Let The Right One In Trailer Analysis

Let the Right One In

Trailer Analysis

The Swedish film ‘Let the Right One In’, was released in 2008 and follows a 12 year old boy named Oskar and an unusual girl named Eli who moves in next door. We later find that Eli has been keeping a secret that she is a vampire and helps Oskar to seek revenge on his bullies at school. The film is set in 1981 in Stockholm where throughout the film we see Oskar and Eli’s strange relationship unravel and develop.

Sound is one, if not in some cases, the, most important feature of a film trailer. In the case of this film as it is foreign, there are only a few title slide which provide subtitles on for other languages to relate to. Due to this, the trailer had to rely heavily on it’s use of sound and effects that dialogue to make the trailer flow and create more suspense and tension.Throughout the trailer, an unusual eerie soundtrack is played that begins around 0.06 seconds in. A mysterious and unnerving atmosphere is created by this music paired with a harmless long shot of snow hidden building at 0.09.

Also instantly near the start of the trailer we are introduced, through mise-en-scene, with an establishing shot where the film takes place. The shot of the snow covered building mentioned on the previous slide, is the shot that displays this to us. It is clear from the shot that the film is set in winter and knowing that the film is set in Sweden connects the audience to the set and the feel of a Swedish winter.The lighting here is very limited as it shown to have dark clouds blanketing the sky as if a storm was brewing and almost like the calm before the storm. In this sense, this could represent the calm scenic and quiet shots before shocking twists and turns throughout the trailer. This could be the ‘storm’ in a figurative way.

The second scene we are shown is at 0:12, where we see the main protagonist, Oskar, being flicked maliciously on the nose by another boy. The almost over the shoulder shot paired with the diagetic sound of the flicking noise almost creates a voyeuristic feel that the audience is stood with the boys in the scene. This voyeurism is important in allowing the audience to feel sympathy for Oskar as the sound created by the action of the other boy sounds like it would hurt and that tis could be a potential bully in the film. Also, the fact that Oskar doesn’t respond, shows his reserved personality and that he may have fell victim to this other boy.

Also just by the use of camera angles being a slightly low angle shot, makes the audience aware that the bully in the background is meant to feel like he has superiority over Oskar. The way he acts by leaning propped up on a wall displaying a carefree attitude and smiling after he hurt Oskar, all reinforces his persona as a bully. This scene is important for the audience to truly engage with Oskar’s character through Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications theory, as they may be able to relate to him and in turn feel sympathy for him throughout the film.

In the next scene at 0.14, we see Oskar take out his inner emotions about the potential bullies on a tree bark with a small knife. The diagetic sound is again heard here with Oskar’s heavy breathing in the cold air and the knife stabbing the bark. This reinforces the voyeuristic feel. This also coincides with Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory where the character is established within the first few frames and the audience can relate to the situations and feel sympathy, in this case, that will attract them to keep watching.

Then, we see Oskar turn around as the camera pans and follows his direction of focus. As this transitions into a medium long shot, Eli’s character is revealed for the first time accompanied by a low shrieking noise. The use of the shift in music and sound effects suggests to the audience that Eli could be a potential threat in the film as this is a commonly used conventions of a trailer or film to do this when we are presented with a villain/character that may pose some form of threat. As a fade to black transitions the scene forward, this music is faded and the normal soundtrack is resumed.

Another mise-en-scene aspect that I picked up on was that in these previous shots, Oskar is seen wearing a large, heavy looking coat, dressed appropriately for the Swedish climate. However, Eli is only dressed in a jumper and so her clothing paired with the music when she is on screen further suggests that she is unusual in some way or another but as the audience, we don’t know what or why at this point, keeping the audience guessing.

With an extreme close- up, a letter is revealed at 0.30 into the trailer which is written in Swedish accompanied by a fade to a medium close-up shot of Oskar smiling and looking up. With a heart illustration drawn on the page, this suggests that Oskar and Eli may share more than a friendship. These two transitioned shots have an overlay of a building booming sound which creates an uneasy atmosphere as in something is not quite right. The visual of Oskar smiling with the uneasy music overlay is an extreme contrast which leads the audience into tense confusion as to what is about to happen.

Abruptly at 0.33 this sequence of building tension is cut off and a very loud screeching boom occurs along side a high angle shot of Oskar falling from a window. The frame then jump cuts to a view of Eli walking away from the window with a blank expression. With the sound speeding up and this scene combined makes the audience instantly see a lot more to Eli’s character and ask the questions, ‘did she push him?’ and ‘is she evil?’.

The most important scene takes place at 0.37-0.38 where we see Eli revealed as the threat that the music is indicating at. First, we see a medium close-up shot of her standing by a subway tunnel with blood around her mouth. This shot is shocking and makes the audience ask questions. We see a long shot of her jump from the subway opening with a jump cut, long shot to Eli crouched over a person’s body with the diagetic loud sound of her eating his flesh. The increased volume and speed of the music compared to the soft soundtrack from the beginning of the trailer, is used to indicate to the audience that the film is a horror film rather than a thriller which may be what is originally though at the beginning.

