1. Analysis of the ‘Sinister’ trailer
The film trailer that you can see above promotes a horror movie called ‘Sinister’, which is a film
belonging to the supernatural sub-genre. The reasons why I have decided to analyse this trailer is
because I feel that it is really effective in promoting this horror film, through its use of effective and
appropriate horror iconography and general & technical codes and conventions.
Throughout the trailer the audience are constantly reminded of the genre and sub-genre that this
film is promoting. This is achieved through appropriate codes and conventions, both general and
technical. The iconography used within the trailer ‘Sinister’ includes horrific imagery of victims who
have died a painful death i.e. burned inside the car alive or hang, which is quite common among the
supernatural sub-genre of horror as it is often the source of where the possession has started from.
This feature will allow the film to appeal to the appropriate target audience as they would enjoy
watching the scary scenes. Furthermore, in this trailer the audience are also presented with
possessed, creepy-looking children, which seems to be a regular feature that often crops up in this
sub-genre. This will also appeal to the target audience, as they would be absolutely terrified of the
possessed children, for the reason that this goes against the innocence and sweetness ordinarily
associated with children. Another very important thing that signals the supernatural sub-genre of
the film is the use of religious and meaningful symbols used within the trailer. In the case of
’Sinister’, it is a symbol of a pagan Sumerian deity named Bughuul. The use of religious symbols or
attributes within the supernatural sub-genre, which can be both good and evil, seems to be very
common due to the fact that the battle between demonic evil and its binary opposite of religious
good often feature as a theme. Furthermore, in the ‘Sinister’ trailer the audience are presented with
a discovery of an evil presence, a demonic figure, which is the source of the disruption to the
equilibrium. This is another common convention in the supernatural sub-genre that is intended to
scare the audience. Another way that the sub-genre is signalled to the target audience is through the
mise-en-scene that is presented to them. It is very common for the scene to be set in an isolated/
suburban location and ‘Sinister’ is no exception. The reason for this setting is due to the fact that the
isolated location means that the character are not able to reach help quickly and, therefore, are
forced to fight the source of the evil themselves.
Non-diegetic text is used very effectively within the ‘Sinister’ trailer. The trailer begins with the green
rating screen, which is a very common trailer convention. It straight away signals to the audience
that it is a 17+ film, therefore, suggesting to them that the film will be very scary, thus building up
their excitement and luring an audience of horror fans to go and watch the film. The audience are
then presented with the company logo, which is also an effective way to persuade the audience to
watch the film as the fact that the big institution has produced this film will give the film further
credibility. The audience are told that summit entertainment is a ‘Lionsgate company’. Those who
are avid horror film fans will know that Lionsgate are famous for making horror films like ‘Saw’ and
‘The Possession’. This will reassure the audience that they are going to receive an equally effective
scare from this film. These two screens seem to appear commonly at the start of film trailers, one
after another, and the ‘Sinister’ trailer does follow this convention. The next non-diegetic text that
the audience are shown are some hints about the narrative,, that help them to figure out what
might happen in the film and help them make decision whether they will like the film or not. For
example, the audience are told that the family moved to the house just 9 month after the murder
took place in that house, this acts like a hint to the audience as the number 9 symbolises the holy

2. power and eternity, which in a way is ironic. References to other successful horror films are also very
common in supernatural films, and the trailer for ‘Sinister’ features one of these that feature closer
to the start of the trailer. The audience are presented with the following non-diegetic text: “From
the producers of Paranormal Activity and Insidious”. This will make the film more appealing for
those within the audience who have seen or heard of these films and know how enjoyable and scary
they are. With this in mind they will want to watch this horror film as well. The audience are also
presented with a tagline that also appears on the film’s poster: “Once you see him, nothing can save
you.” This creates a symbolic link between the two pieces of media, stretching the audience’s
interest in and potential understanding of the tagline and the film’s narrative. The tagline reveals
that the narrative of the film will revolve around some sort of demonic figure that the character
must avoid seeing, yet at the same time it gives the audience the hint that the characters within the
film probably have seen it and are now fighting for their live, even though probably it cannot be
saved. The title of the film and the release date are always placed at the end of the trailer to inform
the audience when the film is coming out. That way the audience would have been already
persuaded to go and watch the film and the next thing they would want to find out what the film is
called and what its release date is.
