Research: Trailer Analysis - The Devil's Backbone

Name – The Devil’s Backbone

Length – 1.23

Genre – Horror

Target Audience – 15 and over. Adults

Narrative – A gothic horror film about a young child who attends an orphanage.

Number of character – There are 5 main characters in this trailer. An old couple who shown to run the orphanage but there are also two teachers one female and one male, there is also an orphan who is calming to be seeing ghost.


Shots – The shots which are used in this trailer are close ups which show emotion of the character faces because it doesn’t give the entire storyline away just enough to keep the target audience engage. However there are also establishing shots which have been used to set the scene, with this are also medium shots seen. It is clear to see these camera angles have been used to show the importance of the character. For example a medium shot is used when the man is outside blowing his whistle and the children are running up the stairs, this implies that he is a teacher of the orphanage.

Music – There is a mellow soundtrack that is played in the background of the trailer but it’s very subtle until around 30 seconds into the trailer. From here it then gets faster adding tension and suspense to the trailer

Special effects – Bomb breaks and comes towards the screen

Credits/Intertitles – The actors and actresses name are seen along with translations for the Spanish dialogue.

Editing – The transitions which are used in the trailer are mainly straight cuts which build up anticipation and they make the trailer emphasise the action so the target audience are attracted making them want to watch the film. The pace of the trailer starts off slow but then gets fasters as the storyline builds up. This therefore creates more tension and more action.

Dialogue – Conversation are shown in the trailer and the keywords used are: ghost, dark and horror and there is also dialogue in Spanish

Unique Selling point (USP) – The main USP’s of this trailer are firstly the genre as it explores a Spanish element which unusual to the target audience. Another USP is the narrative and Director of the film.