Analysis of the teaser trailer 'The Happening'

The teaser trailer for the movie 'The Happening' is a short clip lasting 01:26. It is a horror/thriller genre and is aimed at both genders aged about 15 - 25.


The location of this trailer is mainly situated in a City somewhere in America, perhaps New York. There are also brief clips of locations such as the country side and inside houses.

The opening scene is a shot of a city from an 'Ariel' camera shot. It scans across the city so the audience can establish where they are. It fades to a low angle shot of a man jogging with his dog in what looks like a busy park. At this point non-diegetic music seeps in, the music is quite mysterious and keeps the audience on edge. It then quickly cuts to a black screen with editing of 'On an ordinary day' making the atmosphere tense as the music because a little dramatic. The non diegetic sound then dies down and the audience are shown two quick shots of the park and two men, all the time the music building up a tense atmosphere. The 'two shot' of the men is a CU so the audience see their weary expressions empathising the mysterious feel. Editing is then used as it cuts to a black screen with copy 'Without any warning' the music again builds up for a brief moment making it feel dramatic. It then fades to a MS of two women sat on a bench. The music then builds up and has a strange high pitch making it feel like something is going to happen. Next it fades to a CU of one of the women pulling what looks like a knitting needle from her hair, the audience see her dormant expressions as she brings it to her through. The shot the cuts to a CU of the women next to her and we see her reaction as the girl stabs herself. The Diegetic sound of her scream is piercing and breaks the music making it sound dramatic. The part shows juxtaposition as it was calm in the park and then the girl breaks this into a dramatic scene when she stabs herself.

There is then a montage of four quick shots as the audience hear the non diegetic music speed up creating a dramatic feel. One is a low angle shot of a police officer and zooms into him as he hears the scream. (the low angle creates a powerful feel to him. The remaining shots are of people randomly dying. People drop to the floor and as they do the non diegetic sound produces a loud high pitch to emphasise what is going on.

The next scene is of a builder. First there is a CU of three builders faces so the audience see their facial expressions as people randomly die. This creates an impact on the audience as it builds up tension. The camera then Pans on an over the shoulder shot turning into a low angle shot to see what the builder sees, this makes the audience feel like they are there. Diegetic sound is used here as the other builders fall from buildings to their death this a 'thud' this creates a dramatic impact on the audience. Low and high angles are used here to make the builder look venerable and confused as we see the people jumping off buildings. Editing has been used here such as continuity editing as it all flows. The transitions are mainly fade to make it flow and seem dramatic.

Next there is a very quick flow of shots, this creates a dramatic feel to the clip, drawing the audience in. Non diegetic sound is used here because the sound from the radio the people are listening too is used throughout the clips. This makes it sound real and empathises the events. The shots used range from CU, MCU and MLS. The shots are mainly reactions from the characters as to what is happening, they look terrified and passes an uneasy feel to the audience. As people die non diegetic sound such as screaming empathises the scenes more. All the transitions are straight cuts to create a fast impact and makes it seem scary.


The lighting used throughout the teaser trailer is all natural. This may be because they want to make it to portray what they said at the begining - 'On an ordinary day'. They may want to make it look realistic so used natural lighting.

Editing this then used in the form of a black screen with copy on it. It includes the directors name. Previous films done by the director. These have been shown to entice the audience and if they like the directors films they will want to see his new one. The title of the movie this then shown in a dramatic way with the non diegetic sound getting louder to create an impact so the audience remember the name. The last 5 - 6 shots are all CU of people’s faces looking terrified which leaves a lasting impression on the audience. This may have been done so the audience remember it and want to see the movie.

Reference to institutions have been made in this teaser trailer. At the start '20th Century Fox' has been used. This may have been shown to portray to the audience that it is going to be a good movie. Credits are shown at the end of the teaser trailer to tell the audience how did the sound etc. Small company logos are used on the last shot to make reference to them.