Sound is definitely the most important part of a horror trailer. it is the sound that causes the scare when someone is watching a film. This sound could be silent to build up or change in pitch when rising up to the climax. I have collaborated together my favorite sound effects from trailers and have analysed carefully.
Personally my favorite sound from any trailer is the shower scene form 'Psycho' directed by Alfred Hitchcock. This sound fits perfectly and its so simple. The sharp and shrilly sound of the instrument used to make this sound signifies the sharpness of the weapon used in that scene. It is the most iconic sound from a horror trailer as hasn't been used in another film due to it being so unique in pitch. It makes the audience have hairs on the back of their necks. As the sound carries on in length the pitch intensifies to reflect the 'sharpness' of the weapon being used at the time.
Another of my favorite sounds from a film is the use of something sweet and innocent and then creating a loud percussive tone to scare the audience. This has been done in the film of paranormal activity. 2 girls look into the mirror and repeat Bloody Mary three times then something supernatural. The easiness and innocence of the girls speech calms the audience down to a neutral level. Then the sound is used to create a jump with the audience putting their ease off balance and causing an uncomfortable surprise.
I think it is the repetition of low percussive sounds make the best soundtrack for films. The best examples of this is 'Jaws'. It may not be a horror film but that the sound begins to play the audience prepares themselves for what is going to happen. Depending on how well this is done it can cause trauma for people through its key effects.
Iconography of chosen genre
There are many things that are icons of horror trailers. This could be from various characters in the film to object which have significance on one way or the other. I will go through the most revealing icons from horror films which are very popular.
Characters/Monsters
Werewolves and Vampires;
From Dracula to viscous these mythical super natural fiends have become the trademark for horror films over the past century. Dracula bing one of the first Vampire films showed the world the characteristics of a vampire were and what they would do if they actually existed. This has led to films created in the present day such as 'Lesbian Vampire Killers' and 'Van Helsing'. Even though werewolves are not as popular as vampire they are still referenced in a lot of horror films to present day as people do not like to image the beast like nature that they possess., these wolves have inspired films like 'The Howling' and 'The Hair of the Beast'.
Possessed Adults or Children;
This is becoming the new icon of a horror trailer. Mainly aimed at young adults and grown ups who are thinking about having children or already have children. This films show young females and males find an object or something that possesses them in an evil way. People react to these as they think of their own families or people that they know and compare the film to their own lives which causes the reaction the director wants. Film such as 'Paranormal Activity 3' and 'The Possession' both focus their stories on young females as the stereotype for a young girl around the age of 6-8 years old is sweet, kind and innocent. Not evil, possessed and fatal. However 'Insidious' used a young male for the role and the ratings and comments form critics were outstandingly positive. For my horror trailer I am think of using a young female just because it seems to be the Favorited option when they are being possessed.
Murderers/Psychopaths;
These films generally have no super natural occurrences in them what so ever so people ask, 'Why is it a horror then?'. Through editing and other effects the director has the challenge of making the main villain as deadly as possible. In these types of films they usually packed with gore and horrid deaths. This ranges from graphic suicides to brutal body amputation. The film 'Psycho' directed by Alfred Hitchcock is the most famous horror film of all time as there was one scene in this marvellous piece of artwork. The shower scene today is still known as the most famous horror scene in the history of film. The newer film 'The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' put its foot down on the horror industry by coming out with the most gory film the world has ever scene. People called it 'Uncomfortable to watch'. However achieving 7.5/10 from IMDB shows that is was a complete success. I intend to put some gore in my trailer but no where near the scale that this film put into theirs.
Zombies/Living Dead;
Zombies started off being one of the scariest things to enter the horror industry. But as the years have gone on they have slowly decayed. They have started to become a mockery. Films such as 'Shaun of the Dead' they create an image which isn't scary but funny! 'World War Z' tried to save the zombie franchise. It was a good attempt as it was one of the first attempts of a zombie film where it effects increase to a world wide scale and that run faster than any human could run. The film was still very successful as people liked the difference it portrayed. it received 7.1/10 which is very good for this type of film.
Objects
Ancient Artefacts;
Nearly every film about someone who is possessed is because they have been passed down from their family or have found it. 'The Possession' it is a box a girl buys at a traditional american garage sale. This box contains a ring that the girl puts on and the the evil enters her body. Other items have also been used like this. Such as Voodoo and other jewellery.
Dolls;
The film trailer I am going to make is that the doll will be the object that possesses the child. I want to create a doll of a ancient image so I fond or buy a doll which will look the part. The doll from a real film I am going to try and relate to is Chucky. This is because it looks the part and it symbolizes the fear from an still object when it becomes animated.
Books;
A historic or non fiction book is always being shown in movies when the characters are trying to find information on the monster or evil character to see if they have a weakness and then can spend the rest of the film trying to pin point and target the weakness so that they can kill the evil. A book will appear in my trailer for that specific purpose. This always appears in trailers so people know that they could have a solution.
Weapons;
Iconic to some trailers as the evil villain sometimes is not a supernatural beast but a psychopath. This would mean having a weapon or weapons of some sort to commit evil deeds with. For example the villain in 'The Texas Chainsaw massacre' has the weapon of a chainsaw. Other weapons that have been featured are knives, guns and axes (The Shining).
