Friday, 5 July 2013

Research & Planning: Conventions of a Horror Film Trailer

Iconic Trailer for Alfred Hitchcock's 'Psycho' (1960)


Typical conventions present in Horror Film Trailers


  • Shows battle of good vs. evil
  • Shows the 'well known' actors (stars of the film)
  • Death and blood/gore
  • Usually a protagonist (victim)
  • Dark atmosphere, use of negative pathetic fallacy
  • Disruption of normality
  • Sudden signs of ghosts/monsters/murderers (the assailant)
  • Isolated location, eg. a motel in the middle of nowhere (as seen in 'Psycho' - above)
  • The titles are usually shown near the end
  • Action is built up to using dramatic music
  • Fast cuts to show the action
  • Dramatic camera angles
  • Commonly used dialogue such as "who's there?", "what do you want?" and "someone help me!"
  • Non diegetic sounds such as high pitch screaming and objects moving etc.

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