The trailer begins by presenting the audience with the backstory of the movie, this is extremely common within the sub-genre of found-footage-horror, it sets the mood for the rest of the film while simultaneously creating an enigma, as the audience does not know how this student filmmakers disappeared or what happened to them after, a clear example of correct use of hermeneutic Codes. Questions like this make the audience want to watch the movie, as they want to know what really happened, and if their assumptions of what did are right or wrong.
As each sentence appears separately on the screen a deep thudding noise is heard, this parallel sound could also be perceived as footsteps by the audience, if this is the case the sound would be foretelling the mysterious footsteps that are heard by the students at a later stage in the movie. The emphasis on noises such as footsteps is a classic horror genre convention.
The next shot is a mid-shot of a young woman, she is in the centre of the frame, portraying the great importance she will have in the film, as one of the three main characters of The Blair Witch Project. The sound heard alongside this sequence is only diegetic dialogue, highlighting the "rawness" of the footage. Furthermore, these shots present the cinematographic style of the movie, especially how the movie is filmed, in a constant trembling, handheld manner. These small, rather subliminal vibrations also make the audience aware of the cinematographic style of The Blair Witch Project, as well as acquainting [introducing] them to the type of equipment that was used to film the movie, a Hi8 (high-band video8) camcorder, and a CP-16 film camera. In addition, the use of this equipment throughout the entirety of the film gives it a hyper-realistic feel, this "sells" the idea to the audience that the footage is "real", even though it is not.
The trailer then cuts to a black screen while simultaneously playing the same non-diegetic thudding sound as before. The use of the black screen could be a technique used to intrigue the audience even more, in addition to creating an underlying fear in the viewers, as they wonder what could appear next on the screen.
The next sequence shows the main characters interviewing strangers in the street about their knowledge of the "Blair Witch". The trailer shows a middle-aged woman holding a child, curiously the woman is dressed in entirely black clothing, while the child is wearing a blood-red sweater, this could be a way to incorporate some symbolic elements and semantic codes into the trailer, as well as communicate some of the movie's themes, such as the murder of small kids, and evil female forces, aka the Blair Witch. Moreover, the interview-like dialogue between Heather and the strangers clearly challenges the generic conventions of horror movies, as this type of scene is way more common in documentary-style motion pictures; thus, the use of this shot sequence in the trailer not only throws off the audience, but continues to convince them that this movie is in fact not a movie at all, but the real found footage of three filmmaker students that went missing in 1994, building up the mystery.
The preview then cuts to a black and white shot of Mary Brown, an elderly woman, talking about her sighting of the Blair Witch. This character is used to create a dormant image in the audience's mind of what the Blair Witch may look like, as she has the stereotypical, almost cliche, facial features of a witch conventionally used in the horror genre, a large chin, a hooked nose, and intense eyes. Her appearance is accentuated by the close-up shot she is filmed with, making sure that the audience recognizes this stereotype and grows anxious as she stays on the screen. The woman is filmed out of focus at times, this persists in highlighting the false authenticity of the movie's cinematographic style, making the viewer curious about whether the footage is real or simulated.
In another black and white long shot, the audience is introduced to the main setting of the movie, a forest with a very noticeable dirt road going through it, this, again, makes the viewer question how and why they got lost, as well as what happened next. As the thudding sound reappears, the white text is revealed, and the text makes the audience internally dispute the legitimacy of the footage and the story it tells, making them want to know more, hence making them want to watch the movie. It is important to note that this type of location (rural, deserted, and/or dark) is conventionally used in horror films, it creates a sense of isolation both on screen and in the audience.
In the next shot sequence, Heather is filmed up close by one of the other students, through dialogue and performance, the audience understands that at this stage in the film nothing out of the ordinary has happened. The calm before the storm trope, aka Todorov's narrative theory of equilibrium, is extremely common in most movies, it gives a false sense of security to the audience right before something bad or unexpected occurs. Forbye, Heather's clothing is of a blood-red pigment, this use of colour could be foreshadowing the bloodshed and death at the end of the movie, as well as contributing to the overall colour palette of both the trailer and motion picture.
The trailer then shows a heated argument between the three main characters about the whereabouts of their only map. This argument is used to contrast with the latter shot and to emphasize the "disruption of the equilibrium", as described by Todorov. Through dialogue, these shots also show the role of leadership that Heather holds, this is challenging many conventions as women in the entertainment industry are rarely portrayed in positions of authority, especially in horror movies, where they are often presented as vulnerable, helpless and dumb, to the extent that they are even portrayed as "damsels in distress" requering rescue from a strong male character.
