The Blair Witch Project Film Trailer Analysis

 This is the opening shot to The Blair Witch Project Trailer, it begins with a slight thudding noise which could be perceived to be a heavy footstep as the text appears on the screen, this lays out the idea behind the trailer and sets up the whole movie.

The next shot in the sequence shows a hand filmed section where one of the characters is describing what they will be doing and therefore outlining the plot of the film. The only sound that can be heard here is that dialogue of the character and of the person filming; this shows informality in the filming and therefore highlights to the audience the unique selling point of the film. The shot is a mid-shot with a teenage girl in the center of the shot. This highlights that she will be the main character as she is the one who does most of the talking and is the only one featured in shot. After this shot the trailer cuts to black again repeating the thudding sound in sync with the cut. 

The next sequence of shots are the characters filming “members of the public”  asking them questions about the Blair Witch, the camera work here is jolted and a lot of background sound can be heard, this adds to the realism of the piece and is key in the audiences suspension of belief. After this the shot cuts to black and the in sync thudding noise is repeated.

 This trailer features reviews from various magazines and newspapers to show the critical acclaim it received, it uses big names such as “Entertainment Weekly” to show how well received the film has been 

As this shot appears onscreen there is silence, the camera seems to be traveling so we are given the impression that the characters are in a car, and the setting is revealed for the first time in this long shot in black and white giving an eerie feel.  This is proceeded by a loud gasp which after the previous silent shots are designed to make the audience jump, along with a quick long shot of the girl we previously saw giving the introduction, she is leading the way of the group, which tells us that she is the leader and in charge, which challenges normal horror gender conventions where the woman is usually the victim.

Again after this the boy on the camera is joking around with the girl and asking questions about the Blair Witch, from the surrounding and diegetic background noise it is now made obvious they are in the Blair woods. After this is a filmed argument of the group about a map to allude to the audience that they are lost in the woods.  

This is a mid-shot if the girl in the dark, she shouts hello and the boys remain silent again reinforcing her dominance over the group, apart from this all we can here is the heavy panicked breathing of the boy holding the camera and rustling in the distance this is created to try to bring up the pace of the trailer and to strike fear into the audience watching. This is then followed by the whole group running and screaming however the sound of the screaming is distant which allows the audience to question whether or not the screaming is from the group featured in the film or elsewhere.  

After a brief cut the black and the repeated thudding sound, the trailer then reverts back to day light signifying a progression of time within the trailer. The shots are no longer focused on the characters but on their reactions to the surroundings, above is a long shot of the woods and a mysterious and creepy straw figure planted in the trees, this denotes to the audience that the noises heard previously is not just the paranoia of the characters but something supernatural and sinister.

This once again cuts to black. The shots switch back to night time again so the camera shots are unclear, we can hear screaming but not clearly see what the characters are screaming at, as the characters are running and trailer is filmed by hand there are no formulated camera shots, this adds to the panic of the trailer and overall leads to a rise in pace ultimately sweeping the audience along with it. Again this cuts to black with the thudding sound.

The next sequence of the trailer is made up of solely extreme close ups, this is so the audience can see the expression of fear on the face of the main character as she does her piece to camera, due to the extreme close up mainly focused on her eye the audience can see the fear in her expression and the tear in her eye, due to the trailer being filmed by a hand held camera we also only see the top left hand corner of the girls face, this again adds to the realism and panic of the trailer as she apologises for bringing the group to the woods. The light given off by the camera also bleaches out part of her face giving her a supernatural look as well, the inclusion of the background of the shot increases the tension in the trailer as the audience are expecting at any second for the witch to appear.  Once again the thudding sound is used and it cuts to black, the thudding has connotations of the footsteps getting closer as he shots in between the thuds are getting shorter. 

Once again the thudding sound is used and it cuts to black, the thudding has connotations of the footsteps getting closer as he shots in between the thuds are getting shorter. The next sequence lasts two seconds as then we hear heavy breathing and footsteps which is left for the audience to assume that the character is running. 

 We then hear a loud but distant scream before the camera is dropped we hear the thud as it hits the ground the same as the synchronous thuds on the cuts between shots, from this there is then no sound what so ever for a second. 

All that is then featured is the thudding sound, which is louder and more prominent than the rest, which imply to the audience that whatever was tracking them has found them. This final shot is of an odd shape that doesn't really seem to be of anything except the white dash across the screen which resembles the myth of “supernatural orbs” of witches and ghosts, this will be obvious to fans of the horror genre. The only sound featured in this is a loud scream designed to send chills down the spines of the audiences. 

The final thing on the screen is this plain image with no sound, this resembles the first shot in the trailer and is in direct contrast to that of the previous 3 shots. This silent shot with the plain and simple type face makes for a very dramatic ending to the trailer and therefore will encourage audiences to see the film.