EVALUATION SIX- How have you made your trailer seem like a trailer?

The term 'trailer' in the media refers to "a series of extracts from a film or broadcast, used for advance publicity."- Google Definitions. Essentially, we had to conform to this idea, we needed to followed stereotypical conventions to make our trailer seem as 'trailer-like' as possible. Different genres have different trailers, therefore we also had to cater to the needs of our genre as well as an actual trailer.For example, conventions of horror  trailers can include: Sudden signs of a ghost/spirit,a disruption of normality, dark scary atmosphere, commonly used dialogue such as 'who is that?' and 'where are they?' and many others. IN our trailer we followed these conventions to ensure that our trailer conformed as much as possible. 

 CAMERA WORK: 
The camera work is an essential part to a trailer that actually makes it seem like a trailer. We used a range of camera shots such as: establishing, close up, extreme close up and medium shots. Each shot serves a purpose, and when filming a horror film,it was imperative to use camera shots that conformed to our genre. For example, close up shots are commonly used in horror films to exemplify details and/or facial expressions/movement. We used a lot of establishing shots in our trailer to help it appear more 'trailer like'. As a trailer is only giving a teaser of the entire film, we had to ensure that there was a range of shots included. The purpose of an establishing shot is to set the scene or location. They are commonly displayed at the beginning of a film, to give the audience an insight into the setting of where the film is taking place. To open our trailer, we followed a similar concept, of displaying our setting. The trailer opens with a slow zoom, establishing shot of an empty house/kitchen. The fact that it is empty is a significant thing to consider. If the house was full of people, it wouldn't suggest an eerie atmosphere, an empty house with the sound effect of a loud thud contributes to create a paranormal and creepy atmosphere.- The silence is almost disturbing. There is diegetic music of a radio playing in the background which also contributes to the idea of setting the scene of a location. It makes it seem relaxed and calm. There are everyday items shows in the establishing shot, such as cushions, T.V's books and wine racks. This makes the house seem ordinary and relatbale- a perfect place for a clown to ruin everything...  Establishing shot are also explored later on in the trailer, when the audience are displayed with a relaxing shot of a lake, with birds swarming around. This connotes positive aspects and cements a calming and naturalistic atmosphere, completely juxtaposing the spine chilling clown that is hunting and killing young people just around the corner. Establishing shots are an effective way to show audiences the locations used in the trailer so that the audience get a wide round view of the film and where the film is taking place. Close up shot were also used in our trailer to give the audience an idea into the details and smaller parts of the film. We used close up shots of a record player being shown repeatedly. The fact that in editing we used the idea of 'repetition of shots' clearly suggests to the audience that the record player is a significant and important factor in the trailer. The audience is kept being brought back to the same object, playing the same music, in the same location, this gives the film the perfect opportunity to disrupt the equilibrium by something different happening to the record player, for example, changing the music, which happens right at the end, leaving the audience on a cliff hanger. 

ANTAGONIST & PROTAGONIST PREVALENCE: 
 Giving the two key opposing characters prevalence in a trailer helps the audience to distinguish who the 'great battle' is between, giving them a basic narrative and story line between either end of the spectrum. We had to include a lot of footage from the clown, so that the audience can understand what the clowns purpose is, and why it is there, but also let the audience know the antagonists well, getting to know the girls, their personas, their traits, this is what makes a film interesting. More importantly, it let's the audience into the film, without giving too much away, which helps to make our trailer successful.  We used a long shot of the three girls running away. This particular scene is effective, it suggests that the girls are afraid of something, therefore running away from it. Including a 'chase' scene in a horror film is thrilling and exciting for an audience, as well as it being a very popular convention used in many films, mostly thrillers, which suggests that our film could have hints of it being a 'hybrid genre'. Towards the end of the film, there is a car scene. There is match on action used with the keys being dropped on the floor, suggesting to the audience that the girls won't make it away in time, creating suspense and then the girls attempting to drive as a clown is sitting in the back seat. The last shot is a close up which displays the antagonists eyes looking into the interior mirror with a cut to a black screen. This quick and fast pace editing is a popular convention of a horror film, it creates confusion which makes the audience question what is happening, especially in a situation whereby the antagonist is vulnerable, as it links to Dyer's theory of asking questions, 'what is happening?'  The clown is also displayed a lot in the trailer, with the clown being shown in different locations between each shot, as well as being displayed at different angles. We used a lot of long shots and close up's of the clown. The close up photographs allow the audience to observe the clowns details and facial expressions ( although it's a mask, the mask was still able to move around). The clown for example, tended to bend it's head to the side, which looked nerving and chilling, conforming to a horror protagonist. The long shots allowed the audience to observe the body language and posture of the clown, such as when it moved it's arms, or jumped out to the camera, creating a ominous and shocking effect.

 TITLES:
Identifiably, the titles were a key attribute that made the trailer seem like a trailer, as titles are not used in the real film.  they almost act as a visual narrator, they give the audience a basis to what the film is about, and what kind of genre the film is. In horror films, stereotypical titles include things like ' The scariest film of 2017' or 'don't forget to lock your house up tonight'. They give the audience little teasers an hints to keep them informed about the film, and create tension. In our trailer, we included a lot, this was because we didn't have as much footage as we had hoped, so we had to make the timings up by using titles. The style, transitions, fonts and sizing all mattered so we had to plan a lot of these out before actually creating them.  We structured the titles evenly across the course of the trailer, so that the audience were informed but not too informed that it gave the entire film away. We used conventional tag lines, such as ' Others wish they hadn't met him'- suggesting that people wouldn't want to. The title were arguably the most important and ensured that the trailer made sense, especially because we didn't include any dialogue in our trailer. 

EDITING:

Editing is very important when creating a trailer and constructing a film. On the software that we were using, we were able to use many different effects and transitions as there were many to choose from and then manipulate these. The main effects that we used was 'fade to black' the fade to black ensured that all the clips flowed smoothly together. The colour black connotes mystery, evil and darkness which also creates a negative atmosphere between the shots. The fade also occurs slowly, in comparison to the 'smear' effect used on the titles. The slow transition also creates suspense as it makes the audience not know what is going to appear on the screen next. It almost contrasts and subverts a horror film, as horror films conventionally use quick and fast pace editing, so we feel that this added anticipation and individualism on our work. From the picture, you are able to see how the fade to black creates a shocking feeling to the audience. In picture one ( far left) the audience can see a long shot of the clown, after the fade to black, the clown has moved even close to the screen, which suggests that the fade has made the clown move without the audience knowing, further suggesting that the fade to black creates suspense and a creepy atmosphere. Another editing technique that we used was called the 'non additive dissolve'. We used this numerous times in the trailer, to add a creepy and paranormal atmosphere. This can be displayed in the scene with the clown on the swing. As the swing is swinging back and forth, we faded in a non additive dissolve to merge two clips over the top of one and other.  This conformed to a horror film as the effect made the clown appear like it could be in two places at once, something that is not considered 'normal' in the human world, suggesting a paranormal and scary vibe being created.