1. Let the Right
One In
Trailer Analysis

2. The Swedish film ‘Let the Right One In’, was released in 2008 and follows a 12 year old
boy named Oskar and an unusual girl named Eli who moves in next door. We later find
that Eli has been keeping a secret that she is a vampire and helps Oskar to seek
revenge on his bullies at school. The film is set in 1981 in Stockholm where throughout
the film we see Oskar and Eli’s strange relationship unravel and develop.

3. Sound is one, if not in some cases, the, most important feature of a film trailer. In the
case of this film as it is foreign, there are only a few title slide which provide subtitles
on for other languages to relate to. Due to this, the trailer had to rely heavily on it’s
use of sound and effects that dialogue to make the trailer flow and create more
suspense and tension.
Throughout the trailer, an unusual eerie soundtrack is played that begins around 0.06
seconds in. A mysterious and unnerving atmosphere is created by this music paired
with a harmless long shot of snow hidden building at 0.09.

4. Also instantly near the start of the trailer we are introduced, through mise-en-scene,
with an establishing shot where the film takes place. The shot of the snow covered
building mentioned on the previous slide, is the shot that displays this to us. It is clear
from the shot that the film is set in winter and knowing that the film is set in Sweden
connects the audience to the set and the feel of a Swedish winter.
The lighting here is very limited as it shown to have dark clouds blanketing the sky as if
a storm was brewing and almost like the calm before the storm. In this sense, this
could represent the calm scenic and quiet shots before shocking twists and turns
throughout the trailer. This could be the ‘storm’ in a figurative way.

5. The second scene we are shown is at 0:12, where
we see the main protagonist, Oskar, being flicked
maliciously on the nose by another boy. The almost
over the shoulder shot paired with the diagetic
sound of the flicking noise almost creates a
voyeuristic feel that the audience is stood with the
boys in the scene.
This voyeurism is important in allowing the audience
to feel sympathy for Oskar as the sound created by
the action of the other boy sounds like it would hurt
and that tis could be a potential bully in the film.
Also, the fact that Oskar doesn’t respond, shows his
reserved personality and that he may have fell
victim to this other boy.
Also just by the use of camera angles being a slightly
low angle shot, makes the audience aware that the
bully in the background is meant to feel like he has
superiority over Oskar. The way he acts by leaning
propped up on a wall displaying a carefree attitude
and smiling after he hurt Oskar, all reinforces his
persona as a bully. This scene is important for the
audience to truly engage with Oskar’s character
through Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratifications
theory, as they may be able to relate to him and in
turn feel sympathy for him throughout the film.

6. In the next scene at 0.14, we see Oskar take out his inner emotions about the
potential bullies on a tree bark with a small knife. The diagetic sound is again
heard here with Oskar’s heavy breathing in the cold air and the knife stabbing the
bark. This reinforces the voyeuristic feel. This also coincides with Blumler and Katz
Uses and Gratifications theory where the character is established within the first
few frames and the audience can relate to the situations and feel sympathy, in
this case, that will attract them to keep watching.

7. Then, we see Oskar turn around as the camera pans and follows his direction of focus.
As this transitions into a medium long shot, Eli’s character is revealed for the first time
accompanied by a low shrieking noise. The use of the shift in music and sound effects
suggests to the audience that Eli could be a potential threat in the film as this is a
commonly used conventions of a trailer or film to do this when we are presented with
a villain/character that may pose some form of threat. As a fade to black transitions
the scene forward, this music is faded and the normal soundtrack is resumed.

8. Another mise-en-scene aspect that I picked up on was that in these previous shots,
Oskar is seen wearing a large, heavy looking coat, dressed appropriately for the
Swedish climate. However, Eli is only dressed in a jumper and so her clothing paired
with the music when she is on screen further suggests that she is unusual in some way
or another but as the audience, we don’t know what or why at this point, keeping the
audience guessing.

9. With an extreme close- up, a letter is revealed at 0.30 into the trailer which is written in
Swedish accompanied by a fade to a medium close-up shot of Oskar smiling and looking up.
With a heart illustration drawn on the page, this suggests that Oskar and Eli may share
more than a friendship. These two transitioned shots have an overlay of a building
booming sound which creates an uneasy atmosphere as in something is not quite right. The
visual of Oskar smiling with the uneasy music overlay is an extreme contrast which leads
the audience into tense confusion as to what is about to happen.
Abruptly at 0.33 this sequence of building tension is cut off and a very loud
screeching boom occurs along side a high angle shot of Oskar falling from a
window. The frame then jump cuts to a view of Eli walking away from the window
with a blank expression. With the sound speeding up and this scene combined
makes the audience instantly see a lot more to Eli’s character and ask the
questions, ‘did she push him?’ and ‘is she evil?’.

10. The most important scene takes place at 0.37-0.38 where we see Eli revealed as the
threat that the music is indicating at. First, we see a medium close-up shot of her
standing by a subway tunnel with blood around her mouth. This shot is shocking and
makes the audience ask questions. We see a long shot of her jump from the subway
opening with a jump cut, long shot to Eli crouched over a person’s body with the
diagetic loud sound of her eating his flesh. The increased volume and speed of the
music compared to the soft soundtrack from the beginning of the trailer, is used to
indicate to the audience that the film is a horror film rather than a thriller which may
be what is originally though at the beginning.
Between 0.39-0.41, the loud booming crescendo fades to silence in conjunction with a
fade to black on the screen which sets up the next scene.

