2. A Nightmare on Elm Street
This trailer was relevant because this was the type of trailer we
wanted to do, but as previous media students have based their
horror's on this subgenre, we decided to go for something different
and unique. However, there was some shots in this trailer which we
liked and wanted to create ourselves.
I liked the establishing shot at the beginning of
the trailer, with the character running towards
the camera as it built up the tension with the
mese-en-scene very dull and gloomy, and
there in an immediate enigma code as to why
the character is running away.
The overall pace of the trailer was also
very interesting, as the fast moving
shots made the film look tensional and
successfully established the genre type.
It didn’t give too much of the plot away
but infact gave a lot of enigma codes to
the audience and question what is
happening.
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trailer
As I researched this film in
more depth, I found that the
film had a poem to go with it
that the writers had created. I
felt this added t the ‘fear
factor’ and me and my
partner think it would be a
good idea to create a poem of
our own.
3. The Exorcism of Emily Rose
To make our movie trailer more original to past
media students, we decided to go more into this
sub-genre of horror. (supernatural)
This I one of my favorite supernatural movie
trailers, as I learnt a lot from it (the spirits and
what happens when someone becomes
possessed) and from it I have come up with a
lot of ideas for ours, as it really stands out
compared to other trailers, and lets the
audience know what type of film it is clearly.
This trailer did not give too much of the plot
away but gave enough for the audience to get
the basic idea of what’s happened.
The music was the main technique I
particularly thought was good, as it
has a church, spiritual sound to it,
which lets the audience know the
type of film it is, creating tension to
the viewer. Heartbeats and whispers
have also been brought into it which
still keeps the viewer on edge, still
building up the tension.
I especially liked the credits
used, as the fonts and colours
are basic but also gives it the
‘spiritual’ effect, as it look like
the black is shining through
the grey (looks like the sun
shining through clouds) just
darker and gloomier to make
it look more supernatural.
The pace of the film starts off
slowly then builds up to become
very fast which in effect builds up
the tension to the viewer keeping
their attention, which will result in
them being interested to watch the
film.
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trailer
4. The Last Exorcism
This is another trailer that fits in to the sub-genre we
are planning to create as well, which is very similar to
‘the exorcism of Emily Rose’. I compared this trailer it to
the ‘The exorcism of Emily
Rose’ and found lots of
similarities which illustrates
to me the conventions of a
thriller. The plot line got
told by the characters by the
script in the actual film, and
also credits which tell the
plot line as well to give the
viewer a basic outline of
what happens.
The music in this trailer
also has creepy hymn like
music, which reflects and
associates the viewer with
the bible. Heavy breathing
is also shown displayed in
this which adds effect to
the supernatural as well
whispers and odd noises.
These all add up to the
conventions of a
supernatural horror.
Another thing that has the
conventions of a thriller is the
pace of the trailer. Both this and
‘The exorcism of Emily Rose’ start
of slow pacing and then builds up
to become very fast.
This trailer adds up to the horror conventions as
the main character which has been ‘processed’ is
a girl. This demonstrates to the viewer a sense of
‘damsel in distress’ but also power as they have
been overtaken, but by a demon/devil so that
gives a status objective as being higher then the
other characters.
Black screens and flashes are
used in this trailer a lot, to
break own some shots and
fasten the pace more creating
a built up tensional trailer,
which keeps the audience fixed
on what they’re watching.
This shoot is great as it is a close up on the main characters eyes,
which looks directly at the audience, breaking the 4th wall, which
makes the audience feel insecure and ‘put on the spot’ at it looks at
though she’s looking at you. The colour has changed as well through
editing, as the shot has been made into black and white., which shows
the range of editing techniques that can be used to create an effect.
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trailer
5. The Exorcist
This is amore old-fashioned ‘supernatural’ horror, which
was considered the most scariest film produced at the
time.
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view the
trailer
A voice over- for its time, this
was creepy as the mans voice
is low and powerful sounding.
The lighting is always dull
which sets the mood of the
film.
It is set in the older days which
means is got a periodic feel to
it, making it seem more scary
to the viewer.
Black screens are used for
pauses and for the voice over
to talk, which creates an effect
of suspense to the viewer.
The little girl screaming, the
priest talking about the devil
and the voiceover is the main
dialogue in the trailer which
gives it a tensional feel,
however the plot line is not
revealed through the speech,
but it is done through what the
characters do.
The editing speed is mostly
slow but some shots are
shocking to the viewer which
keeps the audience interested
that way instead of the pace
the shots go.
