'The Girl On The Train' is a thriller movie trailer in which many conventions are displayed. The opening of the trailer immediately shows the production companies logos which is typical for every trailer.
The trailer then opens to a close up shot of the face of Emily Blunt who is the protagonist in the movie. This is a stereotypical use of character introduction as the audience will be immediately drawn to her and connotations will be brung that she is the most important character of the movie. In the trailer the lighting is low-key with extreme colour saturation which gives the impression that Emily's character is glum and depressed - which in turn sets up the themes for the thriller genre film. At this point high pitched non-digetic piano music plays which gives off eerie and sinister connotations which fits perfectly for the thriller genre, along with diagetic speech from Emily's character.
Then the focus shifts to a large house in an establishing shot. Houses have been commonly associated to suffering and horror due to the fact they continuously appear as motifs throughout the genre as places in which negative activity occurs. As this shot is on screen the non-diagetic high pitch piano music continues along with a voice over from Emily Blunt's character as she continues speech from the previous shot - a voice over is a conventional element in many thriller trailers and it helps move the audience along the story through the voice of most usually, and in this case, the protagonist.
The next shot is that of a female in her underwear standing on the balcony of the house. It is a stereotype for sexual themes to be apart of thriller films due to their high age rating - however it connotes to the audience through character introduction that the female is not in a larger role of Emily as she receives a long shot instead of a close up shot. The voice over continues.
An inter title is included after over dramatic non-diagetic music only as violin sounds have been added to the piano - suggesting that something ominous is happening. The inter title reads "one week ago" which connotes to the audience that something insidious in nature occurred. Dull colours are used for the inter title which is conventional for a thriller trailer colour scheme.
The dramatic yet somber violin and piano non-diagetic music continues through to the second inter title which gives the audience more information. The inter title reads "at 4:36 PM", this brings connotations of a detective theme as police are known for recording exact times for when there has been a situation of importance. This entices the audience to keep their eyes glued on the trailer - also these detective themes are rife in the genre thriller.
In between the inter titles are many fast shots including puddles of water, a train and the blonde female character on a jog. The dramatic non-diagetic music continues into the next inter title which connotes to the audience shock and excitement as to reads "a woman disappeared". This plot device is a typical one of thriller films as mystery is a huge component to many or nearly all of them.
The next frame is of Emily Blunt's character looking stunned and scared which connotes that from the train she is seeing something dramatic and horrifying - all thriller genre tones. Silence is not over the trailer however there is a voice over from the frantic character of Emily Blunt as she declares that she saw the woman in question.
The next frame is an inter title that reads "based on the thriller that shocked the world". This will immediately draw to the attention of the audience that this trailer if they hadn't realised is for a thriller and the contents of this thriller has extremely shocking elements that are on a global scale. The inter titles have now become black with white writing suggesting that the trailer is beginning to get darker in tone as the plot unfolds. Non-diagetic even more intense music plays now and there is a robotic sounding voice in the background which makes the tone more ominous.
The frame after is of a low-key lit tunnel which gives connotations of violence and horror as these kinds of walk ways have previous negative representations in individuals minds. The non-diagetic music still plays and Emily Blunt's voice over begins again as she explains what she saw - which entices the audience to listen and find out the mystery.
The next frame is of police outside a neighbourhood of houses. The presence of police is a convention of the thriller genre and is stereotypical as they are seen to be those who solve the mystery the majority of the time. Also their presence suggests crime has been committed which is another thriller convention.
The next frame is of a wooded area - a stereotypical thriller setting - with caution tape around it. This suggests to the audience that there has been a possible murder and a body or piece of evidence has been found - linking directly back to the thriller genre through the use of murder and crime. The subtle yet dramatic robotic sounding non-diagetic music continues.
The next frame is an inter title with the production companies names "presenting" this trailer to the world. Both are famous companies known to be in the "Big Five". A loud non-diagetic crash in the music occurs as this inter title begins to disappear suggesting the pace is building higher and higher.
The next frame is of Emily Blunt looking fairly haggard drinking alcohol - which is known to be a damaging and lethal substance for those with abuse issues which she is presented through her look as having. This dark issue of alcoholism is a common on in thrillers and will entice the audience who are fans of the genre to discover if there was a link between that and the murder of a girl. The dramatic non-diagetic music is still present however so is voice overs from Emily Blunt and the detective character who is asking questions about her alibi for said night - suggesting that Emily may in fact be a suspect which is counter-typical for a main protagonist to be.
Many fast paced shots pass before this next notable one which is a male in low-key lighting looking very ominous. It connotes that he may be the antagonist of the movie however there seems to be a personal sexual relationship between him and the dead girl indicating that the theme of adultery takes place - which brings negative connotations making it likely to be a thriller genre theme. The same music continues however a voice over from the husband of the dead girl plays over which links the characters together.
The next frame shows a male covering Blunt's characters face suggesting that she is in the middle of an altercation - a common practice that occurs in thriller movies. It shocks the audience as they have grown a connection to the character as she has been the most prominent throughout. The dramatic music has not increased in volume but the crashing sounds are more frequent and in time with intense moments such as the mouth grab.
This frame shows Emily's character with visible bruising and blood which is a conventional sight to see in a thriller - this further excites and bewilders the audience as they want to find out why this has happened which entices them to see the movie more. The sound is fairly silent with voice over from the character continuing.
This frame shows an unidentified woman hair being grabbed and pulled from behind which connotes violence and possibly murder is being shown in the trailer - both conventions of thriller. It also disturbs the audience and further attracts them to the screen. At this point the music has begun again and sounds as if it is reaching a crescendo as it has never been as loud as it has been at any part of the trailer.
There are numerous extremely fast and quick shots in this climax of the trailer including this one of Emily smashing a mirror with a golf club. Seeing this will make the audience question the character as she is seemingly becoming more and more violent and this will attract them to watch the whole movie to discover the truth of the plot. The non-diagetic music is very loud with multiple crashes as it reaches its climax - this builds intensity and excitement.
In these two last frames the music has reduced back to the somber quiet piano after the dramatic climax. They show the name of the film on a black background and then the release date of october - a conventional thriller movie release month due to its proximity to halloween and the season changing from light and warm to dark and cold. The use of black connotes that this film will be sad and ominous in tone like traditional thriller films. Also there is information for a social media profile which people can visit - something that the young thriller target audience is likely to do as social media is known to be a big part and marketing tool in young individuals lives.
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