The document analyzes conventions commonly found in film trailers for supernatural horror movies. It discusses six horror film trailers that were reviewed to identify patterns. Key conventions highlighted include portraying a battle between good and evil, isolating settings, revealing just enough of the plot without spoilers, using ominous music, showing how evil affects children, employing shifting lighting, incorporating quick cuts, and utilizing pale colors. Stinger text, producers, and release dates are also discussed. Regarding sound, voiceovers, screams and shifting music are examined. Finally, character archetypes like the female protagonist and hero fighting evil are outlined.

1. Film Trailers Overview
The following film trailers promote supernatural horror films.

2. Insidious 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3HxEXnVSr1w

3. The Woman in Black: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7lReemWmO5o

4. The Conjuring: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejMMn0t58Lc

5. Paranormal Activity: The Ghost Dimensionhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y9Jy2T0uQ9Y

6. The Unborn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sc3Cba0qOco

7. Sinister: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rnDwBSVKgsM

8. Overview introduction
• These six film trailers have been designed to successfully promote
films within the supernatural sub-genre. Through carrying out an
investigation, it is possible to find similarities between them which
lead to creating a successful film trailer. This will help me develop my
ideas and carry out my practical work in a successful manner.

9. Conventions
• All six trailers present the battle between good and evil. The trailers show the best
moments in the film in order to attract the audience without giving out too much
information.
• “The Woman in Black” and “The Conjuring” are set in isolated locations, this is a
typical feature as it creates a sense of loneliness and makes the audience believe
there is no way to escape. “Sinister”, “Paranormal Activity”, “The Unborn” and
“Insidious” are all set in suburban areas, this makes the audience relate to the
movie as the events presented could be happening to them.
• The titles are shown at the end of the trailer, giving the audience an insight of the
movie before knowing the name and being influenced by it.
• The music used is eerie and creates a dark atmosphere. It can vary from the
beginning to the end as the beginning of the trailer may picture a happy scene
which ends badly.

10. • All six trailers show children as being either possessed or affected by evil
forces, this emphasises the battle between good and evil as children are
seen as innocent and pure. In “The Unborn”, the evil is the child himself
which will terrify the audience. This also reinforces the idea that children
often appear as conduits of evil in supernatural horrors.
• The lighting often varies from bright to dark to show the progress of the
narrative. For example, the trailer for “The Conjuring” begins with a happy
family moving into a house, the lighting used is ambient and bright showing
their happiness. However, as the trailer progresses the lighting gets darker
in order to show the way the family is affected by supernatural forces.
• Trailers use quick cuts that show fragments of the film without giving out
too much information, but enough to spark the audience’s interest. Cuts are
often used at the end of the trailer, showing a review of the film and the
main events.
• Pale, cold colours, particularly blue and grey, are common and sued to
create a sinister and unwelcoming mood.

11. Straps
• The use of straps is a convention that appears in every horror film trailer.
• Straps help give the audience an insight into the narrative of the film without giving too much
information away. They help build up the tension and intrigue the audience.
• Straps often inform the audience about the producers if they are well known, for example, in
the “Sinister” trailer, the first strap we see is “From the producer of ‘Paranormal Activity’ and
‘Insidious’. This will attract people who have seen those movies and enjoyed them as they
expect it to be similar.
• “Based on a true story” is a strap that is often used. This can be seen in the trailer for “The
Conjuring”. The use of this strap will make the audience nervous and interested in the narrative
as they believe it is likely to happen to them.
• The straps at the end of the trailer inform the audience about the release date and the title of
the film.
• The fonts used for the straps usually match the theme used throughout the trailer. For
example, in the trailer for “The Unborn”, the strap “He wants to be born now” is bold and black
and it stands out by the fact that the word “now” is separated from the rest of the sentence,
putting an emphasis on it and suggesting that there is no choice.

12. Non-diegetic and diegetic sounds
Non diegetic sounds:
• Voice-overs and eerie music are the most common non-diegetic sounds found in horror
trailers. These help build up tension and increase adrenaline levels for the audience.
• Non diegetic sounds are used to complement the narrative as it progresses, the trailer might
start with an up-beat or calm song. This can be seen in “The Conjuring” as it matches the
happy family presented. However, as the trailer progresses and the audience is presented with
the supernatural events, the sound changes to eerie music.
Diegetic sounds and dialogue:
• Screams are heard in most horror trailer. This adds to the atmosphere created by the moving
images.
• Dialogue is mostly used at the beginning of the trailer. This helps establish the narrative and
inform the audience. This can be seen in the trailer for “Insidious 3”. However, near the end of
the trailer, dialogue slowly fades and is taken over by non diegetic sounds and screams.

13. Types of characters
The female protagonist:
• The female protagonist is usually a young, attractive woman who is also intelligent and challenges the society’s
views. She can be over-sexualised in order to appeal to the male audience. This can be seen in “The Unborn”, as the
main character seems to fight the entity, however, there scenes such as the one where she is in the shower still
portray her as vulnerable.
The hero:
• The hero usually tries to save the situation and fight the evil.
• This can be seen in “Sinister”, where the dad does everything in his power to inform himself about the spirit and
fight it.
• Despite various attempts, good doesn’t always triumph over evil.
The antagonist:
• The antagonist is not always seen in supernatural horrors. However, some of them create an image for the spirit that
disrupts the equilibrium.
• The villain can come in many forms and it seems to have inhumane powers, which makes it hard to be killed.
• In some supernatural horrors, such as “The Unborn”, “Insidious” and “Sinister”, the audience is aware of how the
antagonist looks: disfigured and terrifying. This adds to the purpose of the film, which is to scare and cause an
adrenaline rush.