For my presentation I decided to focus on the genre Horror. We began by deciding what we felt where the conventions of trailers that belonged to the genre horror and decided the trailers in which we would analyse which were 'The Orphan', and 'The Last House On the Left'. We created a list of conventions that we felt horror trailers had and then we would then compare our 2 trailers to and discuss the extent to which these trailers fitted these conventions. We watched each trailer, and then took still from each trailer. We analysed mise en scene, use of editing and the use of sound for each still (3 for each trailer). We focused on target audience at the end we evaluated the effectiveness of the trailer and how it appeals to their audience, we compared each trailer to the list of conventions that we assigned to horror and discussed how well it fulfilled these conventions.
Here are my notes from my presentation:
Slide 2: Low Lighting – to create a dark atmosphere, with restricted lighting brings more fear as you can’t see what’s happening as it makes you more vulnerable. Captions- used to give reviews or information. There is normally good characters versus bad characters and this is normally reflected through the choice of hair colour or the colouring and or style of their clothes. There is often a use of close ups to show emotion and terror on characters faces. There is often fast pace music and editing to add suspense and fear to the audience whilst they watch the trailer. This is suited for the target audience as it is directly linked to the genre of the film. Horror films often use jump cuts to frighten viewers, therefore if used in trailers it portrays the genre of the film well. Jump cuts are often used again to add suspense and make the audience jump, the music is often sinister and this therefore adds tension and sets the scene of the genre.
Slide 4: The centre image suggests that the woman in central to the film. The mid shot allows you to see the panic and desperation on her face and still see the window to which she is confined to. The brick wall shows that it is extremely hard to escape, yet the torture is that she can see how to escape. It also leaves the audience questioning is she looking and wanting to get in or is she trying to get out.
Slide 5: The woman on the left is standing up and has a higher position than the woman on the right which suggests she has more authority. This is also backed up by the woman's action of dragging the other woman. The close up allows you to see the distraught expression on the woman's face and the blood, which is closely associated with pain. The background of a forest shows that the setting is secluded, which makes the viewer anticipate more problems. The setting appears eerie and scary.
Slide 6: This shot is an aerial shot, which allows the viewer to see the vast amount of water surrounding her. The aerial shot also makes the girl seem inferior and small in comparison to the water. The position that she is lying in makes the viewer think that she is dead. The low lighting also connotes a dark action or emotion. The washed out colour also emphasises form and makes it appear sinister.
Slide 7: This film trailer fits the conventions of horror as a lot of the shots are filmed with low key lighting. Often the shots are shot with a tint of blue colour to them, almost in black and white, enhancing the sinister aspect of the film and focusing on form. Close ups have shown. Initially the film starts off very simple, showing an ordinary family and then it gradually becomes more frightening, as the trailer progresses it gradually introduces eerie music as well as the audience begin to realise the impact of the storyline
Slide 9: Use of caption. They have used a typewriter font, this often associated with horror films due to its relation to older texts and possibly Gothic styles of writing.
Slide 10: The use of an over the shoulder style shot allows the audience to see the connection between the two characters. The girl is wearing a white dress this makes her stand out from the dark setting, the white connotes angelic qualities and innocence, but the low angles shot and her facial expression contradicts this as this makes her ghost appear to be powerful. Other possibilities is that the looming figure could be a ghost. The gown also appears to be quite dated possibly making it appear more like.
Slide 11: Unusually High angles shot makes her appear inferior or a victim, again there is a use of a blue tinge to make it appear alien like and strange. This scene is of a girl acting violently in the toilet to herself, this shocks the audience as she is young, we can tell this by her school uniform. The confined space looks small, they have reflected this by using a high angled shot, it also shows her movement well as well. Again there is a use of no colour making the audience focus on movement and form.
Slide 12: The trailer again speeds up through out the trailer, and the jump cuts become more frequent. There is the use of symbols crashing and a drum bang, which again adds suspense and makes the audience jump. It also enhances the key points of the trailer, ensuring that the audience picks up on them. There again is the use of washed out colours to ensure audience is focusing on form rather and movement rather than the colour, it also gives the trailer and alien or strange quality to it.
Individual groups were asked to feed back their research to the class so that we could share what we have learnt about our specific genres. The information I have learnt through this experience will help me ensure that I ensure that my trailer fits the conventions of what people expect and therefore ensuring that I capture my target audience’s attention and fulfil their needs.
During our research of the genre of horror in movie trailers, we used two trailers, 'The Orphan' and 'The Last House On The Left' to demonstrate the conventions found in the genre.
Trailers are a brilliant form of advertising for the movie and are often the most effective method of communicating to the target audience. It is also often replayed and only lasts for a short while, which is more likely to keep the image in your brain.
The trailers used many similar techniques such as cuts, fades, music, voice-overs, text and low lighting, which helped to portray the genre of horror and give an overview of the plot.
The trailer should entice the target audience and give them enough information so that they know the plot, but yet don't give show any spoilers otherwise the audience will know the whole plot and will not need to see it. Some trailers will also use celebrities names and directors names and previous work to entice an audience that those names might already have. This also gives the film more credibility, as it is attached to a reputation.
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