To find out this I decided to give 3 people from my target audience range 1 minute to write down everything the can think of associated with horror then I will evaluate their decisions. This will help me to decide what people suspect from the horror genre in todays day an age.
I predict that monsters such as vampires, zombie sand werewolves will appear regularly with also mentions of murderers and psychopaths. I don't think many people will take notice of the sound but if they did would benefit the point of this research significantly.
The Genre for REC 2 is Horror. The plot follows a SWAT team infiltrating a house to try and find the source of the outbreak of a demonic virus. They capture all of the super natural occurrences on the helmet cameras equipped with their uniform. Therefore the film is mainly from their point of view to see what the see when trying to find what they are looking for. Director
Jaume Balagueró has produced many other horror films so he has experience in making this type of film and so he knows how it should be done, therefore I shall pay attention to the details he adds to this trailer so i could pick up some tips when crating my own.
Title
I personally think that the title for REC 2 is very well created. Normally when someone used a video camera they can see the white lines to show the area of which you are filming. Inside the box there is the word REC in block capitals. My favourite part of the title though is how they have represented to small red circle which means you are recording. It is an eye of one of the victims that has been exposed to the demonic virus in the film. The title is mostly black but to effect is so good no one notices. This effect means that they can have the most simplest of backgrounds yet still be great as the effect of the title outshines everything else.
Location
The location for REC 2 is a building which has been known as a source for the virus outbreak. the plot is them trying to find the source before the virus escapes out into the real world. A lot of horror films are based in buildings as the directors can play around with supernatural occurrences where they can try to make the scariest thing out of a scenario. Rec 2 is known for its random deaths where people are just pulled or dragged into the darkness. This effect is good as the director has used the setting and location to enhance the effect the death has.
The Length of Shots
The length of shots in REC 2 are not very long as the film contains many scenes where it has to be fast or the effect will not work up to a standard. The speed of shots suggests that the film has very graphic scenes that happen quick enough to surprise and provoke a reaction from them. If they can see it coming the it would obviously be not as scary but the speed gives them no one warning making their reaction worse. The trailer can use slow shots however to build up to one of the fast scenes which will add to the tension of the scene. I will use this tactic when crating my film trailer as the more tense the scenario, the scarier the action.
Pace
There is one thing I notice about trailers is that when they are nearing the end the trailer enters fast pace clips before slowing right down where the main action is. This fast paces imagery along with an increasing volume of sound or music to increase the effect. With REC 2 they don't go for this option because they decide to add many scenes where things are happening to show that the film is full of action. This makes the trailer more exciting and thrills the user when they are watching it.
Editing
Rec 2 has the stereotyped editing for a horror film. The static screen change is used commonly is most horror films and this one makes no exception. it works i think a lot better however in this particular trailer as because most of the clips are recorded by video camera, static would actually occur so the director has interpreted the stereotype for a meaning and exciting special effect.
The second effect that this trailer is that he camera doing the filming is in the shot but smaller in the corner of the shot is what the camera sees. This effect will not work in the trailer that I would like to do because as my film trailer is not filmed from a camera perspective, however because this film it works so well.
Finally another effect from the editing in the trailer for REC 2 is that when they are entering the building the screen flashed with black pauses This is what World War Z did but to the music. REC 2 uses this effect for effect to signal that something could go very wrong when they enter this location.
Constructing title for films are away of expressing the characteristics of the film. These can have the ability to say if someone will remember he name of the film. A good example is superman as everyone knows his logo. Therefore when that is pushed against the title that states "Superman", we will remember it more clearly as the brand name is so unique. Iron man 3 Analysis
For the title sequence of iron man 3 they use a very iconic and memorable way of expressing the titles. The clips are very short and are very fast paced and are constantly split into 3 sectors. Each sector is the same clip but are filtered different colours. Once the name of the person appears signalling their role in the making of the film the screen freezes and one of the filtered segments expand and the name of the person, enlarges so the audiences attention is now focused on the name. Each scene in this trailer is from various parts of the film so the audience are less likely to watch he parts of the film they had already scene and once again focus on the names of the people involved with the film.
21 Jump Street Analysis
This film provides another example into how titles can be shown in films. Similar to iron man, they also used fast pace scenes which slow right down when the name of a employee appears. However instead of freezing the screen when engulfed with the filter, they show a clip which is relevant to the film but not in the film. This includes two examples of someone snorting cocaine with a roll of money, and in another shot a huge pile of money. The effect of this is that the audience can relate the background to the film but as it wasn't in the film wont pay much notice or attention to it and will read the names of the credits instead. One final factor is that it is filled with violent and explosive clips. This provides excitement for the audience when watching it as it means their focus is on the screen as they want to see more. Its when the action stops it leads to the scenes they relate but are not in the film. This decrease of explosions and fast paced violence makes the audience to read the name on the credits to pass the time until the next short paced explosive scenes are shown.
