What is a film trailer and what is it's purpose?

A film trailer is a short promotional advert for an upcoming film that will be shown in the cinema.The trailer is a teaser that will give a little taste of what the film will be like.The purpose of a film trailer is to encourage and entice the audience to watch the film in the cinema, thats why it is important that the film producers choose the best scenes of the film to go into the trailer as it a vital piece of marketing for the film. Film trailers have become increasingly easy to research as you are now able to look on 'youtube' for upcoming films instead of only seeing it at the cinema.

Generic conventions of a psychological thriller.

 

Mise-en-scene: usually set in an isolated area, where there is no communication to anyone who could help them. Everything tends to be in a dark setting so you are unable to make out who or where any of the characters are.

Characters: There are two main characters in a thriller. The heroes are often men who deal with dangers in their everyday life. The villains are also typically men, with a creepy/shady sense about them. In a psychological thriller they are quite intelligent as their able to think of original ways to taunt their victims.

Themes of a psychological thriller: It’s mainly based around something that society is worried about, for example kidnapping and isolation, there also tends to be some scenes that are meant to make the audience feel uneasy for the characters such as a stalking scene. It’s likely to be shown from the victims P.O.V so you can see and feel what they’re going through.

Music: Airy sounds. They mostly use string instruments such as violins and piano to create that chilling effect.  Then when the scene is hitting its climax the music changes to a low dramatic beat to get the audiences hearts racing.

 

My individual film synopsis

GENRE: Thriller/Horror

Research: Paranormal Activity, Blair Witch Project

Target audience: both male and female, ages 15-30

A group of five friends aged 17-21, have just finished College and all they’ve got on their mind is where they can party to celebrate it, unfortunately all the parties that are going on don’t take their fancy. Therefore they decide to organise their own, only problem is they don’t know where to host it, until Callum suggests the old Fermwood camp grounds as it is an old disused camp site with a chilling background story of a family being murdered by their psychotic 13 year old daughter, six years ago. She was later found out to be an orphan, and feeling like her whole life was a lie, she brutally murdered both her parents as revenge, which she so deeply believed she deserved.  Both parents’ bodies were found almost unrecognisable. The daughter supposedly committed suicide in those woods as she couldn’t cope alone, but her body was never recovered, people say her ghost/spirit lives on in these woods taking revenge on anyone who is brave enough to enter. This story only made it more exciting for the teens, who thought it would be fun to find out for themselves if it was true or not.

 However, things take a turn for the worst when they decide to use an Ouija board to channel the dead releasing more than they hoped. When the party gets in full swing Ross and Kate realise the generator is broken, so decide to go off into the woods to find out if there is any other source in the other campsite, unfortunately as they travel further into the woods they begin hearing strange noises and what seems to be strangled screams, frightened they both head back to camp, Kate begins to panic when she realises that they are lost she screams out for help, but as she turns around she discovers that Ross has disappeared leaving behind a blood smeared flash light, terrified and confused she starts to sprint through the forest but trips over a log on the ground breaking her ankle, you see her crying on the floor before she is dragged off into the darkness by something unknown, all you are able to hear is her painful scream.

 Back at the campsite the rest of the group are enjoying the party until they hear the echoes of Kate’s agonizing screams. Callum now feeling like the alpha male rounds up the others to go find their lost friends, when Jade refuses to go after feeling uneasy about the events that have just occurred, Callum callously leaves her behind. Shortly after Callum and Sarah disappear into the woods the airy noises once again surface, Jade becomes increasing scared as the noises increase to its climax as Jade cowers the noises sharply stop leaving a chilling silence. The camera then shows a point of view shot of an evil looking girl screaming and running towards the camera before the shot goes black and once again you hear the excruciating cries from Jade. Sarah and Callum hear the screams, spooked they start running out of the forest to the nearest road but Callum gets caught by a trip wire which slices his leg, the strange noises echo through the forest again, as they give up all hope of ever escaping. Until they see a police car approach they begin to shout out for help, only to realise that the police are looking for them as there have been murders reported.

The two teens are arrested, and when they try to explain what really happened, the police treat them like they are mentally ill and both Callum and Sarah are sectioned, but separated into different hospital wards. No one ever believing them about what was lurking in that forest and who really murdered their friends, until it happens again!

Inkeepers trailer analysis

1.       The genre of this film is a Psychological thriller. 

2.       The audience is able to identify this at the beginning of the trailer from the airy music and darkened out portrait of a woman which looks quite scary.

