What are the conventions of your chosen film genre and which aspects of trailers in this genre influence to you? Refer to examples

The chosen film genre of my film project will be a hybrid between a thriller and horror film. The trailers I have been researching for my film include the 2010 horror film ‘Monsters’ and the 2005 thriller/horror ‘Wolf Creek’, both trailers contain the same kind of conventions by keeping explicit scenes to a minimum so the potential audience are more inclined to go to a cinema to watch that particular film.

Common themes of the horror genre include the fear factor of that film which is particular events within a film that makes it scary, for example in any recent horror film the 'fear factor' is usually portrayed through the movies protagonist, especially in classic horror films, for example in the movie Friday 13^th the main protagonist is a knife wielding mass murderer, the fear of the character therefore comes from his murders and also the use of his mask. The use of masks can also be shown to be a horror genre convention as it can make the antagonist seem less human due to having less human features such as them showing there face, this can therefore create more fear within the audience.

The horror genre can be shown to have numerous sub-genres and different categories horror, for example a slasher (Friday 13^th), zombie (Dawn of the Dead) and also gore (Saw films).

The Friday the 13th trailer has been influential for me in producing my trailer as throughout the trailer it is filmed mainly with the use of POV shots of the main killer about to kill there victim. Another convention in trailers is that the trailer rarely shows the actual moment of death but instead the peril shots before when the audience knows the fate of the character, this is probably to allow the trailer to be shown during mainstream times of TV viewing and therefore have a larger audience. Therefore in my trailer I would want to use at least one or two clips of POV shots of the killer and the victim in a moment of peril or vulnerability. 

For my horror/thriller film it will follow a standard horror formula with no explicit violence or gore but more implicit horror with less focus on violence but more on character personalities and character development.

Another convention that is used in many horror films and within horror film trailers is the use of children and also women, this is because they are seen as innocent people therefore this creates a greater audience connection with the characters which makes them become more engrossed into the film due to the fear that something may happen to them, an example of this in a trailer I have studied is Wolf Creek (2005) as the main characters are all teenagers. So, therefore I think it would be useful to use either a child or a woman in my trailer as therefore this could potentially create a larger audience for my film.

I have been influenced by this film trailer also because I believe it is effective in trying to capture a potential audience. The use of text instead of a voice is what I want to use on my own movie trailer as in the Wolf Creek trailer it keeps the audience within the world of the film. A voice can sometimes make the film seem less scary and also remind you that it is only a film trailer and could not be real.

Another movie I have researched for my trailer was the film ‘Monsters’ which was a low budget horror film that had large critical and commercial success. The trailer is effective as it follows the rule of not giving too much away before the audience has seen the film, therefore creating a buzz before the film has been released which will further lead to more commercial success.

The structure of the trailer however follows traditional horror film trailer formula, it starts off with happy smiling kids having fun but then changes tone to a much darker and fearful plot. The use of text rather than a voice over is also used within the film which I would want to do in my trailer as for me it gives a better, scarier feel to the film as the characters can feel more isolated to the audience rather than a deep booming voice within the trailer which could sometimes make it seem that this voice is also within the film, even though he is not. The film trailer than goes onto show particular key points to the plot line such as there is something bad in America, this is shown by a brief clip of a map showing North America, we later understand that these are the ‘Monsters’ by the brief clip of large tentacles coming down towards the main characters. Another film that used this technique through the use of teaser trailers and posters showing a destroyed New York was the film Cloverfield .

This was a large success due to good marketing and the use of teaser trailers and trailers that gave very little away about key points to do with the plot, such as what happened to New York and what is everyone running away from. Therefore with my trailer even though I will not be doing a monster trailer I would want to keep who is my antagonist as a secret and at the end of the trailer give away something key to the plot which would therefore create a buzz around the film

Common themes in both the horror and thriller genre is the sense of mystery that is conveyed in the trailers, as it is the curiosity of what happens within the film which can attract a large audience. Therefore my trailer will have to get the correct balance to not give away to much of the plot to the audience but also give them enough so they are wanting to go and watch the film, a good example of this would be Paranormal activity, within the trailer the audience see small disturbances within the setting of the house but this does not give away much of the plot to the audience yet it still attracted a very large audience due to people being intrigued into what is causing the happenings within the house.