When a Stranger Calls Trailer Analysis

Credits/ Intertitles

The first intertitles which are on a black background which focuses the audience on the statement indicates what the character was feeling ‘She thought it would be a quiet evening’ which shows the audience that she is relaxed and naive. It also makes the audience relate to the character as they may have been in a similar position.  Then single words appear on the black background in glowing red writing: ‘isolated’, ‘trapped’ and ‘alone’. These words put ideas and images into the audiences heads of what kind of scary situation the character is in. Finally the words ‘You can’t escape the terror’ appear on the black background which reinforces the idea of isolation and frightening actions.

Dialogue

The trailer begins with heavy breathing and a girl’s voice saying “Hello is anyone there”. This makes the audience feel unsettled as they worry that the girl may be in danger and think that someone scary may be on the other end of the phone.

When someone tries to reassure Jill by saying “You’re safe inside that house” it makes the audience feel uncomfortable and think that something bad may happen as ironically the girl is very unsafe inside the house as later on the police say “We have traced the call, it’s coming from inside the house”. This shows the audience that the character is in great danger and something intense is about to happen.

Genre

This film is from the horror genre as it may startle the viewers by portraying feelings of terror and creating a frightening atmosphere. This is demonstrated in the trailer by the isolation of the one character and the unknown villain who doesn’t show his face.

Music

There is scary music at the end of this trailer to make the audience hear all the sound effects very clearly as they want the audience to think that the girl is isolated and alone.

Narrative

The trailer shows the storyline of a teenage girl who is babysitting when she receives threatening and disturbing calls from a serial killer although at first she believes it to be a practical joke and just a prankster. At the end of the trailer short flashes of scary and dangerous situations that the girl is in are flashed on the screen.

Pace

This trailer is quite slow paced at the beginning as it introduces the innocent character and gets the audience to relate with them and see how vulnerable they are. It then gets a little faster as it shows the girl having a spooky conversation with a stranger. The pace then increases and shots are flashed on to the screen of the girl in danger and showy, ghost like figures float across the screen.

Shot types/ camera angles

The trailer starts with a close up of the phone; this is a significant object in the film as that is how the attack begins. This focuses the audience’s attention on that objects and makes them wonder what its significance is. 

A long shot is used to show the house that the girl is in which demonstrates to the audience how deserted the area is and shows the lake next to it which seems scary and ominous.

An over the shoulder shot of the girl on the sofa is used in the trailer to put the audience in the girl’s position and see the situation from her point of view. This will make the audience relate to her better and cause them to feel more frightened later on.

The close up of her face when she is in the water makes the audience worry and think that she is in great danger as the water looks cold and dark and she is in a frightening situation.

Target audience

The target audience for this film is teenage girls as the main plot line focus around a teenage girl who is babysitting. This storyline is one that many teenagers can relate to and may put themselves in the position of the character. This will causes them to become involved in the plot and feel like these events could happen to them.

Unique selling point

The unique selling point of this film could be that the situation that the girl is in is very common as lots of teenagers have been in that scenario. This means that they will relate with the character and see it from her point of view.