Campaign Effectiveness

The film I will be analysing is 'The Last Exorcism'

I will be looking at the way that the 'campaign' are trying to create a consistent or coherent image of the film 'The Last Exorcism' to grab the audience.

This is the original trailer for 'The last Exorcism'  

• This trailer last for approximately 2 minutes and 3 seconds minus the advertisment at the beginning. 
• The trailer begins which a soundtrack which sounds like a church choir singing. We are then shown a house using an establishing shot which familarises the audience of where the excorism is going to take place which looks like a peaceful family home.
•  A voice over then starts where we see a character that we instantly believe that he will be the main character. The voice over is an explanation of what an exorcism is. The character is dressed up very smartly showing that he has a high status within the social class hieracrchy.
• As the trailer continues the soundtrack starts to loose its soothing harmony and sounds more like a ritual telling us an audience that something is about to go down hill making the audience feel tense.
• As the trailer continues we see fast pace editing when the man is talking about the bible and driving. We then see the pace gradually building up which gives us a fright before inter-titles saying 'Ivanwood, Louisanna, 2009' which might be the last exorcism that may have taken place. The reason for this may be that they are giving the audience more knowledge they may feel they need to know or understand.
• We are then introduced to another character who seems to be aggrevated and angry.  We then see a cut with a flash showing the boy acting violently by throwing something at the mans car. We then start to think why he did that making him a character we worry about.
• After that scene the soundtrack seems to having a mind grabbing noise where we hear a scary sound before it quickly comes to an end making us worried about what is happening at that point in time.
• We are then introduced with the billing block containing a bit about the company, which is unusal as this is common for being at the end rather than the intro or middle.
• There is then a quick cut of the area again before another inter title is shown which says 'Revened Cotton Marcus' who is the guy that we have seen a lot of on the trailer. The inter title carries on and goes on to say that 'h has performed over 47 exorcism' which is gives us a form of comfort as we think since he has done so many nothing will possibly go wrong. We then see a fade out shots making us wondering and worried about why we have been left on the cliff hanger.
• There is then an introduction between Cotton Marcus. The colouring of the scene suddenly changes to a red colour connoting something bad is going to happen before when we are introduced to another character. It then changes to another inter title saying 'This will be his last' which is a continuation of the other inter title shown previously. This inter title makes it clear to us that something bad is definately going to happen.
• A sound bridge then happens where the recent character starts explaining his story before we see a young girl who seems very upset we then feel very sympathic for her
• We then see a close up of the young girl on the floor, at this point we feel sympathic for her because she looks very scared and worried as we see her grip Cotton Marcus.
• Another inter title is then shown saying 'and producers of Dawn of the dead' we are instantly able to tell that the film will have some intense scenes in the Last Exorcism.
• We then see cuts with a combination of fast pace editing. We also saw the screen flash with a red colour which frightens us. The scene then ends with the girls neck twisting in an unusual way which makes the audience jump.
• As the audience we feel very sympathetic for the young girl especially after we see her dad crying and screaming 'no'. The trailer does not give so much information hence why it is being cut very fast.
• After the Exorcism has taken place we see a low key lighting of Cotton Marcus asking a 'Where is he now' we then get very suspicious to why it has gone so dark before we see the young girl and hear her reply 'In the fire'. We then see the scene speeding up as this happens it goes red which is linked to the 'fire' that the young girl spoke about. 
• The scene goes to show how the young girl has been affected by the exorcism by showing her in the dark almost like a shadow before we see her curled up in a position that is expected of a toddler when they are really upset and hurt. 
• The scene then jumps back to the part where she is walking in the corridor giving us a feeling that we are walking in her own shoes. This automatically scares us all and makes us wonder what is going to happen next due to hearing the creeks of the floor boards.
• Inter-titles then in a different colour which is red saying 'He preys.. On the flesh ..  Of the innocent' informing that she is in danger.
• The final scenes then speed up an awful lot making us jumpy. The use of colours were thought out very well as it fitted in perfectly with the inter titles. 
• We see the young girls father taking matters into his own hands and we are forced to assume that the exorcism did not go quite to plan. 
• At the ending we have a little reminder of religion telling us that he is not giving up, we notice this by seeing the cross and hearing Cotton Marcus praying very loudly.  
• Then we see and hear nothing for a little moment making us feel confident that it has been sorted. Suddenly we see the young girl in a strange position again leaving us to decide what we think actually happened. After that scene cuts we are finally introduced to the film. 

Trailer Summary: 
The trailer for this film it gives us enough information making it unquestionable due to us understanding what the film is about in such a short set of time. The most important thing for a trailer to do is to make sure it grabs the audiences attention. Trailers use a number of forms and conventions in the film they are promoting. In this horror trailer we see the suspense build and we are left as an audience to keep trying to guess what will happen in the end, however we wont be able to find out until we have watched the film. The Last Exorcism shows typical traits for a horror film which has a vulnerable young girl who has been possessed. While the trailer is playing we see inter-titles saying 'Reverend Marcus Cotton has performed over 47 exorcisms' which gives a rest of mind as the audience feel safe as they know that he has performed an exorcism before we are then introduced to the character 'Marcus', again another inter-title saying 'This will be his last' suddenly removing our calm conscious as we know something is definitely going to go wrong. We are then introduced to the characters who have been affected which included extreme close ups with a hand held camera which was very touching as we could sympathise with her as the young girl was crying. A black background, Flashes and fast pace editing starts when it starts going wrong, which adds to the storyline. When Marcus asked 'Wheres Mary' he gets a reply saying 'in the fire' from this point on we start seeing flashes of fiery colours portraying danger which was very frightening. This all creates suspense for the audience. However the trailer did not have enough information about the release date.

