>> This trailer is divided up into 3 acts, with the first scene opening with the family entering their brand new house in somewhat isolated location and this act ends at around 0:36 when the wardrobe in the scene open in the middle of a game, and out from the cupboard came a clapping sound which lead to the mum being mislead in the wrong direction- she has no idea. During this scene the whole feel of the trailer changes, with the music stopping allowing the eerie silence to take over, whilst we see the first glimpse of the ‘thing’ that is haunting the place and the family. Then this immediately goes onto act 2, but it ends at 1:25 with jump scenes as we we see the picture frames come crashing down, but this is built up by the mother hearing noises of ‘children’ playing and her going to investigate. As soon as the act ends a black screen pops up with a white text saying ‘From the director of Saw and Insidious’ and unnatural music is played in the background. This text has been welcomed as source of promotion and to inform the target audience that this film is directed by the directors of 2 other famous horror films, which will therefore most likely draw in the audience influencing them into watching the film. The audience is shown how the haunting is developing and becoming more seriously intense as the last act of the trailer begins. Nearer to the the third act, we see the woman; the mother of the house becoming engulfed in the darkness and we hear her scream, leaving the trailer on a cliff hanger and the audience curious to find out what happened to her , which would therefore entice them to go and see the film.

This trailer generally covers over just 53 cuts over 2 minutes and 43 secs (2:43), which is considerably less than some other trailers. Although this trailer seems to follow at a decreased pace, this maybe done in order to signify its horror context rather than misleading the ‘horror’ trailer to be a trailer of an action film. Different moods and atmospheres are produced through the use of different cuts, for example the suspense of longer cuts build up tension and curiosity within the minds of the target audience rather than the build up of many faster cuts and no use of CGI effects. The reason for this maybe because of the loq budget or simply because it was not needed for the completion of this specific trailer.

>> The use of sound throughout this trailer is very effective and is able to gradually bring the audience into the general mood whilst being able to scare them from their deepest of fears. As the trailer begin we first hear the door of the new house opening alongside the shouting of joy among the whole family. At the same time, dialogue is welcomed into the scene as the children scream “ I get my own room” and “ I call dibbs on the room!”. Just through these words it is able to create a family feel to this part as well as encouraging a realistic effect as the sound is just simply the typical noises of a family moving into a new home. The song ‘Time of the Season’ by the zombies is played immediately with the visual indent in order to set the scene well for the turning of the decade, and by just hearing this song it creates a natural family atmosphere and brings us back to the 1971 era. Also, the fact that tehe music is played by a band called ‘The Zombies’ is appropriate for the horror film as it fits in with the theme perfectly, but would only be relevant to those in the audience who actually know this.

As the trailer continues we later hear diagetic sound of a child counting, as part of a game they are playing with their mother, which directly links to the visual on screen. When the woman finishes counting to ten, we then hear her shout “first clap!”, which is then returned by the sound of a clap, and from just this short scene it let’s us now clearly how the game is played, which is necessary in the later part of the trailer, as well as this it also expresses the family’s innocence. Whilst the woman playing the game with her children (bare in mind she’s wearing a blindfold) she enters a room, quite possibly a living room or a bedroom, as she turns her back she can hear through the senses of her ear, the doors of wardrobe opening. The door opens with an eerie loud creak and at that point the background music stops and a sinister silence follows. With a sudden change from music to silence creates a very uneasy feel to the trailer and would indicate to the audience that something is not quite right, therefore building up suspense and tension within the minds of the watching audience. Hearing this creak, she replies to it with the words “clap!” , which was then returned by an unusually slower clap creating a uneasy edge. As she walks towards the direction of the sound, she says playfully “I’m gonna get you now … I can hear you breathing”. In this occasion the use of non-diagetic sound was perfect as it makes the scene more realistic because we can hear it breathe and clap, however it’s not coming from the child as she think it is. Tension is built intensively throughout these acts as we anticipate the woman finding a demonic supernatural creature rather than her daughter.

