A2 Media - Horror trailer evaluation

1. Horror conventions used in my horror trailer.
Title of film – The first title we had come up with was ‘The
New Girl’ as there was a new girl joining the college who
was the main victim in the trailer. However over time we
had come up with more ideas and decided to call our
trailer ‘Deadline’ as it fit perfectly with the narrative of the
horror trailer. It was placed in the centre as a checklist as
it sets the narrative of a teachers requirements turning
into a horror scene. The colour of the font is red
symbolizing danger and blood. This helps to set the genre
as horror/gore and also is important as it catches the audience’s attention telling them that it’s the
final deadline symbolising that everyone is going to get killed. It is written in capital letters which
makes the title effective as it makes it more static and sharp.
Setting and location – The type of locations we used was a class room where is known to be a safe
place which sits with the period of equilibrium. This relates to Tadrov’s theory as the period of
equilibrium sets the setting before the problem occurs as
the classroom is seen as a safe place where help is
accessible. It is purposely a mid shot to show the
background of the books on the shelf’s etc show that it is a
classroom. The second main setting during the moment
and period of disequilibrium is an isolated setting in the
forest at different times of day such as day time, evening
and during the darkness. However, our first draft of our
horror trailer only consisted of day time settings. So we
went out of our own time to film in different times of the
day such as evening and night time. This helped us relate to
a horror genre and darkness is an important aspect.

2. Mise-en-scene/ Costume and props – Costumes used were smartly/casually dressed such as suits,
blazers/smart coats to identify the characters play the role of college students. The first student who
gets killed wears a white t-shirt which is then later filled with blood patches as she is killed. It was
chosen to be a white t-shirt as blood will stand out on it more. This is done to set the genre of horror
as it consists of blood and gore.
We had an idea to use a
scarf in the trailer as a piece
of evidence and placed it on
a bush as if it’s been caught
on to it. This was used as in
the trailer so the main
character panics as it’s the
missing girls scarf which will
therefore automatically
update the viewer on the moment of disequilibrium that something has happened and eventually
starts to build up the suspension. A student identity card from the same college is also used as a
piece of evidence and is dropped on the floor to create a sense of mystery which helps to identify
that it is the students identity card confirming that it’s may possibly be hers.
A camera and a tripod are also used to show that media students are out there to film. We had then
took the advantage to use the camera that the students were using left on recording which was a
good idea as it had tuned to a point of view shot. As it is left recording, it had shown some scenes
which seemed as if the audience is seeing it real life.

3. Camera work- In terms of camera angles and shots, we had used point of view shots from the
camera that was ‘accidently left recording’ and shots from the stalkers point of view. A Point of view
shot is used to draw the audience into the film, to create the impression that you are the character
in the film and make it more intense to watch. Also point of view shots from the ‘stalker’ who is the
villain, is used in the trailer which is done to create the feeling that there is a stalker in the intention
of killing everyone. In the trailer we had included some chase scenes which plays a big part in the
genre or horror which helps to speed the pace of the trailer which helps it to create intense
suspension for the viewer. Also hand held shots were used in the trailer which made the scene look
as if it was almost in the eyes of the students which makes the moment seem as if it’s in the eyes of
the viewer.
Music and sound- I had came up with the idea to use news reports as a starting point into the trailer
which almost helped to address the narrative. I had used YouTube to research news reports and
then used a downloading application (YouTube converter) to download any specific ones I liked.
Although this wasn’t my work, after downloading several bits and pieces I had used final cut pro to
edit my own piece which I will explain later on in this evaluation when discussing the editing.
Also using a scream in the trailer is an important aspect of the horror genre as I symbolises fear and
danger. As a group we had all taken turns to practice a scream to pick the best one. The best girly
scream which we had used in the final trailer turned out to be a boy’s scream. This indicates that
working as a team, really made us bring out the best in us and the unexpected.

4. Other sounds we thought would be ideal for a horror genre would be deep breaths and crying to
create a sense of anxiety and isolation which I believe if essential to make a horror trailer successful.
Some sounds that were picked up unknowingly and unexpectedly were to be police sirens and a
firework which almost sounded exactly like a gun shot. We had then decided to keep these sounds
as a gunshot sound was to create the effects of shock and police sirens to represent danger and
trouble.
Characters – In our practical, we had decided to mainly relate our narrative to a postmodern
approach. The postmodernist point of view would say that this trailer knowing the rules break them
down and does the unexpected in an unknowing way. We referred to props theory and related our
characters to them.
Protagonist- Final girl = the hero/princess
A young, intelligent, and respectful girl who is the main character, known as the Protagonist and the
'Final girl'. She is the leader in her media class who does literally everything. For her coursework, as a
group they are asked to produce a horror trailer based on the ideas their teacher has shown them.
She comes up with the idea of filming in the woods. As they set to film, a class mate sets off to find
signal on her phone, during this moment there is a scream and comes to find out her class mate has
been murdered. The 'new girl' acts as the hero and wants to save her. She tries to call for help but is
convinced by the 'helper donor' to save herself first.
Teacher=Villain/dispatcher
An existing new media teacher joining a new school encouraging new media students to create a
horror trailer as part of their coursework. He shows his students ideas as horror films but of the
same stories and similar killings. He encourages his students to prepare a similar piece. He ends up
being a real killer, an evil crazy stalker.
Student #1- Helper donor (geeky nice)
An innocent geeky boy who is willing to succeed in school. An easy target to be teased on and
bullied. He is a media student who is asked to make a horror trailer with the rest of his class. They go
out to film their horror trailer, but one of his class mates get killed. He tries and wants to save her,
but uses his common sense to save the people he can first. He is known as the helper donor.
Student #2- False hero (coward)
A lazy, stupid, coward young boy, who doesn't know the definition of smart dress, is known as the
false hero in the horror trailer. He is a media student asked to create a horror trailer with his class.
His personality crashed with the rest of the class mates as he's not bothered and makes only little
effort. After going out to film their horror trailer, a class mate is killed. Him as the 'false hero' panics
and runs to save his life leaving the rest of the group worried and scared.
Student #3- Promiscuous girl that dies first
A young, slutty girl known as the promiscuous girl is also a media student set out to the woods with
her group to make a horror trailer as part of their coursework. She is constantly using her phone to
socialize and goes off deeper into the woods to find signal on her phone whilst the others set up the
cameras and tripods, getting ready to film. She gets killed, and is the first to be murdered and left in
the woods as her other class mates panic and try to save their own lives. She is the promiscuous girl
that dies first.

5. Editing – During the editing, we had used an app on the Mac called final cut pro. This allowed us to
edit any clips, sounds, music and add special effect such as tone cards etc. This gave me the privilege
to create a piece of news reports containing ‘missing student’ information which I decided to add
into the practical. I had cut pieces out of different clips and made my own. I had also created a
newspaper article with real pictures and a story to go with it. Final cut pro taught us the skills of
creating a horror trailer with knowledge from our research and allowing us to practice it through the
application.
The tone cards used were as if it were a checklist. This was done to symbolise the setting of an
educational environment but on the other hand, the tone cards also identify what aspects a horror
genre needs which becomes true in the trailer. For example, scream, stalker, fear, isolation and
blood are all relevant to make a horror trailer fit in the genre.