Luke Roberts A2 Media

When I began to analyse horror trailers during my format research, I looked for conventions, typical shots, editing and sound techniques which I could then incorporate within my trailer. By understanding these horror conventions, I could then start to work on my trailer, looking at whether to follow the typical storyline of a horror or go against the norm.

One method of my trailer following the forms and conventions of horror trailers is through the different types of shots I’ve taken and included, and the movements in the shots. At the very beginning of my trailer I decided to include a close up shot of the house name ‘Sheridan’ to then slowly pan upwards into a long shot to slowly zoom towards the old Victorian house. This is a typical camera shot which is present in many horror films, as the slow zoom allows the tension to build, allowing the viewers to recognise and understand the setting. I was really impressed with how this first opening shot came out, as it looked incredibly professional and was complimented by several viewers. As the opening shot is very stable and steady, viewers assumed that I had used a tripod, however, all I used was my iPhone.

I continued to build tension by using the ticking of a clock. After every tick a new shot would appear, allowing viewers to understand the setting of the trailer, being inside a Victorian house. The shots were of old objects that were present in the house. I included four different shots to support the viewer’s perception of where the story was set. Shown below are the four different shots which I included to set the scene. They consisted of a close up of an old piano, two Victorian portrait paintings, an old vintage clock, and an old war photograph.

These shots support the conventions of a horror as all four shots are dark and gloomy as they lack a lot of light, bright colours. Instantly this ensures the viewers are aware of the genre of the trailer and the mysterious and sinister atmosphere which is present throughout. Later on in the trailer when the weird looking lady is found walking up the stairs, I purposely shot at a high angle above the staircase to make it difficult to see her face as she is face away from the camera. Again, this makes viewers intrigued to see what she looks like as she is the first character they see in the trailer.

Another way my trailer conforms to the typical conventions of a horror trailer is through the way I have edited the shots together, using different titles and cuts. I have discovered through my analysis of horror trailers that the more title screens, the more effective the trailer is. Whereas the older and more comedic, cheesy Hollywood horrors use voiceovers. As I wanted my horror trailer ‘Sheridan’ to be more intense and sinister rather than comedic and ‘Hollywood’, I decided that using titles would be more effective as it creates time for viewers to take in each slide, whilst the suspense builds. Personally, I am really pleased with how all my titles came out, as they follow the theme and conventions of a horror by the use of the creepy looking font. However, if I was to create or improve the trailer, I would like to animate them a bit more than just a slow fade in and out. This improvement is not a drastic or noticeable problem as the title screens (which are shown below) look professional.

After the quick cuts to show the contrast of the panicked opening, the use of the longer shots and fades creates a certain calmness, making the trailer flow outlining a bit of the back story for the viewers. I found this to be consistent in many horror trailers when the setting is being shown and the back story is being outlined, so I thought it was important to include this in my trailer. In terms of editing I believe the simple transitions work really well, as the tension builds as the trailer progresses. The use of jump scares which were present in my trailer is a typical element and convention of horror films, as they give the viewer a jump, hence the name. From the beginning, I wanted to use jump scares in my trailer as they really suit the genre of a horror, and without them nothing scares the viewers as well as this common element. When shooting I thought it would’ve been hard to make a jump scare work, but during editing I eventually understood that in between clips there must be a blackout or silence to create and build the tension. Looking back at them, I am really happy with how they turned out, as with the combination of the video and music used, they truly do make viewers jump. The only change I would make is to the jump scare just after the actress (Helena) opens the door and then theirs a slight pause/silence. I would have liked to change the sound effects to something a lot louder and jumpier to cause more of scare, but for now I am happy with how it looks.

Within the production process of my trailer, I tried to challenge the conventions of a usual horror trailer by revealing the ghost/demon of the film. This isn’t normally done in horror trailers as they want you to go and watch the film, to maintain the uncertainty of the supposed demon or ghost. I went against this as I wanted to show the ghost so viewers could understand the back story to then draw them in to be interested to watch the rest of the trailer and film.

Along with my trailer, my magazine front cover and movie poster also used convention of real media products, as well as going against them in certain cases. With my magazine cover, I tried to make it look as professional and real as possible by including techniques which I found when analysing previous magazine covers. These included basic elements such as a masthead, puffs, images and text advertising different topics related to the type of magazine. I used a masthead which reveals the title of the magazine, and inserted it at the very top of the page, as this is where most magazine mastheads are shown, to catch the reader’s attention instantly. As soon as I added in the masthead, it made the magazine front cover recognisable and branded. The same can be said for the puff I included down at the bottom of the page which states ‘GIANT FREE POSTER INSIDE” in bold font. These are always common on magazines, and by including it on my magazine made it look like a genuine media product. The cover image I used was a typical of the horror genre with the use of dark colours, representing the cold and dark tense atmosphere surrounding the promotion of the new film ‘Sheridan’. I used the main actor as the focus of advertising the film, which also conforms to the norms of a horror magazine front cover, because the main character is normally shown. All professional and real magazines also include a barcode and small text displaying the date and cost of the issue. To make my magazine look real and professional, I included a barcode at the bottom of the page and the date and price of the magazine at the very top above the masthead.

After analysing different magazine front covers, I recognised the consistent use of the same font on every magazine, maintaining the consistent theme. Because of this, I made sure that my magazine used a specific font throughout the entire page, making the issue look more professional whilst following the conventions.

My poster uses typical movie poster conventions whilst also going against the norm. The first way my poster follows poster conventions is by including the film title, which is placed at the bottom of the page in a large bold font. After reviewing several movie posters, I discovered that every poster includes the film title as it is the most vital piece of information that is needed for viewers to understand the film, increasing their awareness of the realise of the film. As it is so important, I made sure I followed this convention by making the ‘Sheridan’ large and obvious in the centre of my poster. Underneath the title, I included a credit block, revealing the credits of important members of the crew and cast. This is another element that is present in every movie poster, to allow the audience to read the key members within the film. I decided to use this to make it look more professional and realistic.

At the very top of the poster I included the actor’s names, as during my research I found out that most movie posters do this. This definitely influenced my decision to insert them at the top of the page for the same reason of making my poster look more professional. Although I followed a lot of poster conventions, I decided to go against them. An example of this is when I only used one image to fill the whole poster which only displayed an anonymous woman’s legs, instead of displaying the main character. I wanted to go against showing the main character because my main focus was to create and advertise a successful horror trailer, and by just showing a woman’s back legs questions to the reader about the uncertainty and suspense within the film as no one knows where she’s walking too or what’s past the staircase in the cold, dark image. Had I of included the main actor, I don’t think I would’ve been able to reflect the horror genre as well as I did with the image I have used.