After watching many horror trailers, including 'Single White Female' and 'Scream', we compiled a list of conventions that typically occurred in many or even all of them including:
-A strong tag line, which might make the audience want to watch the whole film, a little bit of information, does not give too much away, gives hints to the genre
-The trailer usually starts off happy, with bright colours and a lighthearted ambiance, with a cheery orchestral score. This could give a false sense of security to the audience. Then there is a point which triggers danger (either a complete contrast in the music, or silence or even voice over, where it darkens and the pace quickens. It is less of a film sequence and more of a montage of dark clips (not necessarily in chronological order). It builds up with drum beats and a more sinister orchestral score and usually ends just when the clips have finally come to a climax.
-There is usually quick sharp editing- jump cuts, dissolve, slow motion, fast motion, fade in/fade out and fade to white.
- Designed to make the audience feel the familiar conventions and narratives
- Leave the audience on a cliffhanger in the form of enigma codes
- There is generally a typical structure to a trailer which begins with the company logos for the producers and distributors. Following this is the narrative establisher, which is a series of longer sequences, setting the storyline of the film. After this comes the USP, which could be the stars of the film, the director or possibly a tag line. After the short suspense sequences, the black and white film listings appear, with the main cast and crew.
