Film Trailer analysis : Paranormal Activity 4

The trailer begins with the certified approval green screen saying that the piece of media is suitable for appropriate audiences by the motion pictures association of America.

The first screen begins with footage from a surveillance camera outside of a house we can tell this is CCTV footage from the blue and green night vision style tint. Furthermore we can also see the time the footage is being shot in the lower left hand corner, a subtitle appears reading ‘Carlsbad , CA October 2006’ this establishes the location and the time the footage is being shot. Furthermore fans and followers of the paranormal activity series will be able to identify that this footage is from the first of the paranormal activities.

The scene then transfers to inside the house we can tell it’s a family home through the mise en scene elements such as the family pictures hanging along the stairwell and the child’s buggy in the hall way. We here a concerned voice call ‘Katie?’ reflecting that they are distressed and perhaps need help from ‘Katie’. The camera then breaks up and the next scene show’s a camera shot from another part of the house, we see a child’s bedroom again we see something launched towards the camera and a female standing there almost as though she is in a trance. Suddenly she has a child in her arms he is crying out; through the CCTV footage we see her exit the house. The following subtitle reads ‘Katie and Hunter’s appearance remained unknown’ this subtitle will intrigue and frighten the audience as use of fear of the unknown leaving the audience asking how?, And why? This has occurred. We can see what has happened is not right the music heightens as the child’s cries become more distressed.

The next subtitle appears against a black background reading ‘Until now’ the font is in a Type writer font indicating that this is official footage and it is documentation of the events. The next scene is webcam footage of a teenage girl talking to her friend online. She says ‘this tracks done and I’m going to go and make a snack downstairs’ her friend seems as he calls ‘No No No take me with you’ The next scene we see her taking food from the fridge uncertain her friend asks ‘are you alright?’ we then begin to her sirens in the background, the sirens are an indication to the audience of an alarm that trouble is about to occur. We see the girl flustered as she walks across she tells her friend ‘There is something going on across the street’ she shows her friend the house which the disturbance has occurred, but it is too dark to see clearly this adds a sense of realism for the audience as it shot from her webcam and shows what she can see so the audience are seeing it directly through the characters perspective. She tells her friend in a hushed breathe ‘That’s the new neighbour’s house’ this helps the audience to understand the basic plot, that there is something wrong with the new neighbour. Her friend replies ‘What the hell?’ showing how the characters are shocked by these disturbances going on in their neighbourhood. The next subtitle reads ‘This October’ this establishes to the audience when the film is going to be released.

The doorbell rings and the child enters the house the girl informs that ‘it’s the new kid from across the street’ the child from the house which experienced problems, we see it as a point of view shot of someone looking over the balcony. The following clips are montage of everyone within the household’s reaction to this new child. Through the characters dialogue the audience learn some important facts and characteristics about the child, the boy asks ‘His names Robbie?’ establishing after researching the character of Robbie I researched the directors vision of who Robbie is meant to be all of the trailers and the first half of the movie led us to believe that Robbie was an older version of the kidnapped Hunter, it was actually Alex's brother, Wyatt. Directors explain this is because “We have a very specific idea of what he is and how he fits into the larger picture, but we really felt like in 'Paranormal' tradition, it's better to just give the tiniest amount of information at a time and leave Robbie this mysterious character." Joost's co-director offered up a more complete answer. "Robbie is a messenger," Schulman said. "He's sort of a messenger for the coven”. We see Robbie befriending the main characters younger brother through a point of view shot of Alex as she documents the strange events. She informs her friend ‘yeah, his mum went into hospital’ again adding further background information for the audience. The next shot is another point of view shot of Alex talking to her mum about Robbie she asks ‘So he’s just going to say here?’ reflecting her concerns about him. We see the mother’s reaction as she shakes her head replying ‘Is there anything we can do?’ showing that she herself is not over joyed by his stay but doesn’t necessarily see him as a threat as Alex does. We then see a shot of Robbie sitting with Alex’s brother clutching a teddy bear. Alex’s friend replies ‘He has no relatives?’ shocked that he has to stay with their family leading to the audience to question how come this family of a mother and a son are so isolated? Fans of the paranormal activity films may ask could they possibly be Katie and Hunter? Alex replies ‘I don’t know I’ve never met his mum’ this adds to the sense of mystery, the footage is edited so the piece of footage cuts of as reflecting that the footage isn’t professional and is Alex’s own personal home footage, this is significant to the audience as it makes the footage more frightening as they imagine that perhaps they could find themselves in a similar situation.

The next scene we see Alex on webcam again talking to her friend, Again a use of Alarms is used to alert the audience that something isn’t quite right. We hear a beeping noise the alarm sounds ‘Front door open’, we know something isn’t right as Alex calls out ‘Mum?’, we follow Alex as she tracks down the cause of the disturbance through her webcam device. There is a use of sound effects of a door creaking open there is also non-diegetic sound of a low thudding beat similar to the sound of a person’s heart beating rapidly reflecting that Alex’s anxiety levels are raising. We see Alex through her webcam the lighting is minimal lighting the underneath of her face alone, giving her a ghostly look furthermore the fact that the background scenery isn’t visible adds further to sense of the unknown what is causing the disturbance in the house. The audience may also link that these disturbance are caused by Robbie they began at his house and they have reoccurred at this house too.

