Additional Research

In class today, we decided to research various horror trailers in order for us to have some inspiration towards our own trailer. We feel we need more varied ideas and we want some inspiration to develop our ideas. We studied horror-genre trailers in particular, due to this being the theme of our own trailer.
From this, we went on www.traileraddict.com and watched various trailers that were released within the last decade (in order for them to be up to date, therefore contributing well towards our trailer which is also set in the modern era)
Here are the trailers that we previewed, with points underneath each one which we think would contribute towards both our ideas and our teaser trailer:

'THE DUNWICH HORROR' (2009)

• Whip sound
• Flashing of stuff
• Eerie voice explaining the plot
• Books/newspaper clips connoting media/research - the use of dissolves between varied shots makes this look more rushed
• Range of lighting - from light to dark (equilibrium)
• Weather shown
• Black between shots
• Strange jump cut of man screaming and distorted

'THE AMITYVILLE HORROR" - (2007)

• Rumbling sound
• 'based on a true story'
• Newspapers
• The date is shown
• Voice over explaining plot alongside news articles - a presenter?
• Thunder and lightning - a pounding sound
• Heart pounding sounds
• Violin sounds and screeching
• Breathing sounds

'THE TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE' (2006)

• Heartbeat
• Photograph sounds/insects sounds
• Award mentioned by director
• Silent sound
• Chain noise - along radiator?
• Jumpy scene at end

'JEEPERS CREEPERS 2' (2003)

• Birds/crows - iconographic of graveyards
• Running

'THE DESCENT' (2006)

• Flashback in black and white
• Cave
• Lights - darkness
• Reaction shot - close up
• Fade in of words
• Distorted/echoe sounds
• Night vision - 'freak' behind person - eerie and prepares suspension
• Blood in a bath/running watery blood
• Close up of eyes with mud around face

Although these were useful, they are full-length trailers. We found teaser trailers difficult to find across our research in school due to many video websites being blocked. However, we came across these few teaser trailers, which were also useful towards contributing to our ideas.

TEASER TRAILERS:

'BURIED' (2010)

• 'Paul [ ] is not ready to die' - shocking statement
• Black with frightened sounds - causes inquisitiveness

'28 DAYS LATER' (2003)

• Alarm sound
• Days shown through - zooms in/flashes = moves across
• Telephone's hanging - has an eerie effect
• Close up of eyes (blood around face)

We thought we'd research some trailers from other countries, due to this being further research. These trailers differ slightly in theme, but are still useful towards are ideas

FOREIGN TRAILERS:

'THE HOST' (2007)

• People crying
• Fast then slow violins
• Heavy breathing/bang sounds
• Blood on face
• Big establishing shots
• Fast drum beat
• Critic quotes

'LET THE RIGHT ONE IN' (2009)

• Hitting things
• Bloody muddy fingers tips
• Slit on face

Filming Photos

Update

Sound test for the opening of our trailer

Within the past few days, we have been editing our trailer, such as altering the speed, colour and appearance of the shots. Although there are a lot more changes that need to be made, we decided to focus on the sounds that will be in our trailer. At the beginning, we wanted it to be quiet and give an eerie effect, making it sound as though there is someone/something following the protagonist, this is also connoted with the use of a tracking shot. By accomplishing this, we recorded natural sound by using iMovie on the Mac and edited the outcome by reversing and slowing it down. As we had previously tested this, we believed that it fitted well with the horror genre as it sounds abnormal. Although there were some elements of the recording that we liked, such as the growling and breathing sound, we still didn't think that it was ideal as it picked up people talking in the background. Therefore, we re-recorded using a similar method.




We did this using a similar process as the previous recording, however ensured that no one was making any additional sound. We remained quiet and occasionally made sounds, such as banging the table or moving the mouse. We preferred the second sound test as it fitted well with scary sense that we were trying to portray; I particularly like the breathing sounds as it highlights the idea that the character is being followed. The video below shows the overall sound that may be used within our finished production piece:





The end part of the trailer will include the character to be possessed. We have tested saying something backwards, in this case, 'Evil has won', and reversing it, giving a strange voice over. We then lip synced it to the filming, that we had done. We are going to re-film this part however, as this was only a test to ensure that the idea worked.