Class Poster Idea

Solo Trailer Review 4: "The Purge"

The Purge/ 2013/ Thriller

Plot:

Set in America in the future, crime and unemployment is extremely low and they seem to have the perfect world, because of one night called ‘The Purge’. This is where the citizens can get rid of all their anger and hatred by committing whatever crime they want without getting in trouble. All emergency services are turned off and everyone is left to do whatever they please for 12 hours.

What did you like about it?

Normally I don’t find contrapuntal music very affective when it comes to horror films but I think it worked really well in this trailer, giving it a little bit of a humorous twist and an eerie feel. I also thought the intertitles worked really well, especially when they shook on the screen.

What didn’t you like about it?

I found this trailer a bit too long, especially the start as it wasn’t scary at all. I prefer trailers that get straight into the scary parts without establishing the movie plot too much. I didn’t like the fact that this trailer showed a lot of one scene from the film, especially as it was quite an important part of the film, I think it should have been left a secret as it would have been a lot more shocking watching the movie.

My Score:

5

Solo Trailer Review 3: "House at the end of the street"

House at the end of the street/ 2012/ Psychological & Action Horror

Plot:

A mum and a daughter move into a house in a wooded area where a young man also lives just a few hundred metres away. His parents were killed by his younger sister and he is seen as the ‘outcast’ of the town but the young girl starts talking to him and they become friends, but after a while she finds out that he is actually the psychopath, not his younger sister.

What did you like about it?

I like how this was both a scene trailer and a highlights trailer as this really got the full story of the movie across without ruining the excitement and plot twists. I also liked the balance of audio to the background music as you were able to hear what people were talking about in the trailer, and I think this is crucial to understand the film as it is quite complex. One thing I really loved about this, was around halfway through, they used some really cool and hypnotising transitions between shots, making it go back and forth and look very jumpy. This was a great way to break up the trailer and get across to the audience that it is a very complex film without again giving too much away. Finally, I found the quick montage towards the end really exciting but scary at the same time, not only were they showing the audience that this was an action horror (as well as a psychological horror), they were able to make it scary through clever editing techniques and a good use of low key lighting and collision cutting.

What didn't you like about it?

I thought this trailer was outstanding, but the only problem I had with it was I think it was too long. I think it was important to have a long trailer for this film so the audience could see exactly what the complex film was about, but towards the end it felt like I was actually watching the movie, not the trailer.

My score:

9

Solo Trailer Review 2: "The Woman in Black"

The Woman in Black/ 2011/ Psychological Horror

Plot:

In a rural village there is a haunted house run by a ghostly woman wearing black. Every time someone visits the house she lives in, a child in the village dies. Daniel Radcliffe goes into the house to sort out some paperwork and whilst he is there, he becomes haunted by the woman and more children in the village are killed.

What did you like about it?

Throughout the trailer there were loads of cool and unusual camera angles that made the house look a lot spookier and more powerful than the characters. There was also a lot of low key lighting used to highlight the dangers of the house and to give the trailer an eerie feel about it. The location is great and I think the haunted house is perfect for this film as it creates a sense of fear and feeling trapped just by looking at it. Finally I loved the quick montage towards the end of all the action and I think this really gave a true representation of the film without giving too much away.

What didn’t you like about it?

I thought the beginning of the trailer took too long and was quite dull, and could have easily been cut down to a 1 minute trailer or more action could have happened at the start to make the trailer more interesting, but apart from that it was a great trailer.

My Score:

9

Solo Trailer Review 1 "Paranormal Activity"

Paranormal Activity/ 2009/ Psychological Horror

Plot:

A young American couple living on their own discover weird and unusual things happening in the house. They set up cameras in certain rooms to try and document the unusual things. As the film goes on we discover that they’re actually being haunted by the supernatural.

What did you like about it?

I like how in the trailer, they actually showed a real audience’s reaction to the film, showing us that the film is genuinely scary and it was a very new way of creating a trailer. I also liked how the trailer really got across the spookiness of the film with all the fast-paced shots with low key lighting, making it look like anything could happen at any minute, creating lots of suspense.

What didn't you like about it?

I thought the trailer was a bit too vague and didn’t show too much of the film and this in turn left me feeling a bit confused as to what was actually happening in the film. And although I really liked how they showed a real audience reaction to the film, I think there should have been a lot less of this and the trailer should have focused more on the film itself, not the audiences reaction as the audience didn’t make me feel scared at all and I think it ruined the flow of the trailer a little bit.

My Score:

6

Class Trailer Review 4 "Grave Encounters"

Grave Encounters/ 2011/ Psychological Horror

Plot:

A camera crew lock themselves inside ‘the most haunted building in North America’ and they try and capture different paranormal sights on camera. After a while they realise that the building is actually haunted and one by one they all go missing until the last person is trapped in there forever.

What did you like about it?

