I have looked at how i have managed to use the forms and conventions of real horror teaser trailers by comparing shots from my own teaser trailer and a number of real horror teaser trailers. I have learnt that using a variety of shots including close-ups and different angles if low, high or canted dramatically allow an audience to identify the genre of horror and develop the high tense reactions of being scared and jumping out of someones seat.
My Horror Teaser Trailer Stills
Originally uploaded by Wayne369
Originally uploaded by Wayne369
Top left still- This shot of "Bloody Mary" slowly travelling down the stairs with inserting jump cuts gives an eerie feeling and sense of mystery of who the person is, through the use of a silhouette. We decided to take this shot from a low angle to make her look as a dominant force and used the light in the backgorund for her to stand out within the shot. By having her far away this allows us to barely see who it is and create more mystery. The audience will want to know where the unknown person is going and who is potentially the next victim.
Top centre still- This is a shot where someone has been hung and we see the legs swinging with a church appearing in the background . We took this shot from a low angle to make it seem as though the "monster" is looking up at the victim she has murdered and to add the church in for increased horror reinforcement. This shot has been used to create mystery to who the person killed is. The use of a church follows a well known horror location.
Top right still- I feel this shot is successful as it is attempting to show the victim to be innocent and vulnerable. We decided to take this shot from a slightly high angle to show her innocence and fear of where the "monster" is. We also chose it to be a close up because this allows the audience to relate with her struggles to escape the "monster". The low key lighting follows a generic horror convention and helps to add to her vulnerability of not knowing where the "monster" is.
Centre left still- This shot of a flashing light connotes an unstable atmosphere. We also don't know what has caused the lights to flicker on. As the shot has been taken from a canted angle it reinforces back to the beginning of the trailer in the toilets and also reinforces the unstable atmosphere. As we took it from an extreme low angle, the shot gives no indication on the location of the flashing lights or how they relate to what it means in relationship to the storyline.
Centre still- This shot in the girls toilets allows us to see what the character is seeing in the mirror and is shot from the point of view of the "monster". This is an over the shoulder shot. We decided to do this type of shot because we found that real horror teaser trailers use this shot for scenes that included mirrors and we felt it was the only way to portray the characters' reaction to having blood on her face effectively. It also creates confusion for the audience with her having blood on her face.
Centre right still- This low angle close up shot tilts up the body of "Bloody Mary" to her face and we see her tears of blood. It shows her dominance and control in the story and sinister look suggests she is about to commit more evil. The tears of blood create a relationship as we see the girl in the toilets at the beginning of the teaser trailer with tears of blood after she chants "Bloody Mary" three times and there are tears of blood on "Bloody Mary" herself.
Bottom left still- This is a shot taken from a high angle of a victim being dragged round the corner. The use of blood allows the audience to see that the victim has been seriously hurt by the "monster". We decided not to use an extreme close up in this shot as we wanted to show that the victim was being dragged around the corner and didn't want to do a further distanced shot as it would give away too much of the location therefore compromising the element of mystery that we tried to run through the whole trailer. By darkening the shot by lowering brightness and altering the contrast this makes the shot more disturbing. We also took the shot from a side angle so the audience can't see where the victim is being taken away too.
Bottom centre still- Through this shot we are following another victim running away. By shooting at the feet this increases the hidden mystery about where the "monster" is and who the victim actually is. By having the shot as handheld this could create the impression on the audience that the "monster" is chasing the victim. We decided to shoot fairly close in so the victim couldn't be identified so we don't know who the "monster" is targeting. It also creates a sense of panic and the audience will want the victim to escape from the clutches of the "monster".
Bottom right still- This shot encapsulates the victims vulnerability and is heightened through the use of location as a confined space that is unknown. We used a low angle shot to clearly show her vulnerability and fear of the "monster". We chose to do a medium shot here so the audience can see where she is moving. We also used low key lighting to make the atmosphere and loaction feel more eerie and sinister.
