Trailer posters

Trailer Analysis

I watched and analysed a few horror trailers to help give me a better look of what the usual conventions of a horror trailer actually are and to help me contribute ideas into creating ours. The first trailer I looked at was 'Sorority Row'. Sorority Row is a 2009 American slasher film. Produced by Summit Entertainment and written by Josh Stolbery and Pete Gold finger, also it was directed by Stewart Hendler. The main plot of the story is a group of girls from a sorority college find out that one of there friends boyfriends has been cheating on her, as revenge they trick him into thinking one of the girls is dead and that they need to hide the body, being totally convinced he decides to cut the body up, he then stabs her through the chest with a tire iron actually killing her for real. Panicking the group dump the body in a mineshaft vowing never to speak of the events ever again. But eight months later all the girls receive a picture sent to their phones of a hooded figure holding the bloody murder weapon. They all then start getting mysteriously murdered.
The trailer starts with quick flashes and hip-hop style music. There is also a voice over of a woman talking which the flashes keep flashing to this woman. The opening shot is a low angle shot of the side of the college. It then shows some close up shots of the girls smiling which firstly gives us the impression that everyone is happy. The beat of the music then increases and there are even quicker flashes of a party scene. This reflects the wild lifestyle of the girls, you then hear speech, "We have a problem, Garret cheated on me," this starts the plot of the story when her friends repeat, "You cheat on one Zada you cheat on every Zada," then one girl says, "That boy needs to be taught a lesson." This lets the audience know a little of how the story is going to unravel but doesn’t give too much away. A title card then appears saying, 'A prank' and the music becomes more eerie and more speech starts when he starts panicking when the girl pretends to die. The eerie music emphasis that the film is starting to get more intense and that everything is going to begin happening. There are some close ups of Garrets face to show the panic. Then it shows close ups of the other girls smug expressions. Forty-one seconds into the trailer another title card comes up, "No one would ever forget." It then goes to a point of a view shot of the girls in a car with Garret and Megan pretending to be dead. It then flashes to another close up of Garrets face with a negative expression as he thinks she is really dead. It then shows us a side shot of another one of the girls laughing. The over music is bad things by Jace Everett, this song fits really well as it has quite a creepy feel to it and the main line is, "I want to do bad things to you.” The girls are acting really casual about the whole "hide the body" which shows the audience that its all just a prank, Garret on the other hand is panicking and looking for something to cut the body up with. There is then a left aligned medium shot of Garret looking pale and frightened which then cuts to a high angle shot of Megan pretending to be dead, this shot makes her look vulnerable. More speech then happens, "Should we wrap it in the blanket as it is, or should we chop it into little bits," this is what gives Garret the idea to find an object to chop the body up with. There is then a shot of all the girls and only one of them in focus. We then see Garret find the object that he uses and approach the body, which he then goes to thrust it into her chest but it flashes to a black screen and there is screaming of girls to be heard in the background. Then there is a panning shot of all the girls screaming at him because now the girl is dead for real. There is lots of flashes of black and then to different views of the group now panicking over the dead body. One girl puts a blanket over the wound of Megan and tries to save her but it’s too late. The music is a dark eerie sound, which comes to a sudden stop and a title card comes up, "A secret," then speech, "Megan’s dead." I think this gives quite allot of the story line away. There is then an establishing shot of the place where they killed Megan. This is to show that this scene is very important as it shows us it from all angles. Another title card comes up, "No one would ever tell," and then flashes to the body of Megan being dragged away. Then there is a long shot from the mine shaft which they dump the body looking up at the group of girls who are looking down into it, this gives the feel we are looking from the point of view of Megan’s dead body. This then cuts to a close up view of one of the girls holding the murder weapon. And another long shot view from the mineshaft when they drop the tire iron into the mine with the body; this again gives us the same feel that we are looking in her point of view. When the tire iron gets closer to the bottom of the mineshaft it then flashes to a white screen, this gives the trailer a creepy feel with a loud sound, which dims out to a screechy noise. The trailer then goes on with a cut to a long shot of all the college students graduating, this gives evidence of juxtaposition as one minute everything bad is happening then all of a sudden there is celebration, this contrasts. The flashes are quite sudden but then it slows down and there is some up close shots of each of the girls that were part of the group that dealt with hiding Megan’s body. It then cuts to one of the girls giving a speech with the rest of them in the background, the camera pans round each girl. The girl giving the speech is saying, "As happy as this day is, one of our sisters is still missing, to Megan, we love and miss you," this tells the audience that they are pretending that they don't know anything about Megan’s disappearance. There is then over noise of phones ringing, the scene then cuts to the girls picking up there phones and all looking at them. It then shows us a point of view shot of one of the girls looking down at her phone. There is a picture of someone holding the tire iron; this tells the girls that there is someone out there that knows what they did. There is then a big bang, which cuts to a girl walking in someone’s house looking for someone; the shot is a long shot. This then keeps flashing to another one of the girls who is panicking saying that maybe Megan has come back from the dead. You then see one of the girls lie down and goes to take a drink then cuts to a point of view shot where she sees a hooded figure who smashes the bottle down on her, then a title card comes up, "sisters for life." Then it cuts to Megan’s sister who says, "Megan," and turns around to see a hooded figure watching her, there is then lots of flashes and a voice over of one of the girls describing the hooded figure. Another title card says, "and death," and there are screams and more flashing. The next scene it cuts to the mineshaft where someone has written in what appears to be blood, "you're next." It then goes quite and cuts to blackness, then a close up of a girls face who then says, "We all deserve to die," which then goes quite again with sudden bangs, the sudden noises give the trailer a scary feel to it which entices the audience into wanting to watch it to find out more like for example who the hooded figure is. I think this trailer is a good example of the type of trailer I am trying to create as it has many of the attributes we are planning to have within ours.