I love horror films that try and document different mysterious events that go on through everyday life like Paranormal Activity and Sinister, and this is exactly what this film is about and you can see this clearly through the clever editing techniques of the trailer. When a lot of the footage is captured through a handheld camera, it makes the film look a lot more convincing and it tricks the audience into thinking that they’re actually in the film. I also liked the use of low key lighting in most of the night time shots as it adds mystery into the scene because you never know what could be hiding in the dark.

What didn’t you like about it?

I found the sound effects in this trailer to be a bit over the top and amateurish. It didn’t go well with what was happening on the screen and I felt like that ruined the trailer as it didn’t make me feel scared and I imagine a lot of people would think the same. Also, after watching the film, I know that at the start the camera team are trying to scare the audience on purpose but actually end up getting haunted themselves, but I don’t think the trailer portrayed that very well and it didn’t show the true context of the film.

My Score:

5

Class Score:

6

Class Trailer Review 3 "Evil Dead"

Evil Dead/ 2013/ Gory & Psychological Horror

Plot:

A group of 5 teenagers go to a cabin in the woods where they discover a haunted book which summons evil demons that live within the woods. All are killed until one is left to fight away the demons.

What did you like about it?

When the text comes up on the screen, it doesn’t all come up at once, but instead it goes in time with the sound effects which adds a dramatic effect to the whole trailer creating suspense. I also like how cross cutting is used between the creepy girl telling her friend that they need to leave and her trying to escape. This shows us a lot of the film without giving too much away but leaving the audience with a vague idea about what is going on. Finally, I found the scary voice the girl used very effective. It makes the audience feel very uneasy and literally makes them shudder which is the whole point of making a horror film.

What didn’t you like about it?

Because I’m not much of a gory horror fan, I found all the gore a bit over the top and unnecessary. This is just my opinion and I reckon a lot of people will disagree with me, especially if they’re gory horror fans. If it was me making this trailer, I would have used a more subtle approach to the gore and maybe focused more on the psychological side to the trailer.

My score:

8

Class score:

8

Class Trailer Review 2 "30 Days of Night"

30 Days of Night/ 2007/ Action Horror

Plot:

In Alaska, there is a certain time where there is no daylight for 30 days and it is constantly dark, this is when a group of vampires attack the villages to feed.

What did you like about it?

In most trailers, they start off slow and gradually build up the suspense, but this trailer did it the other way around. At the start there is a bit where a vampire jumps through a window, and through the use of collision cutting, it makes the audience jump which automatically gains their attention so they have their eyes fixed on the screen throughout the whole trailer. I really like how this was used as it is a good way to get across the nature of the film, and it all happened within the first 5 seconds. I also liked the text that was used in between shots. It got across the whole film without taking up too much time or using any dialogue.

What didn’t you like about it?

I didn’t like the editing techniques that were used because between every shot, there was a fade to black which made the trailer seem really long and it was quite hard to focus on the different shots as they were only on the screen for around a second so it all looked a bit messy. I also found that the different shots added together made the trailer rather boring and a lot of the shots were a bit unnecessary.

My Score:

5

Class Score:

7

Class Trailer Review 1: "Cloverfield"

Cloverfield/ 2008/ Action Horror

Plot:

A group of people throw a surprise party for someone in a New York apartment when they hear a loud bang outside and the floor moves. They go out to inspect and notice there is a large explosion in the distance so they all try and evacuate but when they get onto the road, objects start flying their way.

What did you like about it?

I like how the trailer doesn’t give away too much information. In a lot of horror trailers, like the conjuring for example, they include too much of the film and too many scary scenes so when you actually watch the film, you’ve already seen the scariest parts. When the explosion goes off in the trailer, it lets your mind wander as it could be a number of things like aliens, natural causes or terrorists. It makes the audience curious as to what is happening and therefore they will most likely want to see what happens in the film. I also really liked the dramatic irony- after you see the explosion and everyone running around panicking, it cuts back to one of the party-goers saying to the camera ‘it’s going to be a good night’. This gives the trailer a more comical feel.

What didn't you like about it?

The only thing I didn't like about this trailer was the use of a handheld camera. Some of the shots they did went really well with a handheld camera as it made you feel like you were there and were part of all the drama that was going on but at some points, especially when everyone was running around, it was a little bit over the top and made me feel a little dizzy.

My score:

9

Class score:

7.5/10

Horror Sub-Genre Pie-Chart

Class Poster Idea

 

This was our group’s original movie trailer idea. We decided to change our whole idea due to the bad feedback we got from our class. Changing the idea of our trailer gave us a better feedback from the class and they all seemed to like the new idea a lot better than the old one. Our old trailer was very similar to all the other trailers in the group and a lot like films that have already been made so we thought of a completely original trailer.

Stereotypical Fan: Female

Stereotypical Fan: Male