Horror Trailer Analysis - Silent Hill

The film ‘Silent Hill’ (2006) is classed as a Horror/Adventure. The film is based on a woman who goes in search for her daughter, within the confines of a strange, desolate town called Silent Hill. The film is based upon the Silent Hill video game which gives it an advantage as fans of the game will be encouraged to watch the film. However a horror trailer was created which has the purpose to advertise the film and provide its target audience with a good understanding of the narrative.

The trailer begins with an extreme long shot showing the two main characters (mother and daughter) sitting against a tree stump together, amongst a field full of a barley on a bright spring day. A fade to a medium close up is then used showing the mothers costume also shows that is a spring day as she is wearing a skirt with a top and cardigan. Natural lighting is used in this shot to emphasise their harmonious relationship and that are comfortable whilst in eachothers presence. As they chat in the shade created by the branches of a tree, the young girl is painting a picture which symbolises her youth, innocence and child like interests. As this scene is shown on screen, non-diegetic sound is used in the form of a voice over. The voice over is of the mother talking to the daughter as they sit by the tree as a range of shots show their surroundings.  The voice over is of the mother telling her daughter about what she says and does when in her sleep, the girl says to her mother “I don’t remember” so the mother replies “I know you don’t that’s why we’re going to go there”.  The place is ‘Silent Hill’.

There are a number of establishing shots used at the beginning of the trailer showing 'Toluca Country, West Virginia'. A low angle shot is used showing a car driving down a road during a dark wet night. At the same time natural lighting from the moon creates a shadow on the windscreen of the car, further emphasising that it is late at night. A sudden array of fast cuts are used to show the inside of Rose’s dark car, the road ahead of her and her daughter asleep in the passenger seat. However, suddenly the voice over stops and the sound changes to a piano playing. This music is played as Rose along with a zoom in to a close up of Roses face as she realises there is a young girl in the middle of the road.  Rose swerves her 4x4 in an attempt to avoid running her over. A loud screech sound is played as the car turns and skids uncontrollably into the side of the road, smashing into a brick wall. The figure in the middle of the road appears to a young girl that almost looks like the shadow of Sharon (the daughter).  The shadow of the young girl shows she is small with long dark hair, just like Sharon.

After the accident she opens her eyes in confusion and it seems she is in an isolated area where it appears to be snowing. She looks to the right realising her daughter is gone and is nowhere to be seen. Rose begins to run down a wide road in a misty forest area; at the same time shouting “Sharon? Sharon?’ Somebody help”. The screen then shows point of view shot as Rose looks forward then a shot showing that she is looking at her finger; wondering what is falling from the sky onto her. It appears to be black ash. Rose is situated in bottom left hand corner of the frame looking up at a sign that says “Welcome to Silent Hill” this is shown with the use of a tracking shot; from a high angle. As the shot then focuses on the sign there is a stab as a flash occurs. The sudden quick flash leads to a black out on the screen, however the sign is coloured in white therefore being the only visible object within the frame.  

As the trailer comes to one minute long the scene changes and Rose is on the phone to a male named Christopher who appears to be her husband; made evident thanks to a close up of a family photo in the home. Sharon is pleading him for help letting him know “she is not ok”. This engages audience allowing them to feel her fear and experience the panic she is in.

Her husband researches the history of ‘Silent Hill’ online which leads him to the discover that a “fire started thirty years ago.” A medium long shot is used whilst the male is on the computer, from this shot we as an audience can see his tense body language and concerned facial expression. Fast jump cuts from one scene to another are used to show Rose exploring the cut off village of Silent Hill as she desperately searches for her daughter. The music used whilst she searches for her daughter is mysterious and horrific, it almost represents mental confusion and emphasises the fact that she is alone as a lost soul. Throughout this scene she is wearing a beige mac this style of coat represents her age and her maturity.

At 1.19 seconds into the trailer a voice over states; “When the dark one opens and closes the door to Silent Hill”. The voice seems to be one of a males, as the voice over is playing Rose is searching through an old abandoned school, looking for Sharon. Whilst Rose is looking down into a cupboard on the floor, a figure runs past the doorway. That further signifies to the audience that this film is from the supernatural sub-genre of horror. As the figure walks past a heavy breathing sound is played similar to what you would expect if your saw i ghost move past a character. Rose shouts “Hey” as she wonders who or what that was. In relation to her being lost the next shot reveals a strap saying “Mysteries without answers”. The strap is presented in bold black capitals and the font almost imitates dripping blood due to the smudged of colour at the bottom of certain letters. The strap is placed onto a grey and white cloudy background which can be said to represent Rose’s feeling of shock and being lost.