This is a trailer for the film 'I know what you did last summer,' it’s a 1997 slasher film written by Kevin Williamson. The trailer starts out similar to ours with a group of teenagers surrounding a campfire outdoors. I thought this would be a good trailer to watch and relate to as it involves teenagers as does ours. It then cuts to a title card after the fire scene and a quick flash to the teens driving a car while under the influence of alcohol, this gives us the impression that they are tearaways. You hear one of the teenagers scream, "Watch out," then hear a loud crashing noise and there is a close up of the teenage boy who is driving the car and he has a shocked expression, and then it flashes to a black screen. This gives us the impression they have ran someone over as they are all quite shocked. Throughout the trailer there is a voice over, this shows that this is quite an older movie as this was more common then than it is now. The lighting in some parts of this trailer is quite dark, this gives a scary effect as most horror films are set at night time to add more "scare appeal".

This is a trailer for, 'The exorcism of Emily Rose.' Film makes love to use gimmicks, so it's usual to see an Ouija board whenever there is a séance scene. Ouijia boards will warn, instruct, or offer information from the spirit world, often with mixed results, that is why filmmakers see this as a good prop to have in horror films as they can provide background for a storyline and give a creepier feel to the film. The exorcism of Emily Rose is a 2005 American horror film directed by Scott Derrickson, this film relates to my trailer as it involves a so called "spirit" as does mine. Therefore this played another role in my creation as I watched and analysed it various times to make sure I was covering all factors that trailer should have as well as including my own ideas which I used my own initiative to come up with.

Questionaire Results

Our questionaire results played a massive part in decideing the conventions of our trailer. The title of our film trailer was very important, therefore we thought very long and hard at this, we finally decided to call it, "Simon Says." Also the majority of answers on our questionaire said that this was the best title. This title is important because it names the thought to be killer in our trailer, Simon. The most popular conventions of a horror trailer turned out to be ghosts, therefore we based our story around a ouigi board which summons a ghost. Also the most popular location was a forest, we decided from this result to base the majority of our filming on a field to give it a eerie feel.

So far...

So far we have been tackling problems such as where abouts to base our trailer, in order for us to decide we watched a variety of other horror trailers to gain knowledge of the type of scenes they shoot it in. We then came to the conclusion to have as large a variety as possible of diffrent scenes in order to make our trailer look more professional. Some of these scenes include;

• Common Room
• Libary
• House
• Field

Questionaire

In order to determine how to create our horror trailer we handed out a questionaire to fifty people; (The answers that are marked in bold are the most common)

How old are you?

