The Omen Trailer Deconstruction

• Production company appears as the trailer begins, over the opening clip of the two main characters walking together
• Narration tells audience a brief introduction to the lives of these two characters
• Narrator: "Then, when the child was 5 years old something terrible happened" and then clips are shown of the child in a crazed state
• Then, a series of rhetorical questions are asked: "Was it an accident? Was it murder? Was it a coincidence?... Or was it an omen?" > links to the film's title so the audience is able to identify that it is an omen and not an accident/coincidence.
• The two main actors' names are mentioned, then the title appears - form of persuasion as they are two top actors.
• Key phrases give away parts of the storyline, such as: "This is not a human child." "Who is he? Where does he come from? And can he be stopped?" - grips the viewer and persuades them to watch The Omen.
• Many clips are shown of characters screaming, some of the scream is off-screen, some on-screen - this makes the child seem more powerful and scary, thus making the viewer question the child's motives, further persuading them to watch it.
• Fast-paced music with violins and piercing sounds used to make the trailer seem more dramatic and unnerving
• This is a theatrical trailer because it is two and a half minutes long, and provides the audience with enough of the storyline to appeal to them.

What I like about this trailer is how it gives away the main part of the storyline of the boy being possessed but does not tell the audience why and how he is possessed. The narration is eerie because the narrator sounds surprisingly calm as there are many diegetic screaming sounds being played in this trailer. Also, key phrases are said, which is beneficial as it lures in the viewer. However, I do not like the non-diegetic background music as it seems slightly futuristic - similar to the kind of music in science-fiction films. But, I do like the violin sounds as that is a convention of the horror genre because violins produce a dramatic and macabre effect.