The trailer of this film starts off with showing the film distributer log *1. ‘PolyGram Filmed Entertainment’. The music in the background being played on the first shot is the same music being played in the coming shots. It is light and airy. It sounds like someone playing the high end of a xylophone and lightly on the strings of a guitar. There is also the sound of wind blowing/ howling in the background. It then cuts to a long shot of two people riding a horse in the woods. It then fades into a black screen with the text ‘Once upon a time’. This writing seems to be in old fashion font. The sort where if fairytales were to be written in an old fashion way then this would be it.
After this there is a slight overview shot of the ground and it gradually leads to us seeing a girl in a dress running (this may indicate that she is ‘snow white’ as she has black hair). The music has seemed to have changed in range slightly just before we see the girl running. This may indicate that there would be danger associated with this character. Just before the shot fades into black there is text again (which fades in with it) in the same font as before which reads ‘There was’. Then there is a flash of light which takes us to another black screen with the same font but reads ‘Fairytale’. It seems to be carrying on from the previous words. It is here when we guess what this trailer is about but we don’t know where it is heading. The shot is then blended into a shot of a young women’s face, she is pale and has black hair.
As the viewer we now know that both the trailer and she are portraying snow white. However that shot doesn’t last for long, as the music keeps on going but there is a sharp noise when it is turned to a much older women looking at herself in the mirror. We then see that she is turned into an even older woman. It is then when she screams and there is a sound where we hear glass breaking (perhaps a mirror).
After this there is shot that really catches my eye. It is a low angle shot were we see a man jump out of a window. This could indicate the glass smashing. It is also the start where the music changes into a more action tempo of sharp, fast violins. After there is an exchange of shots between, I’m guessing to be, the evil stepmother and snow white. It signifies the difference between the two (good and evil, young and old, fair and haggard).
During one of the shots of snow white, there is a close up of her face where we see a tiny bird trapped in an hourglass. This represents that she may be the one who is trapped and running out of time to escape. This shot is also when there is a voice over from a woman. She says ‘do you think you could hide from me’. She sounds calm but also like she is talking down to you (the audience as well). The music then begins to change, there seems to be a background of haunting chorals and the tempo of the music has sped up like someone is being chased. This is significant because literally right after it a start there is a long high angle shot of people running in the open daylight woods.
From the people running in the woods and walking through halls, we get a glance at their clothes. It seems to be that this is set in old fashioned times for example, before the 18th century. There is a continuation of shots of things falling, snow white, the stepmother and dark closed spaces with very little action going on. The women voice over carries on by saying ‘did you think I wouldn’t be able to find you’. From this point, it is when you assume that the voice over is the stepmother. Because when the word ‘you’ is said, there is a shot of snow white. Plus when the word ‘I’ is said, there is a shot of the stepmother. With more of the montage of action (shots between the two characters, things being smashed, screams) going on and the music still playing the stepmothers voiceover speaks again ‘If you’re going to play cat and mouse, just remember I’m the cat’. This can be related to the point I made earlier about the opposite difference about them (she’s the cat and snow’s the mouse).
After this statement is made, the action is taken up a notch. There is deal of violence between the stepmother and snow white. The stepmother pushes snow white on the ground and aims to swing a bat at her. In the background of this there are a number of mirrors. There are more screams going on. There is also a mid shot of snow white, who seems to be floating through the halls, looking ghostly and pale. However the significance I’m looking for is the fact that she is holing a pocket watch and there are autumn leaves coming down behind her. This relates to the earlier shot of the bird in the hourglass. She is running out of time. With the sound of a sharp scream there is a mid shot of the stepmother holding snow white, looking into a cracked mirror while she slowly cuts her face using a piece of mirror.
A typical convention of horror, which is included in this trailer, is an evil laugh. With this and the music still playing, there are more back to back shots. They consist of more action, more running, closed spaces, snow white, the stepmother and a new character. It is a man on a horse. It is either the prince or the father. One of these shots happens to be a conclusion from the shot early of the man jumping out the window, but he is further out.
Most of the shots of the stepmother are of her happy and laughing. This shows that she loves being evil and it also shows the audience that she is winning. When there is a shot of a freakishly old, haggard woman, we as the audience will assume it is the stepmother as we will refer to the original snow white tale. The music has stopped for the time being as we here the stepmother say diegeticly in an evil creepy way ‘what’s the matter dear? Cat got ya tongue?' This is a referral to the voiceover earlier. It is a play on words as we know from that the stepmother is the ‘cat’ and she got snow white tongue with the apple. After that there is a sharp sound and there is a black screen with one of the actors name in old fashion font. Then we see the stepmother screaming so we assume that it is her.
There is another black screen with another actors name on it. Then a sharp sound as it cuts to a man (probably the name who was just stated) hanging upside down on a cross. Personally I think that the meaning behind this is that, because Jesus died on a cross to save us and from our sins, he is to save the stepmother from her sins by saving snow white from her, but it doesn’t work out to plan, that is why he is upside down.
Once again there is a black screen with another actors name on it. It is snow white as we see her in the next shot. The shots after the actors name represent the portrayal of the characters. The stepmother is the psychotic mad villain, the man is the ‘hero’ and snow white is scared and helpless. There is one more action shot which portrays irony as it is a mid shot of snow white setting fire to the place then there is a next shot of someone covering her mouth.
The trailer then closes with what looks like a figured coffin shutting in on snow white. It represents the fact that snow white can try all she wants to defeat her enemy but she will always be trapped. As it draws to a close the is a black screen again with old fashion font ‘the fairy tale is over’. Light airy music is played over this. It seems to be the films tagline as it refers to what was said at the start and it closes with that line. There is one more shot of the stepmother and snow white. It is the much old, haggard version of the stepmother. It is a close up of her kissing snow white’s head. This ending of the trailer could be saying that there is no happy ending to this film. The very last shot of this trailer (light airy music still playing) is of blood pouring down and forming the title of the film. Snow white is in bigger old fashion font then the rest of the text. There is only two shots of credits left to be shown. Font is white and still in old fashion text.
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