The next scene we see a large chandelier swinging frantically because of a unknown force, this is an icon used in supernatural films as a sign of a spirit/poltergeist making their presence fully known. We here Alex whisper in awe ‘What the…’ however before she can finish her sentence the chandelier collapses in front of her making the audience jump, Alex screams in terror, she points the camera upwards to see what has caused the chandelier to break and standing at the stairwell is Robbie, this is a pivotal moment in the trailer as the audience realises that Alex’s suspicions are right he stands looking down at her resentfully his hands through the railings, showing that perhaps there is a not only a physical barrier between the characters but an emotional barrier as Alex has never trusted Robbie.

The next scene fades from black showing the transition of events to the next day the following scenes show everyone’s reactions within the families household we see Alex’s mum cleaning up the remains of the chandelier from the night before she alerts her ‘Mum I don’t think it was an accident!’ her mum replies ‘What are you talking about?’ showing her disbelief this is a common feature used in supernatural films often the character who see’s the supernatural being isn’t believed by fellow characters are often labelled as delusional or crazy. She films her friend’s reaction he comments ‘it’s really weird’ an edit again is used to cut to another scene.

We see ‘Hunter’ scrawled across the wall in child’s handwriting again repeating the link between the child who disappeared in Paranormal Activity Two, Hunter and Robbie the boy who has caused mysterious goings on we here Alex whisper ‘Hunter’ clarifying what the writing reads to the audience and emphasising that she is investigating the strange occurrences covertly. The next scene reads ‘The activity’ this relates to the title of the films ‘Paranormal activity’, The next scene shows Alex’s friend demonstrating how the Xbox Kinect can create tracking dots, the scene is filmed in night vision again following the plot that Alex is trying to track down what is happening in the house what is causing the paranormal activity, night vision is used to show that they are tracking what is happening at night time as this is mainly where the occurrences happen, this overall builds on the idea that Alex and her Friend are investigating and documenting the paranormal activity happening in her home. The next subtitle read’s ‘Is closer than you think’ this relates to the unexpected twist in the film although the trailer leads us to believe that Robbie is Hunter this is not true.

The next scenes go through a series of CCTV shots throughout the house, we can tell its CCTV footage through the type of Camera used and the time that is displayed in the left hand corner we see no activity until we are presented with Alex’s room we see Robbie enter her room whilst she’s asleep. This shot then transfers to Alex watching the same clip on her laptop we can see it’s her own footage through the laptop screen and the display menu. She looks in horror at the evidence as she utters to herself ‘Oh my god what’s he doing?’ her worst fears have been brought to life there really is something wrong with Robbie. She films continues to document the disturbance she see’s Robbie standing in front of the kinect at  3am she asks him ‘Robbie can you tell me who you were talking to?’ he whispers back ‘Nobody’  however we see something move in the background a paranormal force perhaps Alex screams and the footage is cut off again.

The next morning we see her investigate the happenings with her friend as they scrutinize the laptop screen as they look for symbols and meanings from the footage. She asks her friend ‘Look at that, what is that?’ he replies ‘Looks like a triangle with a circle in the middle of it’ they then search the internet to find a connection between the symbol that they have seen. They bring up a webpage labelled ‘Ancient symbols’ she finds the symbol it and points at it questioning 'what does it mean' the characters are attempting to make links between the events and the symbols they see occurring. In the next scene we see Alex's brother covered in these myserious symbols he robbie reveals that he doesnt like him Alexs boyfriend questions why robbie warns him 'you'll find out hinting that something sinister is about to occur.
In the next scence Wyatt refuses to tell his sister what is happening telling her he doesnt want her to get hurt, again reinforcing the idea that questions shouldnt be asked as something sinister is lying beneath the surface.
Following this we see footage from the cameras Alex has set up in her bedroom the audience witness a paranormal force whip her duvet from her bed. Giving context to the previous discussion that perhaps Alex is the target of this force. Alex then looks typically possessed as her body rises slowly from the bed caused by the invisible force the fact that the paranormal force cannot be seen gives the audience a a greater sense of fear as they cannot rationally explain what is happening and therefore react to the situation. In the darkness we then see a blurred dark figure hinting that Robbie is out to get Alex, children being presented as demonic and evil is a typical piece of icongraphy from the supernatural genre.
We then see several scenes featuring Alex being tormented we see her arguring with her parents that 'shes not crazy' that she can see that beneath the surface something isnt right within the house. We see her being pulled and running begging for help from her parents the cuts between each scene become incresingly rapid reflecting her fear the music also becomes intensified. We then see a dark unknown figure Alex screams as she is pulled off her bed in a violent motion. The film title paranormal activity four appears alongside the release date 'see it everywhere  October 19'