The Conjuring
By Libby Gardiner
Above you will see the trailer to the film The Conjuring. In this trailer they have used an old house in the middle of nowhere for the setting, with a dark story behind the reasons for the odd goings on in the house.
The clip above shows them using low camera lighting and low lit lamps for a dramatic effect by making the rooms seem dark and spooky and almost as if the dark is hiding something from the actors in the shots.
Through out the house they also use lots of dark wood for the furniture and dark cloths and curtains. Almost all the objects in the shots are browns, blacks or faded colors. They also have a lot of dust around the house on the props to give an old effect. Also the house is painted white but is surrounded by trees with no leaves and dark woods, I believe this is a symbolism of innocence trapped in darkness.
The actors are also wearing dark colored clothes and have messy hair and no makeup other than bruises and bags under the eyes. The only time you see the actors in lighter colored clothing is in a photo where they were happy before getting to the house and were all smiling.
The sounds and music they use builds up slowly for dramatic effect, and they use a lot of off screen sounds and bangs that come out of nowhere to make the viewers jump.
A lot of the shots used are close up's and mid shots to capture the reaction of the actors and to get the views at eye level with the actor so they will feel their emotions and feel as if they are there with them. They also use a few long shots though as well to show the setting and to make sure they can have the actors and the props in the shots when they need to be for the action that is happening and to capture the whole body language of the actors.
The shots change very fast in the trailer (above) to build up the quick tension. They even use a few extreme close ups to show the facial expressions of the ghosts with pale and dark makeup on to symbiosis their death.
The editing in this trailer is done so the shots change very quickly, one on top of the other using jump cuts to build up the tension as well as to match the music build up and to draw the viewers in. It also helps tell the story enough to make the viewers understand but also want to go view the whole film to find out more of what happens that the trailer doesn't show.
I stopped the trailer at this point because I liked this shot as you can see the worry on the actors face and stress, and the shot is a close up so there is no other scenery in the shot but her and the trees meaning the viewer is drawn to her face.
I think this is also a very good shot with the low lighting for effect and its enough to show the actors in trouble and is almost reaching out to the viewer with his hand for help. His hand is in the center of the shot with the light right behind it making his hand look like its reaching out further than it is, and you can slightly see his face but not much as if his trying to hide from something.
I perceptually love this shot with the white house in the center of the screen surrounded by the darkness with crows flying around it as a symbol of death. I think it works well and even with the cars at the bottom of the shot your eyes are draw to the house that seems as if its almost fading into the darkness surrounding it.
