2. Paranormal Activity 2 contains the standard
conventions of a teaser trailer. It:
Is short.. only 1:13 minutes long.
It doesn’t show any of the plot of the film.
It doesn’t state when it is to be released.
Teasers are usually created for long anticipated
films or ones with big budgets. As Paranormal
Activity was such a success, the sequel would
be popular.
None of the actors/director are listed.
3. The trailer begins with a black screen which
flickers twice like a television interference. This
doesn’t immediately tell viewers that it is a
horror film but it adds a darker edge to the
trailer, foreboding what happens next. The next
shot shows a room with a body flying into the
camera. This definitely establishes the genre to
the audience because of the violence of the
action and the lack of movement following it.
The setting emphasis’s this as the room is dark
and shadowed and the camera has been
knocked over.
4. The scenes in the trailer don’t give anything
away about the plot of the film. They show
scenes that could shock viewers like the body
hitting the camera and the figure in the
doorway; but nothing that links directly
together to give away the story. Viewers don’t
see any of the actors and aren’t given any
information about the film and who created it.
This is typical to a teaser trailer as it is designed
to give the audience only a ‘taste’ of what is to
come.
All the audience know is that it is a film that
could possibly scare them and that it takes
place in a house where strange things happen.
5. The sounds that start off the trailer are the non-diegetic
television flickers and the diegetic heavy footsteps
coming up the stairs. These sounds are quite strong in
establishing the genre of the film. The silence that
accompanies them is more powerful though because it
creates an anticipation and tension about what is going
to happen next.
This silence is broken only by the non-diegetic sound
of wind edited over the scene which just emphasises
the lack of movement- as if that’s the only thing to be
heard.
When a figure suddenly appears in front of the camera
a mixture of diegetic and non-diegetic sound is heard.
The diegtic being the screams of the audience that it
cuts to and the non-diegetic is what sounds like
something breaking.
6. The text used is quite plain and typewriter-
esque. This fits in with the way it has been
filmed – because it is all done on a handheld
and is pretty simple.
The Purpose of it is to talk directly to the
audience and attempt to scare them more
The title is the only section which is edited in a
way which establishes the genre. The text
glows slightly on the black background making
it seem literally 'Paranormal'.
