Horror Trailer AnalysisLewis Brown

Purposes Trailers entice the audience to watch the film

without giving too much information away about its narrative

To set the tone and genre of the film so audiences know what to expect

Creates a media hype and excitement for the actual release of the film

Reveal the actors in the film to the audience

To let people know the release date and age rating of the film

Conventions

Important parts of the film narrative are revealed without giving too much away

On-screen text that explains the storyline to the audience

The title of the film is revealed (usually at the end or beginning of the trailer)

A soundtrack that fits the genre of the film (for example, a pop track in a rom-com trailer or a sinister piece in horror)

The name of the director is sometimes included (e.g from the makers of…)

Narrative Structures Freytags pyramid explains that narratives usually have an

exposition, rising action that leads up to the climax and falling action that resolves the story. This pyramid can be applied to many films.

However I believe that trailers usually end at the climax with no falling action which makes the audience of the trailer want to see the film as they are left with a cliff hanger. An example of this would be the trailer for “Curse of Chucky” where we are shown Chucky being evil and starting a rampage, however we are not shown a resolution, the trailer ends on a climax.

Genre Conventions

There are many codes and conventions that are common to each genre of film trailer.

The following slides points out the common features of each genre.

Comedy

Short, sharp gags that intend to make the audience laugh

Upbeat/clumsy music to reflect the light-heartedness of the genre

Theatrical, happy facial expressions with unnaturalistic acting (acting with behavior that is not common in the real-world

Humorous clothing and other funny mise-en-scene

Characters being put into awkward, funny situations

Slapstick comedy (people being punched, falling over etc.)

Fantasy

Epic classical music for the soundtrack

Characters that are elves, goblins, dwarves and other fantasy races

Locations that are mystical (such as an enchanted forest, or medieval castle)

Extravagant make-up and CGI effects

Props such as staffs, swords and other weapons

Staged fighting and war scenes

Large frightening beasts such as dragons that are produced with CGI

Sci-Fi

Futuristic sound effects, such as the bleeping of complicated machinery

The presence of high tech equipment

Villains such as aliens or robots

Locations that include being in space or in a laboratory

CGI effects such as laser beams or spaceships

Romance

Everyday locations such as towns or cities

Happy light-hearted music

Normal, everyday people

Kissing and Hugging

Beautiful Women and Handsome men as the main characters

Weddings and dates in restaurants as common locations

Bright colours

Horror Auteurs

The word Auteur in film simply means a filmmaker or director who gives a strong sense of style to their films, with each of their films having common elements of mise-en-scene, sound, editing etc.

The following slides name several horror auteurs and state their personal style of filmmaking.

Wes Craven- (Last House on the Left, Nightmare on Elm Street, Scream)

His work tends to be based around questioning reality (possibly due to his interest and masters degree in Philosophy); for example, Nightmare on Elm Street involved the consequences of dreams in real life. Many of his films also involve iconic murderous villains (Freddie Kruger and Ghostface in the Scream films).

James Wan- (Saw, Insidious)

This director is best known for the gritty torture-horror Saw franchise. His style is based on physical and psychological torture to humans (with heavy sadomasochistic themes). Some mise-en scene elements that are common to his films are electro-industrial music and well-designed mechanical traps; he wanted the traps to have a rusty and menacing feel but still have a look of beauty.

John Carpenter- (Halloween, The Thing)

He is best known for his minimalist lighting and photography, static cameras and the use of the steadicam. He also composes most of his own movie scores using synthesized instruments. Hew also helped give birth to the slasher film genre with “Halloween”; the genre involves a serial killer who murders victims in an unprovoked, random fashion.

Eli Roth- (Hostel, The Last Excorcism)

Both an actor and director, he is most notorious for being credited a creator of the “torture-porn” or “Gorno” genre; a genre that mainly focuses on torture in a sexual way, although not being considered actual pornographic material. His film-making is of a classical style and prefers his films not to have an MTV style of cutting, his films editing aims to go unnoticed. He also prefers classical music in the score of his films and a common mise en scene in his films is the use of photographing through mirrors (present in both Hostel parts 1 and 2)

Inspirational Trailers

The following slides show examples of trailers that will inspire my horror trailer

Silent Hill 3D: Revelation Trailer

I like how the trailer creates a horrific fantasy atmosphere and include instinctive fears (for example, huge spiders and fear of the unknown). I believe the make-up is effective also, as it is subtle yet eerie, especially on the young girl.

American Horror Story Trailer

Although American Horror Story is a series and not a film, I am still inspired by its several trailers. I believe that the trailers are abstract and even horrifically artistic but still manage to be creepy. They are so unusual that they entice audiences to the programme (for example, one trailer is just a short clip of a woman stabbed with pins, and another where several women are stuck to a wall). The music is also strange and unnerving which I would like to apply to our trailer.

May Trailer

I believe this trailer is effective as it uses innocent music to create an unnerving feeling throughout the trailer. I also think the acting of the protagonist is especially creepy and I would like to apply this type of acting to our trailer.