2. Introduction
The sub - genre we have chosen is slasher;we have chosen this specific sub
genre as they feature the most gruesome deaths making it intriguing for an
audience aged 16 and above. Slasher movies are conventionally known for their
gory deaths and sudden jump scares, this is what makes slashers so effective.
For our own slasher trailer we plan on including excessive blood shed, whilst also
following other conventions such as having a masked killer, group of teenage
friends and also abandoned settings.
3. Film Inspiration
When looking at existing trailers, we were inspired by both ‘House of Wax’ and ‘Friday the 13th’as
they share a similar target audience and also conventions to the sub-genre slasher. In Friday the
13th the opening scene consists of an establishing shot which gives us a preview of the wooded
setting, it is conventional for horror trailers to start of with an establishing shot therefore when
filming we also plan on using this shot. For our setting we plan on filming in a wooded area which
is surrounded by a lake to give it the ultimate ominous aura; Friday the 13th was set in a similar
location which made it effective in scaring the audience.
In both films a group of teenage friends go away for a few days, the second day often brings about
a disruption to the equilibrium, due to a sudden death. For our trailer we plan on following this
layout and conducting our first death also on the teens second day away. The first to die in most
slasher movies tends to be the popular, promiscuous girl, conventionally she is blonde therefore
we also chose a blonde actor to portray this character. Females in both horror movies suffer a
gruesome death, this is often caused by weapons such as knives, axes and any other bladed
items as long as they provide the audience with maximum bloodshed, in order to achieve this in
our trailer we will be using similar props. Aside from gaining inspiration for our setting and props,
both provided us with ideas for our narrative,characters and also costumes.
4. Narrative
A group of teenagers decide to explore the infamous, abandoned ‘Weeping Willows’ where Bloody Mary
notoriously murdered her victims in the 1550’s. Whilst there, they come across an unknown killer who would
strategically kills off the characters one by one. The first to be slaughtered is the dim- witted Amber who
confuses the killer for her boyfriend and is brutally butchered. Conventional of slashers, the next to die is the
smart mouthed Tyrone, who dies far more mercifully than Amber. From a quick stab wound, Tyrone dies
instantly and less painfully. The last to have their lives snatched away from them is the pair Blake (Amber’s
boyfriend) and Brianna, who are being promiscuous. They sneak away from the campsite, only to be hacked
alive and murdered gruesomely. The final girl, Sophie manages to get away from the murderous entity that
haunts the forest but it is left a mystery whether she survives or gets killed by a car.
5. Costume
The costume that will be presented by each character will allow the audience to
have insight into what the personalities will be like. These are all very conventional
for a horror slasher film. For example, the popular girl will be wearing quite revealing
clothes that will inform the audience into what type of character she is- fans of this
genre will also know that she is the one who will die in the most gruesome and
horrific way.
The colour scheme shall also be very conventional. The final girl in each slasher
movie wears very light or white clothing to connote innocence and purity. The
remaining characters also wear quite light clothing, or when they do wear dark, it is
usually on top of a white shirt or dress. This is done so that it symbolises that
although their personality may be loud or boisterous, they have an innocent heart,
making them the perfect victims for the killer to prey on.
On the other hand, the killer wears dark colours such as black and grey which
symbolises death and despair. It could also show that the villain is suffering from
emotional or psychological stress, which is engulfing them internally, making them
want to inflict pain on others to make them feel good about themselves. This aspect
of the killer makes the audience both intrigued and terrified of what could happen, as
anyone can suffer with internal stress or fight with inner demons, making them
believe that anyone at all, can have the drive to kill.