At this moment, everyone watching the scene aswell as ‘Lorraine Warren’ (the mother in the film) experience a psychological disturbance, as it seems though whatever is laughing is enjoying the destruction it’s causing. None-diagetic sound is introduced again at this point of time in order to keep the mood going, as the woman makes herself down the stairs to investigate further and straight after she shouts “Who is that?” not only can we identify her fear but hear the unmistakable noise of a door slowly opening and someone clapping (non-diagetic). With the girls being in bed, this situation is considered to be quite creepy, especially when she goes into the basement following the sounds she keeps hearing, turns the light on and says “ Whoever’s down  there I’m gonna lock you in now!” and just as she said it BAM! – the door slams shit on her restricting her exit. The use of sound and atmosphere is very effective in this scene as it full expresses and sets the horror mood, with one of the main actors in the film being locked in dark room with just the flickering of flame. The flickering of the flame can be defined by the audience in many ways, one of which is that they can link the remaining life of the flame with the remaining life of the woman, as they may believe that anything can happen to her at anytime, in which she she has no control over.

In the complete darkness of the room we can hear the woman scramble about for help, banging on the door, crying and shouting for someone to hear her and come to the rescue. This may create sympathy for this character among the audience, as we all realise how helpeless she is and the fact that her life could end in any second. As she strikes the match stick, the silence tends to continue other than heavy breathing, which clearly indicates the depth of her fear. Suddenly, things start to get worse for the woman and more suspicious for the audience, as another clap was to be heard but this time resulting in the flame to die out. The woman legit screams her lungs out, which is a typical sound convention in such situtions especially in horror, as it develops a much deeper fear in the audience and defines the whole genre of the film.  As the scene ends, the screen goes black and the tune of the music box is played out, which therefore brings out an ominous feeling, mixed with childlike innocence.

When the women goes downstairs to try and find the intruder, she see’s the basement door open, so she walks over and peers inside the darkness. Darkness, is a common feature in almost all horror films , and here it gives us a very uneasy feeling as viewers- is something down there in the darkness. The woman turns the light on and peers down even further to go get a better view of the dusty basement, let alone it already being insanely creepy the white light gives the room a monochrome look and an enchanted atmosphere. This has connotations of the past, a different decade or even a different century, which may give the audience a clue that whatever is causing the strange happenings could be supernatural, from the past to haunt the family.

When the woman is locked in the basement, we see the screen go dark again, and this time it makes the audience feel more anxious and stressed as we don’t know what is happening to her in the dark, which again, makes the audience feel slightly more frightened and sympathetic for the character – as the darkness is hiding something which is not friendly. Although, she struck a match, unusually it did not cast a warm glow as they usually do. This light was more whiter and harsher, highlighting the woman's expression of fear to the audience. From the darkness behind her, we again see a familiar pair of sick hands, similar to the one from the wardrobe reach out and clap directly next to Lorraine’s face. This is done quickly, which again might make the audience’ hearts beat faster with fear and make them jump of their seats, due to it being so unexpected.

The editing and cinematography within the whole trailer has been used appropriately in a way to help create an apprehensive ambience for the viewers. The use of mid-shots and soft lighting within the first act of the trailer, allows it to follow the characters through their normal business, whether it was first entering their new home or playing games. A tracking shot, was also used to follow the woman as she goes on the quest  to find her daughter in the game, but by the time it reaches the beginning of the second act, we see everything starting to change sliightly.

After the doors of the wooden wardrobe open, the screen fades to black, before a hand hold, tracking mid-close up shot is used to film the woman from her front view. However, we cannot see where she is walking to or what she is walking towards, but this coupled with the shaky camera movements may give an unnerving impression to the watching audience. After this, a close up of her face is taken so the audience is aware of her true emotions and facial expressions when she finds out that her daughter is not where she think’s she is. IN the close up, we see the woman’s face drop with her expression changing spontaneously from joy to confusion.

These short cuts are followed by another long cut of 10 seconds, where the woman turns to see the door opening. Again, this scene would not have been as effective if there had been a cut in between as it will remove the realistic effect- the camera does an unnatural 180 degree spin, which is not usually a common shot in trailers, and the fear and emotions in the woman’s face is made clearly visible in this turn.