This document discusses conventions of genre and form for horror films and film trailers. It outlines common elements like blood, weapons, isolated settings, and tense music. It also discusses conventions for mise-en-scene, camerawork, sound, and editing techniques in horror trailers. The target audience is identified as male teenagers and young adults who enjoy being scared and finding their limits. To appeal to this audience, the document recommends including tense music, isolated settings, and elements from popular horror films like Insidious and Saw.

1. By Tayla Debenham-Scott
RESEARCH PRESENTATION.

2. CONVENTIONS OF GENRE AND FORM
Conventions of Horror:
 Blood
 Weapons
 Isolated Setting
 Low Key Lighting
 Tense Non-Diegetic Music
 Casual Clothing
 Make-up (blood, bruises, scars)
Conventions of Trailer:
 Writing on the Screen
 Shows the Narrative of the Story
 Name and Date of the Film
 Around 2 Minutes Long

3. USE OF TECHNICAL ELEMENTS
Mise-en-scene:
Setting – Isolated/ everyday setting to show that nobody is
around to hear when something bad happens in the
disequilibrium and an everyday house to make it realistic to the
audience.
Lighting – Low key lighting creates mystery and makes the
characters anonymous to the audience; making them want to go
and watch the film.
Props – Weapons (axes, baseball bat, knives, chainsaws) creates
a sense of danger which is conventional for a horror film and
masks create a sense of mystery as the audience can’t see their
face.
Make-Up – Blood, scars and bruises create a shock for the
audience and pale face (white make-up) makes the characters
look ill and scary.
Costumes – Casual everyday clothing makes the audience relate
to the characters which will intrigue them and make them want
to watch the film.
Camerawork:
Close-up: A close-up is conventional for horror as the audience are
clearly able to see the emotion and expression on the characters
face. This is effective because the audience then know what is going
on during the scene.
Establishing Shot: This shot allows the audience to see the location
in which the film is set which is important for the audience to know
as they will start to understand what genre it is.
Long Shot: This allows the audience to see what the characters are
wearing and be able to relate to them. It is also conventional in a
horror film because it means that some characters can be
anonymous as the audience cannot see their face from a distance.
Wide Shot: This is conventional in a horror trailer as it is usually used
to show when someone is standing behind a character. This allows
the audience to understand what is happening.
Sound:
Non-Diegetic Music: This music is conventional during a horror
trailer because it creates tension for the audience during the
disequilibrium of the film and the fast paced editing of the trailer.
Sound effects: Sound effects are very conventional for the sound in
a horror trailer because it catches the audience’s attention. Some
well known sound effects in horror film is screaming, doors
banging, phone ringing and police sirens.
Dialogue: Dialogue is conventional for a horror film trailer because
it gives the audience an insight to what is happening in the film. It is
important that the audience understand what is happening but they
aren’t giving too much away.
Editing:
Fast Paced Editing: This is conventional for a trailer of a horror film
because it usually happens towards the end of the trailer which is the
disequilibrium in the film. This happens because it is when all the bad
stuff starts to happen; so they show mini clips of it all fast paced to
create tension.
Cross-Cutting: This is conventional for a trailer because it creates
tension for the audience as the scenes are cutting back and forth
through the action.
Eye line Match: This is conventional for a horror trailer because it
allows the audience to understand what is happening because they
can see what the character is looking at and why they are reacting the
way they are.

4. WHO ARE YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE
Demographic –
Gender: Males
Age: 15-25; Teenagers
Status: In a relationship
Class: Middle
Psychographic -
Reasons why they are the target
audience:
They are curious and daring &
enjoy risk taking.
Demographic -
Gender: Males
Age: 16-20; teenagers/young adults
Status: In a relationship
Class: Middle
Psychographic -
Enjoying watching films
Hanging out with friends
Shopping
Reasons why they are the target
audience:
This age group are curious and want
to see what their limits are.

5. HOW TO APPEAL TO THE TARGET AUDIENCE
From my questionnaire this is what the majority of the audience enjoy in a horror film trailer:
 They find sound the most effective in a film trailer and they mostly enjoy tense music
 They also enjoy the low key lighting and the isolated setting
 If they enjoy the trailer they are most likely going to watch the film
It is important for me to understand what the audience enjoy in a film trailer because I am then able to include this in my o wn trailer to
ensure that the target audience will enjoy my horror trailer.
What they don’t enjoy:
• The gore
• Too scary
• The unsettled feeling after
watching a horror trailer
• Puts images in your head that
puts you off doing things rather
than trying things
What they enjoy in horror films:
 Being scared
 The suspense
 The tension
 The narrative (realistic)
 Unpredictable twists
Favourite Horror Films:
• Insidious
• Hills Have Eyes
• Paranormal Activity 3
• Sinister
• Saw
• Scream
To appeal to the target audience I have used my questionnaire results to find what they enjoy. This is effective because I now know what to include
in my trailer to ensure that is appeals to my target audience and I also now what to avoid as I know what they don’t enjoy. Knowing the audience’s
favourite horror films is important because I can research the films, take notes and see what I could make similar.