Conventions of a horror trailer

Emily Turner

Conventions of a horror trailerCamerawork

• Extreme close-ups/close-ups • Point of view shot• Establishing shot• Low-angle/High angle• Over-the-shoulder• Wide shot

Conventions of a horror trailerEditing

• Fast paced editing• Straight cuts• Dip to black/Fade to black• Fade• Shot-reverse-shot• Starts off slow-paced and increases when the sound does

Conventions of a horror trailerSound

• Little dialogue• Voice-overs• Diegetic sound e.g. footsteps• Non-diegetic sound e.g. Intense music• Sound effects e.g. heartbeat• Scream• Soundtrack that speeds up as the editing does

Conventions of a horror trailerMise-en-scene

• Low-key lighting to suggest mood of trailer• Casual costumes to make it seem more realistic to the audience• Props which relate to the storyline e.g. torch for camping• Props which relate to the connotations of the genre e.g. weapon to

suggest danger• Make-up which relates to the connotations of the genre e.g. blood

to suggest death• Characters relatable to the audiences age

Conventions of a horror trailerThemes

• Danger• Using mystery throughout• Adding tension throughout• Cliff-hangers• Stalking

Conventions of a horror trailerContent

• Adventures for the characters• Danger caused by the antagonist• Mysterious scenes • Tension and suspense building sequences • Running and panic sequences

Conventions of a horror poster• Using a character from the film as the main image

which is the focus for the audience • Image foreshadows the trailers content and themes• Using a bold font to help it stand and reflect the nature

of the trailer• Using the colours red, white and black to follow the

connotations of the genre as to create danger and tension

• Including conventional information such as film title, release date and blocking bill

• Snappy slogan to attract the audience and encourage them to watch the film

• Eye-catching features

Conventions of a horror magazine• Main image which connotes with the audience through the use

of the eyes• Using a bold font to help it stand and reflect the nature of the

trailer• Eye-catching and interesting captions/coverlines to attract

interest from the audience• Coverlines which are specific to the genre of the magazine• Including incentives such as posters, clues and giveaways • Colours which show the importance of the information• Review articles and exclusives • Using the colours red, white and black to follow the

connotations of the genre as to create danger and tension• Route of the eye – organised layout to make it look more

professional and appealing to the audience