The haunting in Connecticut was produced by Lionsgate whose first major box office success was American Psycho, which resulted in a trend of producing films that were too controversial for major American studios. Other horrors or thrillers that they have made are the SAW movies and their latest ones; The last exorcism, and Buried. This is the trailer for the movie The Haunting in Connecticut. It starts with and establishing shot from the air that gives the audience a clear view of a neighbourhood full of houses and cars, from this image the audience would be given the view that the neighbourhood looks quite nice because it is day time first of all and also because there is not scary music playing, or anything unusual. During this there is a voiceover, which we can only assume is the woman we are seeing, as she says; ‘why do bad things always happen to good people?’ This is a rhetorical question, and is also a saying that is quite common so the audience can relate to it, and are also more involved in the trailer because a question has been asked. It also tells us something about the character, she is thinking back on it, and her personal views of the situation come through. After the establishing shot there is a cut onto a black screen with white block capital writing on it that reads ‘NORTHERN CONNECTICUT’. The writing is positioned to the right to create a sense of unbalanced proportion implying to the audience that something is not quite right, it also helps to establish the setting too. As this frame finishes it cuts into another of rows of houses that are shown in a dolly shot which is meant to imply that the woman is driving past them in her car. To make it more realistic the camera then shows the woman in the car driving and looking outside as if to look at the houses, and then another show of the car itself moving with the woman in it as she pulls up outside a house for sale. Whilst she is driving the voiceover continues and says ‘We were just a regular family just like anybody else, we didn’t ask for this. And we didn’t deserve it.’ From this the audience will begin to wonder what it is that the woman is talking about and creates a sense of curiosity as well as encouraging them to continue watching. It is after this shot that the background music begins to play, a very eerie tune with a female voice singing, as it cuts to the black screen with writing on it again but this time it reads ‘BASED ON A TRUE STORY.’ Things based on a true story immediately make the audience much more interested because they can then decide for themselves whether they want to believe the extent of what they have seen. It also connects to the audience because it is in their world not made up fiction. The next shot is another establishing shot which is a wide one of the house that the movie is going to be based in. it is a very large old Victorian house with a nice looking front garden with trees and grass making it look harmless. The lighting has been quite high key from the start of the trailer to now because all the shots have been of outside in the sun. However the next shot is the woman in the house, and suddenly the lighting gets darker even though outside the windows you can still see the sun shining. The drastic change from light to dark makes a huge impact on the audience’s understanding of the trailer as it tells them in a non-obvious way that there is something wrong with the house. The next shots show the house and the new family entering it and exploring, the editing consists of quick fades into each image, to keep the audience interested in less scary parts of the trailer. When the issue of bedrooms arises the protagonist which we assume is the older boy of the family chooses the basement as his. Immediately the fact the he has chosen a dark, and what most people associate with being creepy and ‘old’, tell us that a lot will happen in his bedroom. Joined to his room is what appears to be a division made by stained glass with a door in the middle; however you cannot see through the glass and cannot open the door.
This division stirs a mysterious atmosphere about the room and continues to contribute to the knowledge that scary things will happen down there. There is a shot of the boy looking through the glass trying to see what is on the other side, the camera is positioned on the other side of the door looking at the boy peering through. This shot allows the audience to again feel like they are involved by watching him. After this there is a long cut that is filled with a black screen initiating the transition from day to night, the black then fades out to the image of the house at night. The diegetic sound of cicadas and ‘old’ music playing from somewhere in the house can be heard whilst the boys sleep. It then goes to the protagonist who is watching television, when he turns it off there is a undistinguishable figure in the screen reflection standing by his door.
At this moment there is a loud high pitched squeak which is meant to frighten those watching because the music was so calm before. The transition from night to day happens in the same way and now slow piano music plays in the background throughout shots of the family discovering scary truths about their new home. It is from here that the pace of the trailer quickens which shows a development in the plot but also a sense of urgency and panic. Again when the boy is in the house looking in a room and the figure walks past him, the high pitched loud music plays again, which is meant to scare the audience. The cuts get faster and so does the music as the realisation comes through about what is going on in the house. Things get even faster paced and scarier when the boy is asleep with only a candle by his side for light, making the shot extremely dark, you can see the shadow of a boy leaning into him as he sleeps, and like other times something creepy happens the screech plays. As the family begin to understand what is happening in the house it gets worse, the young girl in the trailer eats a rotten apple, which is seen through a close up of the apple that has an entirely black rotten inside. She checks the fridge and everything inside has gone off, these are just a few of the cut aways shown to add detail resulting in it becoming more realistic. The anchorage returns after the shot of the boy sleeping and this time it tells us when the movie is out –‘THIS SPRING.’ The writing is still on the right but this time the font is a glowing white connoting change in the trailer. It cuts to the young girl in a library looking for information about the house and then her reading up on it. Whilst this shot continues she begins a voiceover explaining her findings, and a high pitch tone plays throughout this. There are then fast flashes of editing showing us old images of the house, and the people that used to live there, these are black and white images of old people dressed in Victorian clothing and the photographs are a yellowy brown. When these images flash past the screeches return because the people shown in the shots are vacantly staring at you which is quite eerie. The arrival of a priest starts a new shot, he is speaking to the mother of the boy and tells her ‘something evil is in your house and it wants your son.’ From here the tempo of the editing along with the sound become extremely fast, connoting urgency and fear as the music gets louder and harsher. The images gets scarier such as close ups of strange looking people’s faces, and a loud breath can be heard before everything comes to a halt at another black screen which this time reads ‘THE FEAR’ which then cuts back to the scenes of disturbing images where the boy has got writing cut into his skin all over his body and his mother begins to panic. It then returns to the black screen again which now reads ‘IS REAL.’ Completing the sentence of ‘THIS SPRING THE FEAR IS REAL.’ We then see shots of CGI where something is spreading through the house, and appears to look like mould.
