Solo Trailer Review: The Purge

Genre: Gory/ action horror.

What type of trailer: This is a highlights trailer that introduces the characters of the story and the narrative. This trailer has the 'best bits' of the film and this encourages viewers to go and watch the film when it comes to cinemas.

What is good about this trailer: I like the use of the contrapuntal music which is very chorus like with lots of singers, this has connotations of  church and purity which is contrapuntal to the horrific and violet scenes that are happening within the trailer. I also particularly like the blue color design of the trailer as this makes the trailer seem creepy. The low key lighting throughout the trailer makes a form of restricted narration which would appeal to horror fans as it makes the whole trailer seem more horrific and fast paced. I think that the slow happy montage at the start of the trailer is good ad placing the characters and the narrative into a setting that the audience can initially identify with. it is also an interesting juxtaposition with the horror of the trailer.

What is not good about the trailer: I think that the main issue with this trailer is that there is no speech what so ever, this makes the narrative harder to follow and it doesn't allow the audience time to identify with the characters at all. most of all it is frustrating to watch and I felt that the audiences attention would start to wander. I also think that for a gory action horror the trailer did not show any body horror at all and that this would put horror fans off coming to watch the film as the main generic feature of their preferred genre was not shown to them in the trailer.

Score: 5/10 this trailer would not attract fans of the genre because it is frustrating to watch.

Solo Trailer Review: Friday Thirteenth 2009

Genre: Gory Horror

What happens in the trailer: this is a highlights trailer showing the ‘best bits’ of the film. It introduces the characters and backs up generic character conventions such as the final girl and the female victim.  This trailer shows the general plot line as well as the violence and body horror that are within the film.

What is good about the trailer: I think that the slow montage at the start of the trailer sets the scene for the narrative as well as drawing out the tension of the audience. The use of the collision cutting from slow and quiet to loud and fast with the shot of the car going over the camera down the road. I think that this trailer also uses very quick cuts successfully as this raises the heart rate of the audience. I also like the use of the happy music that is parallel to the happy people that just stops just as the true nature of the trailer becomes apparent. This lulls the audience into a false sense of security. I like the way that the trailer counts to thirteen using the victims of Jason, this would be interesting towards fans of the old films as they would feel that they knew what was happening. Fans of the horror genre would also be attracted to this film through the trailer because of the vast amount of body horror and violence that is apparent in the trailer. 

What was bad about the trailer: I think that the trailer takes a long time to get the pace up to the right speed, this may put people off the trailer because they tune out of it before the things that would attract them to the film appear in the trailer. There is also no jump scare so it leaves the audience hanging a bit, there is nothing for them to go away from the trailer with. the trailer also expects the audience to know something about the story by having Jason's mask as the ending image, this would not have the same effect on someone if they knew nothing about the series.

My Score: 7/10 this is a good trailer however which introduces the narrative and genre well however i fear that horror fans would get bored within the start of the trailer as it drags out and people who know nothing about the old series would not understand the trailer completely. 

Solo Trailer Review: Saw 2

Genre:  Gory horror

What happened:  This is a highlights trailer of all of the ‘best bits’ of the film. It introduces the main characters such as the main antagonist and the main victims alongside the general plotline. This shows the horror and violence that is within this film.

What was positive about this trailer: This trailer is very secure in the horror genre the use of quick shots to disorientate the viewer and drag them into the action and chaos of the trailer worked very well; it raised the heart rate and created a sense of chaos for the viewer. This trailer would attract horror fans to see the film as it uses lots of the generic conventions of horror films such as body horror and creepy locations it is also touching on themes such as isolation and the creepiness of the voyeuristic nature of the antagonist. Together I think that these elements are portrayed well in this trailer and therefore this film would instantly appeal to them.

What was negative about this trailer: I personally don’t feel that the use of the blurred words to break up the action worked very well. I understand it is supposed to bring the audience into the narrative of the film however I felt that it just added confusion to the viewer and looked as though there was some sort of editing mistake. The use of the antagonist as the narrator to the trailer did not appeal to me as an audience member as I felt it took away from the serious nature of the film.

Score:   8/10 because I feel that it was a very good trailer that really sold the film well except From the text that it used detracted from the horror as you were trying to read them which distracted you from the violence that was being sold within the film. 

Audience Research 1: Practice Poster

Horror Sub-genre Pie Chart

When we asked the males of the class what their favorite Sub-genre of Horror was the majority of them answered with Gory horror as this sub-genre is marketed at males in particular , the second most popular was psychological as this is the most mainstream style of horror so this is the dub-genre that most people come into contact with.

when we asked the females of the class what their favorite sub-genre of Horror was the majority of them answered with Psychological horror as this was the one that was most main stream and marketed towards women. Gory horror scored no votes what so ever this is probably because they are marketed towards men rather than women. 

Action horror scored low votes in both of the things as it is more of a niche style of horror, it tends to attract more sci-fi fans. It did score identically in both male and female votes suggesting that it would be 50/50 in gender preference. 

Class Trailer Review: Day of The Dead (1985)

Genre: Gory Horror

My Mark: 1/ 10 

What happened in the trailer: it was a highlights trailer of all of the 'best bits' of the film, it introduced the main characters and the general plot line but it intersected this with clips of a zombie sitting in the cinema watching the film with lots of people eating popcorn. 

What was positive about the trailer: The trailer was trying to branch out to a wider audience by trying to make the trailer funny as it would maybe attract comedy genre fans to come and watch the film. I can understand that this trailer was trying to be original and it did stick in the minds of everyone who watched the trailer though it was mainly the zombie in the cinema that people would remember. 

