The Happening Trailer Analysis

Comment on the Mise-en-scene, Camera shots, Editing, Movement, Sound, Composition and Angles

The Happening is thriller/horror film written, directed and co-produced by M. Night Shyamalan. It follows a man, his wife, his best friends and his friends daughter as they try to escape from a terrifying natural disaster. The plot revolves around a strange neurotoxin that cause anyone exposed to it to commit suicide.

The trailer of the Happening is a shortened version of the entire film providing snippets of what is within the film. Sound features heavily in the trailer and slots in with the conventions of the thriller genre by doing so. Non-diegetic sound is more common as this connotes mystery and creates tension for the audience. The use of non-diegetic sound occurs in many different ways throughout the trailer. A bell and a siren are used in the trailer, this can both be non-diegetic and diegetic, these sounds connote danger and panic and make the audience fell tense and on edge in anticipation of the actors ominous endeavour. Furthermore, the non-diegetic sound continues to add mystery and tension to the trailer. This is done when a virtual heart beat is added to the background of the scene, this makes the audience question themselves about life and death.

The camerawork in the film also adds to the conventions of a thriller film. For example an establishing shot is used early on to show the train in a non-existent rural location to make it feel empty and make the characters seem as if they are helpless from their ominous fate.

A two shot is also used during this scene of the two main actors sitting on the train which suddenly stops. This shot allows for the actors alarmed facial expressions to be displayed which creates mystery and tension and entice the audience to continue watching. A key well used camera/editing technique within the film is the show and not tell technique. This involves showing the viewer’s snippets of what entails in the film but not everything so they are attracted to continue watching to find out what will conclude.

The camerawork does not always involving visual pictures, during the trailer there are a few instances of just black screens with sound in the background this causes the audience to focus on what the actor is saying in one case, the train has stopped and everyone is in panic at what is going on, the screen goes black and you hear one voice say “what is going on” this cause the audience to think about this matter and come up with their own conclusion. There is also various close ups of the actors to show their facial expressions and give the audience a more in depth sense of what it would be like to actually be there.

The Mise-en-scene also plays an influential role in showing the audience it’s a thriller film. This is done through the use of a television screen with a news broadcast on it, this emphasises the viewpoint of the characters and adds to the narrative of the audience to give them more idea of what is going on and to show the extensiveness of what is happening to the country.  More typical thriller features are included if you look at the characters themselves. There is a female, blonde helpless victim stereotypically seen in a thriller film that the typical male hero tries to help.

Editing also plays a large role in getting the conventions of a thriller trailer across to the audience. The director/producer use a lot of rapid editing to increase the pace of the trailer and get the audience on the edge of their seats. The editing also helps to emphasis the narrative/plot line of the film to the audience; they do this by showing you images of the symptoms people receive to give the audience a more in depth knowledge of what happens within the film. The editor has also included a fantastic montage of negative images and thoughts enhanced by the sound, mise-en-scene and camerawork, to make the audience feel involved in the story and give them a perception of what the characters are feeling.

To conclude, the director uses many different features and techniques to get the conventions of a thriller trailer across to the audience, this includes the use of camerawork to create detailed pictures of the actor’s facial expressions and clever black screens to entice the audience in. It also includes editing which helps to build the pace and tension for the audience and make them eager to find out what will happen. Mise-en-scene is also used to advance the narrative on and give the audience a deeper perception of the plot. The final technique and possibly the most common is the use of sound, it is involved heavily in the trailer and helps build the tension by using both non-diegetic and diegetic sound to make the audience feel involved in the trailer.