Blog review: Solitude Trailer

The assignment here was to take 3 screenshots from the trailer and discuss the production value of the piece.

1) Intro

I chose this picture because it was the first concrete indicative that something is wrong. aside form the skid marks in the first scene, this passing shot of the deserted car shows that something is not right. the doors are left open, meaning the occupants of the vehicle probably left in a hurry. placing it along the road, next to a plane of what looks like wheat, with the wire fence and wooden door, we immediately begin to undertsand that this is going to be a horror movie. although it is blurry from the movement of the car, we clearly notice that it is deserted. If anyone noticed, there is a slight continuity error. in the previous shot, the car has already passed and the girl is looking behind, not sideways. So it's as if the car passes by, and then rewinds and passes by again. But mainly this shot is meant to setup the rest of the trailer, piquing our curiosity and laying the groudnworks for the fear that is to come. Since this is a horror movie trailer, we are expecting fearful things to happen. This slight view of something being amiss and our minds begin to wander and we think ourselves into fear and the paranoia, making the following shots all the more effective in getting our adrenaline to rush.

2) Climax

This is the part in the trailer where we know for sure that there is no one in town, they are completely deserted, and are being preyed on by something, or someone. Here, the girl is being chased by some unknown and terryifying thing. By staging this shot so that she is running away from the camera from something that is outside of the shot, we are not revealed the identity of the assailant. This is reinforced by maintaining a constantly tight shot of the woman, making her fear personal as well as further conceiling the attacker. But also, as she is running, the camera gets closer to her and comes in tighter, giving the impression that the camera has to move in quicker than she can run just to keep up with conceiling the assailant, giving us the impression that he is getting closer. The handheld camera work also helps to highten the terror of the shot, transfering the feelings of running away (or towards) someone. Because the shot is not steady, but rough, this creates a feeling of unease in the viewers and stresses them out. This stress, mixed with the sounds of fear from the woman, the heavy breething that can be hear, and the loud footsteps, is confused in the brain for fear, letting the adrenaline rush and the trailer achieve its desired effect.

3) Final Shot

This is the last shot seen in the trailer. It is a very powerful shot because at first we only seen the woman crying. We automatically think that it's only because she is losing her friends and is scared and overwhelmed. Then the shot reveals to us her friend taped to the wall, mouth covered, and before we have the time to full formulate the thought of wanting to warn her that she's next, the screen goes black and she screams. They got to her. The lighting in this shot is done in a way that isnt to overpowering. Contrary to what other directors might have done, the director of this trailer chose to not use harsh lights on the guy in the background that would turn on as the shot revealed him. The lighting was kept dim, not overbearing and it did not turn on brighter as the shot revealed the guy. All our attention is focused on trying to make out the guy and we hardly have time for our eyes to go back to the woman as she screams. The screen goes black and we are left with nothing. Just the looming sense that we get after and adrenaline rush. This feeling of curiosity mixed with relief is what makes this trailer so effective. It will appeal to the need for this rush and relief that viewers are looking for. Veteran horror moviegoers are likely to be drawn in by this promise of fear and newbies to the curiosity of what happens to the woman.

But overall, a solid production value, very enticing, and extremely well made. Makes me want to see it, although it was never made into a full length movie.