3.       I think the target audience for this film is between the ages 15-25 mixed gender as that is similar to the characters in the film. It targets the audience well as it tells a background story of why a woman killed herself in this place which I think is a good technique to entice the audience into thinking what made her want to commit suicide?

4.       The film trailer last 2 minutes and 6 seconds which is your average length of a film trailer.

5.       There are 80 shots throughout this trailer. The opening shot of this film trailer is close up shot of a portrait which seems quite old. It then zooms in closer to show you the blank expression on the woman’s face. The next shot is of a high angled shot of the hotel showing that that is the place where it occurred. The camera then focus on a medium long shot of a corner of a room before the door slams shut, this could be representing where she hung herself.

6.       There are quite a lot of fade to black transitions throughout this trailer, I believe this is a good editing technique as its builds up more suspense for the audience as their left wondering what will happen next?

7.       The diegetic sound in this trailer is a mixture between dialogues and sounds effects. The one male character says “I have my microphone so we can make do with EVP investigations” This shows that they are going to try and investigate the paranormal to try and see if the can connect to Madeline (woman who committed suicide) The main female character says “we might have a good chance of catching some real contact” this suggests that they want to paranormal to talk to them and they want a reaction off them. The next piece of interesting dialogue that the spiritual woman says is “They want to live” this shows that want to escape and are going to make themselves known.  At the end of the trailer it hits its climax this is where you hear screaming from the girl before you see her hiding in a room suggesting that something is chasing her. They diegetic sounds are the exaggerated sounds of doors creaking, this shows the age of the building and it also emphasises on the dowser that smashes on the floor this could be representing the spirits escaping and coming to life.

8.       The Non-diegetic sounds used throughout this trailer is the voice over of the girl who is describing the background story of the building and what happened there.  The music  starts of being airy and low beat with a scratchy noise making it seem paranormal, the beat increases each time the screen cuts making each scene more dramatic, The piano plays by itself a chilling tune showing that the spirits are trying to frighten the people. The music at the end is old fashioned jazz music this is to make the audience feel that it was a long time ago when this incident happened.

9.       The trailer represents the characters as being work colleagues who both have a hobby in paranormal activity, The girl is quite young as seems to be quite interested in finding out why the woman committed suicide and if she’s still in the hotel. She is represented as being the main character as she is shown throughout the trailer and the camera mostly focuses on her, she is also shown in of the final scenes suggesting that she survives. Whereas the male character is only shown briefly showing that he isn’t the character that the audience should be focusing on.

10.   The narrative of this trailer is that they go to a hotel where a woman commited suicide because her fiancé left her at the alter and that ever since then people have reporting seeing her roaming the halls looking for a new love. The two characters got there to try and communicate to her but it seems like they get more than they wanted, when strange things start happening and at the end you see weird faces and a man’s shadow doing frightening movements, you then see a stretcher being wheeled out with a body under the sheet suggesting that someone has been killed, before seeing the girl panting will blood on her face suggesting that the thing that they’ve unleashed is chasing her.

11.   What this reveals about the plot is that the woman that killed herself is evil and starts terrorising the characters by  chasing them and killing them, its suggested that the female character survives as she’s is the final scenes, which makes you wonder if the male character got murdered.

12.   The film trailer creates a code of enigma as the audience is left to wonder why the spirit begins to start attacking them, it also sets up the mystery of if there’s any survivors and if so who?

13.   The trailer communicates with the audience by using inter titles such as “there is a secret in every room” this makes the audience feel like they are the only ones who know this and that there is more to this hotel than they first thought. The use of a voice over also makes the audience feel like the trailer is interacting them more in the film as its giving them background knowledge of the hotel.

14.   The mood and expectations of this film is that it will be scary and there will be some suspense scenes for example people lurking in the shadows etc. you also expect there to be some murders and a lot of psychological scenes which plays with your mind.

15.   The camera shots that are used mostly in film trailers are close-ups of the main characters faces to show the emotion of them, there are also a lot of quick pace cutting shots this is so that it doesn’t give too much of the film away but makes the audience want to go and watch it.

16.   The mise-en-scene is constructed in this trailer by the use of costume and the setting of the hotel rooms where the furnishing and wallpaper is dated suggesting that there hasn’t been any changes since they suicide happened and the prop of the blood on the girls face at the end shows that she has been hurt and is fighting to get out.

17.   The film studio has used this trailer to market its product as it uses the most exciting scenes in the film to try and make it the most appealing to the audience as possible, so they will spend money to watch the film in the cinema.

