Horror movie trailers typically follow certain conventions: they begin with establishing shots of characters and settings, use transitions like fade to black to build tension, include exciting moments but not the resolution to leave viewers guessing, and feature a crescendo of music and silence for impact. Transitions through cutting and fading are used to portray changes in scene and create tension. Sound effects and music are important for mood setting and conveying emotions to viewers.

2. A dictionary definition of a trailer is ‘ A short filmed advertisement for a movie; a
preview.’ In a horror movie trailer it tends to follow these conventions:
The trailer tends to use long shots at the start to establish the characters and settings
When is fades to black, it suggest shift in time
Transition/ cuts with booming SFx build tension
Transition screens place significant text on screen, image and shots before/ after
should echo the text
Short shots and quick cuts of some of the most exciting moments from the film, the
‘Events’ that lead to the resolution but not the necessary in chronological order
Resolution should be left out, viewers left guessing
Music should build to a crescendo
Sudden moments of quiet and silence will make an impact on the mood and place
What is a trailer?

3.  Common narrative structure of a trailer?
- Most trailers normally start by presenting the audience with the setting and introducing the
characters, this then helps to give the audience an idea about what the film is going to be about
by promoting the main cast, who the audiences may recognise and will be intrigued to watch.
Then a series of dilemmas are shown, which inevitably the main characters have to try to
overcome. Through the trailer, the audience gets a slight glimpse of the characters trying to
overcome these problems, but a resolution is not shown in the trailer which is done to make the
audience curious to what happens thus prompting them to watch to the film.
From this narrative its clear to see that many films, especially horror film, tend to follow
the conventions of TODROVS theory, as shown in the picture below.

5. The main shots that are usually presented in horror movie trailer are;
Long shots
Close ups
 establishing shot
Point of view shot
Dolly/ tracking shot
https://youtu.be/k10ETZ41q5o

6.  One famous type of transition that is normally edited in horror movies and
trailers is a twitching transition, this was effectively used in Insidious trailer
to convey the paranormal feeling.
https://youtu.be/E1YbOMDI59k
 Another type of transition that is most commonly used is cutting. This
normally takes place when the climax of the trailer begins to build up the
tension and effectively reveal less of the resolution. This was shown in the
trailer ‘lights out’ beginning from 1.28
https://youtu.be/6LiKKFZyhRU
 Furthermore, ‘fade’ is also commonly used to portray silence, a cut to
another scene and mainly to create tension. This is shown in the trailer of a
‘Woman in Black’
 https://youtu.be/dPYMUnJGURI
How are transitions conventionally used and what do they do?

7. Music in general is one of the most important aspects of a horror film as it is helps the film to create
the mood towards the specific scene. The effectual use of music will help to endorse even more
emotions to the audience. Some of the common conventions of horror music include: Isolated
instruments which are often used before the key event takes place, making the audience feel
vulnerable. They also tend to use long suspenseful notes often help contrast with short sharp
notes to shock the audience. Looking into Sound Effects, there are lots of sound effects which
can occur in a horror film sound effects, there are many horror type connotations which help the
audience make them recognisable and also iconic to the audience such as- Crows, Bats, Owls,
Church Bells, screaming (female), and echoing voices and whispers, give a sinister type feel
towards the audience. Likewise, a soundtrack can be created for film to publicise it, as for
example if that piece of music becomes really popular, then people who may not have seen the
movie, may decide to watch it. Likewise, I a famous person was to compose the soundtrack for
the film then, it may also help to make people aware. An example of a famous horror soundtrack
would be;
What is the purpose of a sound effect and Discuss music and soundtracks
conventionally used

8.  In modern trailers, the use of voiceover hardly exists. Reason being for this is
because the majority of the highest-grossing movies are multibillion-dollar epics
with built-in fan bases, such as the Harry Potter series whereby, audiences are
already experts on the story, so they don’t need a narrator to communicate those
details. So now, many modern trailers use ‘ title cards: text that appear on screen
with familiar phrases like “ this summer the rules have changed”, heres an
example from a new trailer called lights out;
How are voiceovers used in modern trailers? How is the narrative
formed?