1. Analytical
deconstruction of
Shutter
Island, Paranormal
Activity & The Exorcism
of Emily Rose

2. What is the difference
between a trailer and a
teaser trailer?
A trailer, simply advertises a film or programme,
often using shots or scenes from the movie. Most
films have both a full length trailer and a teaser
trailer. A full trailer is longer, reveals more
information about the movie and is often shown in
cinemas soon before the film's release. Whereas, a
teaser trailer is specifically that - a trailer meant to
tease. They don't reveal any significant plot details
and are meant only to give the spectator a minor
glimpse as what is to come. These are more
commonly found online and on TV a while before the
release of the film. This is to attract attention and
create a buzz around the up and coming movie.

3. Shutter Island;
Shutter Island is a psychological thriller set in a remote
asylum on a private island. The trailer introduces us to the
protagonist, a detective played by Leonardo DiCaprio, who
appears to be inspecting the case of a missing person
within the asylum.
However as the trailer progresses the audience become
aware of a twist in the plot through the detective’s change
of behavior. The pace of the trailer increases whilst the
music climbs to a rapid pace, this creates tension and
hints at the horror which lies in the asylum.
Furthermore it suggests that there is more to the detective
than the trailer is willing to convey and leaves the
audience questioning his position within the asylum.
We have chosen this trailer as we aim to create a similar
setting for our trailer (mental asylum) and a similar hybrid
genre (psychological thriller/horror); we felt that this trailer
portrays this combination of genre well in the way we hope

4. Music & Sound Effects
Sea crashing against the shore emphasizes the isolation of the island.
Screaming noises which connote danger and suffering.
A number of sudden loud bangs whilst introducing shots within the asylum, which
creates tension.
Silence whilst the guards and detectives are speaking which highlights their
authority and allows their dialogue to hold importance when they say: “We only
take in the most dangerous damaged patients” which really highlights the setting.
Whispers from characters in the mental institute which is following horror genre
conventions.
We plan to incorporate the loud bang sound effects to enhance the change of
shots in our trailer and to follow conventions from Shutter Island and build the
same scale of tension within our own institute. We also aim to use whispers in our
trailer however we want to show where the whispers are coming from in
comparison to Shutter Island where they use the whispers as voiceovers. We
plan to include dialogue from doctors in our trailer to clearly convey our narrative,
highlight their authority in contrast to our protagonist and to show the importance
of what they are saying (that our character is mentally ill) We are challenging the
amount of dialogue used in the trailer for Shutter Island by minimizing our amount
of dialogue to emphasize our horror genre; instead we are using conventional
shots of our character being possessed which maintains the scary feel to horror
films.

5. Mise-en-scene
Big black gates used in the introduction of the trailer- introduces us to
the setting (mental institute) The guards alongside the gate suggest
the entrapment of the asylum an the seriousness hinting at the
dangerous patients inside.
Deserted, empty rooms.
The shot of the shower is a convention of horror films as typically there
is normally always a shot of the victim in a shower; this suggests their
vulnerability and hints forthcoming danger.
Barbed wire is used in a shot during the build up in the trailer. This
further enhances the entrapment aspect to the asylum. The darkness
in the shots conveys a horror feel and the sound effect alongside the
shot makes the shot feel realistic and sudden.
Establishing shot of the asylum- large old isolated building which
stands as the destination of the institute.
We plan to combine a shot of large black gates with the establishing
shot of our asylum in our trailer therefore challenging these features of
mise-en-scene in Shutter Island. We are doing this as we feel it is
important to introduce our audience to the setting immediately. We are
thinking of including a shot of barbed wire however aren’t too sure if
we will be able to gain as good as effect as they do in Shutter Island as
there is not barbed wire which typically looks as twisted and effective
as this one. To keep with conventions of horror films we plan to use a
shower shot with our female protagonist to highlight her vulnerability
and to suggest forthcoming danger.