After this intensely emotional argument, and another deep thudding sound, the audience is presented with a monochrome, underexposed, mid-shot of Heather, as she utters "Hello? Hello!" into the darkness, this ignites more interest in the viewers as they are being withheld of important contexts, such as who Heather is talking to, how do they look, etc. Hermeneutic/enigma codes (the deliberate withholding of information from the audience), as described by Barthe, are commonly used in all kinds of trailers, as this technique is crucial to creating a mystery or enigma. Furthermore, the composition and mise en scene of the frame creates a sense of isolation and vulnerability because of the way the pitch black setting hides what could be potentially surrounding Heather. Additionally, the shot's short duration of merely 4 seconds brings up the pace of the trailer slightly. The dialogue in this shot met with its visual aspect and editing, incites a significant level of uneasiness and distress, ergo creating what will then evolve into great fear and anxiety in the viewer. This shot is a perfect segue into what will be by far the most fast-paced scene in the trailer.
Filmed in an extremely violent and shaky manner, probably as a way to tap into the hyperrealistic feel of the movie and to show the helplessness of the characters, the shot shows one of the protagonists screaming and crying unintelligibly as they run through the forest. This scene is shot on a dutch/slanted angle, angles like this are conventionally used in psychological thrillers and horror movies to heighten the audience's reaction to the shot, in this case intensifying their feelings of uneasiness, fear and tension. Again, the sound in this shot is purely diegetic, although some of the sound's volumes have been presumably altered to create meaning. For example, between screams, the viewer can hear children's voices, not only do these voices suggest an explanation for what the protagonists might be running away from, but a way to juxtapose playful innocence with life-threatening danger. Children are conventionally used in the horror genre to depict the battle of good vs evil, kids and their interaction with evil are extremely effective to highlight the loss of innocence; thus, in The Blair Witch Project children's voices might also be used symbolically and semantically to connote how the protagonists' scepticism of the Blair Witch, aka their innocence, is being forfeited as they uncover and experience the truth of the Witch for themselves.
Now in colour, the viewer is introduced to the first objective piece of "proof" of supernatural activity in a long, low-angled shot, this denotes the veracity of the last shot, discarding that the characters' reaction was caused by paranoia or imagination alone. The figures being filmed are tangible, rather obvious, symbols for the dead, this can be deciphered by the viewer as the human-like stick figures hang by the neck, these could also be foretelling the characters' deadly future. This figure is also present in the movie poster. The angle of the shot also connotes the power this entity had over the protagonist and their evident disadvantage. This scene doesn't show the characters, but their surroundings and their reactions to them, this makes the audience feel as if they were there, compelling them to sympathize with the protagonists and re-establishing the idea that the movie is real found footage from 3 university students' attempt at a documentary.
The trailer then shows Heather crying and talking to the camera in an extreme close-up shot, with an emphasis on her right eye. The shot's composition is a clear way to highlight the emotions and reactions of the character, eliciting empathy; it also may make the audience feel slightly uncomfortable being so close to Heather's face. The emphasis in Heather's eyes could also be a way to represent the feeling of being watched, a feeling that the character herself may be experiencing at that moment. Her diegetic dialogue, on the other hand, continues to evoke uneasiness and anxiety in the viewer as she chokes up tears and says: "It's all because of me that we are here now. Hungry, cold, and hunted". The inclusion of the dark background of the shots increases tension in the audience as they expect a jumpscare, which never occurs.
Another black screen and thudding sounds are presented before a short clip of the camera falling to the ground and a girl screaming. The movie preview then cuts to a title shot, where "The Blair Witch Project" appears in white font in front of a black screen. The trailer then fades to black and comes to a simple and plain end.
A very unconventional aspect of this particular trailer is the complete lack of music and jumpscares, as most horror movie trailers build tension with the objective to jumpscare the audience towards the end of the preview, this one on the other hand ends in a rather calm, simple manner, this could be a way to continue to establish the found footage idea in the audience's mind. Another way in which the trailer challenges conventions is by having its actors directly at the camera, in The Blair Witch Project it is used to "sell" the story of the found footage, is important to note that although the characters stare at the camera they never break the 4th wall, as that would mean that they acknowledged the viewer's presence in the context that the viewers are seeing the movie (ie. they would have to acknowledge that the found footage story is fictional and that the viewers and seeing a movie that's been entirely fabricated, contradicting the movie's marketing campaign; which they never do), although they don't technically break the 4th wall, the actors stare are still deeply unsettling for the audience. Even though this trailer challenges many conventions, it also follows some, one of them being the colour palette, throughout the trailer we can see that it uses mainly 3 colours: red, brown and black. These colours connote possible danger, blood, and evilness.
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