The Possession trailer and poster

Analysis for trailer:

• Genre : The genre for The Possession is a horror you can tell this from the trailer through the use of music when she finds the box. It is slow and mysterious creating tension for the audience and the line 'Whoever made this didn't want anyone to open it', this intrigues the audience into wondering what will happen. This is where the horror begins to start as the trailer shows her becoming posssessed and accidents start to happen to other family members.
• Narrative: The narrative for the trailer is that a father picks up his two daughters from his ex wife's house and brings them to his place for the weekend. He takes them to a yard sale where she finds the box and he says that she can get anything she wants. They are both intrigued about the box and he tells her that 'Whoever made this didn't want anyone to open it'. However being a little girl and the box being so unique she opens the box little does she know what will happen soon after. You see her picking some items out of the box like a dead fly, a ring that she puts on her finger as young girls don't think anything bad will happen. The sister begins to notice that her younger sibling doesn't feel well, the next part of the trailer you see the dad talking to the mum asking if she has noticed anything weird with 'Emma' she says no. The father questions Emma about the box asking' Why it is so important to her' she replies 'I don't know'. You start to notice things like her anger at the table when the father says 'Slow down' she turns and stabs him in the hand with the fork. This is where the audience realise what the box is doing to her. The father takes the box to a professor who explains to him that a demon has possibly taken over his daughter it then shows the mother talking to Emma who smashes and screams. Emma suddenly realises that something has taken over her and she begins to worry asking 'Who am i'. A man tells her father that when the box is open people will die. She is taken to the doctors where an xray shows something living inside her, it then shows quick shots of her in pain and attacking others. The last thing you see in the trailer is a light in her throat where you see two fingers appear as if they are crawling up her throat.
• USP - The uniqe selling point is that it is based on a true story this intrigues the audience into watching it and makes it more realistic and scary. A horror is all about making people anticipate what will happen and when, however when people know it's a true story it begins to make them panic earlier and more vulnerable to jump. Having a young female girl as the main role adds more drama to the film as people don't like seeing little vulnerable girls being the dangerous character but it makes it more scary. 
• Target audience: The target audience for this film is horror fans and teenagers 15+ this is because there are many jumps and as it is based on a true story the film is more scary and will make people think twice about certain things. The trailer doesn't show it as a 15 however with the contents shown such as her stabbing him with a fork and people dieing it is easy to know that it is not suitable for a younger audience.
• Music: The music is suitable for the trailer as it is screechy and edgy making people anticipate the dangers that await the little girl. It is played at the right points when you know that soemthing is going to happen but it's how long the music keeps you on the edge of your seat for before you actually see the incident or jump. The music is key in a horror as it is used a main way to attract an audience if the music was silly and didn't relate to the film then people would not take notice and would think that the film will be ruined by the music wrecking the main action.
• Shot types: There are a lot of close-ups and mid-shots of the young girl when seh finds the box and when she puts the ring on which holds the ancient spirit. These shots were used to show the audience in more detail what the box looks like and what she has used making them aware of what the box contains. When there is fast action the shots vary between long shots and mid shots as it creates more tension as you can't see her face very well but the audience as left to anticipate the rage on her face towards other people. When she opens the box the camera is zoomed in on her hand pulling the handle to open it making the clicking sound getting the audience intrigued making them think that as soon as she opens the box something will happen.

About the poster:

• USP - The unique selling point in the poster is that it is based on a true story attracting the audience to watch the film as they know that the plot has unique qualities using true facts.
• Background colour - The background colour for the poster is grey usually represents intelligence, maturity and sadness, however in the poster it juxtaposes these representations and creates a sense of despair, coldness and eeary atmposhere. The other colours in the poster are baige for the sking tone of the girl and a darker brown to symoblise the wrinkled and old hand coming out of her mouth. The colour green used for her top does not stand out which makes the hand the main aspect of the poster that catches the audiences attention.
• Main character - You see the face of the character with the hand coming out the mouth but the audience are aware that it is a girl by the hair style and face. This shows the audience that she has been taken over by something possibly a demon or curse. The title links with the picture showing that she has been possessed this gives the audience a hint at what happens during the film but it leaves the enigma of what else happens and if anyone else gets affected.
• Title of the film - The Possession is at the bottom of the poster in the centre which draws the audience to look at it. However for me i think the title is too small and that it should stand out more compared to other features in the poster by making it bigger it would attract the attention of the audience faster. Although the font does stand out in it's own way through the use of the font choice as it represents a horror feel and the use of the white colour makes it stand out as it is used in front of dark colours as the bottom half left side is black and the right has the green top of the character.
• Release date: The release date for the film is right at the bottom of the poster as it is not meant to be used as a stand out feature it is there to give the audience knowledge of when it comes out. The audience don't look at the poster and immediately want to know the release date they look at the main character, the title and they look for a unique selling point. The release date just adds to the poster allowing the audience understanding of how long they have to wait before they can see it making them build with excitement and anticipation as they want to watch it sooner.
• Tagline- The tagline in this poster is used to attract the audience and give them an indication of what might be included in the film. The tagline ' Darkness lives inside' corresponds with the picture of the hand in the mouth, this hints to the audience that she may have had something evil living inside her all along and something has awoken what was laying dorment for years. It also adds danger for the audience as they link the USP 'Based on a true story' to the events that might happen. This could make them feel scared as they know it is a true story and they wonder whether it could happen to them at some point in life. However this aspect makes the audience want to see the film as they anticipate a huge plot line and lots of jumps and danger.
• Producer of the film - The producer of the film is in a small font above the title it is written smaller as it does not want to take the focus away from the title. It is there to give the audience information about who produced the film. Sam Raimi is the producer of the possession and the audience associate him with other horror movies such as ' Within the woods' and 'Evil Dead 2' which did better at the box office then his original 'The Evil Dead'. He is also well known for his other films that are not horror genres such as 'Spiderman' the fans were not disappointed, it was a runaway success at the box office. Raimi returned for the sequel, 'Spiderman 2' (2004), which surpassed the original in box-office takings. By having the producer on the poster although it is a similar size to the release date the audience still see it and because of his success they relate him with an excellent film that will not dissapoint there expectations. This attracts them to go see it as they know that his other horrors were popular and this one should be even better especially with the special effeect on the poster with the hand coming out of her mouth.