Psychological and slasher horror trailers.

Rebecca Paterson

ConventionsSub-genres within the horror genre stimulates the viewers mood and heightens audience levels of terror, fear, anticipation, dread, anxiety and surprise.Propp’s theory of stock characters suggests that there are limited amount of characters in any story, in which they can be grouped in to eight groups. Conventional characters include a villain who is a psychologically or physically deformed, mysterious psychopathic killer or serial killer. The villain is violent and brutal shown through the use of props such as knives, cleavers, chainsaws and axes.The conventional victim or victims would be youthful, teenager, rebellious, and unaware of the surroundings. There is a hero who is usually female, sensible, senses the villain, sometimes the last woman standing if they manage to kill the villain.Location is also important as this can add to heightened levels of emotions due to the isolation of the surroundings, college and campus like settings are regularly used in horror trailers because of the age of the characters and isolation of the setting other settings include forests, cabins, wilderness, diners, character’s houses, churches and graveyards, highways, farms, ghost towns.Camera shots, movements and angles are also important as they can depict or deform imagery in the shot.

Narrative structure

There is a series of establishing shots, where the scene is set and there is an introduction the characters showing the equilibrium – the norm. There is then a built up problem or crisis that the characters have to try and resolve, in which we are introduced to the victim/s showing the disturbance of the equilibrium. There are then teaser shots of the action scene that reveals problematic events but does not show them to their full extent, they are usually distorted and quick paced in order to build tension and create enigma also created through further complication shown through a dramatic end. The trailer ends on a cliff-hanger in order to create enigma so that the audience is left wanting to see the ending and go and see the film.

Texas Chainsaw MassacreThe establishing long shot depict an old woman singing to a teen age girl that seems to be upset. The old woman in contrast to the teenage girl is an example of the binary opposites used in horror movies, depicting the characters at different ages in such contrast allows us to empathise with different age groups in relation to the age of target audiences. The teen age questions the woman and implies that she doesn’t know where she is, also implying that she is the victim. After this there is a series of fact paced, distorted teaser shots of couples in an isolated setting and then a jump cut scene of car crash. Weapons shown in the trailer are guns, chainsaw, knife, bear trap, and brutal violence is captured in the teaser shots. The use of low key lighting adds to the disturbing violence. There are heightened levels of fear through the fact paced editing and lighting. The conceptual sound of the lullaby and the brutal violence creates anticipation, and also creates a false sense of security at the beginning of the trailer. The trailer ends on a cliff-hanger to leave the audience wanting to go and see the film.

Nightmare on Elm StreetEstablishing shots run all the way through this trailer. The use of locations all reinforce the idea of isolation, as is common in most horror films. This trailer shows, firstly a mid-shot depicts an American diner which pans along the inside of the diner to a over shoulder of a man sitting alone on a rainy night at a table, this isolation is also reinforced by a humming tune and a clock ticking. There then is fire which is a foreshadow of danger followed by a teaser shot of violence and a small introduction of the villain through this teaser shot. There then is the introduction to the 2nd location which is a high school with more introduction to implied victims, there is the use of weather in scenes to foreshadow the arrival of the villain who is name “Fredi”. The use of claws is the only weapon that is shown and this is reinforced as the weapon in different shots through out the trailer. The last location that is shown is a street and a street name, reinforcing this sense of isolation. There are two series of teaser shots, the first showing victims and the use of children in this scene is disturbing also another common character used in horror as they are usually associated with innocence which is opposite to the what you associate with horror (binary opposites). The second teaser shots are more violent, there is a sound clip of Fredi’s voice and the use of an “evil” laugh and lullaby at the end to increase enigma and make the audience want to go and see the film.

Woman in BlackThe first shot is a mid location shot which pans around a child’s room followed by a series of extreme up close shots of children’s musical toys that the music in the background seems to be coming from. There is a sound bridge into the next scene, there is a series of shots from toys to foggy marshland in which there is a horse and carriage along the road. There is then an introduction to the setting of a lonely decrepit house/mansion. There are continuous shots of the child’s toys and the continuous music in the background. There is track of a dark corridor reinforcing the sense of the isolation. A child’s voice narrates while there is a series of shots of the main characters, children and location. The music pace quickens as the story is told as the main character gets closer to the house in which the girl describes as “there are those who believes the whole town is cursed by the house on the marsh is by far the worse”. More establishing shots of the location marsh and house and then a series of close up’s of the main character. The weather and low key lighting intensifies and foreshadows the introduction to the villain (ghostly figure). There is then a shot of writing on the wall in red which is associated with blood, and then toys. There is then teaser shots of action shots depicting children, fires and the marsh. The water surrounds the house/mansion that also increase isolation and loneliness. There is another introduction to the villain is tease shot. You don’t have a clear image of the villain which increase the enigma and tension.