Cabin in the woods trailer analysis

The beginning of the trailer sets the scene that a group of friends are going away together, it is important that they have already shown the relationship between the characters that are starring in the film as this makes you instantly form a relationship with them. It shows them driving off down an empty road surrounded by trees which suggests that they are in a remote location, the perfect setting for a chilling horror. Even though the trailer has not yet shown any gore or scary parts of the film, you can already gather that the film is not going to be any other type of genre due to the fast cuts, and locations in which it has been shot in. The fast cuts makes the trailer appear more jumpy and as though more is going on. You are always expecting action and something to happen, and when it doesnt it only adds suspense to the clip.

As they turn up to the campsite in which they are staying in, at first glance you can tell that it is abandoned, which already seems as though it poses a threat. Why has no one been there? Why has it not been well kept? Is there something wrong with it? Derelict buildings are left abandoned with the closed sign still visable, but the door wide open. This automatically suggests an intruder has been there. However they tap on a window and an old grubby man walks out. The un washed look in which they have given him suggests that he is not well kept and lives a rough life, already making him look like a threatening figure.

"If this trailer is any indication, Cabin in the Woods goes beyond merely being a self-aware flick where characters try and resist the stereotypically stupid behavior that traditionally dominates these sorts of films. It also throws what appears to be a strange sci-fi angle into the mix, complete with giant honeycomb-patterned force fields and sinister operatives surveying the main cast as they attempt to escape deadly (inhuman? alien?) creatures." Dec 5, 2011 by Sandy Schaefer

During this trailer they use a lot of close ups in order to show emotion and detail in the film, we shall also be using this technique in order to portray main emotions in our piece such as fear, anger, and threat. I believe that this works extremeley well as you are able to see the expressions very clearly in the actors faces. We shall also use a lot of mid shots in our piece as it can show the stances of characters, and give away vital information about them. For example, a slouch may suggest a submissive character or victim, where as a character with a strong stance may suggest that they have a lot of power.

The dark lighting used in this piece makes it hard in some parts to see what is going on, therefore when editing our footage we will have to make sure that we keep a good balance of lighting in order for the audience to not miss out. However the dark lighting can be extremely effective in horror films as you do not know what is in the dark, which makes you fear the unknown.

When using script in this trailer, they make the writing a glowing white with a red edge, this makes the text stand out against the black background, we will also use a similar technique in our trailer as it appears effective to the audience.