Points drawn from moving image

analysis

Through my moving image analysis I have found many repetitive characteristics which when combined, portray aspects of horror to the trailer. I will use many of these characteristics to help construct my moving image correctly in order to ensure my film trailer appeals to my target audience to encourage them to watch the film when released.

At the start of trailers the institution/production company is shown to the audience to symbolise the budget of the film they're going to watch and who created it. Sometimes followed by a green screen to classify the appropriate age of audience targeted for the film so that audiences are aware if the film is appropriate for them to watch.

A variety of camera shots and angles such as close up shots, and high angles are used to establish characters within the trailer-normally the main character first, and their settings.

Edits such as fade-to-black transitions and jump cuts are used to set pace and flow of the narrative. The black fades are convenient in a horror trailer as the colour black is associated with danger, fear and mystery. However jump-cuts add to the disequilibrium of the narrative which keeps audiences fixed to the screen.

I’ve found that sound effects are crucial in a horror film trailer to create impact associated with the ‘fear factor’ within the audience. In order to adhere to the horror genre, more eerie, supernatural sounds and whispers are used. Similarly Diegetic sound effects such has breathing, or heartbeats enable the audiences to feel apart of the text. As well as Non-diegetic soundtracks which give more flow to the narrative throughout the trailer.

The mise-en-scene of the trailer tend to have variations of high-key and low-key lighting. Diffused shadows and atmospheric pools of light are used to emphasize what’s taking place in the scene. Additionally enigma codes are very common to get the audiences involved with the film trailer, similarly to cliffhangers and open-endings. This technique is used to draw audiences to watch the film.

Generally the title of the film and release date are shown near the end of the trailer for audiences to remember. The trailer consists of a beginning, middle and end. However can’t exceed more than 2:30 seconds. Lastly overlay text is used to either present audiences with information such as the release date, actor/actress names or quotes/dialogue to anchor the film.