http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULUNBOlvflk'Mirrors'Genre - Horror/mystery/thriller
Narrative - An ex-cop and his family are the target of an evil force that is using mirrors as a gateway into their home
Target audience - 18 and over
Unique selling point - The film is directed by Alexandre AJA who is also the director of the popular film 'The hills have eyes'.
Music/sounds - Calm, slow music at the beginning while the characters are talking creating a calming atmosphere. Towards the middle sound effects are added, which sounds like wind blowing, there is lots of loud screaming, thumps, bangs, gun shots and the sound of glass falling on the ground. All these sound effects are very powerful and create a frightening effect.
Camera angles/shot types - The most common shot types used in this trailer are medium shots, medium close up and close ups. The medium close ups - the emotions of the characters are clearly evident. They allow us to see how distressed and fearful they are. There are shots of shattered glass which is one of the main focal points of the film.
Pace - The trailer starts at a slow pace but it becomes extremely fast paced once the action starts, with regular scene changes. At the very end there is a series of clips shown at a very fast pace, this works very well as it makes the viewer on edge and afraid, leaving them in fear.
Dialogue - There is regular dialogue used between all characters and also lots of screaming.
Credits and intertitles - It shows the institution 'Regency'. Towards the end of the trailer it shows the title of the film 'Mirrors' and right at the end there are credits stating the director, the production team and the producers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B5CvZGv8yNs'The Ring'Genre -Horror/mystery/thriller
Narrative -A young journalist must investigate a mysterious videotape which seems to cause the death of anyone in a week of viewing it.
Target audience - 15 and over
Music/sound - It begins with one of the characters talking, there is no music at this point. By not using any music it doesn’t really create a particular atmosphere, this therefore puts the viewer in a safe and relaxing atmosphere. Shortly after music is added, there is a piano lightly playing and also the sound of charms, by using the sound of a piano it creates a much more sinister and creepy atmosphere. This is because it is not extremely loud and it makes you feel nervous and uneasy. Towards the middle the piano cuts out and upbeat, mysterious music begins to be play. This straight away puts the viewer on the edge of their seats as they were not expecting it. As the trailer comes to an end, the music suddenly becomes exceptionally fast and then dies out.
Pace - During this fast music, the clips and images which are being shown are shown at a extremely fast pace, they are so fast that you can just about see what the image is. By having it at this pace keeps the viewer focused and mesmerized as they do not want to miss anything important. The fast pace ends with a loud scream of a girl, this makes you jump and creates a huge climax.
Subtitles - There are no subtitles or words used throughout this trailer however there is lots of talking/conversations which help explain what is happening.
Dialogue - Begins with one of the young girls explaining about the ‘video’ that when you watch it you die after seven days, it is if she is telling us a story the we do not want to hear. Her voice is quiet and she talks very slow and this creates a sinister atmosphere. Throughout the trailer the dialogue between characters become faster and at the end there is less dialogue, just screaming and loud unknown sounds.
Camera angles/shot types - There is a range of different shots used, such as medium close ups, close ups and extreme close ups. In the trailer there is a lot of emphasis on a phone ringing, when this happens there is a close up on the phone creating suspense and makes the audience question who is ringing.
Credits/intertitles - Shows the institution which is 'DreamWorks' at the start. Near the end it has a shot of the title of the film 'The Ring' then the last shot 'Coming soon'.
Form this trailer of ‘The ring’ we found two factors most effective, firstly the pace towards the end. We thought the way they showed a large number of images in just a few seconds was very effective. It keeps you entertained while also creating a sinister effect. Secondly the piano in the background was very effective as it created a frightening and eerie atmosphere.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sl2lmFPBGN8'The last house on the left'This trailer has so much going on and it grabs the audience's attention from the very beginning.
Genre - Crime/Drama/Horror
Narrative - Kidnapping and brutally assaulting two young women, a gang led by a prison escapee unknowingly finds refuge at a vacation home belonging the parents of one of the victims, a mother and father who devise an increasingly gruesome series of revenge tactics.
Unique selling point - Starring in the film - Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter, Sara Paxton, Garret Dillahunt.
Target audience - 18 and over only.
Shot types/camera angles - There are a few blackouts used during the trailer, this represents closure and it is as if someone is closing a door on you, it keeps the viewer wanting to find out more. The most common camera shot used throughout are medium close ups, allowing us to see most of the characters body and what they are wearing. Towards the end there are lots of close ups and extreme close ups used, this is showing the true emotions on the characters faces. Showing their fear and need for help.At one point, the music changes sinister and someone walks through a door. The camera shot at this point just shows his/hers feet and nothing else. This tells us he/she is a bad person and by not showing their face straight away puts us on edge and creates suspense and fear.
Pace - It has a slow pace but at the same time still manages to keep the audience on edge as they do not know what is ahead. Slowly the trailer starts to become more dramatic, the pace and music becomes a lot faster, this creates fear and makes you panic. During this trailer short, fast clips and images are used. We found this worked very well as it does not give too much away but gives you enough information to understand the story line.
Music/sounds - It begins with slow, calm and peaceful music which puts the viewer at ease and relaxes them. Towards the middle the slow, calming music disappears and it becomes very busy, this makes you want to keep watching to see what happens next. By doing this it keeps the viewers entertained. The sound effects used in this trailer are extremely effective and very powerful. These include, doors slamming, car crashes, screens and gunshots. All these sound effects are related to horror in some way and this puts the viewer in an uncomfortable position and creates a sinister effect. The sound effects are all very loud and make you jump.
Emotions - This trailer creates a variety of different emotions, such as, fear, sadness, anticipation and surprise. By creating all these emotions in just one trailer works exceedingly well and we found it so effective.
Dialogue - At the beginning there is talking between the daughter and father, this straight away tells us there is a family involved. There is lots of talking between characters which explains the story line in little detail. When it begins to become more intense, there are lots of questions asked, such as ‘who did this?’ then there is lots of gun shots, crying and shouting.
Subtitles - Throughout the trailer, subtitles are used, there are short phrases which give clues to what the film is about, for example one of the subtitles was ‘ it was a brutal crime’. This tells the viewer there is crime involved and the word brutal highlights the horror
Credits and Intertitles - At the beginning it shows the institution which is Rouge Pictures. The last shot of the trailer has the words 'Coming soon'.
To conclude there are many different reasons why this is a very successful and effective horror trailer, we found out by making the viewer feel a variety of different emotions tells them the film is not just completely horror based. Also the sound effects stood out as they were loud and made a huge impact.
What we have learned from analysing these film trailersThese film trailers have helped us greatly throughout our research. They have broadened our ideas and allowed us to have a detailed insight into real popular horror films. All of these clips that we have researched are all very similar in that they all contain very dark and eerie images that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, and terror from the viewers. Many of the scenes used in these short clips are very quick and snappy, moving from one scene to the next. We feel that this is a very effective technique to use throughout a horror film as it creates suspense, leaving the viewer on the edge of their seat. From our research we have found out that this is a very popular emotion among our target audience as from watching a horror film they wish to feel a sense of excitement but also with an element of fear. These clips have influenced our ideas for our final designs greatly. The use of music was very effective but also very similar again in all of the clips. This made us want to create something a bit different that will move us away from the mainstream market and something that will captivate and interest our audience from the start. For example if we use similar music to the other horror films that our currently on the market we feel that our idea will evidently fade into the background and will not be a new and exciting concept for our audience to be a part of.