1. Under 15

2. 15-24

3. 25-30

4. 30 +

What is your favourite genre of film?

1. Horror

2. Comedy

3. Thriller

4. Romance

5. Action

How often do you watch horror films?

1. Everyday

2. Once a week

3. Once a month

4. Never

What do you think are the main conventions of a horror film?

1. Monsters

2. Blood

3. Killers

4. Zombies

5. Ghosts

What do you think makes a good location for a horror film?

1. Beach

2. Forest

3. Graveyard

4. School

5. House

Who do you prefer to be a victim in a horror film?

1. Male

2. Female

What name sounds suitable for a horror film?

1. Simon Says

2. One Night

3. Psycho Simon

4. Ouija horror

Should the trailer be in chronological order?

1. Yes

2. No

What camera angles do you think are most effective in a horror film? (Pick 2)

1. Close up

2. Extreme close up

3. Long shot

4. Tilt

5. Medium shot close up

What type of music do you think is the scariest?

1. Slow, quiet

2. Fast, loud

MUSIC

We needed some scary eerie music to play throughout the trailer; the questionnaire tells us that the audience find slower more creepy music scarier than faster songs. Here is some we are considering;



Gary Jules - Mad World

All around me are familiar facesWorn out places, Worn out facesBright and early for the daily racesGoing nowhere, Going nowhereTheir tears are filling up their glassesNo expression, No expressionHide my head I want to drown my sorrowNo tomorrow, No tomorrow

Chorus

And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sadThese dreams in which i'm dying, Are the best I’ve ever hadI find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to takeWhen people run in circles it’s a very very….Mad World, Mad World

Verse 2

Children waiting for the day they feel goodHappy Birthday, Happy BirthdayAnd they feel the way that every child shouldSit and listen, Sit and listenWent to school and I was very nervous No one knew me, No one knew meHello teacher tell me whats my lessonLook right through me, Look right through me

Chorus

And I find it kind of funny, I find it kind of sadThese dreams in which i'm dying, Are the best I’ve ever hadI find it hard to tell you, I find it hard to takeWhen people run in circles it’s a very very….Mad World, Mad WorldEnlargen your world

Andreas Kleerup - Until we bleed

I'm naked I'm numb I'm stupid I'm staying
And if Cupid's got a gun, then he's shootin'Lights blackHeads bang
You're my drug We live it You're drunk, you need it
Real love, I'll give itSo we're bound to linger onWe drink the fatal drop
Then love until we bleedThen fall apart in parts
You wasted your times
On my heart
You've burnedAnd if bridges gotta fall, then you'll fall, too
Doors slamLights black
You're goneCome backStay goneStay clean
I need you to need meSo we're bound to linger on
We drink the fatal drop
Then love until we bleed
Then fall apart in parts
Now we're bound to linger onWe drink the fatal drop
Then love until we bleed
Then fall apart in parts

Positiva Records (UK)

Evanescene - My Immortal

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have All of me
You used to captivate me
By your resonating life
Now I'm bound by the life you've left behind
Your face it haunts My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away All the sanity in me
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

A2 Film Trailer

For my A2 assignment I had the choice of making either a film trailer or a music video, with my two other teammates, Alysha Pearson (http://AlyshaPearson.blogspot.com/) and Emily Laws (http://EmilyLaws.blogspot.com/). We planned and designed a questionnaire to determine which would be the more popular of these two choices and came to the conclusion to make a film trailer as it was most popular. Although we are all working together to make it we each will have our own responsibilities to help show our different skills, which we put towards producing the trailer. My responsibilities are costume design and editing. We chose horror as a genre of the trailer because we designed another questionnaire to decide what was most popular and horror came out most popular. We are going to be using lots of different equipment throughout the project such as recording equipment and different software to put our recordings together. We are also going to produce a poster in which to advertise the trailer and a DVD cover.