Horror trailer analysis

(Above: 'SAW 3D' 2010)

All trailers need to indicate a range of information within them in order for the respective target audience to understand what it is about and in turn persuade them to go watch it.

GENRE -
It is a necessity that trailers specify the genre of the film. This will categorise the film and will draw in their target audience, if this is done poorly it could lead to a loss in sales and a sense of confusion from the audience.
Within 'SAW 3D' the trailer sets out the intentions and genre from an early off set. As it is a teaser trailer it has a lack of time in which to get across the films values. In this example it is shown within the first 10 seconds with a clever use of colour and effects ( Red and static/ broken effects) that this film falls in the horror or thriller category.
Linking this with Horror Conventions, the use of red symbolises blood and pain etc. Whereas the static and use of heavy base adds to the trailers sense of atmosphere. Furthermore, as the trailer continues the audience are met with a variety in horror conventions in relation to genre. The use of overlaying titles in conjunction with the voice over focusing and emphasising words such as: 'fear','suffering' and 'death' (0.17-0.20), equally reinforces the horror conventions.

NAME -
The name of the film is going to be key to the sales and to the publicity of the film. If there is no title specified the audience will be left in disarray and will feel no need to see something they don't know about. However, in some cases there is no title announced to add to the films over all mysterious nature. This technique is mainly used within viral advertising, in an attempt to create this 'buzz'.
'SAW 3D' has a large build up until the title is released at 0.47 seconds, because there is such a large build up with the use of voice over and overlaying titles the audience are in suspense as to what it is about. On the other hand, as this film is part of such a large franchise the audience recognise it's conventions and follow the build up as it teases with phrases such as: 'Witness the final saw', this used as a method of enticement for the audience.

PRODUCTION VALUES -
Similar to many horror trailers 'SAW 3D' mentions no names within it's advertisement. As the characters are generally poorly developed and seen as 'throw away' characters, there is little need to use big names in the film and trailer, as that is not why people watch the films. This is an equally similar reason for the lack of directors name within it and to an extent the producers studios are quickly rushed, giving the sense that this film is eager to show action and excitement, giving the audience another reason to go see it.
The title does however show some production values. Looking at the overlaying titles there is an incorporation of special effects as the trailer is trying to highlight the fact that this new film is in 3D, as this is  a teaser trailer it is missed out, but in longer renditions of this trailer it is heavily capitalised on.

ADDITIONAL CONVENTIONS -
Linking back to genre, this film highlights that it is a torture film as most if not all of the footage shown is of a torture disposition, the snippets of film shown are at the climax of fear which entices the audience further.
As this franchise of film is famous for it's gore rather than it's character development and narrative, these aspects are then ignored in the trailer. The audience see a variety of character all leading to a similar fate. the basic narrative is some what outlined, but this is nothing more than it being a torture film. This tells the audience to expect excitement and horror as appose to narrative and in depth plot.
Although the audience see the dilemma which is the threat of torture, there is no resolution or no indication to how it is resolved. This only pushes the interested target audience to want to go see it more so.
In terms of the mood presented, it is fairly obvious to the audience what it is about and how it shall remain throughout the films entirety.
Finally, the trailers use of quick shots and dramatic CGI in the over lay titles, adds to the audiences anticipation and leaves them hugely interested but alas unsatisfied. Because of this emotion, they will feel the need to go and see it to film this emptiness the trailer has left.

MUSIC -
The music used in the trailer is heavy in base and could even reflect the heart beat of the characters in peril and indeed the audience. It increases in pace but has no definitive crescendo and leaves the audience unsatisfied. The music doesn't play through the whole trailer and actually begins about half way through, at the point of danger. This immerses the audience further and further into the trailer adding to there want to see it. As mentioned earlier, the voice over is a large part in this film, not only does it give some degree of description to the trailer but also plays a fundamental part in the film as the voice is that of the main 'evil' in the film. This adds another sense of mystery to the trailer and leaves the audience wanting to know more about the narrative.



Above: ('The Ring' 2002)


Conventions of a movie trailer:

There are  short clips from scenes in the movie, just long enough to entice the viewer, but not so long as to give anything away. These clips are clips the target audience want to see e.g. scary and unusual . By doing this the viewer is made to want to watch more; they want to know what happens to the people in the clips.

There are  inter-titles giving a brief description of the narrative of the film and also helping to identify genre. By cutting up the inter-titles and stretching them over the length of the trailer the viewer is drawn in; kept in anticipation to here the next part of the narrative. By only half describing the narrative the viewer is made to want to know more, much like the short clips from the scenes in the movie do.

The  key characters are identified. This is done by using short close-up shots of them in the trailer. This gives the viewer someone to identify with making the film relatable.

The  music used over this trailer helps to identify genre. Sustained dissonant chords give an uneasy feeling to the viewer, suggesting the film will do the same. The music also builds up nearing the end, putting the viewer on the edge of their seat, but by leaving the end of the music open the viewer is left curious and still with the feeling of uneasiness, making them want to see the movie for closure.

