PRE: Textual Analysis of Teaser Trailer By Eilish Roche

INBRED (2011)

'INBRED' is a 2011 film directed by Alex Chandon otherwise known for films such as 'Cradle of Fear,' having worked with New Flesh Films to produce the newly released film?

The teaser trailer consists of simply 3 long shots lasting for 50 seconds. The teaser trailer starts with a tracking shot which denotes trees on the outskirts of a field to panning round to reach a group of children in the distance playing with and hitting what seems to be a scarecrow. The distance in which the shot is taken from the children could connote a sense of mystery fitting the conventions of a teaser trailer purely to tease although they are more than likely playing where they shouldn’t highlighted by the wired fence which is directly in front of shot towards the bottom of the frame, the tracking shots expresses the surroundings which are fields spreading far into the distance connoting that they are again where they shouldn’t and probably alone. The sky looks grey and with the use of high key lighting, it looks natural as if the weather was miserable for the day indicating a miserable mood adding to the mystery of what they are doing. The children are all wearing very dull colours apart from one little girl who is wearing a small pink tutu which could connote she is different from the rest of the children, possibly being more innocent and not understanding what the rest are involved in which is not shown. The Non verbal communication of all of the children is slowed down to highlight the fact that they are whacking and stabbing at a scarecrow similarly to how a bully would pick on a child at school for example. “Every year an average of 150 people go missing in Yorkshire, England.” This caption is added to the very start of the tracking shot where only the trees are seen, the non-serif font is very plain but bold and clearly gives the message intended. Being placed in front of the trees implies that what is behind the trees is going to implicate that 150 people go missing, connoting that the children, being behind the trees may be involved in some way. Yorkshire is also a very peaceful place which is huge in comparison to other counties of England which means that being so big,

The sound at the start of the teaser is very tense and repeats the same regular beat until finally revealing what is behind the trees where the music becomes much more harsh and the beat slows in order to suit the slow motion of the shot, this sound connotes that the children are the much more negative aspect of the piece as if the building up of tension was for the introduction of the children. Although why they are negative and for what for is unable to be revealed. There is a strong, harsh sound irregular to the beat when there is the gap in the fence which could imply that entering would be dangerous and harsh, almost warning you away. The music then softens and its almost like the long remainder of a note has been left to end the shot connoting that as the tone of the notes reduce that its only downhill from there onwards which is going to be very long and deep. After 30 seconds the second shot has been edited to fade into the end of the first shot with a musical sting to highlight the changing of scene.

The second shot denotes a wheat field at eye level with a deep depth of field which has the focus set on a single overhead electricity cable; this shot connotes again mystery and loneliness which automatically leads the viewer to use their imagination. Being an electricity cable could connote that although people may visit regular, they may not stay long similarly to the electricity although possibly implying that they may not last long relating back to the first caption about people going missing. The sky is miserable similarly to the first shot and only the tops of the trees can be seen in the distance which could connote that something is being hidden within the wheat field whether it be secrets or people. ‘INBRED’ is placed just in alignment to the electrical cable and directly on top of the wheat field on this shot which stirs up the message which is being given. Inbred means being produced from related individuals, the word is disturbing and even worse as a thought, although placed with a deserted place it would not explain the reason why hundreds go missing every year in Yorkshire. Inbred implies that their will be sex within relation which connotes that the children in the first shot could be a result of inbreeding, or have some kind of inclusion. This could also relate to the third and final shot which is a wide angle shot, showing 3 boys and 2 girls from the first shot being still and close to the camera while there are still 3 children hitting the scarecrow in the background. The Non-verbal communication of these children is very distant; the 3 boys and 1 of the girls are looking in different directions avoiding the camera while the other girl has all of her hair covering her face. The faces of all of the children look spotty and dirty which could connote that they are inbred once again, and the fact that they are staring off in different directions shows they are different from the 3 children who are running around still. Now that the shot is much closer it seems that what was thought to be a scarecrow has red patches all down the torso and there is a bag being used as a head although it could connote that in actual fact it is a real person and this is what happens to all of the people who go missing in Yorkshire.
The sound covering the third shot is children laughing which is normally used in scary situations, this also implies that if its actually a human they are hitting that they are enjoying it which connotes that they could be mentally unstable which is a common sign of incest.