Film Trailers

Here are the trailers for the horror films that people from my questionnaire said they like the best. I will write down a list of codes and conventions under them to see what each trailer contains and this will help me what to include when making my own trailer.

The Ring:

• 'Preview' slide at the beginning
• Distributers logo 'Dreamworks
• Eerie music
• Quick takes
• Close ups
• Music gets faster
• Point of view shots
• Extreme close ups e.g an eye
• Screaming
• Cuts get quicker towards the end
• Title is shown
• Website at the end
  

The Blair Witch Project:

• 'Preview' slide at the beginning
• Distributers logo 'Artisan Entertainment'
• Brief information about what happened
• Eerie music
• Screaming
• Quotes about the film from people/ magaziness
• Music gets louder towards the end to build up tension
• Title is shown
• Loud screams
• Release date
• Website at the end

Saw:

• 'Preview' slide at the beginning
• Distributors logo 'Lionsgate' and 'Twisted Pictures'
• Quick takes
• Flashes
• Weapon - saw
• Characters talking which gives an idea of what the film is about
• Music starts towards the end
• Release date shown
• Music gets faster
• Title of film shown
  

Halloween:

• Point of view shots
• Eerie music
• Weapon - knife
• Close ups to show emotions
• Screaming
• Music builds up to a climax
• Title of film shown
  

Final Destination:

• 'Preview' slide at the beginning
• Close ups
• Quick takes
• Fast music
• Extreme close ups
• Distributors logo 'New Line Cinema'
• Characters talking gives an idea of what the film is about
• Release date
• Screaming
• Title of film shown
• Release date and website shown

Most of these trailers contain the 'preview' slide at the beginning, this is usually a convention for most trailers. Most of them contain screaming, close ups to show emotion and narrative text to give the audience an idea of what the film is about. Some of them contain point of view shots to make the audience feel part of the action by placing them in the film. They all contain music which gets faster towards the end to build up tension and suspense, keeping the audience on edge. They all show the distributors logo except the Halloween trailer, perhaps because it is an older film. Some of them contain weapons which reflect the genre of the film. They all show the title of the film at the end, then there are a few more quick takes before the release date and the website is shown. This makes the audience think that the trailer is over, therefore it may make them jump when the next clips are shown.