Since it's release in 2004, 'Saw' set new boundaries for film makers of the horror genre for future projects. It revolutionised the genre by showing off it's extensive features in the international trailer, despite the low budget. By watching and analysing the trailer, I have learned that no matter how big the budget, an effective and captivating trailer can be achieved from small details coming together to build emotions. I wanted to to gather more insight and extend my research by looking at this older example to compare to recent, more up to date horror trailers.
There is no doubt from this trailer that it is in the horror genre, and the codes and conventions of typical horror trailers can be found within it. The lighting plays a large role in creating a creepy atmosphere, with lots of low key lighting in many parts. This gives it a very dark feeling, which is common for horror trailers and films. However, in some parts, there is high key lighting, but this light is bright and white, which suggests that something unnatural about the situation that the film is centred round. When looking at the mise-en-scene of this trailer, we also see conventions which indicate the horror genre. For example, the mask that we see (that the character of 'Jigsaw' wears) is creepy, and may frighten younger viewers.The structure of the trailer also gives us an idea into what the film entails.
At first, we have the scene of the man taking photos in an apartment - the room is very dark, with only quick, bright flashes of the camera flash lighting up the room. Apart from the diagetic noise of the camera, there is no other sound in the first few seconds. Even in these few seconds, we can already identify the genre through the use of lighting. Right through to the end, not much is revealed about the plot of the film, leaving a certain amount of mystery for the audience (which would entice them to see it at the cinema). At the end, the title is shown, along with the dialogue of the character of 'Jigsaw' 'Live or die, make your choice...' which then fades to black. Again, this statement does not give too much away, creating mystery.
In this trailer, there are many interesting features of cinematography. There are a lot of jump cuts, rapid editing used, and swift camera movements, which provide a quick pace for he plot to run at. This builds tension, and reinforces the horror genre. The use of CCTV footage also suggests the idea of voyeurism, which is a key feature of the story of film. Green filters also give it an eerie feel, and the shadows accentuate this. Close ups and extreme close ups are used to shows the fear and emotion on the characters faces, which gives the audience an amount of sympathy for them, which may keep their attention and focus on the characters throughout the film. Other interesting edits include the break up of scenes with 'fade to black' transitions, and the use of text in between cuts. The fades help to reinforce the dark feel to the trailer, and the text, with words such as 'Psychopath' and 'Madman' also implies to the audience that the killer is someone to be afraid of (most people are afraid of psychopathic murderers in films such as Saw, which helps us to identify this as a horror film).
Due to the fact that is a horror genre, this film is clearly aimed at adults. Even some of the content of the trailer may be unsuitable for young children (all of the features that I mentioned) and the insinuation of pain and gore (the section of the advert which implies that the characters must saw off their own feet would be extremely unsuitable for children). The screaming and warped sound effects would also be too suggestive and frightening for children.
I really liked the use of lighting and editing in this trailer - the bright white/ blue filters created an unnatural and clinical feel, and the fades in between shots kept the trailer running fluidly. This trailer is for a horror film that features a lot of gore which will not be a part of our trailer, however, I will use these components of this trailer (the use of lighting and editing) as inspiration for my own trailer.
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