'Paranormal Activity' Trailor

I have chosen this trailor as it maintains the realism that the film conveys, yet with short takes, makes the action fast paced and therefore more intense.

The trailor uses many generic convenctions from the horror film genre but uses them in a more subtle way. A hand held camera is used to film the action as with many horror sequences, however in this case the hand held nature is explained by the context of it being a home video. Night vision lighting is used to allude to darkness and therefore the unkown. This is a clever way of lighting the shots as any other form of motivated lighting may appear staged and therefore would loose the documentary style of the film. This documentary style adds to the fear within the audience as it implants the idea of the events actually happening to them.

The narrative structure of the trailor is generic of the horror genre as normality is pictured in the first shot, then the disruption is explained and progresses through a series of paranormal events, leading to an ending which leads to you wanting to know more. A typical character type is also presented to us in this trailor as the male doesn't believe in the "demon" and shows no fear when antagonising it. This character has his fate maped out for him through the audiences pre-conceived ideas about what happens to characters simular to him. Another way in which the narrative of this trailor falls in line with the horror genre is that the "evil" events take place mainly in the bedroom; the room that connotes sex. Sex is often a punishable offense due to the "reactionary sexual agenda" often present in horror films.

The trailor successfully portrays the realistic yet disurbing nature of the film, and builds the action and tension to leave the audience in fear, but wanting to see the whole story behind the clues that are given. I like that the trailor creates more panic in the audience through simple effects and camera work, rather than using gore and special effects for cheap thrills.