Textual Analysis

The Forest

Lauryn Dainton

A trailer is a form of advertising in which the purpose is to promote a new film to potential audiences and aims to encourage people to buy the film or

see it at the cinema. The genre of a film will often be represented in a trailer through the elements of mise-en-scene and cinematography techniques. For example, the editing in a horror film is likely to be fast paced and include camera shots such as

extreme close ups, yet it’s very unlikely that these elements would be found in a romantic or comedy genre.

The choice of actors within the trailer can also represent the target audience. Majority of actors will have a specific genre that they are

constantly featured in. An example of this would be Jim Carey and comedy. Trailers will often have a unique selling point to help it appear different from others of the same genre. By having this it helps attract audiences because

a new release will appear different from previous trailers audiences may have seen before. Trailers will often create enigma to entice audiences

through mystery.

AIMS & OBJECTIVES OF A FILM TRAILER

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6hW8hUcXR-A

The Forest, is a supernatural horror film which means that the film falls within the genre of horror. It is directed by Jason Zada, and

stars Natalie Dormer and Taylor Kinney. After the first few scenes of The Forest trailer it reveals that

Gramercy Pictures produce the film and Lava Bear are responsible for the distribution.

Gramercy Pictures are known for their production of some well known horror films including Insidious: Chapter 3 and Sinister 2. Also, director Jason Zada is also known for writing and directing

other horror films including a short film he created, Take This Lollipop.

THE FOREST TRAILER TEXTUAL ANALYSIS

• The trailer is 2:27 seconds long.• The trailer doesn’t inform you on what the film is called,

the release date or any websites until 2:20, this is a good feature as it builds suspense and mystery for the audience but also will encourage the audience to watch

the full trailer.• It is an unusual trailer in the sense of mystery, it is hard

to guess what’s going to happen straight away which is a strong point for the film. This means the audience

can’t expect to be able to guess the plot line of the film.• There is also a different story line than would be

expected which also could be a USP.

THE TRAILER

NARRATIVEThe opening of the trailer introduces an audience to the setting through a series of point of view shots. By doing this the

audience feel more involved in the narrative as it feels like they too are

stepping into the Modern house which appears, warm , cosy, brightly lit with warm tones throughout, the house

includes furniture and decor that reflects a humble, friendly and safe place.

The trailer has a middle aged woman's voice over narrating which connotes an idea of innocence and purity through it’s story telling feel however the topic she

discusses is quite personal when played along with images from the trailer. This creates a calm atmosphere and relaxes

the audience before the trailer commences.

The narrator tells a story between two twin sisters. It then changes to a phone call between a man and the one sister. This adds to the mystery of what the

story line is going to be.

The story that the women tells implies that she knows something has happened to her sister and goes on a trip to find out what has happened, this adds to the suspense of the audience being left in the dark and not knowing what has gone on. The Forest goes against the typical conventions as often

in horror films, the females aren’t usually the ones to put themselves in danger and explore dangerous places.

The voice over sets the scene for an audience by introducing the storyline which leads to the introduction of the main protagonist Sara. When this

character is introduced, she appears relaxed from her body language which is something an audience can relate to as like her, they are unaware of what

will happen.Todorov’s narrative structure can be applied to the trailer as the opening

scenes are calm and balanced where the woman is seen being on the phone to someone. However when she receives information from the phone call

disruption occurs, the trailer suddenly becomes fast paced and the change in sound also puts a negative impact on the atmosphere. The disruption

increases as the trailer progresses and the audience does not see the new equilibrium as this will make them curious to know what happened.

CAMERA WORK CLOSE-UPS

The opening of The Forest trailer uses several close ups of the woman on the phone, each of the shots helps the audience to feel more involved and

to also get a feel for the basic storyline.By using close ups to display the relaxation and

calmness at the start of the trailer creates a mellow atmosphere for the audience but also helps the

audience to gain a more personal connection to the woman. Also a close up would encourage the

audience to focus and listen to the voice over as there isn’t anything else to look at. The choice of

focusing on the woman gives a feeling of innocence and purity as they are often associated calmness and sensibility. However the voice over

reveals that her story isn’t as relaxed as it is portrayed to the audience, therefore the audience are not expecting the sudden twist and as a result

creates a tense atmosphere.

LONG SHOTS

The trailer introduces the setting through the use of long shots.

In the first long shot, an audience can see that the atmosphere is natural and calm as the

house looks quiet and doesn’t look like a busy or disturbed home but also it could be too quiet.

This could set the tone for the film as being unexpected and dark, as the home looks safe but the lighting around the home is pitch black.

This could be a theme that the audience is unaware of.

Also, the surroundings appear to also be quiet, no other houses can be seen either side. This

could suggest the character is alone.This may create a sense of fear as it

foreshadows the characters loneliness as she walks through the hallways in the dark, and nobody will be there to help her if needed. These shots also highlight the modern time

period through the warm home and little details that everyday homes have.

HIGH ANGLE SHOTS

The trailer uses high angle shots to show how the main character is powerless and vulnerable, they also give a hint as to what her biggest weakness in the film is going to be.This is shown through an establishing shot as this highlights how small she is compared to her surroundings whilst also emphasising how deserted the setting is. This is dramatic irony as the audience can see that something will happen that the character is unaware of. The first and second shots both show how big the forest actually is, but also helps the audience feel involved as they are following them into the forest.

