Trailer Research - Horror film trailers

Due to the fact that my questionnaire results show that the horror film genre is the most popular, I have decided to concentrate more on this area of film to make my research and planning more focused.

I watched the film trailers that were nominated within the horror/thriller genre for the golden trailer awards, and in my opinion, the trailer for Mama was the best of its category. I think that the use of jump cuts has been used very effectively to build suspense, and the use of lighting (or rather the effective use of darkness) throughout the trailer created the right atmosphere for a horror trailer. The music also plays a big part in why this trailer is good - the loud and deep booming music means that tension is built, and the quiet echoing and the children's whispering in the trailer gives it an eerie feel. The graphics and text in between the clips of films are also very effective - the black inky background for the text fits well with the dark theme of the theme.

There are several features that I would consider including in my own trailer. For example, in the Mama trailer, I quite liked the use of lighting. In some clips of the trailer, the only light present was the light from a torch, and the blue lighting created a cold feeling. I liked this as it helped set the scene for the horror theme. Also, on the trailer for Graceland, it starts off with a scene in a car, with a shallow focused shot of the driver. I really like interesting cinematography, and I think that here, the shot is so effective - when the focus turns to the character, we can really see the detail in his expression. I think this could be good in a horror trailer for maybe portraying the emotions of characters.