the trailer begins with the universal studios institutional logo in co ordination with a twisted rendition of buddy hollys everday playing diegetically, which is an archaic sound motif to be played alongside a contemporary cinematic hit, creating a almost contrapuntal juxtaposing feel. the colour scheme of the universal studios anamatic logo has been slightly altered to darker hues linking to the dark themes behind the films plot. moving with brevity to the next scene of the trailer, with a fade to black editing technique to maintain continuity there is a home camera filmed shot from a point of view angle, filming a roadway a through a car windowscreen. the jolted uneasy camera movements reinforce this home camera novice filming technique which emphasises a unique and independent style for the film, aswell as blurring lines of hyper reality as the absence of CGI and cinematic conventions reinforces the reality and truth behind the film.
the montage editing creation of different home videos from contrasting angles, close ups, low angles and tracking shots creates a non linear confused trailer style, leaving audiences anxious to find out more, and the point behind these stylistically muddled shots. The lack of artificial lighting with natural warm lighting from the sun instead further emphasises the hyper real realistic filming technique reinforcing the truthfulness behind this horror. the family orientated videos also give a family feel, which is warm and inviting linking to the warm lighting- both these motifs juxtapose ideals behind horror movies and their traits as typically dark lighting and lack of a family or friendship encircled plot makes the protagonists or victims seem vulnerable, however here audiences would not know who to relate to or who is vulnerable as the family seem very happy. these camera shots juxtapose typical linear professionally filmed horror trailers. however, combined within the home camera shots, are interludes of long shots with higher film quality reinforcing the movie mode/format of the piece, this creates a paralleled mixture between the reality with the home camera scenes and the media and non-reality with the professional scenes. this hence creates a new innovative film style that uses inspiration from paranormal activity and the blair witch style filming with entirely low budget home cameras with normal cinema camera filmed movies such as ouijja and the hills have eyes.
the scenes with the grandparents interacting with the children give away what the plot revolves around, a winter holiday with the grandparents for two young grandchildren. this leaves audiences guessing with ambiguities as to why the idea of grandparents could be associated with themes of horror. the long shots also help to exaggerate body language to give across emotions of love and care to audiences, which will be juxtaposed when the long shots used to display the scenes of horror and terror are used.
when the grandfather states 'your bedtime is 9;30 its probably best you don't come out your room after then' this dialogue is reinforced by the long length time of this scene compared to all the other short snippets of scenes in the opening montage, so hence this dialogue is prominent and reinforced as a warning not only to the two young characters in the film but also as a warning to audiences. at this point the non diegetic soundtrack of bell chimes and percussion stops abruptly, hinting a breaking of the equilibrium and a change of tone from happy and warm to horror. this disequilibrium is reinforced by the establishing shot of a gloomy atmosphere of dark forestry which hints also a change in the setting from a homely environment to an entrapping forest. in synchronous non diegetic format, ambience of insects and nightime noises play to reinforce the nightime atmosphere.
when the children open the door and reach for a camera, its evident that it is from the childrens narrative that the storyline is filmed, and hence these are who audiences relate to. they film their grandmother scratching the walls, which acts as a jump scare because of its juxtaposition with the prior loving family scenes. The lingering of the camera on the old woman is unconventional of horrors which divert away from scenes of terror very quickly to promote enigmas and fear, however here because the children react less dramatically by saying diegetically 'what the hell' rather than screaming and reacting like other horror characters, in reinforces the reality of the trailer. it also hints a sub/hybrid genre of a thriller rather than a horror because we have met our antagonist with multiple shots and scenes in the trailer which is more conventional of thrillers than horrors.
the warped jewellery box music playing as the grandparents are acting out eerie scenes makes their actions such as the granddad filling his gun seem even more abnormal and harrowing. In this particular scene too, the granddad looks directly into the eye of the camera, hence triggering audience participation and attachment with the film trailer.
the social media platforms and technological devices depicted in the trailer such as the laptop, skype and the phone reinforce the contemporary 21st century mode for the horror trailer rather than including archaic and historical themes. this makes the trailer seem even more realistic and plays on irony and reality as audience members will be watching the laptop screen towards the end through their own personal laptops.
the tracking shot as the girl is walking towards her grandma takes audiences on a slow paced journey, reinforcing the eeriness of this particular scene of the grandmother laughing to herself in a rocking chair. the rocking chair is itself symbolic of horror themes as movies of the likes of anabelle and the babadook use similar rocking chairs in their trailers too.
one of the final scenes, where the grandmother states 'would you mind climbing into the oven for me' is prevalent as the final scene, and effectively plays on the fairytale of hansel and Gretel in a warped manner. this creates a anecdotal link to another storyline, encouraging audiences to be intrigued by the plot and want to find out more.
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