18.   This film trailer is successful in targeting the audience as it uses the unique selling point of a documentary instead of your standard horror movie.

19.   The codes and convention of this film trailer are that its film like a documentary which is different from other horrors, what also makes it different is that they have gone there with the intention of communicating and interacting with paranormal presences whereas in other horrors the characters are clueless to the things like that. However there is a main female character which is usually in every horror film but what makes it different in this trailer is that she is seen as being a strong character instead of being you stereotypical vulnerable character. It also sets the audience up to feel sympathy for the woman who committed suicide which unusual for a horror to do.

20.   I believe that film trailer are an effective promotional device for films as its gives the audience a little taste of what the film will be like, film trailers are also easy to access at any time you want by going on YouTube or searching it on Google and is the most important thing that will entice the audience.

House at the end of the street (2012)

The genre of this film is a psychological thriller. The audience is able to identify the genre as soon as it start from the loud dramatic music and the fact that she looks terrified cowering under a table using it as some sort of protection. It last approximately 2 minutes 5 seconds, which is your average length of a trailer.

The opening shot of this trailer is a medium shot of a girl crouching down under a table her expression suggests that she is shocked as to what she is looking at, the transition used in this shot is a quick zoom into her face so that the audience is able to see her expression more clearly. The next shot is a low angled medium-long shot of the same character smashing a window with a hammer this shows that she could be trying to escape from something that is chasing her. Throughout this trailer there are a lot of fade to black transitions, this could be to build the suspense for the next scene.

The diegetic sound in this trailer is mostly dialogue and screaming or panicked screeches, the male character says in one scene “Listen we have a new neighbour ok, her name is Elissa and her mom just moved in, I want you to leave her alone, do you understand me!” This suggests that he knows what is going on and it seems like he almost has control over the girl that he is talking to. The emphasised noises of the door and floorboards are used to show the age of the building that they’re in. The close up of the clock and exaggerated noise of the ticking suggests that time is precious and the fact that it’s going backwards is significant as it shows the audience that it’s going back in time. There is quite a lot of non-diegetic sounds used throughout this trailer such as the dramatic heart beat sound at the beginning to the screechy, electronic sounds in between the inter titles.

The unique selling point of this trailer is the fact that it shows the ending at the beginning and then goes backwards to reveal the whole story and how they ended up there in the end. This goes against the normal codes and conventions of how a film trailer should be presented.

The trailer represents the relationship between Elissa and Ryan as being romantically involved with one another, as you see them kissing on the sofa. It also shows a mother and daughter relationship who seem to have a close bond as it is just them two who have moved her together, also suggesting that she could be a single parent.

The narrative and what it reveals about the film plot is that they have just moved into the neighbourhood and that there seems to be a story to the “house at the end of the street” you know that the little girl in that house who killed her parents and that is why Elissa and her mum was able to afford the house. It also shows that Elissa could be trapped in that house and is trying to escape, this is shown in the scene where she gets dragged down the hall and then is strapped onto a chair shouting “No” in a strangled scream. This reveals that the plot is surrounding the story about that specific house and is concentrated on her trying escape there and finding out who really murdered their parents there?

The trailer creates a code of enigma as you don’t who the little girl is or why did she killed her parents in the beginning and how Ryan is involved with her, you also are left wondering if Elissa will survive and if there will be any murders. The trailer interacts with the audience through the use of inter titles which are “Before you experience the fear,” “Before you know the pain,”  “To witness the horror,” “To uncover the truth,” “You have to go back,” “To where it all began” this gives the audience all the information without giving too much away and sets you up for the expectations of a good psychological film that tells a chilling back story.

The mise-en-scene in this film is shown with the old house where the murders occurred and the way the girl who killed her parents is presented as she looks deranged with her hair pushed across her face and wearing a long white dress, this is stereotypical of how a girl who plays the evil character would normally look in this type of genre.

A film trailer is a successful promotional device as it lets the audience experience the film first-hand and gets the audience more involved in the film, making them feel like they are part of the experience which is more effective than just reading off a page.

 

The Devil Inside

This film trailer is a psychological thriller/horror about an woman that was believed to be mentally ill and was sectioned into a psychiatric asylum until they found out that she was actually possessed.

A2 coursework overview

This year we have been given the task of making a film trailer for a new film of our genre choice, we then have to complete a film poster to entice the audience to watch our film, then our final task is to produce a magazine cover featuring the film attracting our target audience.