Solo Trailer Review 1

Name Of Film: Oculus                Year Of Release: 2014   

Genre Of Trailer: Psychological Horror                    

Mark Given After Viewing: 9/10               

What happened in the trailer?

This highlights trailer showed a story of two siblings trying to prove that a supernatural force in a mirror killed their mother.

Which positive, cleaver or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?

I think that this trailer built tension well, using the plot line in a successful way, engaging the audience with the characters as well as using the slow montage at the beginning to create suspense. The parallel music enhanced the tension and suspense adding drama to points of interest throughout the trailer.

I particularly liked how the beginning shot was an expressionist high angle shot of the final girl (Karen Gillan). As this was shot from on top of the mirror, the viewer immediately gets the feeling that she is in a position of weakness in comparison to the power of the mirror.

I think that the flash back features of the trailer work particularly well as it helps to add meaning to the story as well as depth to the characters. I think that this would be something interesting to use in our trailer as it may be able to add historical context giving a fuller view of the story. 

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful, and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?

I think that while this trailer was generally very good, that it might be considered confusing, I think that this may put off some members of it’s target audience. However I also think that the relation between the mirror projecting what it wants to be seen and society’s views on creating a front for people to see will also make this film incredibly interesting.