Research: The Omen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bqworUizlLk&feature=related

The Omen is a 2006 remake of Richard Donner’s The Omen of 1976 and part of The Omen Series. It was directed by John Moore and written by David Seltzer. It grossed $119,498,909 at the box office in total and was distributed by the famous 20^th Century Fox.  It is about a young boy who turns evil and ends up being the son of the devil.

At first it looks like a lovely birthday party with the family all gathered but the use of the young boy wearing red connotes danger and blood which immediately gives a sense that the child is different. Later on in the trailer the emphasise is very much on his eyes and how he is communicating with the maid who then falls off the building. This shows that the boy is very controlling and manipulative.

A technique which I found very well is the use of the distribution logo of 20^th Century Fox coming in the middle of the trailer rather than following usual conventions of coming in the beginning. The use of a red liquid spilling with the camera changing to the logo with a sort of red lighting is a very effective editing technique. It connotes the use of a horror film and blood.

The pace of the music begins to become faster and faster; as the audience find out more information a sort of thunder noise is made to show destruction as the trailer and the also in the film will go on. At the end when the title of the film appears there is a sort of echo scream which is used to stick in the audiences mind and make them go to watch it. The title also is in red with the use of a black too showing a cross in the red background.

Again in the trailer the use of red connotes danger and blood when the woman is looking at herself in the mirror.  

At the end when the woman says ‘Don’t let him kill me’ means the audience then know the child is evil and do not sympathies with him at all because the even the parent is scared of them. This is a usual trailer in terms of parents being scared of children especially with a topic such as killing.

Poster

The poster of the film is very simple but links to the trailer in terms of the red used as the background. The use of the cross in the poster also links the trailer and this informs the audience they are of the same film. This trailer has a lot of writing in the paragraph at the top which is an unusual technique to use in attracting the audience as there is a lot to read. Apart from this the poster is very simple and somehow can be improved by including an image of the boy ‘Damien’ in order to be ensured that the audience will know what film the poster is for and how it links to the trailer.

From this trailer I have found that the use of red is a key convention in any psychological horror film and so I suggest me and Beth use this within our trailer. The use of blood on titles or even the distribution logo informs the audience of the genre of the film immediately. I also feel that the conventions of sound need to be emphasised with the use of screams to represent danger and pain. This will definitely be used in out trailer and I also really liked the editing technique used of putting the distribution logo in the middle of the trailer rather than the beginning; it looks more unique. However I feel that there is very little connection between the trailer and poster and therefore in out trailer we need to think carefully of how the main product will link to the ancillary products and be successful in the audience knowing they link.