| Saw 1 Essay - For Old Main Task Idea |

SAW 1 TRAILER – ESSAY

The opening sequence of this movie trailer it shows us that there is an evil madman behind the happenings of all mysterious deaths that have been happening lately and how people have suddenly gone missing. The opening sequence allows us to take in that the main villain in this film likes to ‘’play games’’ with his victims, which gives us a clue about the sickening storyline behind the film and the characters in it. The opening sequence captures parts of action that take part in the movie to interest the audience in the gory torture that takes place.



Characters in the opening scene are made out to be very scared, confused and tense as they are all involved in action or suspense moments throughout the brief trailer. The capturing of facial expressions and dialogue helps to understand what position the character is in at that certain point in time when the film plays. The characters are made out differently as planned, many victims of the madman’s games are made out to be scared, confused, lost and emotionally drained, police force are shown as a hard working force that will not drop the cases of what is happening thus building up intense moments for what is going to happen next and the villainous voice in the background of the trailer helps to define the unseen character to the audience.


The location and setting of where the opening sequence is shot connotes a dull, isolated room which is where most of the action takes place as short clips of gory happenings are shown to the audience, one after the other they continuously switch from shots but show a shortened length of it so not all of the action is revealed. The camera shots assist the realism and effect of horror because of how they are positioned and how the camera is moving. Long shots have been used in this opening sequence to show the dull, tight and cramped room there is in the corridor, as this will connote the darkness and fear of what will be happening in the film. The trailer contains many close ups which help to signify the mood and expressions of the characters faces to help understand what they could be suffering in the scene.


A majority of the realism and emphasis comes from the editing as the editors have used many effects to enhance the effect of messages and feelings given out. The director uses a blurred effect to signify the movement of injured people who are being tortured in the movie and also uses lots of slow motion in the trailer to build up tension towards the audience and will surely boost the excitement and thrill they get when watching. Temporal ellipses is also fairly used to go forward and back in time to reveal happenings in the movie to help audience to understand what is happening and why it is happening. A vast range of effects are used here which have been used very well as they have boosted the thrill and horror side of the theme.


Sounds such as heart beats and very slow sound effects that add to emphasis on the theme of the film as it involves cameras and static sound, gates closing shut as if to connote someone being trapped, which does happen frequently in the film trailer. Narrative in the background by an edited voice to give audience an even better understanding of the characters behaviour, this means that the audience will be more keen in wanting to watch the movie because of the build up and bits of messages given out. Sound effects enhance the realism and theme of the shot, this is mainly due to the fact the sounds are both diegetic and non – diegetic from on screen and off screen sources which un-eases the audience whilst watching.


The credits in both the opening and the end have been written in grey writing with a dark background to match exactly the mood and theme of the film genre, because when making a horror movie dull colours are appropriate to keep the same mood going, especially for a horror trailer. Overall the credits have been spread out well, both in the beginning and end, this is an advantage and upside because this means the audience will not get bored of a long trailer at the end.