Omen - Teaser Trailer Deconstruction

In the first clip there is quiet non-diagetic and diagetic sound. A soft high pitch drone in the background adds to the eerie feel that the dark lighting and drooping trees create. There is also the diagetic sound of a squeaking swing which can be seen as a dark shadow to the right of the long shot, as it is lit from behind. The audience can see a rocking horse lit slightly better to the left of the shot, and this connotes that there will be something to do with child in the film or trailer.

As the camera pans forward, this next shot is a mid-shot of the child’s back. His red blazer is clearly visible and stands out from the grey tone of the trailer, connoting danger or blood, and therefore evil. The diagetic creaking swing is still heard, along with the very soft drone in the background, which builds tension.

The camera continues to pan round to the front of the child, as it zooms into his face to create a close-up shot. The non-diagetic drone and the diagetic swinging sounds are still present, however the squeaking of the swing becomes more pronounced as the camera moves closer to the boy. His red hat is revealed against the murky grey backdrop and this creates a contrast between the innocence of a child’s hat and the connotations of red, danger, blood and evil.

Again, the camera continues to pan round, as well drawing back slightly to show a mid shot of the child on the swing. The same diagetic and non-diagetic sounds are present as, once again, the swinging sound effect is louder than at the beginning of the trailer. The whole trailer is filmed using one long shot and therefore contains no cuts or edits. This builds the tension perfectly, creating fear amongst the audience. The camera stops panning and holds still for three seconds with the mid-shot of the little boy. His face is pale and his eyes and hair are dark showing him to be evil and making him appeared possessed in some form, taking away any initial thoughts of childlike innocence. After three seconds of holding the camera still, the child suddenly turns to look straight into the camera. At the same time a diagetic sound of a church bell chiming comes in, and this adds to the shock of the boy’s evil look into the camera. The bell continues to chime as the boy stares straight into the camera at the audience. This implies a religious theme to the film, as well drawing the audience into the trailer.

The shot then fades to black and another shocking stab of non-diagetic music is played as the text suddenly appears on the screen. This shocks the audience and shows the film to be of the horror genre. The text is white and written in a religious looking font which contrasts the black background as well as highlighting one of the themes of the film.