The  voice-over on this trailer is done by taking short clips of sound from the film itself and putting them together. The use of these short clips also leave the viewer questioning the trailer and wanting closure.

Horror conventions within the trailer:

The  settings of this horror trailer are fairly conventional; we are shown clips of dark corridors, large open rural areas and several shots of claustrophobic looking rooms. All of which indicate some sense of fear. The light in most of the shots is motivated and dim, adding to the feeling of isolation and horror.

By using  expressive camera work the viewer is shown a different, scary perspective of what is in the shot. Sped-up establishing shots of open rural areas give great impact to the feeling of isolation, CUs and ECUs of characters help to show extremes of emotion to the viewer.

Conventional character types are shown such as the 'inocent child', 'final woman' and the ' false hero'. This helps the viewer identify with  genre.

I like the quick cuts in this trailer, they create a fast tempo building up the viewers anticipation. I also like the establishing shots of the open fields which are then sped up creating an eerie isolated atmosphere.




This trailer is for the horror film 'One Missed Call'. One of the key conventions a trailer should have is telling the audience the name of the film. The name of this film appears towards the end of the trailer. It is shown in what could be called a 'technological' font to highlight the fact that it is a horror that happens through the medium of technology, specifically mobile phones.

Another convention trailers have is showing the production values, such as the stars, director, budget and special effects. With this trailer there are people who could be considered stars, like Shannyn Sossamon and Edward Burns, however we are only told their names on a slide of inter-titles with a lot of other writing on it, so unless the audience knows there faces they are unlikely to know who they are. The same could be said for the director, Eric Valette, because we don't see his name until the bottom of a second slide of inter-titles. However this is likely to be because he is not famous and mostly directs French films. It is clear this film has a fairly large budget because although we don't see too much in the trailer it is implied several events happen that would require quite expensive special effects.

A third convention of trailers is to introduce the main characters and their relationships. This trailer briefly introduces six characters, five of whom seem to be friends and a sixth who is perhaps a detective investigating their claims. We are able to determine the main protagonist because she is in most of the shots and isn't identified as one of the characters who dies. Indicating to the audience the central narrative enigma, without showing how it is resolved, is another convention. The central narrative enigma is made very clear in this trailer, people are receiving voicemail detailing their deaths and then a few days later they die in the way the voicemail said they would. Whilst we see the main protagonist try to solve this mystery so she can save her own life we don't find out from the trailer how or if she does. It also shows a selection of moments from the "quest" like a trailer is supposed to. We see shots from the beginning of the narrative and then ones from deaths and the main protagonist trying to solve the problem.

Music in trailers is supposed to be emotive, which this trailer has. There isn't much music used in the trailer but when it is it's themed around the strange ring tone used when the phones get the voicemail detailing their deaths. This sounds then becomes associated with a sense of dread and will leave the viewer wanting to know when it will play next. Most trailers have a mixture of dialogue, voice overs and inter-titles. This trailer doesn't have a voice over but it does use inter-titles at the beginning and the end. The ones at the beginning are introducing the concept of mobile phones and how often they are answered and that sometimes they shouldn't be. The ones at the end highlight the theme of death and give us the names of people involved in the film.

This trailer is for a horror film and this is shown through several different conventions. The first of these is settings. The film appears to take place in a town or city because it has a train track however a lot of it also seems to be in people's houses which follows the idea of horror happening in rural/suburban settings. There are some scenes in a place with a "past" in the form of an old burned down hospital, which also ties in with the idea of medical institutions being a prominent setting within horror films. Also some scenes are at night in places that are usually okay like a residential streets.

Another of the conventions is to do with technical code. One of the components of the technical code is camerawork. The camerawork of the trailer uses things like low angles, such as when the main protagonist is holding the phone and the shot is of her friend, as shown with the screen print to the right. It also has cantered angles and makes use of the depth of field, both of which are shown in the screen print to the left. There are also extreme close ups of the main protagonist so we know who we should be identifying with. Towards the end of the trailer the editing speeds up which not only is a convention of horror films but also creates a sense on unease and leaves the viewer wanting to know what happens.

A third convention of horror films involves iconography. There are visual signifies of horror in this trailer such as the colour scheme. There are a lot of dark colours used and also red, such as just after the girl dies with the train the whole screen flashes red, also the round sweets found with the victims are red. The lighting used is very non-naturalistic and often quite dark to build up a sense of disorientation and confusion which goes with the trailer because we don't always know what is happening. In the mise-en-scene there are common objects of horror like masks, icons of the supernatural like people who disappear and things to do with religion such as crucifixes which can be seen in the first screen shot to the left, in the paragraph above.

In terms of narrative structure it is difficult to comment because from the trailer we don't know the whole story. However it does appear there will be a final girl because the main protagonist is a girl and the main character is usually the one who survives or is the last to die. She is also clearly a victim alongside being a hero because her friends are dying and she gets into trouble whilst in the hospital.

I think this is a good trailer because whilst it tells us the basic storyline it only hints at the deaths and what happens to the characters so we don't actually see anything and therefore want to watch the film. I think this would be a good element to use in my own trailer, tell the basic storyline but only hint at what happens.