Analysis of 30 Days of Night

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Analysis of Horror Trailers
TRAILER ANALYSED: ‘30 DAYS OF NIGHT’
RELEASE DATE: 19TH OCTOBER 2007

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1. Type of Trailer
 This was a theatrical trailer that work well to build up the
anticipation of the film but is more fleshed out and continued
than a teaser would be.
 It was easy to identify that it was a theatrical trailer as it lasted
more than 1.30 minutes and showed snippets of the most
intense parts of the film rather than a continuing scene of the
film that was cliff-hanging, like a teaser would.

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2a. How Does The Trailer Start?
 At the start of the trailer the first shot we see is the audience
certification information. Next presented is a tracking shot of
the couple as the woman is in the kitchen then tracks to the
man in the living room.
 The purpose of presenting the start of the trailer being the
partners is to show the story of their normal life before things
turn.

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2b. Genre/Code And Conventions
 The genre of ‘30 Days of Night’ is a horror/thriller.
 The genre of the film can be identified by the specific conventions
used such as a “chase” which is typical in horror film. This is when
the victim is being chased by the supernatural character. Another
is there is a victim, who is typically a female, this was presented in
the opening scene as she was the first to be attacked.
 Particular iconography used was the setting which was a house,
this is a typical convention in the horror genre as a house is seen
as a safe place yet invaded by this supernatural aura which is
what makes the film initially scary. The sound used is usually non-
diegetic and a motif sound track that plays as a signal that the
danger is near.

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3. Graphics/Typography
 The text is used to link together the narrative by the specific
words chosen e.g. “there time has come to an end” indicating
the death of the protagonists. The title font used reflects the
horror genre/narrative as it’s bold and all capital making the text
appear more important and ghastly.
 The titles appear after a short snippet of a scene as it links
together with the narrative being presented. The title is also
superimposed over images to establish the narrative and also
make the text presented appear more mysterious behind an
eerie background image.

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4. Narrative And Characters
 Significant moments shown in the trailer was the opening scene where the
woman was dragged out of her kitchen window. I believe this scene was
chosen as it immediately gave a sense that they were in danger from the start
of the film and that was translated to the audience.
 A character shown was a man in jail saying “hide all you like, they’re coming”
and the showing of this was significant as it showed this man had association
with the horror of the film. You could tell by the costume and make up as his
teeth were black and he wore ragged clothing, which indicated he was an
antagonist and to be scared of.
 The narrative in the trailer is linear and shows scenes from the beginning to the
end, it almost makes it easy to identify what parts are to be expected when in
the film.
 The information about the plot and the characters is given through the dialogue
and multimodal messages. This was effective as not only was the plot being
told, but it was addressed in a way that would provoke fear from the words
being used within the text and their dialogue.