The narrative structure of the ‘Sinister’ trailer follows the narrative convention of film trailers in
general. The trailer has a slower start as the audience are presented with characters and their
equilibrium i.e. the audience can see a very happy family who have just moved to a new who’s
because they could not afford to live in their old house. We are also told that the main protagonist is
a writer. However, then the audience are made aware of a disruption to this normality by presenting
a shot of the box with tapes that has disturbing footage recorded on it, which creates the audiences
intrigue and this is when the trailer starts to pick up pace, showing the characters reaction to this
disruption. A fast montage of edits follows of the horrific imagery of protagonist children being
possessed and acting strange, creating tension and building up the audience’s excitement. At the
very end of the trailer this, however, stops and the audience are presented with the film title, which
is then followed by a sting of a silhouette of the person, giving the audience a last injection of horror,
before they are presented with the release date and institutional information. With regards to
Todorov’s narrative structure, as with all film trailers, the ‘Sinister’ trailer does not complete all
stages of the structure; the audience see as far as the character’s reaction to the disruption. This
makes sense, or course, as the audience will not want to see the repair or new equilibrium as this
would remove all suspense.
The representation of characters within the trailer matches the narrative of the film very well. For
example, the children are presented as very week and innocent and, therefore, they are the ones
who get possessed first and, therefore, bring terror to their families. This could be especially seen
during the fast montage when a little girl is walking towards her father with a hammer or when the
protagonist sees a number of children sitting on the floor with heir faces looking evil. When it comes
to the representation of males within the trailer, the audience are able to realise that all of them
seem to be presented as clever well educated people, who know exactly what they are doing. A
good example of that would be a professor who was explaining to the protagonist the meaning of
the symbol that appeared in the trailer. The detective was also male as well as protagonist himself.
Furthermore, the protagonist himself within the film is presented as a fighter who is determined to
save his family from the demonic figure that haunts them. The female, on the other hand, seem to
be represented as a typical housewife, worried about her family and uninformed of what is going on.

3. These representations indicate to the audience that the male characters and children definitely
dominate the film and are considered more important.
The use of the camera within the trailer was very effective in creating meaning. The trailer begins
with an establishing shot of the house where the action will take place and is then closely followed
by a number of medium and long shots, which introduce audience to the main characters and their
equilibrium. The audience are then presented with a long point of view shot of the box, thus
emphasizing the importance of it within the trailer and enabling the audience to guess that that will
be the source of disruption to the equilibrium; this shot also acts like a breaking point. The tension is
then created through the use of over the shoulder and point of view shots, closely followed by a
reaction shot of the character, signalling to the audience that the main action is about to take place.
During the montage of fast edits, the audience are presented with a number of different shots,
which explains the narrative to the audience even further. Closer to the end of the trailer the
audience are presented with a number of long or medium long shots, which present the audience
with horrific imagery of the children getting possessed and the characters fighting for their life
against the demonic spirit.
