Applying recognisable conventions of trailers

In order to play with the recognisable conventions of trailers, in groups we came up with the idea about how to market and promote a new horror film called Bloodshed High. To begin the task we made a list of all the conventions we saw in a typical movie trailer.

-Highlighting the best bits of the film (whether they be very funny, very sad or action packed)

-We are not necessarily shown the story in chronological order

-The famous actors or director in the film are always highlighted. This is a very effective way to get the fans of the stars to come and see the film.

-We are normally given a small glimpse into the character's personality through one line soundbites

-At the beginning of the trailer we are often shown the normal day-to-day life of the main protagonist

-So that the audience gets a good idea of the genre the production company is always highlighted somewhere in the trailer.

-Voice-overs or text often pop up on screen. They are often in the form of a rhetorical question. This builds anticipation.

-Music plays an important role in creating atmosphere and building a strong sense of the genre.

-The title never appears until the end. This is so they know they have the audience's attention by the time they give away the title.

-Trailers in nearly always builds to a climax where it will end. This builds anticipation and makes the audience wants to come and find out how it ends.


After we had built up a substantial list we started to think about how we could challenge the conventions to promote a unique selling point.

We began our trailer with a shot of a production company Twisted Pictures. This will immediately draw the attention of horror film fans because this production company is well known for making the best horror films. After that we were going to have a slow fade into an establishing shot of a boarding school on an island. The next shot will show our main character going through a normal school day. It is important to show these shots because it sets the scene and gives the audience an idea of the norm. This will give the action more impact when it begins. The young boy who plays the main protagonists will be played by a rising young British film star for example Nicholas Hoult. Because he is considered a serious actor he will appeal to the film's demographic. The shots start to get faster after the boy discovers someone dead at this point the pace of the trailer begins to pick up along with the action. The music which before now was very slow will start to build in volume and tempo. This makes the action more thrilling and sets the atmosphere perfectly. We have decided not to use voice-over because they are quite outdated and we want to sustain a sense of realism. We will not give away who the killer is or whether the boy lives or dies because this will make the audience curious and more likely to buy tickets.

Burton's more than meets the eye

After reading the article I now know that the best way to advertise any product is through repetition. Because more often than not it's something is repeated over and over again the public begins to accept it and remember it. This is also true with film genres. An audience will understand what genre film is because they have seen other films like it many times before. The variations on the genre are what make the unique selling point.

I've mentioned in a previous post many of the different key elements that construct a genre. These include

the protagonist also known as the main character,

the stock characters these are other minor characters that contributes to the genre,

the plots and stock situations also known as the typical storyline which is recognisable specific to its genre,

the icons which are part of the mise en scène and our icons or symbols of the genre,

the backgrounds and decor most film genres have a place where they are normally set,

the themes for example revenge, community and more.

Every movie genre has its own formula. This means that the mixture of the plot, the characters, the setting, the themes, the mise en scène and the protagonists all go towards making up the specific genre. For example in action adventure movies the audience will often expect the film to star a heroic, fit young man. They will also expects the main protagonist to be put in dangerous situations.

Defining movie genres

In today's media lesson we learnt about what defines a movie genre. Each movie genre specific conventions. It is similar to a maths equation. Every movie genre has a formula. The plot will often have key elements that are the same for others in its genre. For example sci-fi films are almost always about alien planets going to war with Earth. The type of characters you find in a certain movie helps you understand what genre it falls into. For example Western films will always have cowboys and indians. Westerns are also predominantly about a group of people trying to keep the peace in a small community in western America. The setting of a movie can also tell you a lot about its genre. For example a teen movie will almost always have some scenes set in a high school. Another way the audience can tell what genre movie is is by the way it uses the atmosphere to manipulate how the viewer feels. For example horror movies will often have a dark atmosphere (the predominant colours in most shots might be black or red). This is to make the audience feel nervous and scared. Musicals will always make the audience feel a sense of community spirit and overall happiness by the end. The mise en scène plays an important part in the genre of film. For example a sci-fi film like Star Wars will have a lot of futuristic technology and spaceships in the background. The weapons they use are also futuristic which is in keeping with the films are genre.

