MEDIA LANGUAGE ESSAY

Media Language is the codes and meanings of a specific text. The use of mise-en-scene, camera movement, editing, sound and semiotics all convey a significant meaning to the audience. In this essay I will be analysing and evaluating how symbolic, technical, audio and written codes have been used effectively in my trailer ‘The Last Ones Left’.

Symbolic codes are props, motifs and colours that are used to convey the theme or character of the horror trailer and its genre. In The Last Ones Left, the characters costumes are mainly black, which has strong connotations of death, suggesting that death will be a prominent theme in the film or that the character wearing the colour will be the first to die. One of the male characters is wearing a blue shirt which suggests that as he is male, he will take on stereotypical masculine characteristics such as being courageous and assertive and try to act as a hero which is common in the horror genre. The trailer is intended to be a part of the supernatural genre however it lacks religious symbols. In the trailer of The Exorcist, they show slamming doors, which signify being trapped. Additionally, the trailer shows scenes that are filmed in mostly low key lighting which can make the audience feel uncomfortable and anticipate something fearful. My trailer, however, uses mostly natural, high key lighting which juxtaposes the feeling of being scared and denotes that the characters will escape the attack or die because they’re shown levitating upwards as if they were going to heaven.

Technical codes are camera movements, angles and frames. From the first sixteen to twenty seven seconds, close ups are used in our trailer to clearly show the characters’ fear of being attacked. At 0:47, the female character falls and that is shown through a high angle shot which signifies that she is weaker and makes her appear to be more vulnerable and helpless. Furthermore, when she is being chased the camera movement is unstable because it was filmed with a handheld camera. The shaky movement could resemble someone trembling with fear which is how horror makes you feel. Similarly, the trailer of The Blair Witch Project uses the same camera movement and makes the audience feel more scared and frightened and puts them in the perspective of the character in the trailer.

Technical codes also refer to the editing of the trailer such as transitions and continuity editing. Our trailer uses montages to show the disequilibrium and between each clip there are fast pace cuts as the characters are attacked, try to get away and be levitated. The fast pace of transitions makes the audience feel visceral pleasure as they’re constantly anticipating and taken aback of what might appear next. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) follows the same structure by quickening the pace of transitions as scenes of attacking are shown. They also use fade to black and then a flash to white, which signifies instant death for the protagonist. Conversely our use of fade to blacks denote a slow death for the character.

Audio Codes are elements of sound such as non-diegetic and diegetic sound, soundtrack, sound effects, music and dialogue. In the trailer of The Last Ones Left in first 0:18 seconds a low, ominous sound plays which denotes impending doom or a threat of danger. From 0:18 to 0:37 the sound effects of sirens come in and act as an alert that danger is nearby and they also have connotations of panic suggesting that the characters in the film will be surrounded by danger. Foley sounds are also used when the male character picks up the camera to enhance the audio, this makes the film more realistic and draws the audience into the world of the film. In the beginning we hear dialogue from the characters explaining their fears about what's happening and it allows the audience to get a hint of what the film is about. Similarly, in The Blair Witch Project they have a character speaking over a dark screen explaining that it's her "fault" and alludes to the premise of the trailer. 

Written codes are elements of text that appear in the trailer such as titles and captions between transitions. Although, the font of the text isn't degraded to convey decay or the genre it does explain part of the premise. Trailers such as the 'Rec' trailer use a similar caption to reveal facts about the plot itself as if it was a true life story. By doing this, just like using audio codes, it draws the audience into the world of the trailer and allows them to feel more scared as the watch.