6. Shutter Island; Target
Audience
The age rating for the film is a 15 therefore in comparison with The Exorcism of Emily Rose
we can argue that the film isn't suitable for a younger audience suggesting that it contains a
lot more scarier and thrilling moments which wouldn't be suitable for a younger audience. In
the first 10 seconds of the trailer we are introduced to the A-list star, Leonardo Di'Caprio
immediately suggesting that this film is targeted at a female audience as he is very popular
and attractive. Furthermore, the fact that he is well known suggests that the film will gain
mass appeal as there would be a lot of build up and hype around a film staring an A-list star
as the protagonist. The film's genre, Psychological thriller also suggests action which typically
appeals to male audience and we can see this through a three-shot image of the detectives.
Typically, films containing horror genres do not include well known actors, in example the
actors used for Paranormal Activity are unknown and this could suggest why the trailer has to
strongly emphasize horror conventions to appeal to their target audience where as this film's
trailer can just subtly embark on thrilling and scary moments as they know that their A-list
actors will create the most appeal.
Examples within the trailer that appeal to its target audience;
-Image of Leonardo Di'Caprio- attractive, popular, female audience. (screen shot where it
states his name and compare to Paranormal Activity lack of emphasis on actors name)
-Screen shot where action is taken place (detectives, guards, guns etc)- male audience.
How this will affect our trailer and target audience;
We are ultimately challenging the use of characters to appeal to our target audience of this
trailer- instead we are following conventions of Paranormal Activity by using unknown
characters; this will force us to exaggerate our thrilling and scary moments within our trailer to
appeal to our target audience that way instead of A-list actors. -We are also going to include a
build up of action within our trailer to appeal to male audience- in example we plan to use
found footage to convey our female character's memory of the killing of her Mother when she
is possessed and this found footage will be action packed, with fast paced music, lots of
changing shots etc.

7. Representation of social
groups;
WHO DOES THIS TRAILER REPRESENT;
Social groups; Patients who suffer with mental health
problems- negative portrayal of them, disturbing
behavior- allows the trailer to appear scary. Detectives-
males. Connote action therefore male audience appeal.
HOW WILL THIS EFFECT OUR TRAILER AND WHO
WE WANT TO REPRESENT;
We want to represent a social group of doctors, which
are a social group within Shutter Island however do not
play a dominant part in the trailer. We are representing
the social group of patients who suffer with mental
health problems but are challenging the way Shutter
Island present this group as we are only representing
this social group through one character.

8. Paranormal Activity;
Paranormal Activity is a film about a young couple moving into a
suburban home and becoming increasingly disturbed by a nightly
demonic presence. The film is shot with hand-held cameras and
this is hugely reflected through the production budget of under
$15000. The trailer exposes the audience to the nightly demonic
presence through found footage to express a realistic sense of
horror.
We have chosen this trailer to deconstruct as we found similarities
in what we want to include in our trailer in terms of style and
editing. We intend to include a demon possession and incorporate
found footage to represent the protagonist's point of view. We
chose this trailer as it involves techniques we can easily mimic
when filming our own trailer and the narrative of 'devil force' is

9. Style;
Found footage and CCTV techniques are used in the film are are
presented in the trailer to allow the audience to feel part of what's
happening and can also leave the the spectator in suspense as
this technique of style may fail to show every detail of the trailer.
The film is filmed in a similar way to a observational
documentary, creating the effect that original sound and
raw, uncut footage was used, like a fly on the wall documentary.
Editing;
The most effective cut used within the trailer is the 'white noise'
screens that replicate a home video recorder, another way they
simulate this is by super imposing the date and time in the bottom
right hand corner of the screen. This also mimics a home video
and adds to the realist narrative. The trailer also cuts to black
shots with short reviews about the film and text such as;
"Experience it for yourself" flashing onto the screen. This
addresses the spectator directly and persuades them to want to
watch the film.
After watching the Paranormal Activity trailer and analyzing their
editing techniques which stand out the most to us, we plan to
incorporate the 'white noise' effect during our found footage
technique and aim to edit the time and date on to the bottom rise
of the screen whilst the white noise effect is playing. We liked the
style of the trailer and want to use found footage sequences in the
middle of our trailer to reflect a memory that our protagonist is
remembering to give the effect of a fly on the wall to allow the

