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Five twenty-something friends becomeholed up in a remote cabin. When theydiscover a Book of the Dead, theyunwittingly summon up dormantdemons living in the nearby woods,which possess the youngsters insuccession until only one is left intactto fight for survival.

- Sony Pictures Entertainment

Brief Overview

The trailer opens with a wide shot, showing a series of dead trees that linger in theforeground, slightly concealing the dark landscape that lies beneath. The backgroundreveals a gloomy woodland area, with the prop of an old cabin that stands off centreof the screen. The weather is miserable.

The diegetic use of thunder sets the mood. It shows the rain falling in front of thelens, and the cracking sounds in the distance establishes a sinister atmosphere alsomaking the audiences’ expectations to be just as chilling as the setting.

This combination of mise-on-scene features and diegetic sounds, leave us under theimpression that the film is within the horror genre.

Setting the Mood // Finding the genre

Q: 1, 2, 14

The trailer targets the audience, by using the youthful group ofteenagers similar to the age of the target audience. Because ofthis, I've chosen to place it within the 18 – 25 age gap. Themovie is rated as an 18, and the cast appear to be within thesame age range.

Also, seen on the right, is the original cover of the first Evil Deadmovie, released in early 80’s. Because of this, the film may alsotarget an older audience, those who were interested in theoriginal film may be intrigued by the modern day re-make.

This is an effective way to broaden the films target audience. Butalternatively, depending on how well it is recreated, It candisappoint those who were in favour of the original film.

Targeting the Audience

Q: 3, 18

The trailer consists of 108 different shots (excludingintertitles) and the trailer lasts 2:22. It uses manyshots, all put together with transitions such as simplecuts, but also fading to black was used a lot at thebeginning to show a darker, slower pace before thebreak of equilibrium. Then we notice the paceincreases and so does the number of cuts.

The use of over the shoulder shotsmake us feel a part of the film, as ifwe’re personally experiencing the filmourselves. This makes the audiencefeel more involved.

This shot shows a dimly lit room and along, dark haired girl sat at the end ofthe bed; reflecting on the horror genre.

The diegetic sound of the door creakingas it opens reflects on the spooky,horrific atmosphere we werepreviously introduced to from the firstestablishing shot.

Shots and Techniques

Q: 4, 5, 6

Shots and Techniques continued & (mise-en-scene)

Q: 5, 16

Close up and Extreme close ups are used in the trailer toemphasise the gore and to establish the great detail within thespecial effects and make-up. This detail can be shown in theshot to the left. Also, you can see the close attention to detail inpossessed Mia’s face: scars, cuts, bruises, dirt, blood and not tomention her menacing eyes.

In contrast to the previous shot, an extreme long shot is used todistinguish the ghastly, dead woodlands, surrounding thecharacters as they fight for their lives. The use of the fog andthe dead trees makes the shot look effective. Efecting on thehorror genre.

This long shot of the river, represents the thin line betweenthem and civilisation. It shows that they are literally isolatedfrom humanity, in this god forsaken place. The construction ofmise-en-scene consists of the river itself, barricading their onlyway out. The car in the foreground, steaming, showing thattheir escape vehicle isn’t operating. And the yellow danger signreading ‘high water’ shows that they’ve had the worst of luck inthis situation.

When watching films, as an audience, we tend to question thingsa lot when they aren’t clear as to what is happening. This isknows as the code of enigma. In this trailer in particular I found I

asked “What is this entity that haunts them?” or “Why isit attached to that poor girl’s soul?” But I think the biggest

question is “What is that book, and how did it get there?”as the trailer progresses, it reveals the revolting consequences of

ignoring the books orders. But fails to reveal the whole plot and,ultimately, how it got there. This entices the audience.

Also, linking back to the second scene, the diegetic use of dialogue “Please, Please. You have toget me out of here.” Shows the girl’s desperate need to evacuate the cabin – leaving the audiencecurious as to why they need to leave. This good use of a code of enigma leaves the audience curiousto find out what happened before and after the demonic unleashing.

Code of Enigma

Q: 11, 12

Sense of NarrativeThe sense of narrative within the Evil Dead is quitesimple and somewhat cliché to other horror films:

• A group of kids/students travel to a once visitedlocation somewhere out of their comfort zone.

• The group seem to be having the time of theirlives

• Alcohol and partying often occur

• The group do something they shouldn’t, resultingin bad consequences

• The majority of the group are killed off, eitherleaving 1 or 2 people who work together to try andfix what they have done.

