There are many genres from which I could chose from, to put together a teaser trailer. I plan to do both primary and secondary research, which will help me produce a teaser trailer of a horror/thriller genre. Last years production of an opening of a psychological thriller has inspired me to go forward with a teaser trailer. I have also become particularly interested in horror/thriller films, a few of the recent ones that I have watched are Hide and Seek, The Unborn, Final Destination and Silent Hill.
Things I have to consider while in the planing and making of the teaser trailer include :-
- AUDIENCE RESEARCH. Research on my potential audience by questionnaires and observation.
- PRODUCT RESEARCH. I will look at teaser trailers to inspire me by looking at the most common conventions of a horror/thriller used to engage its target group.
- REPRESENTATIONAL ISSUES. I plan to use stereotypical representations of the characters that I will use in my teaser trailer.
- NARRATIVE. I will most likely use a non-liner narrative for my teaser trailer. This is because they tend to engage the audience by confusion.
There are other things that I have to consider in order to complete both the ancillary products. I will have to look at the layout and content of film magazines and posters. Theses include the colour, image and text to represent the genre of the film to its target audience.
This is one other reason to why I have decided to make a teaser trailer. The techniques that have been used in the trailer have inspired me to experiment with while in the process of my production. The trailer is off a Stephen King novel called 'It', it is however an old film, but has used the conventions of a horror to engage its targeted audience.
At the beginning of the trailer, the music is a soundtrack of a circus, as a clown is shown, and two children. This creates a more innocent and joyful atmosphere to the film. However, as the trailer continuous the music changes to become more dramatic and continuous to follow the images in shot, this adds a mysterious feel to the narrative. To increase the viewers tension, the use of diegetic sound has also been used, the viewers are able to hear screaming dogs barking.
There are many mid-shots and close-ups used to show the characters facial expressions, this gives the viewers a chance to gain a more characteristic understanding of their emotion either it be, fear or joy. For example, at the beginning of the trailer the viewers are introduced to a little girl by a mid-shot, who is shown to be very innocent and happy as she does not have any problems to worry about. Later on in the trailer close-ups are used to emphasis on the characters fear, the more closely the shot gets, the more the viewers tension increase; this is due to the amount we are being shown, we are made to focus on the image.
Conventions have been used throughout the trailer in order to engage the viewers. A few of them that I would like to experiment with include a shot of the moon resembling the narrative of the film (what might happen next, something that will increase the viewer’s tension, and course a mysterious feel). In this teaser trailer the moon has been used to reflect the characteristics of clown, who seems to have a negative role in this film. Another convection that I would like the experiment with includes sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic. I feel that the sound plays the most important role in horror film, as it creates the atmosphere and keeps the viewers thinking.
