Horror Trailer Analysis: Sinister

This trailer used 11 extreme close ups, 19 close ups, 46 medium shots, 6 long shots and  no extreme long shots. 

This trailer begins by showing a house during the night with a voice over about a family whom had been murdered. The voice over while a house is being showed makes it clear that these particular murders happened in the house been shown. This further indicates that this house is where the film will be set. The trailer continues by showing a child's drawing of a group of people being hung, this indicates that a child will play a huge role in this film, and could possibly be the killer. One member of the group is named 'dad' showing the audience that the child killer was a member of the family in the drawing that died. 

The next sequence follows the text '9 months later' and shows the same house, however this time the house is shown in daylight with a home removals truck outside. This suggests that there will be a new family that will reside in this property. However, it is made clear through a young girl saying 'I didn't want to move here' and a man saying 'we couldn't afford to live in the old house' that the decision to move was not one that the family wanted but one that had to happen.

It is then made clear of the man's occupation, a story writer. The audience start to presume that the man was not doing well in his occupation and that is why the family had to move. Once the characters had been established, the reason they were there and a section on the past the trailer begins to move into what will be the main focus of the film. 

The horror section of the trailer begins when the man goes up into the attic and sees a single box. It is clear to the audience that the man should not open this box as the lighting is dark and eerie music being to play in the background. However, the man does open the box and begins to watch the previous families home videos, ending in footage of a hanging. The police are then informed. 

The rest of the trailer continues the build up of horror and shows the family begin to be tortured by 'Stephanie'. Throughout the trailer the man researches into his findings which puts his family in great danger. The tension is built up more and more until the end of the trailer, as trailers do not show the outcome just the build up. The trailer ends with the face of 'Sinister' and the man being unable to escape, this will attract the audiences attention and make them want to find out if the man escaped and how he did. 

Trailer structure

Below is an analysed sheet for the trailer of The Call. This shows structural conventions to analyse whether or not a trailer follows a specific pattern.

After researching the trailer for The Call I found that there is a specific structure a trailer follows four main issues:

- The opening

- The build up

- The problem

- Events

By following this structure marketers are able to create a trailer that allows the audience to know the plot line for the story, in a visually interesting way, without giving away the ending to the film. The trailer must captivate the audience to make the audience want to go and see the film.

In my opinion I do believe this trailer structure works as after viewing it I went to watch the film at the cinema. 

Testing Burton's Theory

In order to test Burton's Theory I look at four different film plot summaries and highlighted the different aspects of the theories key elements. However, because the summaries below are so short they do not include any of the films background and décor or themes.

Testing Burton’s Formula

Protagonists

Stock Characters

Plot and Stock Situations

Icons

Background and Décor

Themes

Candyman (1992)

In Chicago, Helen Lyle and her friend Bernadette Walsh are researching for their thesis about urban legend in the University of Illinois, where Helen's husband Trevor Lyle gives classes. Helen becomes obsessed by the legend of the Candyman, a son of slaves whose father became rich in 1890 after inventing a device for mass producing of shoes. The educated Candyman was an artist, but when the daughter of a powerful man got pregnant of him, her father hired some men to kill him. The Candyman "lives" in the legend that says that he would appear if his name is spoken five times in front of the mirror, and the skeptical Helen attempts to summon Candyman. Helen and Bernadette go to Cabrini Green, where two unsolved murders had happened, and the dwellers blame Candyman for the crimes as Helen tries to prove his existence.

Scream (1996)

A peaceful town in California turns into a bloodbath when a masked killer haunts the town. Sidney Prescott, a young teenage girl, whose mother was killed a year before, becomes the target of the mask killer! Her boyfriend Billy Loomis becomes the main suspect along with Sidney's father. Local Tabloid News Reporter Gail Weathers and Woodsbroro's Deputy Dwight "Dewey" Riley investigate and try to figure out who the killer is and if it's the same person who killed Sid's mom the year before!

New Nightmare (1994)

It's nearing the 10th Anniversary of the film 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and one of the stars, Heather Langenkamp is being scared by a voice on a phone, sounding very similar to the film's villain, Freddy Krueger. When Heather's husband is killed in a car accident and is discovered with slash marks on him, Heather starts to wonder something. Especially when she discovers that Wes Craven is writing another 'Nightmare' film. Soon, she realises that Freddy has now entered the real world, and the only way to defeat him is to become Nancy Thompson once again.

Halloween (2007)

In Haddonfield, Illinois, the nine years old Michael Meyers is raised by a dysfunctional family: his mother Deborah is a stripper in a night-club; his foster father Ronnie is an alcoholic bum; his sister Judith is a easy girl; and he is connected to his baby sibling. On October, 31st, after an incident in school where he is bullied by a schoolmate, Michael overhears the conversation of the principal and the psychiatric Dr. Samuel Loomis with his mother. They had found pictures of Michael torturing animals in his backpack and Dr. Loomis would like to send Michael for psychiatric evaluation believing that the boy is deranged. This revelation triggers Michael that escapes from the school and kills the bully, Ronnie, Judith's boyfriend Steve Haley and his sister Judith. Michael is held in custody in the Smith's Grove Sanatorium under the treatment of Dr. Loomis. Eleven months later, during the visit of his mother, Michael kills his nurse and his stressed mother commits suicide. Fifteen years later, Michael escapes from the mental institution leaving bloodshed behind, and heads to Haddonfield in the Halloween's night.

