The Conjuring trailer analysis

Film title analysis

Film research

Conventions of a horror trailer

The Target Audience

Trailers are important when it comes to showing off films to people, they have to be designed to want to make people watch them, so to do this correctly the makers of the films need to be fully aware of what people want to see in a trailer. If the trailer does not appeal to an audience

Colours  

Dark themes and colours have been used since horror films started. This technique is supposed to obscure the audience's view of what is happening and therefore evokes a sense of fear because they don't know what is coming

This image is from the film Dracula 

Even though this film is in black and white, it still displays the conventional dark = evil, light = good. 

For example today, female victims will usually wear pale, 'happy' and sometimes daring colours which will lead them to their death. The antagonist will usually be seen in black because this colour is heavily associated with death - the last colour you will see before you die (it all goes black)

Unique Selling Point 

A unique selling point is something that will make the film stand out. This is crucial for a horror film as they need to be different from all the rest, to continuously make people feel scarred again and again with each new film. A good example of this would be Paranormal Activity, in the trailer for that film they claimed it was the scariest film yet and videoed audiences reactions of the film and included them in the trailer. They were the first people to do this and the audience recognized this. When people watched the trailer and saw peoples frightened reactions they wanted to experience that thrill for themselves

Diverse Camera Shots  

Many different camera shots and angles are incorporated into the trailer to make it seems more realistic and as if it were real life, also since horrors are usually made up mainly real life aspects to them, it is important to include different camera shots so that the audience can get a sense of what they are seeing is real as they have been shown it properly from all angles to lure them in 

Voice Over 

The voice over usually runs through the first third of the trailer and indicates to the audience what the film is about. For example in 'The Devil Inside' trailer, it begins will the recording of a 911 call and then one of the main characters begins to tell the story about her mother. The audience now believe that the mother of this woman is possessed by evil

The Sting 

The sting is the final couple of shots in the trailer usually just after the title of the film. It is the final surprise to scare and lure the audience into watching the film

Genre Specific Iconography 

Speed of editing & Music

Trailers ussually begin with long camera shots and minimal camera movement. Eerie music is played over the trailers. At the beginning it has a high pitch, a low tempo and isn't very loud. The cuts are still sharp as the camera jumps from one scene to another. On the other hand, recently horror films have been starting of with a series of very fast shots that the audience can't get a clear picture of what happened. The speed of editing and the music keep increasing as it reaches the fast montage where the speed of the editing is at it's peak. The music may change during different scenes and increase in tempo which builds tension. If there is music during the fast montage it will have a low pitch and have a strong beat to it. This is to establish that the audience are being pulled into watching the film and soon it quietens down and the audience can relax, this is the cue for the sting

conjuring trailer

Trailer conventions

• Key characters
• Weak storyline 
• Music to match the genre 
• Narrative
• Reveiws
• Teaser
• Voiceover 
• Dialogue
• Speacial effects
• Titles 
• Montage 
• Best scenes/highlights of the film
• Rating 

Script

BEGINNING 
Invigilator: (opens door) please sit down 
Nathan: Alright
Invigilator: have you got all your equipment? 
Nathan: yes
invigilator: Okay, you have 2 hours, you may start now 


LATER ON IN CLIP

Nathan: what the hell was that 
various screams through out