• One is killed during the resolution of the problem,leaving a heroin (usually a female)

• The heroin either saves the day, ending the curseand resolving the problem, or they die and the storylives on.

Q: 10

• The group travel by car to their old cabinthat is situated in the woods

• They go to ‘let loose’ and have a good

• They bring plenty of beer and narcotics

• The group do something they shouldn’t,resulting in bad consequences

• The majority of the group are killed off,leaving David and Mia

• Possessed Mia is killed/purified

• Mia and David defeat the demons

Diegetic Sounds

There are a number of diegetic sounds within thetrailer that reflect on the horror genre of the film.The main use of diegetic sound is the dialogue. Inthis case, the dialogue is adjacent to the pace ofthe trailer. For example, the first dialogue we hereis the young girl in the bedroom. The pace inwhich she talks to the boy (David) is slow. And shewhispers. This makes the dialogue lessunderstandable but also scarier.

Later on in the trailer, the camera cuts back and forth; showing the same girl looking terrified as shewhispers to the boy “There was something in the woods. And I think its in here, with us.” and then to anumber of gruesome camera shots showing the evil work of the paranormal entity. This cut backspeeds up the dialogue to show an improvement of pace within the trailer. This could also be the samestructure of the actual film.

Q: 7

Non - diegetic Sounds

As well as diegetic sounds, trailers tend to you use non-diegetic sounds to create an effective trailer.The sounds can range from the soundtrack of the trailer to music added in.

In this case, the soundtrack is quite simple; it starts off with a slow paced droning sound which, on it’sown, can be quite haunting. The sound is created electronically and is used in a lot of horror films andsci-fi movies to emphasise situations.

Then the sounds change to a drum beat, that is in sync as each word of the inter titles appear. Thereare also number of faint, low pitch synth sounds that accompany the harsh drum beat. This creates adistortion effect, making the sounds quite eerie.

This technique repeats itself until the climax of the trailer, then the beat is interrupted by an enhanceddrone sound to emphasise the arrival of the entity. Then we here only a slight change in the beat; thereseems to be more beats behind the drone, and a few ‘clanging’ noises.

The beat is increased to accompany the montage of sinister clips as well as the fast-pace intertitles.

The pace soon slows down, to come to an end. We then here the ghoulish chants of possessed Miathat accompany the final title of the film, ‘EVIL DEAD.’

Q: 8

Characters & their Relationships

The characters, as said before, are all normal college students. There aren’t many close relationshipswithin the cast, other than them all being close friends from college.

But one in particular, is the relationship between David and Mia. In the trailer, David and Mia are thefirst two characters we see. They're also the only two characters that share the same shot and aren’ttrying to kill one another. This close relationship isn’t a domestic relationship, but David and Miahappen to be brother and sister.

This isn’t shown in the trailer in any obvious way, but I think it’s important to reveal the fact that thetrailer doesn't show any joyful or near – romantic scenes. It doesn't even have a break of equilibrium,which is why I think this trailer is unique. It quite literally throws us in at the deep end, with nointroduction of characters or plot. (Only that of the book) In hoping we, as an audience, will soon catchalong to what is happening.

Q: 9

David

Mia

IntertitlesThe trailer uses intertitles in a very clever and effective way. The individual word appears as the beatof the soundtrack is heard; making us read every word, one at a time. This sync of text and sound isobviously intentional and makes the whole trailer come together, flowing through the intertitles tothe next seen.

“From the producers of the horror classic Comes a new vision.”

This title explains a bit about the original Evil Dead movie, describing it as a horror classic. It also stated that the

re-make is a complete new vision compared to the original, suggesting that we look at the story line at adifferent angle and perhaps the plot is different.

“Once you unleash evil. It will consume you. “

This title tells us about the plot, explaining their actions; reading the book to unleash the evil that will later on

consume you. Consume relates to the demonic possession taken place in Mia’s soul.

“ This April FEAR WHAT You will become.”

This title tells us the release date of the film. It was released in the UK on the 12th August 2013. But this relates to

the American release. It also says “Fear what you will become” this creates a sense of panic for the audience,suggesting that demon possession could happen to anyone.

Q: 13

Q: 17, 20

Trailers as promotional devicesTrailers are probably the best way to put your film out on the market. Trailers are a very effectivecombination of sound and visual elements, creating a exhilarating experience for the audience.Trailers can also be found on a number of platforms;

• DVD/Blu-Ray at the start of the film, used as advertisements.

• At the cinema when watching a film. They tend to play trailers of a similar genre/style.

• Social Media – Facebook/Twitter use them to advertise the film and broaden their audience.