Amy Trailer Analysis

The trailer starts off with an establishing shot of the college that Amy and her small group of friends attend. It then proceeds onto a scene where the killer opens the door to get into the college. At this point when he pushes open the door the camera cuts to the other side which follows through with the movement. Which shows the usage of matched action. Further on within the scene there are cuts that are edited into the trailer which is symbolic to a glitchy movement as the Killer walks down the corridor. The plate cards that fade in during certain scenes within the trailer are very conventional to the traditional slasher trailer in regards to tropes. The plates cards are all red and covered with blooded typography which conveys death and imminent danger. The sound from the start of the trailer seems to a ominous looming effect that hides away in the background and bridges onto the other scenes. As the killer walks into the room we then get our first look at who the main character of the narrative is. This deviates from most traditional slasher trailers as the opening sequence of a traditional trailer would start off establishing the final girl and the group of friends. However this trailer resembles the opening sequence of the Halloween (1978) trailer where we see things from Jason's perspective through the mask, however due to the killer in Amy not being the killer yet he has no gear on. This may resemble the way in which he previously saw the world as free and open minded before having to put on the mask which narrowed down his focus onto one thing which is getting revenge for the way in which he was treated. During the rejection scene where Amy the final girl is seated in between two other people which conveys her lack of security and independence. Her group of friends and the Jock embarrass him and tell him to get out. At this point the trailer proceeds onto its second sequence which is conveying the hatred that the killer has felt for his rejection. At the bus stop sequence we see the killer stalking the promiscuous girl standing side by side with the bus stop which has juxtaposed connotations of protection and a shelter and outside of the bus stop is where he is and that is danger. Also behind the killer mirrors a conventional location which is a suburbans house which conveys the suburban lifestyle that people within this area live out with some aspects of British social realism with the bus stop and housing staying true to the genre. Within the house there is a light left on with its bright orange colour shining through the window, furthermore there is a dead plantation on the left hand side of the camera which shows the lack of life and nature within the area.. This has connotations of warmth and safety within the house and outside where the killer is dangerous and also the lack of an authority figure as teachers and parents are no where to be seen within the trailer.. At this point a van drives past and there is a jump-cut to where the killer disappears from the scene which is a conventional cinematic shot which mirrors the rule of thirds. Through this point the camera zooms in to emphasize the mysteriousness and the supernatural qualities of the killer. The following scene proceeds to have Amy hear her phone ring which uses diagetic sound and in the back ground 2 chairs which are purple and green. This link to scenes later on within the trailer at the pub. However the absence of people within this shot conveys the absence of her friends when she only has 2. Which has symbolic representation of death being imminent towards them, as the colours of green and purple represent supernatural activity and sick bruising.

When Amy picks up the phone once it rings it is very subtle but the camera work breaks the line looking at the cinematic film aspect of the trailer which is the 180 degree rule. However within John Fords stage coach chase scene also did the same thing that was done here which conveys the idea that something is breaking the rules which doesn't seem to right conveying the urgency and hysteria that is being built up throughout this trailer. Furthermore Amy begins to stare into red with the cupboard behind her being in line with her gaze which has mise en scene that there is danger ahead. After she denies the request to go out with Ayo and Brittney she continues to do her school work which reestablishes the idea of her being the final girl who is focused on her school work with a maternal character design.

The next sequence of the trailer at the pub featuring Ayo and Brittney is similar to a scene with Vertigo, with the colour scheme being a pale green and purple which symbolized the chairs in the previous scene of the trailer. As Brittney the promiscuous girl in all red symbolizing danger and also showing hommage to the scene within the Bond movie (where the women was in all red along with her room symbolized death) and Ayo walk away round the corner they begin to walk down an alleyway where the double yellow lines are painted in red which has conventional aspects stating that the road they are walking is a dangerous one. The fan that is shown which is blurry and out of focus can also symbolize the drunkenness of the Jock. The killer then appears in a blurry fashion which is represented through the usage of the hand held camera portraying the aspect of realism within the trailer as he casually walks up to the Jock with his blade out. The killer in an all black gown which represents the idea of him being a grim reaper going around killing individuals begins to stab Ayo. Freud's concept of a Phallic symbol is demonstrated through the course of this scene as the killer uses his tool to penetrate Ayo as he is impudent in some aspect and cannot become sexually aroused so he uses his knife as an alternative. The Killer within the trailer shows homage to the slasher convention as he wears a mask and has a slow paced walk to where the cast runs away but he always manages to catch them reestablishing the idea that you cant run away, which in a sense is hypocritical as he is wearing a mask to protect himself from the embarrassment of rejection. Also the scream from Brittney is very conventional within the slasher movies as its an indication of the fear factor within the film which tends to be quite apparent due to the current events.When The killer walked up to Ayo before the stab there is also glimpses of light which have connotations of hope but barely any. 

The next scene to where a door is shown and breathing is heard from the other side also links to the fear factor within conventional slasher trailers as there is always a sense of desperation to hide yourself or escape the phallic killer but all attempts tend to fail. The door handle that is shown and then begins to shake is along with a presumably Amy screaming is also a conventional scream which I have stated earlier on. Within the plate shots that state "Rejection" "You can't Run" there is a non-diagetic sound effect which is similar to texas chainsaw's photo scene which follows through with to some aspect the general conventions of a horror trailer. We see at the end of the trailer that the killer is beaten which also links to the theoretical perspective that Freud established which is the 'monstrous feminine' to where the final girl overcomes the killer and penetrates him with his own weapon. However during this scene we see the final girl begin to unmask the killer however there is a scream but and Amy turns around signifying that the killer never dies and lives on.