At the moment we are doing research for trailers, this will give us a rough idea of how they work and what we will need to include to make our trailer successful in what it needs to do.
First trailer.
Insidious (2010 Dir: James Wan) this has is classified as a horror however not the same genre as we are planning on doing. It falls under the sub-genre of the horror/psychological/paranormal side. It is very similar to Paranormal Activity and it's also made by the creators of Paranormal Activity and Saw.
Features(in order of shown):
- Disturbing music from the start.
- Features the producers of the film. By stating who the producers are, it suggests that this film will be 'as good as' the previous and can build a successful franchise around it, much like the other films mentioned. The audience thus has connotations of key themes from the other films i.e. the sense of paranormal behaviour mixed with elements of gore.
- Continues with the disturbing music and when insidious appears on the black screen there's a sort of 'slash' noise (method of killing perhaps??).
- The text sort of disintegrate into 'is' then back to insidious, then again back into 'is', then for the final time back into insidious over a continuous black screen. There is a heart beat over the top and this signifies the sort of feelings you may get over the film, this indicates that when you get scared you heart will beat faster.. which sums up the whole film together as it is a horror film. The heart also suggests life...this film will show the end of life.
- The first voice you hear is the spiritualist women asking someone 'Are you ready?' suggests that he is about to do something life changing and it takes time to cope with it. Something big is going to happen!
- The spiritualist sets off a clock, this is significant as it is often linked with hypnotism and also has further connotations of time ticking away as if they don't have the time to waste.
- It soon fades to black with white typography saying 'From the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw' in white font. This emphasizes the fact that it is a horror film as both of then films mentioned are universally known as being horror films.
- The clock is still carrying on ticking as the audience is viewing the life style of the family. It shows that the family house and the family its self. There is quick paced atmosphere surrounding it, shows a hectic life style. During this time you see many different 'usual' every day activities for a family. Also it is significant that they have included the children during this time, as it has been proven in polls that the public are more 'scared/terrified' when they see a film with children as the 'killers'. Also little girls singing is commonly known to 'creep' people out.
- By using various camera angles for instance the angle where the audience has a upwards view of the staircase looking at the roof, this connotes creepy elements as in the danger can be anywhere....above, below or (in one shot) directly behind you.
- Perhaps the strongest element in this trailer is the use of darkness throughout. There is an instant connotation of darkness leading to doom and peril and this has been utilised thoroughly throughout.
- The music changes drastically throughout the trailer, starting slow then gaining pace then repeating this process again. This stimulates the feelings of the audience and reflects their need to catch up and breath for a while before they are 'hit' again with more terror.
- The final font in the trailer (everywhere April 1) again portrays the factor that this terror and horror can happen anywhere and everywhere and finalises the before mentioned drastic music change (giving a moment to leave). This is a great use of employing the compulsory cinema release date and has been used to great effect.
