Trailer Conventions- Analysis

The trailer 'The Shining' has contrapuntal music at the start, where a beautiful setting in an isolated location (also a key convention of horror) has deep, quiet, spine-chilling music. The intensity of the music changes over time and towards the end it just sounds like constant violin epilepsy, as it mimics your heart beat. The music also keeps contrasting in noise levels too, as it goes from being quiet one second to a sudden scream for example, this also occurs when there's a sudden increase in shot speed. The length of the shots is slow at the start and uses a fade to drag the shots out, and towards the end for example from 1:39 to 1:54 of the trailer, there are 22 different shots! This build up in tension creates a nerve-racking atmosphere and influences the amount of drama created by the trailer. The narrator at the start explains the story so you get a sense of the story line, and then towards the end he is no longer a part of the trailer and the action speaks for itself. This is also done to let your mind be creative and essentially allows you to scare yourself.


'The Others' is one of my favourite films, created on a low budget, and with a brilliant twist at the end, it's got to be up there with some of the best horror classics. During the trailer it begins as if the main character is reading you a story, which is quite creepy especially as the following music sounds ery and holy. The mise-en-scene is like an old Victorian house, and the clothes that the characters are wearing are old and creepy. the lighting is very low key, and sets the scene for a dark and mysterious setting. The children seem surprisingly confident and somewhat add a fear factor to the trailer, as they say things which any parent would be freaked out by. Using children to impact dialogue is a conventional way of creating horror. the dialogue is also very vague yet precise in implying 'other' things. This is done in most horrors to make you expect the worst. the sound is very contrasting too as it goes from being very quite whispers to loud screams/ instrumental music. During the film there's a lot of suspense created and it constantly builds you up, making you hold your breathe and tense up in fear (if you replay the trailer you will suddenly notice that you're doing this). these jump scares are repeated throughout. Things also move on there own in the trailer, and is a key convention for adding to the suspense, as the audience want to know what/who is doing it.


'Nothing Left To Fear' isn't a film/ trailer that appeals to me but it follows modern conventions of horror films. Something that I haven't discussed yet is the film length, but as you can see all three are of similar length (around the 2 minute mark) this is because it holds the audience attention giving them enough information to watch the film, however, leaves you with questions making you go and watch the film. At the start the scenery appears to be in a nice rural location (just like the other trailers) showing it follows typical horror conventions. The music starts off innocent and quiet, yet a little creepy, and also when dialogue is exchanged and something suspicious is said, a sound effect 'booms' in the background, creating drama. About a minute into the trailer the innocent music suddenly goes and the boom effect of noise is added to, to create tension. The lighting at the point also goes from vivid colours to gloomy, also backed up by the initial word 'darkness' whilst what appears to be blood is dripping, implementing fear. Intertitles within the trailer have an effect added to the text that looks scary as the text crumbles away just like the happiness. The intertitles also add information to either increase knowledge of the story-line,  increase audience size through bigger star names, or to increase the impact of a shocking sentence/key word. The trailer also uses modern technology to create forms of 'monsters' to increase the fear being drilled into the audience. at the end of the trailer is a jump scare too, which is typical of modern day horrors. it starts of in equillibrium and ends in disequilibrium like the other trailers. The title also follows the theme of the movie as well, and the words themself are repeated at the end to make you remember the film. Also with modern films hash tags are used to identify the film with social media and allows people to find out more information with other fanatics. this acts as an extra advertising technique.