 Teaser Trailer: 

This is the teaser trailer for The Last Exorcism which last for 30 seconds. This trailer looks a lot more natural due to the specific elements and scenes chosen which makes us feel as if we are part of the film. Within this short amount of time we still managed to get some information however it wasn't enough to satisfy the needs of the audiences which makes it a good teaser trailer. This idea is used to tempt the audience so that they will want to see the film.

• The intro of the trailer shows the house lit up with red lights which conottes danger and instantly worries the audience. 
• We then see a character who is requesting for an exorcism for his daughter which automatically tells us that he has been worried for a long time and matters seem to be getting worse. 
• We then see a quick glimpse of the young girl before the scene changes with an affect of the young girl being axed. 
• The scene then shows the exorcism taking place with close ups of the young girl looking very worried and frightened. 
• After another inter-title shows we see her after the excorcism has taken place which shows her in a state which was completely different to how she was before the exorcism. 
• Before a new scene was shown an iter-title would appear to try and distract us by taking our minds off what we had just seen preparing us for something else. 
• When the teaser trailer finally ends we hear 'Oh My God' which leaves the audience worried and frightened as we are eager to know what he was shocked about, we then see the young girl which tells us that the exorcism did not go to plan.

The Last Exorcism Poster 

The poster shown for this film is a very good poster. The colours used for this poster has been thought out very well, although it is very dull and blunt it has a strong brand identity. The text colour are very mind grabbing and comes at you drawing your attention to what they want you to focus on. The text saying 'If you believe in God you must believe in the devil' seems almost as if it is a fact, even though the font size is smaller it still has an affect on the audience. The background of the poster looks cloudy and worrying, then looking at the ceiling we can tell something is going to go terribly wrong. 

The teaser poster for The Last Exorcism

Looking at the teaser poster compared to the original poster looks a lot more daring, due to the way the young girl has been positioned which is very bizarre, she also looks very grubby, dirty and more or less dead. The shadow behind her looks very mysterious and we start to question ourselves why it seems so sinister and frightening. Looking at the text saying 'believe in him' links to the cross and the little girl as it makes us think that that's the consequence for not believing him and also the way the cross has been positioned directly above her looks like it is going to stab her right in her heart implying the power of God is very strong saying that he can take your life away as he has given you the breath of life, however people might see it as the devil pushing you to an extent that you cannot be saved or just a battle against the good and the evil, God and the devil.

The original poster was banned due to the complaints that were given, it was said to have been as distressing and highly unsuitable for the public display. However the poster looks a lot better with the blood on the dress as it linked to what goes on inside the film when the girl kills all the animals without knowing. 

Connotation and Denotation on Movie posters & Magazine covers

The Orphan 

Denotation of 'Orphan' 

The Orphan 

Connotation of 'Orphan'

Analysing the 'Orphan' movie poster we can instantly identify that something is going to go wrong. The reason for this is due to the main colour that is being used on this poster which is red. We as an audience are aware that red is usually connected to bad, dangerous things as it connotes blood, danger and evil acts. 

The writing for the main film looks as if has been violently scratched, however the font style tricks the audience as the text looks like a young girls hand writing. The white colour has also been carefully chosen due to it being very vibrant and bright it automatically stands out against the red which connotes that the young girls behaviour switches at times she may act sweet and angelic and then acts like a devil. 

Looking at the tag line we start to wonder and think what is it that could possibly be her 'secret' as it says 'You'll' which engages the audience and keeps them intrigued about the film. 

The little dark house in the background looks scary a eerie which looks almost as if it is fading into the background with a blazing and illuminated spark of red informing us that that is where something dreadful will take place. 

The image of the young girl takes up majority of the poster so that we are familiar with the main character, the way she seems to glow in the mist of darkness connotes that she is the main problem. In conjunction with her image we then start to focus more on the expression on her face as she hasn't got any but a straight forward look which is almost uncomfortable as it feels like we are being forced to make eye contact with her. Going back to the title of the film and the image of the girl we then start to make sense of the film title as we see the girl is standing alone meaning that she hasn't got anybody. 

Looking at the additional information at the top that states 'There's something wrong with Esther.' We are positive that the film will be based on trying to find out what is wrong with her and this will not be easy.

The Crazies

Denotation of 'Crazies'

The Crazies

Connotation of 'Crazies'

The main image above has been photographed using a good effective composition giving us a weird perspective so that the houses behind the young girl creates a frame the surrounds her which is bright and looks like something you will see in a film when someone is about to cross over after death. 

The image is extended to the sky where the main title is written in white which is fading and looks like a font you will see associated with prisons which is stencilled on orange uniforms. Looking at the sky carefully you can see a triangle shape which looks like an arrow which could show that that is where all the other crazy people hide which is very mysterious. 

This is then followed by the tag line which is written in black which acts like a rib to the title of the film as we as an audience feel that it is continuous. The image uses ambiguity because the sky is not beaming and clear which is not normal however we can see the clouds indicates a whirlwind which changes our mood. 

Below we can see credits which are written with a small size font along with the other logos. The yellow tape which is associated with chemicals as a sign of danger has the release date in a bold font which resembles danger almost warning the audience to be ready for what they are going to be seeing when they watch the film. The pun used on the word 'catch' links to the tag line and the word is mainly associated with illnesses as you can tell by the symbol on the tape which is a gas mask symbol being you should protect yourself. 

Magazines: