conventions of jessabelle

Jessabelle (2014)

Conversations between characters consists of one liners.

Conversations between characters

The first dialogue is after the phone call. The woman says 'dad' in a worried tone of voice. This convention has been used in this way to inform the audience that she is panicking for her father, as she did not hear anything after someone answered the phone call.


v  There is a quick conversation between the father and daughter, where the daughter says 'it's good to see you'. She sounds calm.

v  His reply shows that he is acting cold towards her as he changes the subject quickly. Instead, he says he is sorry for her boyfriend.

v  This has been used in this way to reveal their father and daughter relationship.

v  By this, we get more of an idea that their relationship is not close. These conversations consist of one-liners.

Shot of Jessabelle speaking with her father


The woman watches a video of her mum talking to her (to the camera). As soon as her mum says ‘hello Jessabelle’, she is really excited as she says ‘mum’. Her tone of voice is high, implying she is cheerful. This part of the conversation carries on with her mother saying she is not alone. She sounds relaxed.

Shots of Jessabelle watching her mum in the video


This convention has been used in this way to make the audience panic about what made her say that.

conversation between Jessabelle and her friend.

Audiences start to worry when she says

‘If I don’t talk to someone, I am going

to go crazy’.

She has a serious voice of tone.


Her tone of voice makes the audience ask questions about why her mum decided to make a video for her daughter.

Her father realizes she is watching the video of her mother and he gets annoyed.

This is demonstrated through his tone of voice, which is high. This tone has been used, as it is a convention of horror.

His anger makes the audience question why he does not want his daughter to watch the video of her mother.

She replies ‘but dad, it is mum’. She sounds as if she is about to cry and has a desperate tone of voice.

The conversation ends when he admits that the woman in the video is not her mother. This makes us confused because we heard Jessabelle say mother to her.

Jessabelle trying to persuade her dad so she can carry on watching the video of her mum

Jessabelle’s dad taking the video away from her.

Shot of the father’s response

Voiceoversare used to tell the story and give credit information

Voiceovers

The first voiceover is Jessabelle thanking her father for picking her up but she sounds upset. This is portrayed in her tone of voice. She says it slowly.

Voiceovers

The next voiceover is when her friend

removes the branches off her gravestone. Surprisingly, she says ‘Oh my God, it is my birthdate’. The audiences are surprised and shocked. This is because it is unusual for someone to be alive and have a gravestone that writes their name.

Voiceovers

The next voiceover makes the audience worry and ask questions. Jessabelle says ‘do you think there is something under that stone’. This voiceover has been used in this way to make the audience wonder with her. It makes the audience question whether there is something under the stone because it is unusual for someone to put the gravestone on top of nothing. This therefore leads the audience to feel terrified.

Key pointsare sometimes conveyed through titles

Key points

This is obvious when the first text appears. This text has been used in this way to encourage the audience to watch this film as he has previous successful films. Adding on, if the audience enjoys watching the previous films he has produced (which some are listed on the screen for instance paranormal activity) then the audiences are more likely to watch this one. The list of names acts like a guarantee for this upcoming film.

Producer of ‘Jessabelle’

He is famous for his previous films.

Key points

The following text says . This text has been used in this way to make the audience

anxious about the secret. The words ‘secret’ and ‘past’ stand out compared to the other text as they are in a larger font. This makes the audience focus on those words, leading them to relate to themselves as everyone has a secret from the past.

Key points

The text is effective because it makes the audience think there is something different about Jessabelle but they do not know what it is and would want to find out. This therefore means the trailer is convincing the audience to watch this film.

There is a similar text, which says ‘a curse from the grave’. This has been used in this way to make the audience worry about what could happen to Jessabelle. This is because the previous shot was her gravestone.

The audiences are aware it is her gravestone as it writes her name and she says it with a voiceover. In the

voiceover, it clear that she is surprised to see her gravestone with her birthdate on it.

Key points

says ‘this August’. Key points This has been following used in this

The way to

excite the audience, as they have

so many

questions that they want answers for.

Key points

This would catch the audiences’ eye as they are constantly on social networking. The typical target audiences are likely to be teenagers and young adults. This gives the audiences a chance to interact with the film.

Underneath the text, it says

‘add Jessabelle1988 on ’.

Actionis interspersed with actor or director credits on screen

This has been used to makes the audience panic and wonder what she is looking at.

Action

At some point in the trailer, Jessabelle turns around.

Action

There is more action when Jessabelle screams as result of the mirror being This makes the audience wonder how the mirror managed to break without someone being next to it.

