Analysis of 'The Ring' Trailer

The film trailer has a number of elements that help the audience to identify the genre of film, such as the darkness of the onscreen image, being set during the night and expressions on the child’s face are very neutral and almost sad looking. The woman, who is presumably the mother of the child, is looking distraught when the child is watching a video tape which would suggest something bad is related to it, also at the beginning of the film a woman talks about how after watching a video tape they will die in 7 days time. The suggestions of death, the darkness and expression of emotions linked to fear are all iconic of the horror genre.

Early on in the trailer there are frames which help to get across the meaning of the video tape/ recorder and really show for the first time why they are bad items. These frames have the words “There is a video tape”, this establishes the item, “If you watch it”, establishment of the action required for the consequences, “seven days later”, this creates a time period that helps to show lack of time to create a solution, “you die”, these two words represent the consequences of watching this video tape. This helps to create a fear within the audience because as a viewer we can see whose fate this might be.

Right from the start of the trailer representation is evident. The inside of a video recorder is the first thing to be featured. When this movie was made a video recorder was considered a very normal everyday object, however in this movie it is turned into something which is viewed negatively through the use of fear. From the trailer we can determine that macro elements such as the video recorder and the video tape used are the beginnings of something terrible. These macro elements also help to create a subtle narrative as it leads into the overall story. This leads the audience to actually watch the film as they want to know what happens to the characters they have just begun to connect to and what lead to this video tape being 'deadly'.

The trailer quickly makes it clear that the woman, boy and man are the central characters in the film, It does this through a series of close/medium close ups of these characters and through the use of editing, clips of these characters are longer than any other clips. This helps the audience to quickly begin to make an emotional connection to the characters and they begin to identify with them. Just from studying the trailer the main target is the most vulnerable character, the child. This is shown when the child watches ‘the tape’ which just moments before is established as being bad. After viewing the video the child then begins to behave differently by drawing disturbing images. This change in behaviour helps the audience to see a glimpse of the powers within the video tape. A few clips suggest a woman is on some sort of mission regarding the ring, where a black horse also plays a pivotal role, however these clips leave us asking questions as it is not clear their exact roles.

Sound is heavily depended upon in this trailer to create the 'horror effect', for example using non-diegetic macro elements such as, sudden screeching, and people screaming/shouting, creates the element of fear within the audience as they link these sounds with the fear of another. The style of music is very similar to that of other horror movies. Echoing electronic music, which is muffled slightly, creates the feeling of uneasiness and puts the audience on edge. Dialogue is used considerably to explain certain elements of the film which may be difficult to show visually. The elements of dialogue create a strong narrative which helps to keep the audience up to date with what is happening but doesn't give away too much, for example by saying "The images on the tape, they're leading us somewhere", it gives the audience an idea of whats happening but they are still, mostly, left in the dark. This suspense makes them want to find out what happens in the end even more.

 

The idea of using a child to represent something evil is a contradiction to the innocence usually linked to children. The use of the little boy, who is represented as the victim in the trailer, helps us to see that evil is not limited it can affect everyone regardless of who it is. Children can be seen as vulnerable and easily lead this stereotype is emphasized by the unknown figure who tells the boy what to do, for example when he is drawing or repeatedly writing the same sentence over and over. Not knowing who this figure is means that they could be dangerous creating fear in the audience for the boy because we don’t know what she’ll do or what she’s capable of.

Just like many trailers the speed increases towards the middle and then again towards the end and this trailer is no different. The music also increases in tempo throughout the trailer. The use of an up tempo soundtrack and the quick flashes of different scenes relating to the film, gives the idea that the events are happening to fast to be stopped and people consider things that cannot be stopped to be scary as there is no control.

The trailer does not reveal the whole of the films narrative, preventing the audience from knowing what will happen in the end. The originality of the story, about a tape which can make people become possessed is one of its main Unique Selling Points, people who are interested in this genre of horror will genuinely be curious to find out more, such as who will be possessed, who the women is, what she/it intends to do, and how they will combat it. Because the audience has already had a glimpse into the story and begun to identify with the characters; leaving it on a cliff hanger means that they may wish to find out more, and fill in the blanks. A trailer is supposed to raise questions and leave them unanswered because at the end of the day this is a promotional material used entice an audience into paying money to either go and see it at the theatre or to buy the product.