As the trailer progresses, the narrative develops. At 1.35 seconds a warning sound is played. This sound is used to warn the people that danger is coming; it is the sound that was used during World War II in Germany. It therefore informs the audience that Rose is in danger, as she runs through the graveyard amongst deadly humans. These monster like figures are dressed in black and have long, dark, strangerly dirty hair. As Rose and the demonic figures run up the stairs a varied range of shots from a number of different angles (e.g. a long shot along with a pan as Rose is running followed by a low angle, extreme long shot and lastly a high angle medium long shot from above) are used to emphasise that Rose is trapped as she is surrounded by a family of walking monsters.



Low angle, extreme long shot

 

Towards the end of the trailer the supernatural genre is represented very well. At 1.45 seconds the audience is presented with a horrific scene where Rose is in a caged dark tunnel looking environment where the walls seem to be melting as they burn fiercely. An over the shoulder shot is used to show her surroundings and what she is fearfully staring at. This shot is followed by a high angle shot from above, we as the audience can only see Rose’s head as she looks up towards the top of the wall. This shot is used to show her facial expression of fear and disgust whilst uses a lighter to see what is around her and guide her through the room. The shot then dissolves in a blazing fire background that fills the screen and has a strap in the centre that says “This Spring”.

As Rose is discovering her strange surroundings a pale female with volumeised brown hair wearing navy shirt (olden day clothing) says “To find your daughter you must face the darkness of hell”. At this stage in the trailer the audience are now encouraged to sympathise with Rose as she desperately wants to find her “baby”.

Rose continues walking and finds herself amongst dead mummies, as close up shot of her face is used to show her terror as she walks between them.      However, at the same time Rose is represented as a feisty female that is willing to fight until she can no longer, until she is reunited with her daughter. Rose quotes “It’s ok baby; mummies coming” this represents her caring motherly nature.

A number of fast cuts aswell as footage showing flashbacks are used to end the trailer from 2.12 seconds up until 2.30. One shot shows Sharon’s; the daughter looking tormented lost and almost possessed. Her face is grazed, her hair wet, long and stuck to her face as she ejects a blank facial expression with her piercing eyes popping out of her head appearing as one who brings evil.

Throughout the last eighteen seconds of the trailer a very quiet, slow heart beat sound is played in the background. It is used to force the audience to concentrate solely on the action itself. The final shot presents Rose as she experiences terror within the place ‘Silent Hill’, one last loud scream comes out of her as she turns around and sees moving mummies for the final time in the trailer. The last shot presents the audience with the film title which is displayed in its conventional firey font and the trailer is brought to an end with music from the ‘Silent Hill’ video game.  

However, overall there is one unusual element within the ‘Silent Hill’ horror trailer. This trailer, unlike others features eight straps. They are all equally spaced out within the trailer and they also tell a little story. The first strap comes on screen at 1.01 and says “What was once an ordinary town” “Had been transformed by evil” at 1.09. This signifies to the audience that the main character within the trailer is going to walk into danger. Interestingly enough the next two straps also seem to correlate with each other as the third one says “Mysteries without answers” and leads onto “Secrets without explanations”. I believe that these two straps reflect the sense of loss that the film projects and the way that Rose is forced to experience terrifying ‘out of the ordinary’ situations. The fifth strap quotes “Fear without end” which says it all in three words and tells the audience exactly what the film can offer them “This Spring”. They are encouraged to believe that once they enter that world there is no turning back. The straps force them to seek satisfaction from ‘Silent Hill’

 

To conclude I feel that this trailer is very effective. Its use of a wide range of shots and edits helps it to bring out its scare factor. Secondly I think that this trailer has used a variety of sound such as heartbeats, heavy breathing, screams etc, that complimented the action on screen. Furthermore, the ‘Silent Hill’ trailer would be very successful in luring in its target audience to watch the full film as the trailer provides them with a great understanding of the narrative of the film and endless jumpy moments to push them to edge of their seats. Lighting and the use of camera angles were the main two elements within this trailer that have encouraged me to practise my skills to gain more professional looking footage with suitable lighting that accentuates my footage. Watching this trailer has been a great help to me and allowed to me plan my trailer with details that I may have not considered beforehand e.g. the importance of having the correct lighting and using a suitable and at the same time accessible light source.