Trailer Influences

We decided to make a horror teaser trailer and so we looked at a number of film trailers that we thought would help us with our approach to creating our trailer.

SINISTER

Some of our influences is from the trailer for the film 'Sinister'. They have a main prop that triggers the narrative of the story (the old projector). They continuously use shadows and dark lighting to present a frightening atmosphere.They also use the dark scenes to accent and hide the source of fear, which in this case is the character 'Bughuul'.

Towards the end of the trailer there is a series of flash cuts which increase the pace and in turn raise the level of tension and fear among the audience. The use of children as part of the concept is also an influence. They present an element of vulnerability which will make audiences want to sympathize with the characters.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

The trailer for Paranormal Activity is one of our main influences. There is a great use of handheld camera work which we will also use in our trailer. This presents the story as a documented event and gives it a sense of realism which makes it scarier for audiences. This trailer has limited footage from the film and relies more on audience reaction. There are audible aspects from this which are also used when the titles are presented.
The use of a handheld camera allows the audience to empathise with the characters and feel as though they are actually experiencing what is happening in the film.

THE LAST EXORCISM

The Last Exorcism was an influence to our theme of "posession". This is a key element in this film as the main character becomes so. From this trailer we can see how the possessed character acts, focusing on body language and speech so that we may be able to direct our own actor on how to present a character in a possessed state.

The feedback from our class on our first animated storyboard comments on the need for a greater use of titles in our trailer. The Last Exorcism trailer uses titles that tell audiences the location and key information about the first character introduced in the film.