Trailer Analysis - Paranormal Activity 4

The first 24 seconds of the trailer flashbacks to the previous Paranormal Activity films. The film is shot through a hand-held camera to suggest the happenings are real or to give a sense of reality. The trailer begins with the children and parents living a happy, carefree lifestyle until we see the 'paranormal' taking over in short sharp cuts. The scene then cuts to a young girl operating a hand-held camera, which is the typical conventions of a Paranormal Activity film. The girl also fits the conventions of a woman in a horror movie. She has blonde hair suggesting she is 'dumb' and is young which connotes her naivety. The scene then cuts to the kitchen, which is in darkness, again a typical convention of a horror film. The light then switches on, suggesting there is unknown activity in the house. After this, it cuts to the next day, where the girl says she has been feeling 'weird', suggesting that the mood of the film is going to change. When the scene cuts to the young girl on the phone to what appears to be her boyfriend, it gives the sense of reality as she is filming everything that is about to happen on her handheld phone. She then films the boy next door from a high angle, suggesting he is powerless however this is soon to change. As we hear her non diegetic voice 'he's so creepy' the boy looks up to the camera and the lights go off denoting the power he has. The call between the girl and her boyfriend then begins to buffer and cut off, again suggesting the young boy has power of this. There is also underlying drum sounds building to a crescendo implying something is about to happen in the trailer. We can also hear the non diegetic sound of an alarm which also builds to a crescendo 'front door open, back door open' building up as the girls fear also grows. We then see an over the shoulder shot of a figure behind her and the door slams shut, suggesting something is about to attack the girl and the girl is trapped. The last scene ends with a girl walking out of the door with a young child, which is caught on CCTV, suggesting that she has been possessed or that the 'Paranormal Activity' has taken over.