Analysing Film Trailers

• Before we begin to plan our film trailer, researching codes and conventions of established film trailers is essential. Trailers are used as a promotional device to advertise a film. They consist of a series of selected shots from the film being advertised. Since the purpose of a trailer is to attract an audience to the film, these shots are usually drawn from the most dramatic, exciting or otherwise noteworthy parts of the film but in abbreviated form and usually without giving away the climax in the film. The scenes are not necessarily in the order in which they appear in the film.

• Most trailers have a three part structure, much like any narrative. They start with a beginning that lays out the premise of the story. Then the middle, that drives the story further and usually entails a dramatic climax, and the end, which often consists of a powerful montage of emotional and powerful moments of the film, along with a strong piece of signature music.

• The conventions of a trailer is firstly that it establishes the setting of the film. Usually the principles of the stories are then introduced, the purpose of this is to get the audience to immediately emphasise or engage with the character. Plot development is then introduced, this can be helped by titles or a voice over which are popular devices in the construction of trailers. The action and intensity then builds into fast pace clips of the film's most dramatic scenes, this crescendo usually then comes to a close with the film title.

• For our production, we have decided on the genre of horror, primarily the sub genre of psychological horror. Psychological horror works on mentally effecting the audience by exposing common psychological vulnerabilities or fears and exposes the evil that hides behind normality. The object of the horror in these particular films doesn't take the form of a monstrous other, but rather a normal human being whose horrific identity is not usually revealed until well into the work, or even at the end of the film. As this is the aspect of film we will be focusing on it is important to analyse trailers from this genre, as well as contrasting the codes and conventions with other genre of trailers.