Horror Trailer Analysis

 ‘American Horror Story: Coven (2013)’,

This is not a full length trailer as it’s a teaser trailer but still conveys a lot of horror conventions and attributes. The teaser is 30 seconds long which gives very limited time to portray the show as watchable and has no voice over, only music, by the choice of having no voice over this means the characters aren’t introduced by name or purpose and can only be seen. The teaser could’ve probably been improved if a voiced over was used, but the soundtrack (House of the Rising Sun – Lauren O’Connell) worked well with the setting to create an intriguing establishment of the show, the use of indie music makes the entrance of the characters melodic but the conventional imagery suggests otherwise with demonic symbols and imagery suggesting witchcraft and voodoo. Another element that was well portrayed to be considered is the establishing shots of a large house, gated, protected, with a large cult-like crowd walking in with people watching them from windows. The main thing that could’ve dramatically changed the trailer would’ve been the introduction of characters, though you do see the main characters entering the house, looking out of the house and standing high above the others, you learn next to nothing about them other than to interpret who they are by which they are seen doing. Although the teaser was shorter than most they displayed horror conventions quite quickly, the demonic symbolism insinuated a ‘Coven’ of witchcraft; the symbolism is shown on the ceiling of the house and the use of a man-bull opening its eyes. Another convention used was witchery itself as it shows woman floating outside the house, cats and black clothing. The trailer used music to establish the mood of the show by using the genre of indie music and the lyrics in the song chosen fit the plot very well about being ‘one of them’, the song chosen is quite slow but gives the trailer a modern sense. The trailer also stuck to the conventions of a trailer as it established the main placement of the TV series.

Carrie (2013)

 My second trailer is ‘Carrie (2013)’, the trailer used the build up effect which makes the trailer more intense as it progresses, which captures the audiences attention very quickly but had a very slow start which made it less appealing to the viewer. I liked the use of inter-titles with the voice over together as they establish the plot and story quickly, the fading used on the inter-titles however make it less dramatic and softer than it should be for a horror movie trailer. I disliked the choice in music as it was very slow and when the scenes picked up in pace the music rarely did, it was harsher but did not fully make it as impactful as it could’ve been. I feel that the music would’ve made a dramatic change to the trailer if it has become faster as it would’ve been easier to watch and would’ve portrayed the movie as more of a horror than a romance. The trailer portrayed horror quite easily by showing Carrie covered in blood and her violent outbursts from the famous prom scene, to counter this it was showing her in a much more lit scene making her prom dress with relaxing music on in the background. It was evident that the trailer was for a horror because of the tension building short shots at the end, a common shot list used to introduce horror movies intentions and characters fates. In this trailer it uses most of its time to introduce the characters in depth, a typical convention for a full time trailer. By using most of the time to do this it helps to further the plot and understanding of the mindset Carrie has.

The Woman in Black (2012)

My third trailer is ‘The Woman in Black (2012)’, this trailer used creepy and high pitched music to create an atmosphere to fit the film, and the music included music box chimes and a spike towards the end when the pace built up. The trailer also had a child voicing over while showing establishing shots and old fashioned toys. As a result of the voice over and creepy music it was effectively able to catch your attention and make it memorable. At the beginning of the trailer there is complete silence which is very uncomfortable for the viewer and because of the lack of character introduction Daniel Radcliffe’s character seemed out of place and wasn’t really explained, this made it very vague and this may make it confusing for the audience. I feel the lack of information about the main character may have been a big mistake and could’ve made the trailer better in the long run. The trailer portrayed the horror genre very well through conventions such as jump scares towards the end, a subtle hint at the supernatural and even including children. The main conventions for the trailer would be the huge amount of establishing shots to set the scene for the movie, the spike in the music and the fast paced shots towards the end, by using these they have successfully established the trailer and the horror movie setting.