Within the trailer, mise-en-scene is used very effectively. As I have said before the film is set in a
quiet and isolated location, which means that when the characters equilibrium is destroyed they will
have nowhere to run. Furthermore, the fact that the main action will take place in the house is quite
ironic as the audience usually consider their homes as the safest place to be in. The house also
doesn’t look too old (even though it is quite old), which is a sign of the film breaking the stereotype
that a demonic spirit will exist only in very old and Victorian style houses. This will scare the
audience even more, as they might realise that even though their house might be new it is still
possible that it could be haunted or playing host to a darker entity. However, the house is typical,
despite this significant difference as it is large, detached and is located in a suburban environment. It
has big rooms with large windows, yet the inside is always seems under lit, there is also an attic that
hides the houses dark secret. The fact that the trailer is mostly set within the night time or when its
dark, straight away indicates to the audience that the action will take place during the night, the
time when most people are peacefully at sleep and the time when they are the most vulnerable,
thus scaring the audience even further. This also creates a mood that is more dark and sinister, the
darkness of the night reflecting the dark nature of the narrative. Throughout the trailer lighting is
used very successfully to create meaning. For example, at the beginning of the trailer, even though
the house seems to be lit very dimly, the characters’ faces are always illuminated, allowing the
audience to see their facial expressions very clearly, for example when the family is eating around
the table the audience can clearly see that the characters are smiling and are happy. However, the
moment when THE MAIN PROTAGONIST climbs up to the attic and sees the box (the source of the
evil), his face is covered by shadow. Highly symbolic, this reflects the way in which the protagonist’s
life is about to be overtaken by something very dark and that something evil is lurking within the
box. This acts like a breaking point, as after this moment, we see actor’s faces more and more
covered by the shadow, a clear indication that events are taking a more and more sinister turn and
that evil id dominating more strongly. The light is then used to illuminate more important objects
within the frame, such as the film tapes that contain horrific footage within them, thus straight away
signalling to the audience that they play an important role within the trailer. This indicates that the
characters and their lives are no longer important in the film, but draw’s the audience’s attention to
the importance of the objects. The use of body language and facial expression was also used

4. effectively within the trailer to create meaning and set the atmosphere for the film. At the beginning
of the trailer the body language of the characters was very relaxed, while their facial expressions
were cheerful. For example, when the couple is in bed and are about to go to sleep their body
language seem to be relaxed and they are both smiling and are cheerful. As a result of this, the
audience ARE able to conclude that they see the move to a new house as a new, positive and
promising chapter of the lives. However, when one when the main protagonist finds the box in the
attic, and the overall atmosphere has changed, the audience see changes in the body language and
facial expression of the characters. After that the audience were able to see more tension in
characters body, thus showing them that something was wrong. This could also be seen through a
worrying and scared facial expression. For example, when the main protagonist is setting sideways
to the laptop with an image of the demonic figure on screen, his body language is very tense and
through his facial expression the audience is able to see that he is thinking about something that
really worries him. At the very end of the trailer, just before the sting, the audience are presented
with looks of terror on characters’ faces and their helplessness in the face of the killer is also shown
through their body language i.e. their body seems to be shaken and there is sweat coming down
their faces. This creates excitement and anticipation for the audience and persuades them to go and
watch the film as they will want to find out whether or not that character has survived this terror.
And finally when it comes to costume and make up, I could say that the simplicity of it within the
trailer makes the film look even scarier. For example, all of the characters are wearing simple
modern clothes such as jeans, trainers and t-shirts and even when the protagonists son gets
possessed and climbs out of the box, at a first sight he loos like a normal healthy boy as his body
doesn’t show any scars and his skin colour doesn’t change either and it is only through his abnormal
behaviour of screaming hysterically the audience realise that there is something wrong with him.
This is a very effective strategy to scare the audience as they would realise that everyone, including
those who are ‘normal’ and live ordinary lives in their ordinary clothes are vulnerable to terrors seen
in this trailer. The use of costume and makeup on the demonic figure called Bughuul is also very
effective as he wears a black garment, which enables him to hide in the shadows yet his pale white
face and the black eyes enables his face to be noticed straight away. This is an effective combination
as it fits with the film’s narrative i.e. the children exposed to his face become especially vulnerable.
Another way through which the mood of the film was set and the fear, anticipation and excitement
in the audience was created, is through the use of effective an appropriate sound and a clever
editing. The trailer begins with a voiceover of a female news reporter speaking, thus straight away
explaining to the audience that there has been a murder in the house where the action is set, and
thus adding on to audience’s curiosity and promoting a sense of fear. After the text on screen, that
explains that the family moved into a house after just 9 month of the murder, the audience can hear
a voice over of family members speaking, which explains to us why they have moved to this house.
The dialogue between the characters, who are talking about why they have moved to this house and
how this is a beginning of a new chapter for them, is also complimented by relatively slow-paced
editing, which allows the audience to enjoy and understand the visual of the characters’ equilibrium
and their happy family days. When the main protagonist finds the tapes in the attic, the audience
are presented with non-diegetic sinister and mysterious sound that is used to add tension, which
straight away indicates that something is about to happen. This is also proven even further by the
fact that the box is filmed with a long shot, thus almost forcing the audience to pay close attention
to it, signalling to them the this box is important and its the source of evil. A sharp non-diegetic

5. sound then follows, along with a quick montage of shots, to present the horrific imagery recorded
on the tape, followed by a diegetic sound of the character screaming and shouting. The use of the
diegetic sound in this case gets the adrenaline running in the audience forcing them to close their
ears just not to hear this terrifying sound, which at the same time builds up their excitement. By this
point the audiences’ excitement has been building up and they start to get more and more curious
of what will happen next. After that scene the audience are presented with a constant sinister nondiegetic sound, which they can hear in the background while the characters are having a dialogue
about the tapes, through which the audience are constantly reminded that the demonic figure is
now constantly present with the characters and wouldn’t leave until he does what he planned to.