Action

Jessabelle is constantly screaming, as she is scared. She sees something on fire and as she panics she screams. Action occurs at the end but it is not obvious as there are short takes. We can see she is trying to escape. This convention of short takes has been used in this way to make us pay full attention to what is going on. This therefore persuades us to watch the film.

Shots of Jessabelle looking at the fire

The starsof the film are showcased

The stars

Well-known television, stage and film actress and plays a role in this film as

, the main character.

Sarah Snook

The stars

An actress and producer and has many successful films, including American Pie 2. She took role as Kate.

Joelle Carter

The stars

Mark Webber is a famous actor, producer and writer and he is Preston Sanders in this film.

The trailer starts with Jessabelle (Sarah Snook). Sarah Snook is the first character that is shown. This increases her importance as she is our first impression of the trailer. This also shows that she is a star in the film. In most films, the most important roles are usually taken by stars. In this trailer, the stars, Joelle Carter and Mark Webber, are the main characters. Joelle Carter is Jessabelle’s mother and Mark Webber is a friend of Jessabelle. This outlines they are the stars in the film. Within all the characters the trailer shows, the stars are shown most of the time. This also portrays they are the stars in the film and increases their importance.

The stars

It is significant to have stars in films because the audience can familiarize themselves with the characters. Plus, some audiences watch films because of the stars in it.

The film’s titlemay not appear until the end

The film’s title

²  The film’s title does not appear until the end. This could be so the audience pays attention to the film’s name.

²  If it was to be in the middle of the trailer, where there are a lot going on then the audience would not pay attention to the title.

²  However, after the title there are a couple seconds more of Jessabelle screaming. This screaming grabs our attention as we thought the trailer was finished.

²  The sudden scream makes us jump, as it was unexpected.

The trailerbuilds to a climax, where it ends

The trailer

The trailer ends where we see short takes of Jessabelle trying to escape. The short takes are effective as it makes us worried. This is because it forces us to focus on what is happening because it is not clear and we are eager to find out what is going on.

This builds to a climax, as we would want to find out whether she managed to escape. This therefore encourages us to watch the full film.

Music plays an important role in creating atmosphere

Music

The score starts at the start at the same time as the phone call. The score has been used in this way to create a tense atmosphere. The volume is low so it has been set as the background music and this helps to emphasize the sound of the phone call.!

Shot of Jessabelle ringing someone

Music

The same score carries on until there is a text about

the producer of this film. The volume is

louder so the audience has no choice but to

listen. The score foreshadows that some dangerous would happen. The score’s volume decreases when there are characters having a conversation. This is a convention and is

used in this way to create a mysterious atmosphere.

Music

The volume of the score

keeps changing. It suddenly increases when she finds a box. The change in the score gives a greater

emphasis on the fact that she found a box. Adding on, it makes the audience question what is inside the box.

Music

The volume also increases when she wakes up. The volume of the score matches with her action, creating a greater tension. The next high volume is when she pulls the curtain, thinking there is someone there. The volume build the suspense that we have of someone being there. It frightens the audience because we assume Jessabelle is in danger.

The volume increases then there is silence. This occurs when the man removes the branches off Jessabelle’s gravestone. This makes the audience feel anxious as our eager to find out what is under the branches increases so does the volume and pace of the score. The same score’s volume and pace increase when she says ‘oh my God, it is my birthdate’. This surprises us.

Music

Music

There is a constant noise that increases as the shots change. The shots are fast, which makes us stay fully focused on the score.

Dramatic camera angles may be chosen to show events or characters

Dramatic camera angles

This long shot is effective because it emphasizes how empty the corridor is. The audiences would worry about her because if she needs physical help then there would no one to help her. The use of long shot makes the character appear small and inferior.

Shot of Jessabelle ringing someone


The side view allows us to identify that one of the characters is on a wheel chair. This makes the audience ask questions about why she ended up in a wheelchair. The side view also lets us to examine the area she lives in. We can see she lives in an isolated place. The bright lighting gives a sense of normality.

Jessabelle and her father going into their house


The close up of Jessabelle frightens the audience because we can clearly see her facial expression. She looks scared and worried. This therefore leads to the audience thinking what made her terrified. This would make the audience eager to find out what is going on. The tight frame forces us to focus on Jessabelle.

Jessabelle wakes up


The high angle makes Jessabelle inferior and powerless . This makes the audience feel sympathetic towards Jessabelle because we believe she is innocent and vulnerable.

Jessabelle hears a voice

The audiences are terrified because she could get hurt, as she is helpless. This is because she is on a wheelchair, which is a barrier for her to run away and protect herself.

Even though montage is a convention in trailers, there were not any in this trailer. This trailer used other conventions, such as the key points and music. This trailer is successful even though there were not any montages.

conventions of jessabelle

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