Girl on the train research trailer anaylsis

The production company logo and the film company logo are shown right at the start of the trailer to attract an audience. As the companies have had previous successful films, this will entice an audience to see this film as they will expect it to be just as successful.

The main settings within the trailer are a train and a housing estate. These settings are likely to be common in the audiences everyday life, making them connect and relate to the events. The use of a train for location emphasises isolation and separation from the real world, which is another common thriller convention.  Isolated locations also infer a lack of safety.

Non-continuity editing creates confusion and intrigue for an audience making them want to view the film. This is a typical convention for the thriller genre as it gives an incite to all of the film without giving anything away.

A montage is used towards the end of the trailer to build pace and tension. The montage is made up of lots of short and fast clips from different parts of the film. This is a very common convention used mainly in dramatic films. Intense music is often played over the top of the montage. and the suddenly stops to allow a rememberable last scene. For example '... I'm afraid of myself..'

Some of the trailers are set at night. This is a typical convention in thrillers as it plays with the very common fear of the dark among audiences. 

Close-ups of the main female character are used a lot throughout the trailer to express her distress and worry in reaction to the events we are being shown. This could link to the stereotypical convention of using a vulnerable female in a thriller.

There is some nudity in the trailer, which is sexually suggestive of the female characters. Naked body towards the end, covered in bruises and cuts which connotes violence and abuse. Sexualising female characters in films is stereotypical of the thriller genre as they are known for making women appear vulnerable and weak.

The voiceover is the main character giving a vague explanation of events which also intrigues the viewer into wanting to understand the full context. 

Intertexts are used throughout the trailer. They are written in a black type writing font on an off-white background. The intertext are sentences that fill in areas of narrative for the audience without giving the plot away.










The music cuts out for important moments in the trailer, creating an uncomfortable silence for the audience. The song that is used over the trailer sounds like someone is singing 'heartless' which links to the images we are being shown. (Woman's hair being pulled).

The type of audience that would consume this text would be active audiences. This is because they will have to think about what is going on and follow the storyline. A passive audience may struggle with psychological thrillers as they will be looking for a film that is easy to watch and understand.

The trailer does not follow Todorov's theory of narrative as the trailer holds a disequilibrium atmosphere all the way through.