6. An American Haunting
This film is another supernatural type horror which I
have researched, based on true events. The difference
with this trailer is that it is set in an older period.
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I like the idea of the black
screens with part of the story
plot wrote on it. It gives the
trailer more of an edge.
The negative effect was used
once during the trailer , but
used on a very quick flash of
the girl screaming. This
keeps the audience on edge
and adds emphasis to the
enigma codes.
The music also includes church like
choir music, which reflects the
spiritual element to it. The music
starts off slowly and builds up as
well which increases the tension to
the audience. Whispers and
sounds from the spirit to make it
seem more scary and haunting.Faced paced editing with
speeding up effects to build
up the tension.
Not much dialogue and
when there is, its mostly
spiritually related, and
screams coming from the
young girl.
7. The Haunting in
Connecticut
This film is another supernatural horror which is also
based on real-life events gaining more ideas of what is
considered true life.
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Sound over of the mother,
slightly hinting the plot line
and introducing the
characters at the beginning.
The music starts to build up
round the middle of the
trailer and when the music
starts to get more of a pace,
the shots also then become
faster.
The finishing shot of the
trailer ends with this. It is
effective as it gives the title
of the film in a simple but
also creepy way to grab the
audiences attention.
They used special effects in
the trailer as well to shock
the audience. This is not
something I would be ale to
do in my trailer as I do not
have the equipment to do
so. However there is other
ways in which we can shock
the audience.
8. The Orphanage
This is another horror trailer which differs from the
supernatural subgenre. It is closely intertwined with the
spirits and a normal horror film.
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trailer
There is a voice over, of
someone telling the story/basic
plot line. It is effective to the
audience as it does not give too
much away, but it also lets the
audience understand more
about it. The person speaking in
the voiceover has a very low
creepy voice which builds up the
tension of the trailer.
This dirty shot has been edited
to negative and placed in with a
quick flash., to build up the
tension and create some enigma
codes to the audience. The dirty
shot shows the main child who
we can tell is the baddy, as the
balloons show he/she’s got
something to hide.
The music also
comes in mid speed
and builds up during
the end.
As the music speeds up, so does the editing
of the shots to make the trailer seem very
quick, which creates a lot of enigma codes
for the audience.
I like the idea of these credits and the font works well as it
looks like something off a children's programme
(reflecting children in the orphanage) but then made to
look scary to show the genre of film.
9. Case 39
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trailer
This trailer is slightly different in
that the start of the trailer gets very
fast paced very quickly and then has
a slow editing pace in the middle to
which then gets fast paced again.
This film moves away from the spiritual aspect as well,
but like ‘The Orphanage” the storyline is based around
a young girl. This brings new features and styles of
trailers to my research.
Special effects have also
been used here as well
but like ‘The Haunting in
Connecticut’ I do not have
the equipment to be able
to create this.
The basic plot line is
revealed in what the
characters say in the trailer,
but not too much to give
away the twist at the end of
the film.
A close up of the mum breaking
the fourth wall, and looking
straight at the camera, puts us, the
audience , in a vulnerable position
as it looks as though she is looking
at us. This works well to create a
horror as it is scary towards the
viewer.
10. The Omen
This film also fits into the ‘supernatural’ horror type.
However some of the conventions do not match up to
the ones in the previous two trailers I will be closely
working with.
The last two trailers show that the
main character is a teenage girl who
has been processed by a demon/the
devil, but in this trailer we are shown
a young boy to be in this situation.
This slightly breaks the conventions of
the supernatural horror film, but it
works well as young children can be
made scary in films when shot in a
specific way. The trailer did not give
too much of the plot away and
confused the audience more with the
constant stream of enigma codes.
In this trailer there is an editing effect
of slow motion, with a shoe falling off
a woman foot who had just hung
herself. This works well within this
trailer to create a certain mood, and to
add emphasis to the audience of
what’s happened, however it would
have to be done correctly to mesh well
with the teaser trailer me and my
partner are going to create.
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trailer
This trailer was good and it
kept the viewer watching,
however the pace of it was
slower compare to the other
trailers, and it didn’t keep me
as interested as the previous
ones did.
The music in this trailer is not as built up,
but the tension is still built up even
though it is quite subtle, to add emphasis
and build up the tension to the viewer, as
it gets more of a beat and faster in pace
towards the end.
Black screens and flashes are also
used which helps to speed up the
trailer and make it seem more
fast paced.
