The document discusses research conducted for a student film trailer project on horror genre conventions. The student analyzed existing horror trailers to understand common codes and conventions. Research methods included secondary research online to gather in-depth information efficiently. Primary research was also used through questionnaires given to the student's peers to obtain specific information about audience perspectives. Throughout the research, the student learned conventions related to locations, narratives, target demographics, use of social media for promotion, music and sounds, and more. The research will be applied to create a professional horror genre film trailer.

1. Before I started to make my film trailer I started to research into some
film trailers of my chose genre (Horror). The purpose of this was so I
can further understand to codes and conventions of a horror film trailer,
which will benefit me when I come to making my film trailer. To decide
what research was relevant or not I tried to distinguish conventions of a
horror trailer compared with any other genre. Sometime I went further
and looked into the specific sub genre I was planning on making a film
trailer for. After I narrowed that down, all the research I did would be
helpful in some way.
The main research method for my findings would be secondary
research in using the Internet. The Internet is easily the best way to
gather in depth and specific research in a reasonable amount of time.
This is way I have Internet research instead of library or some sort of
primary research as the main source for gathering information.
However I will be using a questionnaire to get some reliable answers on
what people my age think about movie trailers.
All my research material was stored on an online blog, and then was
split up it to different sections, for example; audiences and sound. Then
I would group some of the research into units, this will make it easier if I
ever wanted to go back and look at a specific bit of research.
Throughout my research I have learnt of some specific conventions to
do with most aspects of horror trailers.
Firstly the locations shown in horror trailers for my specific sub-genre
tend to be in a family sized house in an isolated place of it a typical
suburban estate. Other horror films might be set in; the forest, a cave or
a cemetery. This is because throughout the years those specific places
have become associated with bad things.
Furthermore, after a considerable amount of time watching film trailers
for my genre I found a pattern with the narrative. Normally (not always)
the storyline will go something like, a family will, move into a new house
and the house will be possessed and the poltergeist will try to hurt
them. An example of this type of trailer will be ‘The Conjuring’. In
addition the structure of the narrative should start with an establishing
shot to show the; scene, story and maybe introduce us to the main
characters. This is the scene where the equilibrium is established; an

2. example would be a family moving into a new house. Shortly after the
trailer will show some sort of disturbance which disrupts the sense of
normality. The disturbance in horror movie trailers tend to be followed
by a montage of the horrific events, which will give the audience a
glimpse of the action, the order of the clips doesn’t always have to be in
chronological order. The trailer won’t show the re-ordered equilibrium
because that will spoil the ending for the audience. Instead they might
choose to use a jump scare with the ending of the film being the name of
the movie.
Horror films tend to have a restricted age rating of 15+ or 18+, you
would rarely see a horror with a 12+ age restriction. Therefore the
audience is target at anyone between 15 -30 years of age, regardless of
gender. Because the main audience would be teenagers they are most
likely to hear about the film via social media websites e.g. Youtube and
Twitter. With these social media sites the audience can interact with
other fans of the film, a way of doing this is through; Facebook pages,
and using the hash-tag feature on twitter. Furthermore they can also
comment on the trailer on Youtube. Some of the things people might
comment are; reviews and recommendations.
Music and sound is very important is movie trailers, especially horrors.
It sets the mood of the films and can make experiencing the trailer more
frightening. I found the in some horror trailers they would use happy
and joyful which is a complete contrast to the narrative of the film, if
done correctly it can make the song sound creepy. Another thing they
could do when using happy music is quickly change the music to
something more fitting to the genre. Contrapuntal sound establishes
how there will be twists and turns in the movie. Another use of sound
that is popular amongst horror trailers is the use of silences, possibly
before a disturbance or a jump scare.
Along with a wide range of secondary research, I conducted a
questionnaire, which I handed out to people in my year group. The
reason I handed out to people in my year group is because they fit into
the key demographic for my film trailer. Primary research gives me
more specific information regarding my research.

3. To conclude I would say that all my research will help me in
constructing my final film trailer. I have learned a lot about the horror
trailer conventions and will carefully implement them in my final
product. If I constantly look back on my research and follow it as a
guide, I can create a professional film trailer.