This dialogue is very effective in enhancing the audiences understanding and highlighting the most
important parts of the narrative. For example, through this dialogue the audience come to
understand that the demonic figure is there for the children and he wants to consume their pure
souls. This would scare the audience a lot as the idea that the pure souls of children could be taken
away is truly horrific, yet this seems to be a common case in many of the supernatural horror films.
Just before the first part of the tagline is presented all of the sound seems to stop except for a high
pitched, quiet, ringing non-diegetic sound, which is very effective in creating tension in the audience,
especially by the fact that it is complimented by the scene of the demonic figure. After that first part
of the tagline is presented, the non-diegetic sound starts to get louder and louder and creates fear in
the audience. The editing in this part of the trailer is used effectively to match the sound. For
example, when the male protagonist is standing near the window with a photo of Bughuul and then
sees him in real life in his garden, followed by a reaction shot, the non-diegetic sound is
synchronised very cleverly as the sound that is used there is loud and sharp and the editing is also
very quick, making the audience jump, thus giving them the scare. Another example is when the
audience are presented with the Bughuul on a screen of the computer. Here the quick editing is
matched with the sound of, what seems like, a quick pace of heartbeat, which is also very clever
because the character within the frame probably feels very scared and distressed by this point and
he probably also experienced an increase in their heart rate. The use of this sound is also very
effective in making the audience scared, tense and close to the edge of their seats. Closer to the end
of the trailer the diegetic sounds seems to be amplified to add on more emphasis to them and
enabling audience to hear clearly what is going on. For example, when the audience are presented
with a boy climbing out of the box screaming the sound is amplified making the audience feel uneasy
and desperate to close their ears just not to hear that sound. The sound of burning tape is also
amplified, which can indicate the protagonists despair. At the end of the trailer the audience can
hear the sound of finished tape rolling, which is then complimented by a non-diegetic sound with a
similar bit. This sound follows along a montage of horrific scenes, which builds up audience’s
excitement and gets their adrenaline running. This sound links with film narrative as the disruption
to characters equilibrium begun when the protagonist found the tapes and throughout the film they
played an important role in the event that followed.
When talking about the text on screen, the straps are used very cleverly to aid the audience’s
understanding, even though there are not many of them used. For example, the first strap that the
audience are presented with is ‘9 months later’, which straight away tells them that just after 9
month of the murder that took place in the house a new family have moved into it. The fact that this
strap has been placed there gives audience a hint that something similar might happen to the new
family that have moved here. The next two straps that the audience are presented with are the two

6. part of the films tagline, which states ‘Once you see him, nothing can save you’. This strap line is
placed very cleverly within the trailer as just before both parts appear the audience are presented
with footage of the demonic figure, thus making them nervous and scared and allowing them to
then work out that this is the ‘Him’ referred to in the tagline. Another piece text on screen that could
be seen in this trailer is MPAA rating, i.e. the age restriction of the film. At the end of the trailer the
audience are also presented with the name of the film, institutional information and when the film is
coming out, which is a great way to inform the audience, who have already been persuaded to
watch the film, when the film is coming out and what it is called.
Overall, I believe that the ‘Sinister’ trailer is very effective in luring in the audience and encouraging
them to watch the film. The reason why I think so is because the trailer follows the general
supernatural horror conventions, the sound IS used very well and it IS very cleverly synchronised
with the editing. There IS also evidence of horrific imagery that made the audience scared and
excited. One thing that especially inspired me in the trailer is the effective use of the sound. I HAVE
come to realise that effective sound resulting in an effective trailer. With this in mind, I will make
sure that in our trailer the sound is also used effectively.