Mise-en-scene

Costumes:
Every character (other than the antagonist) that features in our trailer we aim to be represented as ordinary and relatable students aged around 17. For this to be realistic we had no specific requirements for the character's (including Holly, Natalie and Amy) costumes other than instructing them to wear what they would normally wear to school such as jeans, a plain top and a coat.

However, for Michael, the antagonist we had a more specific request. Although he is not on screen often, it was important that it was clear he wasn't just another normal student. To portray this he wore black trousers and shoes with a black jumper with the hood up to hide his face. Black typically represents death and evil and therefore often worn by the antagonist, shown in The Last House On The Left.

Props:
We used very few props for the trailer but one of the most important was the candle featured as the end as it blows out. We included a close up of a single candle as this implies that the film is a supernatural thriller since candles are a typical convention in these films.

Another prop we included was Holly's mobile phone. We used 2 close ups of a phone along with other shots of characters holding them and a high angle of one smashing. Teenagers are typically associated with mobile phones and always using them, therefore we felt that it is useful to include as a clear indication to the audience of the character's ages. It also implies that the characters are normal students like many people in our demographic, adding to the realism.

We made sure to include iconography for the school setting such as back packs, work books, pens etc shown in shots of Holly working, portraying that she is a normal student at school. Once again, this makes it relatable to our demographic aged 15-25 as it is a familiar setting and therefore makes it realistic.

Lighting:
Low-key lighting is a typical convention of the thriller genre as it creates suspense and tension because of the feeling of the unknown. Therefore, we wanted our trailer to have low lighting which is done through editing but also filming in the evening, however we had to be careful the image was still clear. The theme of darkness is also particularly suitable for our film, In the Shadows, as it focuses on what is hiding in the shadows, suggesting someone is watching and the unknown.

The intertitles have black backgrounds to continue the dark theme and the title also has a shadow across the word 'shadow' to fit.