Between 0.39-0.41, the loud booming crescendo fades to silence in conjunction with a fade to black on the screen which sets up the next scene.

Next we see an over the shoulder shot of Oskar being greeted at the door by Eli at 0.42. The previous silence is broken by the sound of the door creaking open which gives the scene a voyeuristic feel that we are in the moment with the two characters. The silence continues as we see a shot of Eli smiling at Oskar which creates another uneasy atmosphere as the audience now knows that Eli is capable of murdering and adult.

Abruptly at 0.47 there is a series of fairly quick jump cuts that reveal fast short frames of a man being viciously attacked. These scenes are shown with a building screeching sound which reiterates the horror of Eli’s nature and begs the question of why she is killing fully grown men and more importantly how?After this brief but fast series of jump cuts we see a medium shot of Eli hugging Oskar from behind as Oskar gasps and looks back at her, showing that she cares for him however he is still weary and reserved/nervous around her.

The following scene is also very important as at 0.55, all of the audience’s previous questions are answered with only two lines of the first dialogue in the trailer. We see a close-up shot of Oskar and Eli’s hands trying to touch through glass as Oskar asks “Are you a vampire?”, to which Eli replies “Would you like me anyway?” From just these two lines of dialogue, we, as the audience, now know why Eli kills. Also, it may make the audience have some form of sympathy for her in that she may not want to be a ‘monster’ but as she is a vampire she has no choice but to kill for the blood to survive. We see, through close-up shots, sadness and pain through their facial expressions and this scene could have Todorov’s narrative theory applied to it here as this is the recognition of the disruption.

The shots on screen now switch to fast paced jump cuts and a layering sound of drums to accompany the scenes around 1:05, where we see a shot of a struggling woman being rushed through a hospital with the diagetic sound of her screaming. This type of scene is typical of a film from the horror genre used to help build intensity and tension within the audience. Here, the series of fast paced shots creates and builds tension within the audience as they do not appear on screen long. Shots within this series of jump cuts includes; a cold snow covered, dead body being carried off by airlifting, and many dead bodies being pushed into an ice cold river, being strung upside down and also another body being dragged through the snow out of frame. This keeps the audience alert and with disturbing shots only being shown for a few seconds may make the audience re-watch the trailer many times to pick up on everything that happened, thus making them more likely to want to see the film to find out more.

At 1:15 we hear more screams until 1:16 where an eerie echo can be heard as all goes quiet. Another important line of dialogue in the trailer takes place at 1:18 when Oskar asks “Will you be my girlfriend?”. This line is presented with a black screen so we are not entirely sure who Oskar is referring to but we guess it is Eli. This introduces a huge disruption in the film as now have learned that even knowing what Eli is capable of, Oskar is still willing to be in a relationship with her. As this line is delivered a similar eerie soundtrack is heard to the start where Eli was first introduced. This reinforces the danger that he could potentially be in and the chilling feeling that is left with the audience as the billing block appears on screen.

In the last 20 seconds of the trailer around 1:20 onwards, we see a dark sky with the fluttering of snow. This reiterates the icy setting in which the film was shot (Sweden) and also sends connotations to the audience that the snowy scene links back to the cold, unpredictable nature of a vampire.Then without any transition at 1:20, a short quote by an editor of Fears Magazine (as shown below). I don’t read this magazine but you can tell from the masthead name suggests that it specialises in all things of the horror genre, which, with such a good write up, makes the credibility all the more prominent. The quote below gives the film an added credibility and with descriptives like ‘masterpiece’ and ‘brilliant’, will entice the audience to go and see the film from the glorious reviews of others. The text is displayed in white also to allow it to stand out from the dark background as the main feature of the frame.

Shortly after this, at 1:29, the title of the film appears on screen in a sans serif font with a deep red colouring. This colour was probably used due to the connotations of the colour red being danger and blood, which is a typical characteristic of a horror/thriller or in this case a vampire movie. The billing block then appears and again fades out. Having this almost calm ending of fluttering snow gives the audience a chance to reflect on all of the previous shots they have just be presented with. This is effective as, just as the tension is building and we see more and more clues and murders, a calming soundtrack with the snow falling is displayed and ends the build up of tension abruptly. This keeps the audience guessing after the trailer has finished and entices the audience to want to know more. This shot lasts for 20 seconds as the review from the magazine, the title of the film and the billing block are displayed which is the reasoning behind the unusually long shot length.

Throughout the whole trailer, there looks to have been a blue/silvery white filter on all of the shots. This really helps to encapsulate a chilling and clinical feeling which is a typical component/filter used for a film of the horror genre. The blue filters also help to aid the reflection of the climate that film is set in so that the shots don’t feel disjointed from the detailed mise-en-scene.