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Persuasive Techniques Used In The Freak Show

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American Horror Story, a spine chilling series created by Ryan Murphy, has captivated viewers by having them live in the Murder House, escape the Asylum, protect the Coven and attend the Freak Show. Due to the frightening teaser trailers that promote the show, people get intrigued and want to watch the show. The “Open Wide” teaser for Freak Show shows a ghastly clown that opens its grotesque mouth to reveal the main title. Although the short teaser may seem plain and simple, the usage of makeup, sound and special effects reveal a more menacing figure on the clown. Clowns are one of the common phobias that people have, whether they are children or adults. The friendly image of a clown has been corrupted by pop culture due to their frightening …show more content…

At the beginning of the trailer, the viewer can hear distorted laughter and as the trailer goes on, the sound of the laughter lowers in pitch and slows down, heightening the suspense as the viewer will believe something bad is about to happen. After the distorted sound of glass breaking in reverse cuts off the laughter, a high pitch scream starts to crescendo as the camera zooms into the mouth of the clown, further heightening the suspense as the viewer is put in a first person perspective that they are the ones being devoured and the shriek they hear gives the viewer the feeling that they are the ones screaming. If you pay attention to the movement of the clown, you notice that as the clown changes movement, the sound changes along with it. First, the viewer sees the head of the smiling clown tilting towards its shoulder and at the same time the viewer hears the distorted laughter. Also as the clown slowly centers its head, the viewer hears the sound of the laughter start to lower in pitch and slows down, a technique used in horror films to heighten suspense. The sudden change in facial expression from happy to murderous is accompanied by the sound of glass shattering in reverse, cutting off the menacing laughter, surprising the viewer that something ominous is about to happen as the clown goes from a snarl to opening its mouth, the sound starts up again as a shriek that …show more content…

The black filling of the sclera as well as the usage of black contacts at the beginning of the trailer gives the clown the appearance of a demon and as the clown opens its mouth, a part of the sclera is shown to be white, signifying that humans themselves can act as monsters and behave in such a way. One example is the Sawney Bean Family cult, a family of cannibals that were seen as mindless savages but those savages were in fact human, so we know the darkness that people harbor deep inside them. Similar to the pitch black eyes, the usage of sharpened teeth enhances the demonic look the clown portraits. As the clown is centering its head, it opens its mouth a little to reveal human teeth. As the trailer continues and the clown opens its mouth, the human teeth are replaced by sharper teeth that are ready to take a bite out of flesh, further indicating the demonic properties a human can have if they were to behave in such a gruesome manner. In addition, the special effects that are used in the mouth of the clown give the viewer the sense that they are being devoured. As the camera zooms into the mouth, the viewer gets the feeling that they are being pushed against their will into the mouth of the clown, unable to escape the force that is pulling them in. As the camera zooms in to show

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