Top 5 Things In a Horror Teaser Trailer
When making a teaser trailer a lot of content is needed to make it not only professional but affective as well. We want to entice the audience and persuade them to take interest in our movie. There are a lot of factors that affect a successful teaser trailer many of them are not deadly important but are still needed to make it as successful as possible. We wrote a list of all the different factors that need to be added and put together an audience review of what they though was the top five, from this we analysed the top five and experimented with them to make our horror affective.
We established from the audience questionnaire all of the different factors various people thought made the teaser trailer:
- Soundtrack - Dialogue
- Hints of the plot
- Lighting
- Characters
- Title, Text, font
- Variety of shots
- Jump scares
- Structure and pace of Editing
- Object of fear
- Iconic weapon
- Climax
- Tagline
- Use of silence
- Sense of audience
- Setting
- Sense of narrative
We looked Through all answers and found out how many people gave the same reply. From this we analysed the top five and picked teaser trailers which each conveyed one of the top five, we then determined what parts we could use within our horror.
We established from the audience questionnaire all of the different factors various people thought made the teaser trailer:
- Soundtrack - Dialogue
- Hints of the plot
- Lighting
- Characters
- Title, Text, font
- Variety of shots
- Jump scares
- Structure and pace of Editing
- Object of fear
- Iconic weapon
- Climax
- Tagline
- Use of silence
- Sense of audience
- Setting
- Sense of narrative
We looked Through all answers and found out how many people gave the same reply. From this we analysed the top five and picked teaser trailers which each conveyed one of the top five, we then determined what parts we could use within our horror.
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1- Structure and Pace of Editing
Our research suggested that structure of pace and editing is the most important factor in a horror trailer. This factor is what sets the entire atmosphere for both the trailer and gives the audience a taste for a horror film. A good example of this being used is in the trailer "Oculus". In the "Oculus" trailer there is a a big focus on the suspenseful aspect of the film. It is structured in that the action parts of the movie are placed at the start of the trailer. This is effective as the structure sets the trailer up to show all the best and most gripping parts of the movie. We took this into account and are looking to convey the "oculus" trailer within our own by using the quick flowing shots which in our case will be of the zombies tearing, chasing and eating survivors of the apocalypse. |
2- Soundtrack- Dialogue
Our analysis and research conveyed that the soundtrack and dialogue within a teaser trailer was the second most important factor. This factor again like the structure and pace sets the almost eerie atmosphere to a trailer and can add to tension and suspense as the soundtrack often builds up to some sort of jump scare or action scene. An example of a successful soundtrack is the 2013 film "Sinister" where the almost heart beat sounding track booms over the top of the the quick running shots building suspense, which is then ended with a loud noise revealing a picture/shot of the spirit within the film. We think this would be effective to use at the end of our trailer. We have had an idea to have a re occurring shot of a picture of a human and a zombie with a soundtrack similar to the one used in sinister building tension and fear in the viewer and then ending it with the loud sounding climax to the soundtrack where a zombie pops in front of the camera. We think the soundtrack is key in this idea as it builds to the suspense of the jump scare and makes it as successful in scaring the viewer as possible. |
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3- Lighting
Our research into this category suggested that it was the third most important factor to consider when making a teaser trailer. The reason we deemed lighting so important is because it is critical in setting the tone for a horror. Lighting can be used in so many various effective ways such as causing unease and hiding a potential threat. We chose Annabelle as a good example lighting being used effectively because with the correct lighting, something as seemingly innocent as a childs doll is turned into something sinister and creepy. The lighting sets an overal erie feeling throughout the trailer. The lack of being able to see what exactly may be lurking in the darkness leaves the audience expeting and anticipating something shocking or frightening. And as suggested by many horror experts, anticipation is the key to horror. |
4- Variety of Shots
Variety of shots is important in a horror because the type of shots and camera angles used in is what determins the entire veiwer experience. The camera shots depicts exactly what the audience can see, so anything that is relevant for the experience/atnosphere of the scene needs to be visible within the shot. This idea of a shot containing what is important is especially important when trying to show the facial expressions of the characters. Facial expressions are very important in setting the mood/tone of the scene. As well as this, the camera shots play a big part in revelaing the enemy/threat that is encountered in the horror. Since the introduction of the threat is such a big part of a horror production, the use of shots need to be used effectively. The reason we chose Jessabelle for our exa,ple is because we believe it is a good display of how camera shots can be used to effectively and give the audeince a really good sense of the atnosphere and what is going on. For example the shot where Jesabelle is joined by the Yuri in the bath is a mid-shot. This gives the audience a clear view of both Jesabelle and the Yuri. This is excellent as you can see the shock and reaction of Jesabelle, meanwhile the audience is also suprised at the apparence of this creature. |
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5- Sense of Narrative
the fifth and final thing that our group agreed to be one of the most important factors in a horror trailer is a sense of narrative. we believe that the narrative is sonmething our group should focus on trying hard to portray in our horror trailer because it is one of the essential parts of any film that interests the audience. A films plot or narratve is one of the first and main things that everyone looks for when making an initial judgment on the quality of a film. If the narrative does not interest or appeal to the audience member, then the film will not be considerd worth watching. We chose World War Z
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