Solo Trailer Review (3)

Name of Film: Saw III
Genre of Trailer: Horror/ Gore/ Mystery
Year released: 2006
My Mark: 10/10

What happened in the trailer?

The trailer shows short shots of various people in distress and being tortured in one of Jigsaws ‘games’. The intertitles also show some quotes from the bible and things like ‘For I have spoken’ as Jigsaw refers to himself as God, as he decides who lives and who dies.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The trailer is very quick paced and is continuous without a boring moment. This is through a quick montage of shots, lasting no longer than 2 seconds and flashing to black every now and then. The intertitles used are very applicable to the film as they are dark and grungy like most settings for the film. The screaming and torment of Jigsaws victims is constant throughout the trailer, which reflects the narrative and makes it very clear that the film is strongly connected to horror and gore. Very dingy and low key lighting is used to create the eerie atmosphere, which unsettles the audience.
I also like the slower ending of Jigsaw’s doll talking, to then jump scare to a scream.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The trailer leaves a lot of the narrative open, which could confuse some viewers that weren’t aware it was a teaser trailer. This could disappoint the audience as it doesn’t illustrate the plot but more the themes and genre of the film.

Solo Trailer Review (2)

Name of Film: Mama
Genre of Trailer: Horror
Year released: 2013
My Mark: 8/10

What happened in the trailer?

The trailer explains the story of 2 young girls, which lived in a cabin for 5 years allegedly alone. They were actually looked after a supernatural being called ‘Mama’. They were discovered and then taken in by their uncle. The trailer then appears to what be a fight between the girls’ family and Mama trying to regain her ‘children’.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The music is very dramatic but silences when there is important dialogue to explain the narrative. The intertitles used also fill the gaps of the story, which isn’t explained in the video. They also match the woodlands where the girls were found and reflect their broken family with the cracks in the walls. There is a quick montage of short shots towards the end to contrast with the longer a slower paced ones in the first half of the trailer. This montage then collision cuts to a slow shot of the girls and then ‘Mama’ flies towards the screen for a jump scare ending.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The trailer is very long and quite slow paced which could bore some audiences. It also reveals a lot of the narrative and therefore lacks the need to find out what its all about.

Solo Trailer Review (1)

Name of Film: The Woman in Black
Genre of Trailer: Drama/ Horror/ Thriller
Year released: 2012
My Mark: 9/10

What happened in the trailer?

The trailer shows the house where the women in black lives and vaguely explains the plot by showing the village, near the house which is parted by marshes. The children in the village are scared and the parents are grieving or protecting their children. It also shows the life of the women in black before she dies and hints towards revenge and that something happened to her son.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The music at the beginning of the trailer is low and ghost like which builds tension, ready for the drama of the trailer to erupt. The song that then plays in trailer, said by a little girl relates to the story and explains the narration. The shots also change in time with the beat of the music, which correlates the trailer. This happens in the majority of the trailer but specifically when the town is being shown with the children and parents, this builds tension/suspense as it is at a casual pace, making you believe something is about to happen. The trailer doesn’t give much of the narration away but loosely explains who the woman in black is. There is also good use of collision cutting where the shots change in length, making the trailer more dramatic. This is seen in between the shots of the toys and horse and carriage where it cuts to a steady handheld shot which lasts longer than the quicker flashes of the toys.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The trailer turns silent at the end for some final credits which makes the audience feel like there will be a jump scare, however there isn’t which leaves the audience ‘hanging’. I think the trailer could be improved by a jump scare ending. There are also a lot of shots of musical ornaments and moving toys, although they are creepy and brilliant to relate to the woman in blacks house, I think a better variety of shots would hold its audience better.

Class Trailer Review (3)

Name of Film: The Pusher Trilogy
Genre of Trailer: Horror/ Crime/ Drugs
Year released: 2005
My Mark: 7/10

What happened in the trailer?
The trailer shows groups of shots, which hint towards death and sexual activity. The main dialogue seen is about drugs and what appears to be different ‘gangs’ in rivalry.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
A lot of quick sequences are used which then cut to quotes on screen to collision cut and speed up the pace. These quick shots reveal a lot of sex, drugs and violence and therefore are most likely the main themes of the film but the trailer doesn’t reveal much about the plot. The rhythm of the music speeds up and slows down to match he cuts in action which makes the trailer quite dramatic.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
Some of the quick montages are possibly too quick and could be slightly slower to be clearer of what is happening. This causes confusion to the narrative, which could also be made clearer.

What was the average score in class? Why did it receive that mark?
The average score was 8 as it compacts a lot of shots into a short and fast paced trailer, which is a genuine reflection of the films.

Class Trailer Review (2)

Name of Film: Day of the Dead
Genre of Trailer: Horror/ Mystery
Year released: 1985
My Mark: 5/10

What happened in the trailer?
The trailer soon reveals that film is about a ‘zombie apocalypse’ and about warning the world and explaining their instincts and actions to protect the remaining humans.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The storyline is made very clear in the trailer as the voice over and dialogue explains the narrative well. The zombies make up and effects are good and ‘realistic’. The trailer also links to the ‘day’ in the title of the film which also relates back to ‘night’ and ‘dawn’.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The trailer falsely advertises the film as it sells the film as comedic whereas the film is actually very gory and horrific but the trailer doesn’t show any body horror. The trailer is also very slow and doesn’t have an obvious change in pace and would be improved with a fast ending. The voice over explaining the plot is quite annoying and cheap.

What was the average score in class? Why did it receive that mark?
The average score was 4.5, this was because the trailer is slow and therefore gets boring and disinteresting. The voice over was also mutually disliked.

Class Trailer Review (1)

Name of Film: Evil Dead
Genre of Trailer: Horror/ Gore
Year released: 2013
My Mark: 9/10

What happened in the trailer?

A group of friends go away to a cabin in a woodland area. One of the friends called Mia thinks she is possessed by a demon. The friends then fight to stop her killing them.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
There is collision cutting throughout including slow to quick, with flashes of action and sound fx to accompany them. The music fits the trailer well and adds to the dramatic narrative. The intertitles are also nice and short to fill in the story line but are effective through the quick flashes. The trailer contains genuinely horrific shots, for example the female cutting her tongue and Mias’ eyes when she is possessed.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The trailer is very long (2 minutes and a half) and therefore reveals a lot of the plot, which may cause a lack of surprise within the film and ruin the ‘want’ to watch the film.  The use of less body horror could improve the trailer as it would intrigue the audience more and leave more new scenes for the actual film.

What was the average score in class? Why did it receive that mark?
The average score was 8.6 because it used intertitles and music very effectively and it suited the trailer and plot. It was also given this mark as it used plenty of collision cutting keep the audience interested.

Class Poster Idea

Class Research: Favourite Type of Horror

My personal favourite horror film genres would be gore and psychological. I enjoy body horror within horror films, as it is a new genre, which is developing and becoming more extreme with pushing the boundaries. I enjoy a psychological horror film as well because within this genre of horror, the majority of the time the film holds a clever and intricate narrative, which interests me and makes it more exciting than a typical scary film. I also like a psychological horror as they can mess with your own ideas and realist mind.

A stereotypical psychological/gore horror fan

Description:
Name: Ruth
Job: Teacher
Likes: Sport, horror films, cooking.
Dislikes: Government.
Lifestyle: Feminist whose life ambition is to give children a better education.

Demographic:
Age: 25
Race: White British
Social: B1 (professional teacher)
Gender: Female

Psychographic: Reformer which is someone who wants to change the world and this works well with the interest of horror films as they portray strong opinions and usually a strong female character. An example of a strong female character is Ana from Dawn of the Dead 2004.

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