Gothika Trailier Deconstruction

I decided to look at the Film Gothika because it has a similar narrative to ours. The main character who was a psychiatrist wakes up in the mental asylum that she works in and has no memory of why she is there or how she got there. She starts to see a girl who she is not aware and becomes posessed by the ghost of this girl. Doctors and friends do not believe her therefore she cannot trust anyone and in the end the truth is discovered.

Anchorage, Credits & Title

The three main colours that are used on the text are black, white and red. Black and red are normally associated with blood and anger, and darkness and the unknown. When the anchorage appears they are in white then a certain word at the end is highlighted for example, 'sane' 'logical' and 'rational'. These certain words all relate to the character before she has been put in the mental asylum. This informs the audience that the character will become the opposite of sane and rational. This anchorage appears slowly so that the audience have to time to read it, and it also fits with the pace of shots.
The credits of the actors names are in white and red so that they stand out against the black background. They appear after a shot of the actor so that the audience know who they are.
Finally the film title appears in an eery font that look almost like a child has written it. It first appears white then flashes red and finally fades out to black. I like this effect because it intrigues the audience, it emphasises the connotations that red and black have and lets the audience know that this is a gory and dark film
The Dark Castle logo has been faded in to the actors eye which is accompanied by a flash of light and a stab of music which instantly catches the audience attention.

Shots

The first shot of the characters is filmed behind a metal fence emphasising that the patient in the trailer is isolated and could be dangerous. It also establises the locaction of the mental asylum. The pace of the shots are slow to fit with the slow music and the anchorage. The audience are instantly shown who the main character is and what her profession is. The pace then quickens as the protagonist is driving her car in the rain. The camera zooms at a fast pace to a pale blonde girl standing in the middle of the road who is highlighted by the car lights. This intrigues the audience into finding out who this girl is and what she was doing in the road. A close up shot of the strange girl shows the protagonist as a shadow in the background, this makes the audience want to see what the strange girls face looks like as it is hidden by her hair. The audience are then made aware that the protagonist has been put into the mental asylum, you can tell she is distressed by the close up shots of her face.

A lot of close up  shots are used to show the expression on characters faces. A long shot of a dark hall with a door at the end uses lighing to highlight the shadow of a girl. We are introduced more to the face of the strange girl by quick close up shots that show her looking dirty and tired. A close up shot the protagonist bending down shows the strange girl standing behind her which scares the audience and makes them fear for the main character. The audience are instantly intriuged by the strange girl and also fear her, a shot of her walking along a hospital corridor in a robotic way shows that she is not normal or human. The shots gradually come to a climax.
Quick and clever editing has been used in a long shot of a hallway with a door at the end showing a shadow of a girl and then the girl disappears. The final shot shows the main character and hands appearing to grab her. All of the shots excite the audience because they want to know what happens next.

Sound

The dialogue throughout is soft and very quiet, to emphasise the quiteness of the asylum they might be whispering to hide something. A stab of sound and a lightening sound breaks the silence and fades into a slow piano. The audience then hear a scream and car screeches and glass smashing without seeing the actual crash. The sound of the rain, lightening and thunder is used quite a lot in this trailier to that it is not a sunny happy day but a dark gloomy day. Eeery screeches and sounds are used when the main character is shown in the asylum room to emphasise that it is an uncomfortable place to be. The dialogue gives away some of the narrative such as 'your husband is dead you killed him' which excites the audience into finding out what happened. The music changes from  slow piano to fast paces almost action like music as the shots get faster. There is a shot of the stranger girl which a close up, we cannot see what she is doing but we can see her moving and the sound of knife slicing to show she is dangerous. With the shot of a man closing what looks like an asylum window, it is accompanied by a sound of a jail door closing to emphasise she is trapped and alone. With the credits, the music gradually comes to a climax and then goes silent. The dialogue 'you should be' is whispered which draws in the attention of the audience as they want to know why she should be scared.