Cabin in the woodsTitle analysisSAMANTHA BEVAN

Position Size ColourThink out of the boxPurposeConnotation

This MPAA screen is the first thing that appears, this is completely separate from the action which is about to happen and is simply a safeguard to the viewers to pre-warn them that this film is appropriate for all audiences and will be shown on such things as television. Making it the audiences responsibility whether to watch it or not.

The first title shown is the name of the company ‘Lionsgate’, this being the first thing the audience see on the trailer informs them that it is this institution that made ‘Cabin in the Woods’ and they may recognise this institution from other film trailers giving it a wider audience as if they enjoyed Lionsgate other film they would probably want to watch this one too. The font used for the title ‘Lionsgate’ is the same as the original Lionsgate title which is recognised from other trailers and their website. By always keeping it the same font makes it more recognisable to audience members even when the title is in a different colour. In this shot the colour red has been used, symbolising danger and violence. This gives the audience an idea that this movie is going to have a dangerous plotline. The clouds that appear behind the word Lionsgate is in the original Lionsgate opening, but in this trailer has been made to look a lot darker the shot using only two colours, red and black rather than blue and white, this suggesting to the audience that their will never be any clear skies shown in the film making it very gloomy throughout and have a very low tone.

The second title shown is much different to the first, this indicating to the audience that this title is now linking directly to the film itself. It also makes the title Lionsgate more memorable to the audience, as it was in a much bolder colour(red). The text on this title shot still stands out on its own as the white colour of the font contrasts the black background. White usually symbolising innocence, although in this case the white looks almost dirty which connotes that all innocence has been lost. The black background is quite simple so gives a sense of mystery. The use f the word ‘you’ makes it more personal and directed at the audience making them feel more involved. This makes the audience want to keep watching.

This title shot is where the audience first can recognise a theme going through the titles, each being similar starting with ‘you think’ grabbing the audiences attention straight away, both of the two titles also being in white font on a black back ground shows repetition. This title shot being only slightly different to the last as it is slightly off centre, this could suggest that the further into the film the audience get the more distorting and odd it will become.

This title is much different from the last two, breaking what the audience would have believed to be a theme which would go on throughout the trailer. By suddenly changing how the titles appearance would surprise the audience, making them feel uncomfortable but intrigued as they now do not know what to expect from the next title. The splash of red slightly above the titles looks as though blood has been splattered on the screen. This gives a connotation that there will be a lot of blood throughout the film and the audience would then whilst watching the trailer have an expectancy to see violent scenes which involve blood. This links in Barthes enigma code as the audience would now be filled with questions about why there would be such a abrupt splatter of blood and what character would that involve. The titles placing being centred gives the shot a sense of normality, making the audience focus on the colouring behind the title and also shows the audience the importance of the producers name. The size of the title being a difference to the other title shots as the producers name has been put in a much larger font which makes it stand out more to the audience. This is so that audience members who have seen films previously produced by this producer will recognise his name and want to see the film.

This title shot being much similar to the last one, having the most important names central in a larger font to make them stand out more to the audience so that audience will in the future recognise them. The red splatter appearing in a similar place to the last title shot, being slightly above the title itself, is now brighter and the red covers more of the area in the shot. This gives the audience that what resembles ‘blood splatter’ has now gotten larger, making the audience feel more uncomfortable as this suggests that there is going to be something very violent and disturbing happen to one of those characters in the trailer. The red covering more as the trailer goes on could also suggest that the more the audience get into the film, the more the violence and intense scenes will increase. This links to the genre of the film being a horror as a key convention of a horror trailer is to make the audience feel uncomfortable and very on edge throughout.

The next title is the largest title in the trailer, this is because this is the title of the film therefore has to stand out to the audience the most out of all of them so that they are aware of the name of the film and remember it so that they can go and see it after they have watched the trailer. Similar to the last title shots the theme of the red behind the title is still present although in this shot it appears to be smeared across the screen, this would make the audience feel more uncomfortable as it would raise lots of questions as to why it is smeared. In the middle of the title light appears to be reflecting off of the letters, this makes the title stand out the most out of all of the titles shown previous in the trailer and also could be a connotation of car headlights arriving in front of the cabin in the woods.

In the very last title shot of the trailer, the red theme is now only in half of the screen and towards the right fading to black, this could be a connotation of moving past all of the intenseness that the audience has just witnessed at the end. The institution is once again shown but now smaller and smaller and now at the bottom, this is to remind the audience of the institution so that they can remember it for future reference.