Overall these are two different ways of displaying titles. Although both have some similarities they each carry their own unique style which I need to think of so that when i create my trailer I have a good idea for what I can do for it.
Age Certificates U What does it mean? The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for anyone who is 4 years old or higher. There is an issue however as people do not know what will upset a child as it does vary. What can it include?
It can include mild language such as "hell", "bugger", "bloody" and "damn". Nothing more serious.
The characters involved in the film may be seen kissing and cuddling but there will be no scenes where characters are doing anything more sexual such as making out or making love. This rating however has no overt focus on sexual behaviour or innuendos. These are also can be different types of relationships such as heterosexual or homosexual.
Sometimes characters will be placed in danger. With violent scenes, they will be balanced out very quickly to make sure of a re-assuring outcome.
The weapons the bad characters use in films will have no emphasis on them. Children and heroes in the film are unlikely to carry weapons. This hopes to send children a message to not take these actions into everyday society.
Dangerous behaviour will not be present in this film.
Only medical drugs will SOMETIMES appear but children the films are aimed for should understand what they are and their effects.
Examples
PG What does it mean? PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means that he film can be seen anyone but may have some scenes that younger viewers might not like. A PG film is aimed at children ages 8 and over. Parents are responsible to see if the film may upset the child or not. What can it include?
There could be some mild language such as "shit" and "son of a bitch". If this term is said aggressively it may be put in the next age category.
References to sex are ok if little detail is said for a little period of time. If the reference is so discrete a child will not know what it means will pass as PG. Comedy can help reduce the effect of a reference or innuendo.
There shouldn't be any violence in a PG although there might be brief encounters with blood, the injuries causes will not be shown detail if blood was being viewed.
Potentially dangerous behaviour that could be copied by children watching it likely to be not allowed in a PG.
Possibility of small references to drugs, although there shall be no focus on this what so ever. If there are references there will be a clear message saying that they are very bad.
Examples
12 and 12A What can it include?
The 12 certificate is used on DVDs where as 12A is only used for cinema viewing only.
May have strong language such as "f***", if it does it must be used infrequently. The context of the language is very important as if the language is being used aggressively then it shall be put in the 15 age bracket. There are allowances for string language puns however.
Sex may be shown discreetly in 12 and 12A films. Verbal sex references do not go any further than what a young teenager wouldn't understand. Comedy may be used to soften the terms of the sexual context however crude and request puns are unlikely to be allowed in this age bracket. There may nudity but it will brief and discreet.
Moderate violence shown but does not go into too much detail. There should be no detail on blood or injuries but brief moments of gore are allowed to be shown.
Sexual scenes may be briefly sexually but in little detail and also brief scenes of nudity could be shown but will not be shown for long and will have minor detail.
Moderate violence is allowed but details will be left out.
Sexual Violence such as rape or assault may be referred to but never shown and if briefly spoken about will have to contain contextual reason.
Behavior such as self harming and suicide might be present in 12 and 12A films but will not dwell on detail as they do not wish to encourage this behavior on the children who are watching this if they allowed.
15
What can it Include?
There is no limit to what can be involved in a 15 works. As long as it is suitable for 15 year olds.
It can contain strong violence going into detail until a certain level.
Strong Language like "F***" can be used frquently throughout.
Portrayals of sexual activity can be involved but have to have minimal detail.
There are strong and severe verbal references to sex.
Sexual Nudity is ok for a 15.
Brief scenes of sexual violence such as rape ca be included as long as it is in less deail.
There can be discrimatory language or behavior during films labelled 15.
Also drug taking is shown in 15's and can do into as much depth as they like as by this age people should know the damaging effects that they have to the body.
18 What can it include?
As this is for adults only then the violence will contain gore, blood and will be in some cases horrific as this is the maximum rating for a film.
Frequent strong language can be used just like the 15 "F***" is used alot and even in some cases "C***".
There are strong portrayals of sexual activity as he age to watch he film is over the age to actually engagae in sexual intercourse.
There is a possibility that there could be scenes of graphic sexual violence where people are being violated against their will in detail.
In some cases they will show scenes of real sex.
Finally there will be scenes where harsh discriminatory language will be used to put characters in threatening situations
Horror Trailers Most horror trailers are rated 15 to 18 and sometimes 12's due to the 'Horror Factor' of trailers. People associate blood and gore to them. In a 15 they can include most things which are representative of a horror trailer. For example 'Paranormal Activity' is rated a 15 as it is made to scare the audience and give them a reason to be watching horror films.
For a horror trailer to be an 18 they really have t step up their game form a 15 as the gore of deaths can be significantly increased as the violence can be shown at maximum levels. This is exclaimed in the first line of the synopsis for the film 'Curse of Chucky'. Its states;
"Nica (Fiona Dourif) is grieving over the gruesome suicide of her mother when her domineering older sister Barb (Danielle Bisutti) arrives with her young family in tow to help settle their mother’s affairs." - http://www.lovefilm.com/
The words 'gruesome' and 'suicide' suggest the horror and devastation this horror film has in a back story. As this film is an 18 rated it wouldn't be surprising if they show this suicide in gruesome detail as it has the right to do this as it aimed for the adult age group.
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