2. PURPOSE OF FILM TRAILERS
• A film trailer is made to publicise a film before it is published in theatres. It’s a
type of promoting that elevates the film to achieve getting higher audiences
when released. If the trailer is effective, the target audience will pay to see the
film.
• The trailer doesn’t give away too much of film, just the basic narrative. The
effect this has on the audience creates curiosity and excitement, so they go
and pay to see the whole film.
3. HORROR TRAILERS
• When looking at the horror
genre, the director or editor
wants the trailer to create a
mysterious atmosphere as
well as trying to scare the
audience.
4. FILM TITLES
• Every film trailer starts with a disclaimer which shows which audience is suitable
for the film, films have to show this so that anyone who is not suitable to watch the
film can stop watching.
• Additionally, the titles of the producers and distributors of the film are also shown
in the opening trailer. Film titles are conventional to the form of the trailer.
• The trailer reveals that Cross Creek Pictures, Momentum Pictures and HAMMER
produced this film. Cross Creek has produced ‘Black Swan’, ‘Pride and Prejudice
and Zombies’ This is effective as it gets fans of those films to see this one.
Likewise, it advertises their brand, and if the movie is successful people might
watch more of their films.
5. CAPTIONS
• The title colour is white put on a black background, the
colours are serious as black connotes death and the white
purity.
• The text is simple and appears out of the black
background, like it is trying to escape the darkness.
Suggesting something being trapped in the dark.
• The words ‘FEAR’, ‘HER’ and ‘CURSE’ are shown in in
order. The director is talking directly to the audience,
warning them of what is to come.
• The texture of the text is bold and slightly eroded again
serious connoting pain and death. Therefore the audience
decode fear from these 3 words.
• The film title appears from the background but this time
there is more smoke, it appears from behind the smoke.
Connoting that something will show itself in the film.
6. CHARACTERS
• The protagonist in the film is Arthur
Kipps who is a young lawyer. We know
that he’s the main character because of
the colour scheme of this costume.
• He wears a strong black suits,
compared to other characters it is very
dark as theirs is more greyish.
• We also see a lot children in the trailer,
which would suggest that they have a
significant role to play.
• Additionally we see a women in one of
the scenes screaming, but we don’t
know who she is and why she is
screaming.
7. MISE EN SCENE
• Using dolls and toys is a feeling of purity,
innocence and are associated with our
childhood. However, this is not their role in a
horror film as it creates a sinister
atmosphere.
• The dolls and toys also portray a disturbing
scene as it shows an effect if tension and
fear. As the doll is just looking straight on
the audience.
8. SETTING AND LOCATION
• Most of the settings shown appear dark and
isolated, which creates a sense of fright as the
character is abandoned from the rest.
• We also see children shown from behind bars
(fence), we associate bars as being
trapped/imprisoned. Therefore the children are
trapped because of the ‘women in black’
• The location of the house is in the middle of
woods which is a convention of horror films, the
house is surrounded from all sides therefore also
emphasising that the character is surrounded
9. COLOUR AND LIGHTENING
• The colour & lighting in the beginning are bright but as the trailer
continues gets darker. The colour black is mostly used and portrays
a sense of death and danger.
• The trailer shows the room of a child, followed by all the toys and
dolls. We directly associate the film to be about children.
• Modern horror films are using our loved ones against us. We see
children as innocence and pure, however this trailer uses them to
frighten us.
• We also see an establishing shot of the village, so we know that it is
not a modern film.
• From this I can say that the film is based in Victorian times, due to
the costume and the buildings used.
10. EDITING AND CAMERAWORK
• As every horror trailer at the beginning the pace is slow, however as we reach the end of the
trailer you see quick, fast and jump cuts which all help to build tension. The pace of these cuts
makes the audience wonder of the scenes they just saw and creates a sense of fear into them.
• An example from the trailer is the black fades between each scene and the showing of ‘the
women in black’.
• Additionally , the use of parallel editing creates this fear. We see toys moving in one room,
children’s tea party in the other and then the protagonist (Women in black).
• The use of these events and techniques foreshadows to the audience that something bad
might happen.
11. • The trailer contains several close ups of toys
in the house, they’re positioned in the middle
of the screen therefore fitting the rule of thirds
of composition.
