The boy trailer analysis

The trailer starts of with a long shot of an old looking house located in the countryside which conforms to the stereotype of a horror film being based in the middle of nowhere and in a old looking house. The music (non-diegetic) played is calming and slow which the audience may be wondering why there isn't scary music instead. But a few seconds later the nanny is introduced to Mr and Mrs Heelshire and their son Brahms who is a doll which is when the music turns from calming to tense and scary. The nanny seems to find it funny which is not surprising as she wasn't expecting for this to happen. There is then a close up of the doll to show the audience what he looks like. Afterwards Mr Heelshire says to the nanny that Brahms isn't like other children which is when he shows her a list that she has to follow. The next scene shows number 2 on the list which says 'don't cover his face' which the audience may be thinking that nobody would ever to this a child. Then another close up is shown of Brahms face which at this point the audience is finding freaky. Afterwards the nanny says to him 'you kinda freak me out' and puts a blanket over him. When this happens everyone knows that something is going to happen as she didn't follow the rule as this is expected to happen in a horror film.

The next scene shows another rule which says 'don't leave him alone' which seems a strange thing to put down as he is young boy. After the nanny is shown taking a shower and Brahms is nowhere to be seen so she hasn't followed that rule either. At this point the audience knows that something bad is going to happen to her as this is expected in a horror film. The next scene shows yet another one of the rules saying 'don't forget to feed him' which yet again who would forget to feed their child. There is then a scene of Brahms sitting at the dinner table and goes straight to the nanny emptying the food in the bin. At this point the audience is beginning to feel scared as she hasn't followed any of the rules yet. But this is when the trailer gets scary as there is a child's laugh coming from the direction where Brahms is which the audience is wondering where it came from. The music (non-diegetic) then becomes intense and the nanny looks up to see that Brahms has disappeared from the table which is scary as he is a doll. The next scene shows the nanny placing Brahms on the floor and drawing an outline of his body to see if he moves. She tells the Malcolm the grocery man about it and they both stand outside the room which is when the nanny knocks on the wall then opens the door and Brahms has gone. At this point the audience is wondering why Mr and Mrs Heelshire have a doll as child and why there is a set of rules to take care of him.

A few seconds later Greta the nanny asks Malcolm about 'the real Brahms' which tells the audience there is something that the don't know yet but soon will find out. Malcolm says he was "downright strange". He mentions that a little girl and Brahms went to the woods and found a body there but by the time the police got there it was up in flames. The audience is thinking at this point is who is Brahms and did he set the woods on fire. There is then a close up of a grave stone with 'Brahms' written on it and the date 1983-1991 which means he died when he was only 8 years old. Malcolm is still talking about Brahms and says he never made it out which tells us he died in the fire. Towards the end of the trailer the music has turned into freaky child's music and shows Greta looking at a family portrait when a little boys arm comes out and grabs he round the throat which the audience thinks is Brahms.

From the trailer we find out that Greta is a nanny who has come to take care of Brahms who turns out to be a doll. Also we find out that the real Brahms died when he was 8 years old in 1991. Mise-en-scene is used throughout the trailer as the location is the house and many camera shots are used. The use of editing in the trailer is quick has you have to fit alot in a few minutes. Shots are between 3-5 seconds not any longer.