widow which is shown to be quite crazy but at the same time depressed. This is shown through her facial expressions and how she reacts to her son whenever he talks about the monster being real. Furthermore, she is shown as being showery tempered due to shouting at her son whenever he even brings up the topic of the monster.

Samuel, Amelia's son is portrayed as vulnerable and weak at the start as he is very frightened of the monster as his facial expressions represent fear. however, later he adheres this stereotype as he is presented as brave as he creates a crossbow to try and fight the babadook.

Shots (type & number)Transition/editing

In the image the colours have been desaturated from the original image in order to create a more pale black and white theme. This is repeated throughout the trailer and any bright bold colours are seen as pale and dull, this is to create the effect of a darker and more dramatic atmosphere. Furthermore this may connote the past or any memories that are associated with the setting or character terms - maybe relating to the widow's husband. This further reinforces horror and fear as the memories are unknown causing the audience to feel uncomfortable due to not having the knowledge of the characters past. Also darker colour connote mystery and death which may occur in the film.

Pace: editing

The pace of the trailer is slow at the start as the story of the Babadook is being explained. The story is explained by the mother reading it to her son which is a at a slow pace in order for the son and audience to understand the monsters story, furthermore the story is illustrated through the book being used as cutaways from the scenes. This allows the audience to have a visual image of the book and feel more realistic as if they are also reading the monsters story. However, in the middle it accelerates to quick jump cuts which cause the pace to increase and result in a crescendo. The fast pace shots include a variety of medium shots and close ups of which show the audience a bit more of what happen in the trailer including the introduction of yet unfamiliar characters.

Mise-en-scene

The book is what the movie is based around and how the babadook enters the house. This is quite conventional for a horror film due to the book being for children. As it makes something vulnerable and innocent into a terrifying monster.

Knife - A weapon is a conventional aspect of a horror movie as it connotes death or blood. Also, the association of the knife and Amelia’s facial expression shows that she is unstable and may do something she regrets.

This is a close up of a cross bow. This crossbow shows how the son wants to protect his mum from the monster that she does not believe in at the start.

Conventions 

• Young children (sam)
• Depressed widow
• Monster that only the family can see
• People not believing the mother and son
• Dark and gloomy color scheme

Music & sound effects

The non-digetic music that runs through the entire trailer. in the background is similar to a nursery rhyme due to the piano. This links to the plot and causes the innocence to be distorted. Also in another scene there is a hyper real sound of knocking on the door which may connote that the monster is trying to get in.The non-diegetic music used in this trailer uses sounds such as the turning of pages and other ambient noises like chimes and hyper-real screaming to create a horror atmosphere.

The dialogue/sound effect from the creature (Mister Babadook) is enhanced to change the pitch and tone of the voice. Therefore this gives the voice a much deeper and slower tone, this is used to make the audience feel uncomfortable and as if there is a supernatural presence involved.

Production Company/institutional identity

Causeway Films

Credits/Intertitles

The intertitles in between the trailer are very effective as they are in a style of the book that the movie is based on. Also the writing on the title screens is emphasised as it is said at the start of the trailer as the mother reads the story to her son.

Dialogue

‘The boy was significant behavioural problems’ - the school teacher says this to Amelia about her son when he creates the crossbow. This highlights how scared the boy is and how he wants to be a man and protect his mum and be like his dad.

‘You can’t get rid of the babadook’ - This shows that once the babadook entered the house it is extremely hard of get rid of him and this adds to the horror genre as the monster is the problem.

‘Don’t let him in’ - Samuel repeats this line over and over again in one scene which connotes his fear of the monster. Furthermore, the repetition at this point does not seem as effective, in turn I believe it attracts the monster even more.

Conclusion

Overall, I believe this trailer portrays the horror genre really well through the use of many codes and conventions. The dark colour scheme and desaturated colours add to the genre and cause the trailer to seem more mysterious.