2. Editing
Horror and Action has to have a numerous
amount of rapid cutaways to make the
audience feel they are missing something
creating suspense and anxiety. However in the
trailer of Insidious 2 the directors approach on
slow cutaways also builds suspense and allows
the audience to view the surrounding of the
scene before cutting into the next. The
continuous CU and MS allows the audience to
see the characters facial expression and body
language indicating that something is going to
happen
3. Sound
A trailer often consist of dialogue which gives the
audience further understanding of the plot of the film. It
is usually a dramatic line such as in insidious “It’s not
your house that is haunted, it’s your son” this gives the
audience greater anticipation of what to expect in the
film, a speech like this often reveals what the film is
based upon.
The music and the pace of the music creates suspense
and anxiety often matches the scenes shown. The type
of music used often depends on what genre of film it is
Trailers presents a variety of sounds such as
diagetic, non-diagetic and ambient sounds to further
the intensity of the scenes and also to create suspense
4. Title and Text
The font of the title and text often reflect what
genre the trailer is for example in the trailer of
Jumping the Broom the curved font signifies
the romantic theme where as Insidious 2 the
text has a more gritty effect.
Titles and Texts are not always presented at the
end of the trailer to as in seen the trailer Se7en
where the producer, director who the film was
written by are shown throughout the trailer just
as the climax of action is emerging. The title
and text is in sync with the build up of dramatic
scenes leading to an ending filled with
suspense
5. Narrative
A trailer narrative needs to be able to give the
audience and insight of the storyline and an idea
of the films but doesn’t reveal too much.
In The Woman in Black trailer the narrative is
linear. This is because the trailer flows in
chronological order from the beginning to end.
One of the mainstream narrative structures is
linear and is used widely across the film industry.
In the Insidious and Paranormal Activity trailer
they seem to follow an identical narrative
structure of Woman in Black. The trailer gives the
idea that all three films have linear structures.
6. Character
How does the trailer communicate?
The trailer communicates through the
characters, scenery, music and sound. It allows
the audience to relate to the characters
emotion towards an intensive scene in the
trailer. The character can communicate
through their stereotypical view presented in
the film, their persona, ethnicity, gender, class
and age this can appeal to the audiences
insecurities, vanity or creates a connection.
7. Enigma
The enigma in a trailer is usually a main
character their persona always appears to
be puzzling, mysterious or difficult to
understand. During the trailer of Insidious 2
majority of the shots are based around the
mother who portrays a confused and
distressed female. Her character drags the
story along through her behaviour
including her speech, body
language, pace and facial expressions.
8. Excitement
How does the trailer offer...
A trailer offers excitement to the audience, giving them
an insight of the dramatic and intensive scenes
expected in the film. It allows the audience to have an
idea of what to expect in the film and also presents a
synopsis of the film through rapid shots creating a
feeling of suspense and anxiousness.
A short trailer is generally released many months before
a movie is actually released, to give a brief peek at
what the movie will be like, and to build audience
anticipation. Teaser trailers are usually much shorter
than the final trailer, which reveals more of the storyline
of the film.