Towards the end of the trailer, the editing uses quick, fast cuts to help build tension.

As these cuts are quick, it makes the audience question what it is they have just seen. This will then

further encourage them to go and watch the film whilst also creating a sense of fear. For example,

multiple scenes are put together with a few different pop ups that give the basic information on the forest featured in the film, this makes the trailer continuous

and flows well.Cross-cutting is also used in the trailer. This is where

scenes are shown in a non-chronological order to show the most exciting scenes in the trailer.

In this trailer to more exciting scenes are shown gradually at the start with one or two but the majority are shown towards the end which helps to attract an audience and entice people to watch the film as the

most memorable scenes are left until last.

EDITING

The trailer uses a harmonising flute at the beginning, this represents a calm relaxed setting as the instrument is associated with

innocence and calmness and this setting represents that, but then as the fast paced scenes begin the flute cuts dead and then a

piano/keyboard, a harp and non-diegetic scare sounds begin and play different melody's relevant to the happenings within the trailer. The pace of the keyboard drastically changes throughout. The cut

out between the change creates unease and suspense for the audience. The music is in time with the happenings within the trailer, so whenever a jump scare would happen the keyboards pace would

increase and so would the volume. The music is consistent throughout the trailer with emphasis on all

diegetic sounds.

SOUNDTRACK

The weather is also used as part of sound. The wind is used as a diegetic sound, this instantly creates a naturally fierce atmosphere. If

these sounds were played alone, an audience are most likely to know that the atmosphere is quite negative . This is suitable for this

style of film as the weather is a typical convention in setting the scene in horror.

All diegetic sounds can be easily heard but all sound natural and add to the reality of the film, therefore creating an audience to feel

uneasy. The door creaking is used as the first diegetic sound we hear. The unzipping of the tent, the voice over the phone, the

aeroplane landing, the conversation between different characters, the shower, the wind, the fire, the rustling of the leaves, the click of the camera are all diegetic sounds that help with the suspense and

the scare of the trailer.

DIEGETIC SOUNDS

During the fast paced scenes at the end of the trailer the sound is extremely busy but

minimal, volume wise. The soundtrack for the trailer fits the

actions in all scenes but also still makes the audience feel quite uncomfortable as

they still don’t expect what’s going to happen. This encourages the audience to use their imagination to think about what

is on their screen. Silence is also used at the beginning and

at the end of the trailer. This builds tension at the start and shows at the end

how the scene is still quite tense. Todorov’s narrative structure can be

applied to this as the silences show how there is not an equilibrium.

The setting always appears quite light and calm, but also isolated. This creates a sense of fear as there is the normality of it being light and

calm but also, so much is going wrong that the characters are unaware of gives the audience a sense of reality.

The trailer shows signs that surround the forest, this can connote the idea that the character is being rebellious and crossing into a path that can only peruse bad vibes, it will also make the audience sit there and think ‘don’t go in there’ which is something you will find with majority

of horror films, this encourages the audience to get involved a lot more. The majority of this film is set in a forest, this is a typical convention of horror films, but this particular film is set in a specific forest that has a

background story to it to support the storyline. The trees within the forest surround the characters and this can emphasis the entrapment that is indicated from the characters.

MISE-EN-SCENE SETTING

The colours used are very warm colours and everyday colours in the modern world, but as the trailer progresses

the colours become a lot darker, and portray a sense of danger and can often be associated with death which is appropriate to the ‘suicide forest’ in which they are set. The colour of the character’s costumes are often quite

bright and modern, which again would tap into the reality of the situation. Although as the trailer progresses and

becomes more and more tense the costumes become dirtier and a lot duller which corresponds with the events within

the trailer. The lighting used begins warm toned but like everything else gradually becomes duller and darker as the events of the trailer progress. These little details create the tension

for the audience. The darker lighting connotes the idea of the unknown as the audience and characters in the film are unable to see what

could be happening / coming. Similarly, the dark lighting is suitable for the horror genre

as it adds to the gloomy, negative atmosphere.

COLOUR & LIGHTING

The trailer gives the audience a release date, this would give the audience a date to remember and ensure that they don’t

forget about the film whilst waiting for the release. The trailer talks to the target audience by using a Google

search bar with the following text ‘ Suicide forest true story’ , by doing this they are encouraging their audience to look into the true story but also to promote their new release, using this

is a synergistic technique. This form of advertising is relevant to the target audience as it can help people to raise awareness of the film through social

networking. Also, with Twitter if people start talking about the film, this all helps the promotion and raising awareness of the

film.

MODE OF ADDRESS

The unique selling point of the film trailer, is the fact that the film is based on a true story. Having a film based on a true story creates more fear and

tension for the audience as it’s a bit closer to home and there is the whole realisation factor

that these things have actually happened and are still happening and this is a scary thing to realise.

Also some members of the audiences may find that having a female being the brave one,

venturing into a suicide forest, going outside of the codes and conventions of a film and making the story line original and different to all other

films based around a forest. Many people value a strong independent woman, and this may further

entice a different kind of audience.

UNIQUE SELLING POINT