11. Next we see an over the shoulder shot of Oskar being greeted at the door by Eli at
0.42. The previous silence is broken by the sound of the door creaking open which
gives the scene a voyeuristic feel that we are in the moment with the two characters.
The silence continues as we see a shot of Eli smiling at Oskar which creates another
uneasy atmosphere as the audience now knows that Eli is capable of murdering and
adult.

12. Abruptly at 0.47 there is a series of fairly quick jump cuts that reveal fast short frames
of a man being viciously attacked. These scenes are shown with a building screeching
sound which reiterates the horror of Eli’s nature and begs the question of why she is
killing fully grown men and more importantly how?
After this brief but fast series of jump cuts we see a medium shot of Eli hugging Oskar
from behind as Oskar gasps and looks back at her, showing that she cares for him
however he is still weary and reserved/nervous around her.

13. The following scene is also very important as at 0.55, all of the audience’s previous questions are
answered with only two lines of the first dialogue in the trailer. We see a close-up shot of Oskar
and Eli’s hands trying to touch through glass as Oskar asks “Are you a vampire?”, to which Eli
replies “Would you like me anyway?” From just these two lines of dialogue, we, as the audience,
now know why Eli kills. Also, it may make the audience have some form of sympathy for her in
that she may not want to be a ‘monster’ but as she is a vampire she has no choice but to kill for
the blood to survive. We see, through close-up shots, sadness and pain through their facial
expressions and this scene could have Todorov’s narrative theory applied to it here as this is the
recognition of the disruption.

14. The shots on screen now switch to fast paced jump cuts and a layering sound of drums to accompany
the scenes around 1:05, where we see a shot of a struggling woman being rushed through a hospital
with the diagetic sound of her screaming. This type of scene is typical of a film from the horror genre
used to help build intensity and tension within the audience. Here, the series of fast paced shots
creates and builds tension within the audience as they do not appear on screen long.
Shots within this series of jump cuts includes; a cold snow covered, dead body being carried off by
airlifting, and many dead bodies being pushed into an ice cold river, being strung upside down and also
another body being dragged through the snow out of frame. This keeps the audience alert and with
disturbing shots only being shown for a few seconds may make the audience re-watch the trailer many
times to pick up on everything that happened, thus making them more likely to want to see the film to
find out more.

15. At 1:15 we hear more screams until 1:16 where an eerie echo can be heard as all goes
quiet. Another important line of dialogue in the trailer takes place at 1:18 when Oskar
asks “Will you be my girlfriend?”. This line is presented with a black screen so we are
not entirely sure who Oskar is referring to but we guess it is Eli. This introduces a huge
disruption in the film as now have learned that even knowing what Eli is capable of,
Oskar is still willing to be in a relationship with her. As this line is delivered a similar
eerie soundtrack is heard to the start where Eli was first introduced. This reinforces
the danger that he could potentially be in and the chilling feeling that is left with the
audience as the billing block appears on screen.

16. In the last 20 seconds of the trailer around 1:20 onwards, we see a dark sky with the fluttering of
snow. This reiterates the icy setting in which the film was shot (Sweden) and also sends
connotations to the audience that the snowy scene links back to the cold, unpredictable nature
of a vampire.
Then without any transition at 1:20, a short quote by an editor of Fears Magazine (as shown
below). I don’t read this magazine but you can tell from the masthead name suggests that it
specialises in all things of the horror genre, which, with such a good write up, makes the
credibility all the more prominent. The quote below gives the film an added credibility and with
descriptives like ‘masterpiece’ and ‘brilliant’, will entice the audience to go and see the film from
the glorious reviews of others. The text is displayed in white also to allow it to stand out from the
dark background as the main feature of the frame.

17. Shortly after this, at 1:29, the title of the film appears on screen in a sans serif font with a deep
red colouring. This colour was probably used due to the connotations of the colour red being
danger and blood, which is a typical characteristic of a horror/thriller or in this case a vampire
movie. The billing block then appears and again fades out. Having this almost calm ending of
fluttering snow gives the audience a chance to reflect on all of the previous shots they have just
be presented with. This is effective as, just as the tension is building and we see more and more
clues and murders, a calming soundtrack with the snow falling is displayed and ends the build up
of tension abruptly. This keeps the audience guessing after the trailer has finished and entices the
audience to want to know more. This shot lasts for 20 seconds as the review from the magazine,
the title of the film and the billing block are displayed which is the reasoning behind the unusually
long shot length.

18. Throughout the whole trailer, there looks to have been a blue/silvery white filter on all of
the shots. This really helps to encapsulate a chilling and clinical feeling which is a typical
component/filter used for a film of the horror genre. The blue filters also help to aid the
reflection of the climate that film is set in so that the shots don’t feel disjointed from the
detailed mise-en-scene.