Sinister Trailer Deconstruction

Trailer

Conventions

As can be seen in the trailer, 'Sinister' follows several common horror genre conventions. The first of these is the trope of a family moving into a new house, looking for a new start, but to be instead greeted by paranormal activity. This can be seen through the man carrying boxes into an office and the line "I've got a good feeling about this". 

They are shown to be a happy, close-knit family with two young children, common victims seen in horror films. By having innocent victims the audience feel more sorry for them, and generic families mean many viewers will be able to see themselves in that position, evoking more fear.

The symbol shown in many of the videos is said to be associated with a pagan deity, showing us that it's a supernatural horror. As with most supernatural films, there are religious links, in this case with paganism. The creature is also said to consume children's souls. Children are very common victims in horror films as they are associated with innocence, and so seeing them in such a setting makes the film more eerie. 

Sound

From the beginning of the trailer, a low, bassy noise can be heard which conveys fear and sets a suspenseful atmosphere, immediately suggesting that the film is a horror. When the screen glitches, a sudden, scratching noise can also be heard, intending to set the audience on edge. The context of the film is set as a voiceover of a woman on a news broadcast talking about murders of families. The sound then cuts out and a child is heard speaking, relating back to the idea of children being used as victims in horror films. Another suspenseful soundtrack begins to build up gradually in the background, and becomes more intense as the man discovers the box in the attack, portraying its significance. 

As the man is watching the videos, the low humming continues before a sudden crash makes him jump as the film changes. The ticking of the old projector is also heard and sounds similar to a racing heartbeat, showing his nervousness. The subtle humming continues until he watches the next video where a loud scream is heard. 

When the figure is seen in the reflection of the water, all sound cuts out except for a ringing, similar to what you might hear when in complete silence.

Throughout the trailer, the sound is uneven and jagged, with low, eerie noises in the background and loud crashes and jolting sounds at random moments aiming to unsettle the audience. There is also a rhythmic bass-tone playing on loop which increases in speed to put viewers on edge. Finally, the end of a roll of tape is seen hitting the floor accompanied by clicking noises which sound similar to the ticking of a clock, representing how the family are running out of time. 

Editing

At the start of the trailer when looking at the still of the house, the screen glitches several times into pictures of the symbol representing the creature in the house. The glitches are extremely fast and sudden over an otherwise still image which is designed as a small jumpscare to hint at later ones.

It also glitches to show images of the legs of the dead people who previously lived in that house. Their faces are left out making them anonymous, which may suggest that many people have been killed there. 

A title screen is then shown on a black background, showing that time has passed. A black screen is used rather than a title over the footage as black transitions are often used to show the passage of time. 

Many consecutive shots of the family doing different things in different rooms are shown, which emphasises their closeness and how they're enjoying regular family life, making what happens to them even more tragic. Here, many quick, fade to black transitions are used which again, shows the passing of time to suggest these events taking place at different times, effectively giving a summary of their first day in the house. 

The title screens use a serif font which carries religious connotations, which allows us to identify the genre as being supernatural horror. The background is also worn down with cracks giving an old and worn down effect. The light around the edges of the title also flickers.

Match-on-action is used to show the man putting together the tapes and the projector to highlight the action. When the figure on the laptop screen moves, it very quickly zooms in in jolts which may make the viewer jump and draws focus to what's happening. 

Nearing the end, the glitching increases in frequency and many short shots of different things, such as the man running away or the child in bed, are shown with black transitions shown between each one. The editing then starts to speed up, with the transitions stopping and lots of shots being shown quickly side by side. Then at the end, after a shot lasting several seconds, the creature is finally seen before the screen almost immediately cuts to the title.