What has Burton's Theory taught me?

From looking at four different Horror plot summaries to test Burton's Theory I have found that Horror films consist of very similar key elements. The first similarity I noticed between the four different plot lines is that each film is set in a small quiet town where nothing bad ever happens, for example 'Haddonfield', 'A peaceful town in California' and 'Cabrini Green'. The small quiet town creates a sense of isolation and being unable to escape as there is no where to hide. Another similarity is that the protagonists try to figure out a way to stop the killings that are happening in the peaceful towns where they live or at least figure out why they are occurring, 'try to figure out who the killer is' and 'Helen tries to prove his existence' are both example of this. In addition to this, there are also numerous stock characters in each plot summary along with a protagonist. Moreover, each film either has a memorable date, '31st October', or a title that says who or what the film will be about, 'New Nightmare'. Finally, Burton's Theory shows that each killer must have an intention or a reason for why they are killing, for example Michael Myers is from a 'dysfunctional family'. However, each killer also has a way of killing, for instance Freddy Krueger leaves 'slash marks' and scares his victims 'on the phone' whereas Candyman appears if his 'names is spoken five times in a mirror'. 

The trailers also proves Burton's Theory as it has everything that I have stated above about the plot lines except it is shown in visual form.

Burton's theory will be beneficial in helping me plan my own horror trailer as it has furthered my general knowledge on film trailers and shown me what is needed in an effective film trailer. For example, I may use a masked killer in my trailer to dehumanise him/her and create a more intense feel of terror and fear, I may also use a significant date. Overall, Burton's theory has enabled me to recognise what will need to be in my trailer so the audience knows it is a horror trailer and to make the trailer more authentic.

Who are trailers aimed at and why?

In class we looked at three different trailers. We analysed who the target audiences for the trailers are and why this was. We also looked at what features would appeal to the target audience. 




The first trailer we looked at was 'Frozen'.

The target audience for this particular film would be families. This is because it is an animated film created by Disney. The bright, bold colours suggest that this film is child friendly and will not deal with frightening issues. I believe this trailer would provide children with a sense of escapism as it is far from reality. 

The second trailer we looked at was 'The Wolf of Wall Street'
I believe the target audience for this trailer would be 15+ males and females because of the fact that this trailer looks at an individual's journey to becoming wealthy and owning their own business. I believe this film, like Frozen, gives its viewers a sense of escapism as for most people, this is far from reality.

Genre Exploration: Horror

• What do you understand by the concepts of repetition and variation of a genre

A genre is a way of categorising a media product and has certain distinctive main features in terms of form, style and subject matter. These features have become well understood and recognised due to the fact that they have been repeated over a period of time. However there are sometimes variations of of a genre which are known as a sub genres. An example of this is Scream which is both a horror but also a comedy, something which would not ordinarily been expected in a film from the horror genre. 

• Provide a definition of the concept genre

Genre is, as explained above, a way of categorising a media product. All genres have a portfolio of key elements from which they are composed, they elements include;

-Protagonists

-Stock Characters

-Plot and Stock Situations

-Icons

-Background and Decor

-Themes

Protagonist

All genres have a recognisable protagonists or lead characters; these may be heroes and/or villains. Sometimes the lead males and females become so predictable that they end up having the same qualities across various different genres. For example, male protagonists are usually courageous good looking and likely to rescue a female character in distress.

Stock Characters

Stock characters are recognisable although minor characters who are repeatedly played by actors who specialise in playing such roles.

Plot and Stock Situations

The story lines are also predictable and recognisable. For example Romantic stories often include a plot line where the female protagonist cannot get the boy that she is in love with due to an obstruction; perhaps because the boy does not notice that the girl who is madly in love with him even exists. However, it will either all work out in the end and both characters live happily ever after or the female protagonist will realise that she is better off without him and falls in love with someone else who also loves her. 

Icons

Icons are the most important element to genre because it is the aspect of genre we immediately recognise. There are three types of Icons, objects, backgrounds and sometimes stars.

Background and Decor

Background and decor can be recognised for a particular genre, for example an old abandoned graveyard would be typical for horror while space would be typical for a science fiction film. Another example is the pub interior of EastEnders which is distinctive and a part of many characters. If such backgrounds become very distinctive then they become icons.

Themes

The themes or ideas that run trough and come out of the stories are very much part of genre. Some are common to genres while others are not. These themes also tie in with the value messages that are projected. For example all genre narrative says something about conflict between good and evil, however the theme of deceit and betrayal is more accustomed to private eye stories, where the hero is often double crossed by a female. These generic themes often emerge as oppositions, for example:

- truth vs ignorance 

- loyalty vs deceit 

- self-sufficiency vs dependency

- persistence vs surrender

- integrity vs temptation

• What do you understand by the concept of a genre 'formula' and what do you think this means?

Burton's key elements is what adds up to a genre 'formula'. They could be viewed as headings for the kinds of item someone would expect to see in all genres. When you look at particular genres, it is particular items that you describe for that genre.

• Does the fact that many products work to a formula make them boring?

I believe that the audiences knowledge of the formula helps them to know what is going on and gives them the pleasure of feeling that they are on familiar ground. It gives the audience a blueprint for making sense of the drama which in turn gives the production company a blueprint for making the drama, one which it can feel confident to share with its audience.