So I learnt that every movie genre is constructed by its use of setting, mise en scène, characters, historical background and overriding themes.

Getting Put In our Groups

A couple days ago we got put in the groups we are going to be making our horror movie trailer in. Most people putting groups of three but I got put in a group with my friend Jess Stevenson. We already have a lot of ideas for our horror movie trailer but to start off we decided to divide up the work. Jess is in charge of getting the actors and finding the location. It is important that she considers how much time we will have in the location, how good it will be the filming (for example lighting, space, and more) and whether it fits our vision. My job is mostly editing and cinematography. We're going to work together on coming up with the story, storyboarding, production and filming. I quite like the idea of only having one other person in my group it makes it easier to collaborate and get across ideas.

Brain Storming Ideas For Our Horror Movie Trailer

What is more important in a movie trailer sound or images?

I personally think that in a movie trailer sound and images go hand-in-hand. Because even though an image can be very powerful it doesn't build atmosphere and mood as well as if it had been coupled with music. At the same time sound effects can build drama but for advertising a film it is better to have images. This way you can build tension with silences and you can also advertise the stars in the film.

Analysis of a Movie Trailer - Step Up 3D

As research I decided to analyse the movie trailer the new film step up 3D. Throughout the entire trailer there is a variety of hip-hop dance songs from famous artists. I find it very telling that the names of the actors are not credited but the names of the singers who perform in the film are.

This is so they can market the film towards a generation that cares less about famous directors and more about chart-topping singer's. The title of the film does not appear on screen until right before the end. This is so the trailer is building up and building the audience is anticipation. It is also not as important to them to show the titles at the start because there has already been two step up films and the brand already has an established fan base.
Because this is a dancer on we see very little conversation in the trailer it is mostly rapid images of contemporary dance moves. These images mixed in with the hip-hop music advertises the film as being very youthful and passionate. There are lots of flashing lights giving the trailer and nightclub atmosphere which will be appealing to its teen audience. There isn't a voice-over but slogans appear on screen. For example at the beginning of the trailer the words 'it is time to step up' appear on screen this gives the audience a clue to what the film is about and helps to build anticipation. All of the shots and titles are cut together in time with the baseline of the music. The shots do not give away much of the narrative that they show a fast paced party like atmosphere similar to a music video. When the music does occasionally stop it allows the actors to say cheesy catchphrases like 'what he saw before is just the beginning' and 'everything you need to know is in the way I dance'. These quotes add to the passion of the film and tell the audience that this time the stakes are higher which might be the unique selling point for this particular dance film. Another unique selling point might be the fact that this is the first to step up film to be in 3-D. In the last frame of the trailer we are showing who directed and wrote the film. This tells me that the marketing team behind this film obviously thought that this information would not be an important selling points for the film. The last frame also tells us the website where you can download the soundtrack. This highlights once again that the soundtrack in many ways is more important than other aspects of the film.

In this case I think the trailer is more effective than the poster in making me want to see this film because as I've mentioned before the soundtrack is an important part of this film and also it gives you a strong sense of the dance aspect in this film. I would expect to see this trailer before seeing a wrong, or kids film because it is 3-D which normally attracts young children and the contemporary dance/party lifestyle atmosphere will appeal strongly to preteens. I also might expect to see this trailer on channels such as E4 or Nickelodeon because they both cater to a preteen audience.

Movie Titles

In lesson we started looking at movie titles, what they mean and what the typography tells us abou the movie. First we filled in this sheet:

I also took a screen shot of the Moster House trailer.




-The colour red is normally associated to things like death and hell. This might tell the audience that the movie is scary or very dramatic.

- The crooked typography shows that the film is spooky. This is a commonly used convention in scary movie titles.

- The way it comes out makes it seem unmoverble and strong. This makes the film seem very powerful and maybe even threatening.

- The way it is coming out of the darkness makes it more mistiryous and spooky.

What is more important images or words?

I think that images and word go hand in hand in an effective movie trailer. The words are very important for telling the audience about the genre and the USP of the film but if you want to build more anticipation and give the view a better sense of atmosphere the words need to be accompanied by a relative font and images.