Horror Film Trailer

This film is called Grave Encounters (2011), it is set in a psychiatric hospital that has been abandoned. It was the 'dumping ground for embaressing family members' as they said. A ghost hunting crew goes in to investigate the paranomal activity. The setting of the film is in an isolated abandoned building, which had previously been occupied. What once was a busy building full of people is now a nest for the undead. The hospital itself seems to be located in an area far from the city, or any civilisation, this makes the thoguht of being in this place more scary as if anything went wrong there would be nowhere to run. The building is known for its past, its history of mentally ill people being isolated here. Lots of distressed people were fostered here, which adds to the creep factor of the building. The building is large itself, with many hall ways and corridors which give a hint of a secretive past, or unwelcome presence lurking behind the walls. The whole trailer is filmed at night, in the dark. Where supernatural entities seem to stereotypically lurk. This also challenges viewers fear of the dark, and the thought that there is something hiding in the darkness, almost stalking you.


The trailer is based on a ghost hunting team filiming one of their episodes in this mental institution, on the basis of the rumours around the local town that it is haunted. The trailer is filmed by hand held camera either on a stand or by hand. This gives a quite jolty effect, when the characters run the camera runs too, which makes the whole scene more personal and as if the viewer themselves are running from the undead. This type of camera work is very expressive rather than your classic filiming point of view, this involves the viewer, which in a horror can enticen the fear factor. There are views of the camera being places in the room to watch the paranormal activity take place, this adds to the fear of the trailer as it shows that no one is around and that these events are seemed to be occuring by a supernatural force. There are many people in the film, not just one person which in a way also adds to the fear of the film as it shows that even when your with company you can still get effected by the spirit around. There were a few unsettling jumps which gets the viewers heart racing. It is a fast moving trailer but it also tells the story from the main character's point of view, the fact that they are a ghosthunting team on a mission to explore the spirits of the abandoned mental home. This way the viewer gets a slight taste of the story without giving away too much, but also to leave them wanting to know more. There are sudden points of silence, then a shock of a jump where something frightening has happened, this again gruel's the viewer. Most of the sound is diagetic which makes the scene seem more realistic as if it has really happened which will frighten the viewer more, as they will be able to relate more to it.


Most of the film is taped therefore its got that black and white feel to it, which connotes an ancient, old school type feel but also a dark scary night feel. The shots showing the room in the dark are scary to a viewer as they know something is going to happen, but they dont know what and when. The dark connotates evil, and mystery and most of this trailer is in the dark. The only light source is a light which one of the crew members has, which also adds to the scare of the film, the thought that if that light blows, there is no way of seeing anything, and the unseen is always feared. There is not many objects int he terms of mise-en-scene in the trailer mostly just objects you would find  in a hospital such as beds, but things such as windows are a key point. There is a fear stereotypicall of doors and windows shutting on themselves by a source of paranormal evil, which is shown in this film. At the end of the trailer also we see a girl in white in the corner, which is all meant ot be innocent she is possibly scared, then she turns around and makes a gruelin, shocking, hideous face and it completely turns the situation around we are suddenly frightened of her.