This document summarizes and analyzes elements from the author's horror movie trailer and compares them to techniques used in other successful horror trailers. Key elements discussed include using title cards to convey information without giving too much away, establishing shots of wooded settings, shots of intimidating antagonists in the woods seen through trees, shots of attackers overpowering victims, and an unconventional direct address from the antagonist to the audience. The analysis shows how the author's trailer employs similar visual conventions to other horror films but also takes an original approach in one scene.

1. Evaluation Question 1
continued…
This slideshow will show how my
own trailer compares to real media.

2. To make the trailer look more authentic and realistic, we added this certificate at
the beginning of the trailer. This particular one is used in a lot of American films
and trailers.

3. Instead of using a voiceover or
narrator in our horror
trailer, we used intertitles to
give more information about
the film and storyline. We did
not give away too much here, a
simple fact or two is given just
to get the audience’s attention
Above is an example of the INTERTITLES from our horror trailer – Blunt.
and keep them wondering. The
aim of this particular intertitle
from horror film Insidious is to
gain a larger target
audience, those who have seen
Paranormal Activity or/and Saw
and enjoyed them will likely
want to see other films made
by the same people.
Above is an example of the INTERTITLES from another horror trailer - INSIDIOUS

4. We included a panning shot of the
woods as an establishing shot of the
setting. The lower picture is also a
panning shot, from the Shrooms
trailer; it is virtually exactly the same
as ours but a little darker, and also
includes an intertitle. The woodland
setting is a very common convention
of horror films and the idea to use
Above is a panning shot from our horror trailer - BLUNT.
this as our setting originally came
from looking at the Shrooms trailer
when researching.
By beginning our trailer with a calm
panning shot of the woods in
daylight, it obviously isn’t very scary.
However this then leaves for more
distress and fear for the audience
when the shots get more scary and
intense.
Above is a panning shot from another horror trailer - SHROOMS.

5. These two shots (top from our trailer
and bottom from the Shrooms trailer
again.) are very similar. The trees
form a triangular shape which almost
point us to the antagonist featuring
in the shot. Both of these shots
reinforce the horror in the films. Our
antagonist looks intimidating looking
straight at the camera, and we are
Above is a still from our horror trailer - BLUNT not able to make out his face or if he
has anything in his hand. The
screenshot from the Shrooms trailer
shows a scary figure running through
the woods with some sort of
weapon. Both of the horror figures
are in the very centre of the shot and
are very short clips in the actual
trailers. This particular shot in our
Blunt trailer is used a few times just
for a second each time.
Above is a still from another horror trailer - SHROOMS

6. Both of these clips feature the
antagonist holding the weapon
that we learn to associate them
with. They are lit only by
torchlight . Both of the killers are
overpowering their victims. In our
Blunt trailer this shot is taken on a
handheld camera by the victim on
the ground looking up at the killer.
Above is a shot of the killer’s weapon from our horror trailer - BLUNT And in the shot from the Texas
Chainsaw Massacre (the original),
the victim is falling back as the
killer stands tall with the
chainsaw. An over the shoulder
shot is perfect here to show the
power of the killer over victim.
Above is a shot of the killer’s weapon from another horror film – TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE

7. The above shot is from our horror trailer – BLUNT. In this part of our trailer we challenge the codes and
conventions of a typical horror trailer. Generally the antagonist will not be shown so clearly and close
up. However we chose to have our killer approach the camera and talk directly to the audience. He says
“Do you need some help? … You won’t find her.” We spent time planning what the killer should actually
say here. By saying “Do you need some help?” it tells the audience that the killer knows that the
teenagers are in the woods looking for their friend, and he also knows that they are struggling. He also
sounds nice in a way as he is asking if they need help, which he clearly is not – perhaps confusing the
audience. This speech is directed at the characters that are looking for their missing friend;
however, because Harry is talking into the camera it seems as if he is also talking to the audience. This
helps to get the audience involved and gives them a feeling of helplessness because they cannot help
the protagonists in any way. We didn’t want to conform to the conventions of every other horror
trailer, therefore this clip in our horror trailer adds a sense of originality.