• The camera zooms in the toys and shows their
eyes clearly, this creates an emotional
relationship with the audience but at the same
time it makes you uncomfortable to be that
close.
• The close up used creates a sense of
suspense and unease as you focus is only on
the dolls/toys.
12. Additionally there also long shots used, mainly to set the
setting. For example you see location where there is only
fog and mud, the colour scheme us greyish.
Additionally, we see a cross in the scene which the
camera and the character focuses on. This connotes that
the atmosphere is gloomy, dull and the theme of death.
We also find high angle shots, these are mainly used on
the main character. They show the character to be small
compared to the surroundings but also how he is isolated
in a large house.
In one of the scenes a high angle shot is combined with a
POV shot, as it appears that the audience is standing on
the stairs and are looking down on the character.
The effect of this is that we see the character as
powerless, vulnerable and most importantly a victim.
13. SOUNDS
The trailer uses non-diegetic and incidental music
which is a children’s music box. The use of children’s
toys connotes innocence and purity, however the pace of
the music is slow and calm and as I said before it make
the audience uneasy.
We hear the music in every scene that involves toys and
dolls, this reminds the audience that children will play
a big part in this movie.
Diegetic sound has also been used successfully, for
example with the weather (lightning, rain etc.) this
creates a dark and gloomy atmosphere and the
audience will think that something will happen as we
associate these sounds with something negative.
These two have been combined and when played it
takes away the child-like innocence and purity which
puts the audience in an uncomfortable situation
14. • At the end of the trailer we see fast paced scenes, however the use of sound
was minimal. We expect to hear diegetic sound of what is happening in the
scene e.g. fire, screams etc.
• However, the only thing that continues playing is the music box but it is
asynchronous as it doesn’t fit what is happening on the screen. The effect
on the audience is that they’re disorientated as what they’re hearing
doesn’t link to what they’re seeing.
• The power of silence has been used in this trailer, the silence builds tension
15. ICONOGRAPHY
In the trailer we see a picture of a family in which the eyes
are removed by someone.
The eyes are seen as someone’s identity, the windows
into one’s soul and a prominent part of the imagery. (“The
Black Cat” & “The Tell-Tale Heart”).
Therefore, this family’s soul has been removed and
makes us question by who.
The use of a deserted mansion, it adds to the themes of
fear and tension as it is the centre of the trailer.
For iconography, the use of the dolls and toys connotes
the genre of the film. This is because the audience look
for clues to identify the genre and their foreknowledge
they bring to the trailer allows them to identify the genre
easily.
16. CONVENTIONS OF GENRE
Sound
• Lots of non-diegetic sound
• Voice over
• Mood
Setting/Location
• Isolated places
• Abandoned house
• Isolated town
• Countryside
• Woods
Props
• Knife
• Axe
• Supernatural power
• Never a gun, weapon needs to kill you slowly
and painfully
Characters
• Parents
• Teenagers
• Children
• Villain/Killer
Villain/Killer
• Psycho
• Masked killer
• Usually male
• Ghost/Demon
• Doll
• Outcast
Colour scheme
• Dark
• Gloomy
• Blackish/Greenish
17. Editing
• Short clips
• Jump cuts
• Fade to black
Camerawork
• Close ups
• Establishing shots
• Tracking
• High angles
• Wide shots
Titles (Order)
• Disclaimer
• Distribution companies
• Film title
• Release date
Camerawork
• Close ups
• Establishing shots
• Tracking
• High angles
• Wide shots
• POV
• Handheld
Iconography
• Dark Colours
• Lighting non-naturalistic
• Props (weapons and
masks)
Narrative Structure
• Hero/protagonist
• Final girl
• Reasons behind the
objectives of the killer
18. CONVENTIONS OF FORM
• This title page is conventional for any film trailer as it notifies the audience
about whether it is suitable for what age they are and allows them to continue
watching (if they’re the right age) or stop watching.
• Another convention of any film trailer is the variety of scenes used. These are
used in order to appeal to the audience by showing them all the interesting
actions and scenes. This also helps to keep the audience interested in the
trailer and convince them to buy/watch the film (which is the purpose of a film
trailer).
