1. Shahnaaz Begum A2 Essay
How does the Halloween trailer adhere to the codes and convention of the slasher horror sub-genre?
At the start of the horror trailer, the camera shows an establishing shot of the where the horror
setting will take place. As the shot is quite dark and shows a big American house, the audience can
automatically tell that it’s a horror based genre. The non-diagetic sound is quick and scary which
shows the tension within the horror setting.
Horror films usually take place within an area which has no other houses around, in a big, old,
deserted house. This straight away will give the audience an idea of what events are going to be taken
place within this film. The trailer gives us an idea of what the slasher horror film is about, and what
takes place within the film, for example the little boy who grows up to become a killer.
The fact that the killer is using sharp common tools to kill people for example knifes and machetes,
this also follows the codes and conventions of a slasher horror film. This makes the film not only
horror based but also gruesome because of the blood that is used and would make the audience
jump to whenever he appears. Throughout the trailer, non diagetic sound is used to give the effect of
the shots being quick, and only 3-4 seconds average on each shot. The music is quite tense and builds
up an atmosphere which follows the codes and conventions of a slasher horror film. When the music
slowly speeds up, and becomes quite quick and hasty, it makes the audience feel like they are in that
situation and are being chased by the killer too.
Horror films have codes and conventions like other genres. With horror films, there is usually a serial
killer involved, who is also the stalker and most likely masked. The audience find out who the killer is
at the end, but this is never revealed in the trailer. The director uses a point of view shot so the
audience can see what the killer sees too. It shows that the audience is looking at the house through a
mask, who could only be the killer. This almost forces the audience into feeling the same emotions as
the killer, and looking through his eyes. As the director used the technique of hand held camera for
the stalker, it gives the effect of realism.
Overall, the Halloween trailer shows that this film obeys the codes and conventions to horror slasher
films, as it uses the different elements that are typical in horror films. For example, the quick, tense
non diagetic sound, the fast shots which last 3-4 seconds. Also the music starting off rather slowly and
weary and then suddenly become quite fast, to give the audience the impression that they are also
being followed by the killer and creating tension.
