Screen shots from my trailer and how they're similar to existing products

Here is a screenshot from scream and screenshot from my trailer. The idea of the the killer being at the window suggests that the victims are vulnerable and trapped. In both my trailer and Scream, the killers are first both unseen by the character - there is dramatic irony in that the audience knows the danger for the character first, creating a sense of panic and fear for them. Also, the setting of a domesticated house plays on society's innate fears that you might not be safe in your own home. Both my killer and the scream killer have dark clothing and white masks/paint to disguise their appearance and give them the dehumanising effect. The quality of the prints from Scream are obviously better as it is a professional film, although I think the white drapes and slightly desaturated image on my trailer is an effective look for this scene.

Here is a screenshot from Psycho and my trailer. Although Psycho includes the weapon also, my bloody handprints represent the same; pain and death - sticking to the horror genre ideology and also suggesting gore in the actual film. Both scenes are took in the bathroom, where it seems to be conventional for scenes in horror movies, especially the bath and shower.


Here is a screenshot from I Know What You Did Last Summer and also my trailer. The protagonist females both fit the 'final girl' convention. They both have dark hair and innocent looks and are hiding from the killer. Perhaps I could have made the background in the shot of Emily darker to represent the horror genre more strongly.


Here is a screenshot from Scream 4 and my trailer. The female characters are both in their houses with the unnoticed killer behind them. The effect of this is that the audience feels panic and alarm for the character. The fact that they are both female seems to heighten their vulnerability. The killer in my trailer is further away from the character as this is before the horror action really begins, just to establish that there is danger further in the film. The low angle camera shot gives Emily a sense of vulnerability and the killer a dominance in the scene.



Here is a screenshot from Scream and from my trailer. Both consist of teenagers sitting in on a night in, drinking beer and socialising. This conveys the convention in Slasher films that groups of teenagers are often the main victims. This may be due to the vulnerable situations teenagers can be placed in or the theory that teenagers are punished in horror films for their illicit behaviour. In scream, the teenagers are watching scary films whereas in my trailer they are telling scary stories. I think this is appropriate for my British twist as is fits in with the small village location and myths about old, English houses and hauntings.


Here is a screenshot from Eden Lake and a screenshot from my trailer. Both female characters are trying to evade the killer running through a wooded area. My shot is a Point of view shot (from the killer's eyes) so I think this creates a more immediate danger than the woman coming towards the camera. Also, the darkness of my shot is typical iconography for a horror film. The woods are a very common setting in the horror genre due to their isolation and the fact that there is not really anywhere a victim can truly hide.

How does my trailer fit into narrative theory conventions?

The Russian Formalists of the 1920’s were influential in identifying conventions of narrative. Vladimir Propp’s theory states that there are seven character types which each took on the role of different narrative spheres of action. Propp states that a hero embarks on a quest to defy the villain – this is definitely the case in my film – the final girl, my main character, is on a quest to survive the killer. There are only two main characters in my music video; Emily, the final girl who could be classed as the hero and the killer (the villain), although there are many other smaller characters. Some character types such as the dispatcher are missing in my video, which contests Propp’s characterisation theory. However, there are characters in the plot that do not appear on screen; the dispatcher could be Emily’s mother, who raised her typical of a final girl and willing to fight for her life. I find it difficult to distinguish the extent to which I followed Propp’s theory; my piece does not follow the typical conventions of characterisation, however this is to be expected in a trailer as it is much shorter than full length films. I believe this was more effective as introducing many characters on screen in a short time may confuse viewers and the plot may not develop as effectively as it would in a longer piece of moving image. Also, music videos and film did not exist in the 1920s as they do now. Technology and the media has developed and changed extraordinarily in the last century, possibly rendering Propp’s theory as outdated.

Tzvetan Todorov’s, another Russian formalist, generated a theory which states that there are five stages in a conventional narrative :

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset

2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action

3. A recognition that there has been a disruption

4. An attempt to repair the disruption

5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium

Although Todorov’s theory shares the same contextual issues as Propp’s, these stages can be identified in most mainstream media texts, such as Hollywood movies. However, a teaser trailer’s limited time length renders it extremely different to many other texts, which often causes the musician to use short pieces which abruptly affect the audience – whether it is outrageous, brutal or fear evoking. Therefore narrative structure in trailers may not be applied in the same way – my video, for example, does not include stage 5 as I would not want to give the end of the plot away to the audience. The video ends on a cliff hanger to persuade the audience to watch my whole film.Therefore, equilibrium is not restored, and my trailer challenged Todorov’s theory.

More improvements

Further editing adjustments

Out takes

Here is footage showing the out takes in my filming, mostly when the actors break their concentration and laugh. I think it is important to document the mistakes as well as the successes.

Film editing

Further improvements
Here i have made more changes to my trailer to make it more effective. This includes the introduction of the green screen, Warner Brothers logo, the breaking up of font in between the girl speaking on the phone on the stairs, jumpier and more effective music, the flashing edit of the villain at the window, the footage of the girl hiding and improvement on the film title text.

Research of filming rules

The 180 degree rule: The imaginary line that passes from side to side through the actors. We should not be able to see past that line as it confuses the audiences as they see the characters from different points of the scene.

Parallel Editing: Cross cutting between two or more lines of action going on in different locations of scenes. This is similar to montage editing in trailers.

Matching Eyelines: An edit that follows the 180 degree rule, in which the first shot shows a person looking in one direction and the second shows the space containing what a person sees.

Match on Action: An edit that puts two different shots of the same action together making it appear to continue uninterrupted.

Shot, Reverse, Shot: Two shots edited back and forward between two characters.

Film editing

This is the second edit of my horror trailer. I included the voice over to explain the plot more to the audience and establish the horror genre with his mysterious voice. I also included this sound into the phone call so that the audience can hear what the killer is saying - this is conventional of horror films. His British accent highlights the fact that my film is a British twist to the Slasher film. I also included a slide with text at the end to show the name of the film, however I fear that this does not represent the horror genre strongly enough.