What was negative about the trailer: This is one of the most gory horror films made and it was the most gory at the time, however the trailer contained no gore what so ever so fans of the genre would have chosen not to go and watch the film it would have put them off. The style of the trailer made the film seem trashy so fans of the auteur George A Romero would have been really disappointed by this. It makes the plot of the film seem disconnected and boring which it inst, this is made far worse by forcing the audience to watch people watching the film, and those people seem bored by the film as well, it gives extremely negative connotations for the film and puts you off before you even think about going to see it. There is a Cheesy voice over through the trailer and this makes it seem like a comedy once again detracting from the goriest horror of the year. Finally there was no jump scare at the end of the trailer which is almost always needed with a horror trailer as it reinforces it for horror fans, whereas this trailer just seemed to peter out at the end leaving the audience feeling bored and confused. 

Average Score: 2 because it didn't contain any generic features of the horror genre and would have put off George A Romero's fans. 

Class Trailer Review: "Don't Be Afraid of the Dark"

  Average score: 8/10

Best comments:
Liked jump scare.
Good camera work.
Edited well.
Love the setting.
The end was great.
Lots of camera shots and angles.

To be improved:
The font was too bubbly
The music doesn't fit - too loud.
Don't like the font.

Our Stereotypical fan

NAME: Clara Reece-Smith

JOB: Lab Technician (Analyst)

LIKES: Super heroes, crime fiction, paintball, misfits, shopping, cosplay, baking, and comedy films

DISLIKES: Racism, sexism, liars, pigs, bananas

LIFE STORY: Growing up in a town Clara was exposed to all the normal things in life, following the norms of her group of friends she watched all the latest films and listened to only the most popular music. Due to her older brother making her watch sci-fi when she was young she developed a love for cosplay and super heroes, as she grew up this love developed into a passion for psychological action horror films.

DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE: Age 27, B1, White British female.

PSYCHOGRAPHIC PROFILE: Reformer, aspirer, (semi) mainstreamer

FAVOURITE FILMS MIGHT INCLUED: Batman, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Watchmen, V for Vendetta, Session 9 

Class trailer review: 'Cloverfield'

Film: Cloverfield (2008)

Genre: Action Horror

Your Mark: 6/10

What happened in the trailer:

This is a scene trailer from the start of the film where thee characters are putting on a leaving party for their friends, it is all being filmed on a film camera so it is all hand held. The party is then interrupted by a loud thunderous noise so they all go to the roof, only to watch new york start to be blown up, we then watch the characters scramble to escape into the building and onto the road just before the head of the statue of liberty is blown into the road.

What positive aspects of this trailer would you like to use?

I like the enigma that drives this trailer with the ending, as audiences don’t ever see what is blowing new york up, this enigma keeps audiences thinking about the film after the trailer has ended and more likely to go to the film. Because it is filmed with a film camera a hand held camera it makes the audience feel like they are the one holding the camera and this draws them into the narrative effectively. At the end of the trailer I particularly like the use of Dramatic irony when the man say’s ‘it’s going to be a good night’ when as the audience we know that it isn’t going to be. I think that this was a very bold move by the producer as a jump scare is more typical of the horror genre however I think that this is more memorable and entertaining.

What negative aspects of this trailer would you avoid using?

I think that one of the things that were disappointing about the trailer was as a horror trailer the audience would be expecting the generic feature of some sort of gore, however there is no gore and no suggestion of gore at all in the trailer and this might put of horror fans from this film. The beginning of the film was a little bit slow with a bit too much emphasis on the introduction of characters rather than selling the film and its plot.  I personally also found the jerkiness of the handheld camera quite disorientating and sickening, this made the trailer hard to watch therefore audiences are more likely to turn off and forget about the film therefore making the trailer unsuccessful.

What was the trailers average score, why:

7.5 because although it was a strong trailer with a good enigma, the characters were interesting and engaging however  I personally feel the trailer did nor feature enough of the generic horror conventions for  horror fans to be excited about the film and want to go and see it. 

Film Trailer Reviews 'Evil Dead'

Tile: Evil Dead remake (2013)

Genre of trailer: Gory Horror (red band trailer)  

Your mark after viewing: 8/10

What happened in the trailer:

This trailer is a highlights teaser trailer that shows lots of parts of the film, it presents the main characters and the general plot line without giving away the complete narrative. It cuts between scenes that come from  different parts of the film showing the ‘best bits’.

What positive aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer:

The music was extremely effective in this the beat sounds like a heartbeat and increases in speed throughout the trailer raising the heartbeat of the audience, this pumps adrenalin into the audience and makes them respond to the trailer well. The fast cutting between scenes and shots creates a sense of panic and mania and this was carried across well in the trailer. This also meant that the pacing felt right as it didn't feel rushed but it didn't feel slow. The gore was well done with the right amount to anchor this trailer into the horror genre but not enough to spoil the film for gory horror fans. The dialogue was also well used as it helped the audience understand the narrative of the film but also pushed the trailer along in pace.

What negative aspects do you think you would avoid in your trailer:

As the trailer progressed it became slightly samey with the amount of gore and the narrative, although it was a gory horror it suggested that the gore was the same through the film and this may have put off some gory horror fans. In some places the gore seemed over the top as well like when they are chain sawing the blood is going everywhere and looks orange in color this makes it a little bit unrealistic.

Trailers average score:

  8.5 because overall it was a well-rounded horror that catered to the demands of its target audience who would have seen the generic features of their favorite type of film and been interested in going to watch it even if in places it was a bit similar and over the top.