There is a point of view shot where the camera is whatever it is that is spreading and climbs up the stairs. Before it returns to the priest who is urgently telling someone on the phone that ‘you must get out now.’ Terror and action ensues when you see the girl getting attacked in the shower by an unknown entity, the boy holding an axe and a car scene which the priest is in, the music becoming louder, and the cuts even shorter so we only see a glimpse of the image. At the end of all this the piano music returns with the image of a window letting in white light, and the name of the movie appears in white on the right of the screen. The last shot is of the boy walking towards the separation in his room and seeing a distorted body on the other side, followed by the screech again. There is a lot in this trailer that is not explained such as why the ‘ghost’ is after the boy, why the family had to move, and why séances were held in the home. Because so much is thrown at you yet so much is unexplained it leaves the audience wanting to know more resulting in them watching the movie, thus the purpose of trailers. Also this trailer in particular was very jumpy and kept you on edge, it left a mark on me who has personally already seen the movie yet was still moved by the trailer, in this sense it is very effective.
This division stirs a mysterious atmosphere about the room and continues to contribute to the knowledge that scary things will happen down there. There is a shot of the boy looking through the glass trying to see what is on the other side, the camera is positioned on the other side of the door looking at the boy peering through. This shot allows the audience to again feel like they are involved by watching him. After this there is a long cut that is filled with a black screen initiating the transition from day to night, the black then fades out to the image of the house at night. The diegetic sound of cicadas and ‘old’ music playing from somewhere in the house can be heard whilst the boys sleep. It then goes to the protagonist who is watching television, when he turns it off there is a undistinguishable figure in the screen reflection standing by his door.
At this moment there is a loud high pitched squeak which is meant to frighten those watching because the music was so calm before. The transition from night to day happens in the same way and now slow piano music plays in the background throughout shots of the family discovering scary truths about their new home. It is from here that the pace of the trailer quickens which shows a development in the plot but also a sense of urgency and panic. Again when the boy is in the house looking in a room and the figure walks past him, the high pitched loud music plays again, which is meant to scare the audience. The cuts get faster and so does the music as the realisation comes through about what is going on in the house. Things get even faster paced and scarier when the boy is asleep with only a candle by his side for light, making the shot extremely dark, you can see the shadow of a boy leaning into him as he sleeps, and like other times something creepy happens the screech plays. As the family begin to understand what is happening in the house it gets worse, the young girl in the trailer eats a rotten apple, which is seen through a close up of the apple that has an entirely black rotten inside. She checks the fridge and everything inside has gone off, these are just a few of the cut aways shown to add detail resulting in it becoming more realistic. The anchorage returns after the shot of the boy sleeping and this time it tells us when the movie is out –‘THIS SPRING.’ The writing is still on the right but this time the font is a glowing white connoting change in the trailer. It cuts to the young girl in a library looking for information about the house and then her reading up on it. Whilst this shot continues she begins a voiceover explaining her findings, and a high pitch tone plays throughout this. There are then fast flashes of editing showing us old images of the house, and the people that used to live there, these are black and white images of old people dressed in Victorian clothing and the photographs are a yellowy brown. When these images flash past the screeches return because the people shown in the shots are vacantly staring at you which is quite eerie. The arrival of a priest starts a new shot, he is speaking to the mother of the boy and tells her ‘something evil is in your house and it wants your son.’ From here the tempo of the editing along with the sound become extremely fast, connoting urgency and fear as the music gets louder and harsher. The images gets scarier such as close ups of strange looking people’s faces, and a loud breath can be heard before everything comes to a halt at another black screen which this time reads ‘THE FEAR’ which then cuts back to the scenes of disturbing images where the boy has got writing cut into his skin all over his body and his mother begins to panic. It then returns to the black screen again which now reads ‘IS REAL.’ Completing the sentence of ‘THIS SPRING THE FEAR IS REAL.’ We then see shots of CGI where something is spreading through the house, and appears to look like mould.
There is a point of view shot where the camera is whatever it is that is spreading and climbs up the stairs. Before it returns to the priest who is urgently telling someone on the phone that ‘you must get out now.’ Terror and action ensues when you see the girl getting attacked in the shower by an unknown entity, the boy holding an axe and a car scene which the priest is in, the music becoming louder, and the cuts even shorter so we only see a glimpse of the image. At the end of all this the piano music returns with the image of a window letting in white light, and the name of the movie appears in white on the right of the screen. The last shot is of the boy walking towards the separation in his room and seeing a distorted body on the other side, followed by the screech again. There is a lot in this trailer that is not explained such as why the ‘ghost’ is after the boy, why the family had to move, and why séances were held in the home. Because so much is thrown at you yet so much is unexplained it leaves the audience wanting to know more resulting in them watching the movie, thus the purpose of trailers. Also this trailer in particular was very jumpy and kept you on edge, it left a mark on me who has personally already seen the movie yet was still moved by the trailer, in this sense it is very effective.
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