10. Paranormal Activity; Target audience
The target audience for this film is stated briefly in the comparable profile taken
from Pearl and Dean's website (pearlanddean.com). From this we can learn
that the target audience for this film is young audience (15-24) which is typical
within the horror genre. From the trailer we can also see that the target
audience may be couples; the narrative of this film is based around a couple
who become increasingly disturbed by a nightly demonic presence therefore
the trailer might persuade couples to go a watch the film. The fact that the
trailer seems to be challenging typical conventions with the horror genre by
using two main characters including one male instead of conveying vulnerability
through the use of just one young female suggests they wanted to widen their
target audience by increasing their chances of targeting men for example.
Examples within the trailer that appeal to its target audience;
Use of both genders to ensure a mass appeal.
The demonic presence of the trailer- appeals to the audience as its a well
known aspect which has been used in many films before e.g. 'The Exorcist'.
However we feel that the trailer doesn't specifically mention the demons instead
just expresses a powerful presence leaving the audience in suspense to what it
could be.
How this will affect our trailer and target audience;
-We are challenging the use of characters in Paranormal Activity, by using just
one female character as the protagonist instead of two, to follow conventions of
the majority of horror films to convey our horror genre more realistically.-We are
using a similar narrative to appeal to our target audience- devil presence. The
devil presence clearly successfully appealed to its target audience therefore
when it comes to the production of our trailer and the creation of the devil
presence we are comfortable in knowing that it will appeal to our target
audience and can look at the way Paranormal activity does it to gain a more
realistic and professional final result.

11. WHO DOES THIS TRAILER REPRESENT;
Age; Young couple- allowing the film to relate and appeal to its target
audience (young people)
Gender; Male and female- again allowing the film to relate and appeal to
both genders of its target audience.
HOW WILL THIS EFFECT OUR TRAILER AND WHO WE WANT TO
REPRESENT;
We aim to use a young female to play our possessed protagonist to allow
our trailer to relate and appeal to its target audience of young people.
However we are going to challenge Paranormal Activity's use of its main
male character and aim to use a male for the doctor, instead of the main
character. This way we will have the chance of appealing to male
audience by representing their social group however will be following
conventions of many horror films through the use of just one female
young main character.

12. The Exorcism of Emily
Rose;
Based on a true story, the trailer of The Exorcism of Emily Rose
(TEOER) portrays a young female possessed by the devil and
the fight that her family alongside a priest have to go through to
try and win justice against court. Through the trailer we can see
that Emily Rose's family and the priest believe she is somehow
possessed however are taken to court as being accused of
performing an illegal procedure 'Exorcism' unnecessarily. The
trailer is packed with dialogue taken out of the film chronologically
shown which allows the audience to easily grasp the narrative. It
is filled with disturbing shots of Emily Rose herself behaving
possessed by the devil; these shots are playing alongside
conventional tense music typically found in a horror trailer which
allows the whole watch of the trailer to become pleasurable for
the audience as it is what the audience would expect and want
from a horror trailer.
We have chosen to de-construct and analyse the trailer of
TEOER as the narrative is very similar to one we wish to create in
our trailer. We are going to be using the idea of a girl being
possessed by the devil and the struggle between her and the
doctors which almost reflects the struggle between the court, the
family and priest in the trailer of TEOER; therefore analysing this
trailer seemed perfect. The conflict of 'what is real and what isn't'
is what we really want to emphasize in our trailer, and we felt that
TEOER trailer really portrays this, leaving the audience to make
up their own minds.

13. Characters;
Young female is used in TEOER- holds connotations of vulnerability and innocence.
Emily Rose, victim and protagonist which is typical in a horror film- follows
conventions- pleasurable for audience as it is what is expected.
Judges in court- there as instigators of the disequilibrium. Question the priests
exorcism procedure.
They don't see it as putting Emily Rose out of her pain and healing her but sees it as
unnecessarily killing her. There to create a problem, conflict.
In our trailer we plan to follow conventions of a typical horror film and include our
main character and ultimately the victim as a young female to ensure we appeal to
our target audience by providing them with what they expect and find pleasurable in
our horror trailer. As the devil holds connotations of being such a powerful force, by
including a young female who gets possessed by one will really emphasize her
vulnerability. We also plan to include doctors who are similar in their role to the
judges in the court in 'TEOER' as they are there to cause a clash in beliefs for the
audience and leave them wondering who to believe, the young female or the doctors
to whether she is mentally ill or is possessed by the devil.