Real Teaser Trailer Stills
Originally uploaded by Wayne369
Originally uploaded by Wayne369
Top left still- I have used a very similar shot to this in my own teaser trailer taken from Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). The use of a dark and dingy stairway produces a silhouette of the "monster" and doesn't allow us to see exactly who it is. The shot has been taken from a low angle to reinforce the "monster's" dominance and control over the victim. Again, like in my teaser trailer you can not clearly see who the "monster" is and there is the hidden mystery of who it is.
Top centre still- A very similar shot i have used from Drag Me to Hell (2009), shows the victim having no knowledge on the whereabouts of the "monster". Taken from a high angle we can see the innocence in her eyes. We can clearly see their vulnerability and the dark background makes the character stand out in the shot and focus on her facial expression.
Top right still- This shot from Drag Me to Hell (2009) shows the "monster" staring at her future victim. The extreme close up on the top half of her face allows us to fully see the darkness in her eyes and that she is potentially about to cause evil acts. Also it being a low angle shot connotes her power and control over the victim.
Centre left still- This shot is like the girls toilet shot in my teaser trailer. We are able to see how she is reacting to seeing herself in the mirror and puts across a true reflection of how she is feeling. The over shoulder shot could indicate the point of view of the "monster" that we both cannot see. We as the audience most probably feel that the "monster" will come from the darkness to the right of her in the mirror.
Centre still- The light in this shot, like ours attempts to establish a feeling of an unstable atmosphere. We don't know why it has come on or who put it on. Once again it appears to imply that the audience doesn't know how it was turned on or who did. As the shot is from a low angle this may indicate that the victim/s are looking up at it trapped and no way out from the "monster".
Centre right still- This shot taken from the teaser trailer "Eye" shows the levitating legs of someone who appears to be dead, floating around. By just showing the legs, we don't know who this person is and therefore why they have been killed. We can see from the shot distance that has purposefully not been done as a close up the location of a corridor, most likely in a building. The camera shot is at level with the feet so we can see that the person is actually levitating as it wouldn't create this effect from a high angle.
Bottom left still- This shot of running legs is effective like in our shot as it creates a sense of panic towards the victim. It also feels like this is the point of view of the "monster" chasing the victim, looking down at the feet. Although this shot is more on level with the victims' legs it still creates the similar effect that is desired of suspense and panic of being caught.
Bottom centre still- Here we see the victim looking around herself as she doesn't know where the "monster" is. For the audience it creates an impression of insecurity on herself and that she could be taken away by the "monster" at any moment. By using a low angle it connotes her innocence and vulnerability and even her weakness in the situation. It creates fear on the audience as we can't see what she is looking at.
Bottom right still- The victim is crawling away in this shot and works effectively as we can't see where the "monster" may come from as it is a dark room which works well in a horror film. The camera is down at ground level with her so we can closely relate with her battle for survival to get away to safety. Also by having the camera down at her level we can see as the audience what may appear behind her and her actual location.
As a whole for my horror teaser trailer i have tried to make it as coherent and smooth flowing as possible without giving too much away about the narrative. Throughout the teaser trailer we decided upon inserting a subtle zoom on every shot to make each shot run smoothly with each other and compliment with the soundtrack and slow zooming in, inter-titles. We included fades between certain shots to definatively show passage of time which is done with real horror teaser trailers. With a mixture of shot angles and mainly close up shots this shows that the product conforms with the real products themselves. We also made sure that we used darkness as a running theme through most of the shots however, the use of exterior shots didn't use this and challenged real media products.
This is good but you don't explain about camera angles, canting, shot distances in your analysis - all of which are very important in the stills you have chosen. Also, you focus on horror genre conventions but you also need to explore your product AS A TEASER TRAILER - have a look at the work we did on the conventions of trailers and write some analysis of you text in the light of that, at the bottom of your post.
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