14. Plot;
Young female possessed by the devil- The devil is a character
which typically appears within the horror genre and plays a
huge part in the development of the plot as when she first gets
possessed is when the film is at is peak and the conflict
begins. The devil is also a powerful force which highlights
young females vulnerability.
The court case plays a huge part in the development of the
plot as it leaves the audience left with the choice in believing if
she is just suffering with a mental illness or if she is actually
possessed by the devil. Court case instigates a disequilibrium
to the plot, causing a problem for her family and the priest who
believe she is possessed and making it much more
pleasurable view of the trailer.
We have chosen to include a similar plot as TEOER to include
in our trailer, as we feel that is a perfect plot to incorporate in a
Psychological thriller/Horror genre as it will follow conventions
within this genre e.g. possession, young female etc. Also we
wanted to base our trailer on a 'true story' and found that most
trailers including this one, and 'Paranormal Activity' are
actually based on a 'true story' allowing this trailer to be useful
whilst developing a plot for our own. We also want to create a
conflict of different beliefs, like the trailer of TEOER, however
we are going to do this through what the doctors believe the
young female in our trailer has and what she herself actually
believes. We are going to challenge the way in which
TEOER's trailer shows their conflict in 'different beliefs' as we

15. Target audience;
The age rating for this film is PG-13. For a typical horror film, this age rating is very rare as well known horror
films typically include age ratings of at least 15 and even more so, 18. This suggested that this film wasn't as
scary on a horror scale as other films with a higher age rating, however we felt that the idea of 'being
possessed' and 'devilish behaviour' had the potential to be conveyed through a increasingly disturbing and
more scary film and ultimately a higher age rated film in example, Paranormal activity who is rated a 15. The
film is asking the viewer to examine their own beliefs about life and death, religion and science therefore we
felt that the target audience for this film must be open to challenges thrown at them about what they really
believe and what they don't; ultimately the viewer must have a close relationship with their inner beliefs to be
able to watch such conflicting controversy in a film. Typically, horror films are aimed at a younger audience,
15-25, therefore as this film sits under the genre of horror the film could appeal to a young audience who find
pleasure in suspense and being scared. However as this film includes a dominant focus on controversial
topics such as science and religion we can argue that these features may appeal to an older audience as the
study of religion and science connote history (an area which typically appeals to an older audience)
Examples within the trailer which appeal to its target audience;
-Screen shot of when Emily Rose is possessed (scary)- young audience.
-Conventional aspects of horror-horror music, young female as the victim as well as the protagonist,
disequilibrium- audience are given what they expect from a horror and results in an enjoyable and pleasurable
watch.
-Dialogue- In court- older audience (screen shot)
How this will affect our trailer and our target audience;
-When Emily Rose is possessed- want to show our female character's 'devilish' behaviour to scare our
younger audience and give them what they expect.
-Conventional aspects of horror (young female as victim, horror music, disequilibrium) to give our audience
what they expect, making it a pleasurable and suspenseful watch.

16. Social groups;
Religious people of society – through the priest and his
practice of the exorcism on Emily Rose.
Lawyers and judges in court- instigate the
disequilibrium in the trailer, believe the priest
performed an illegal procedure (Exorcism) on Emily
Rose.
HOW WILL THIS EFFECT OUR TRAILER AND WHO
WE WANT TO REPRESENT;
We aim to represent the social group of doctors in our
trailer which challenges the presence of
judges/lawyers used in TEOER. However we want the
social group of doctors to still serve the same purpose
in our trailer as they do in TEOER, to cause
controversy by raising the question to the audience 'is
she just mentally ill or is she possessed by the devil'.