Trailer research (Scream 1996) (Historical)

Horror trailers are the most important feature of the whole film as there is only one thing it has to be. The scarier the better.
Scream is a 1996 American slasher film written by Kevin Williamson and directed by Wes Craven. The film stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, Drew Barrymore, and David Arquette. Released on December 20, 1996, Scream follows the character of Sidney Prescott (Campbell), a high school student in the fictional town of Woodsboro, who becomes the target of a mysterious killer known as Ghostface. The film combined comedy and "whodunit" mystery with the violence of the slasher genre to satirize the cliché of the horror genre popularized in films such as Halloween and Friday the 13th. The film was considered unique at the time of its release for featuring characters who were aware of real world horror films and openly discussed the cliché that Scream attempted to subvert.

The poster for the film is an extreme close up of a reaction shot of a woman looking very scared and alert which automatically indicates the genre. The lighting is very clever as the woman is made to look very 'stereotypical' as the film subverts, typical bright, sparkling blue eyes, plump lips, flawless skin (a typical victim in a horror movie). The black and white effect has connotations of death which further induce the genre into the poster. The font in the text is all in the same font and colour which creates ownership and recognition for the audience, the white signifies the Scream mask and purity of the victims, it also highlights the stark contrast between murderer and victim as in the trailer the characters are in the real world and are very adapted to horror films and know alot about them which in my opinion is signified in this poster as the unlikely hood of it happening to you sends the woman as white as a ghost. Another interpretation of this poster may be the fact that the effect of the lighting on the woman creates a 'Scream-like' mask which suggests the murderer can be anyone. 
The conventions of a poster are the inclusion of the main cast, title of the film, main image (usually a close up), creators and a slogan of some sort that is individual to the film. 

The trailer is introduced with an unconventional establishing shot of a close up of a land-line, which is the main focus of the whole film as it is the line of communication (the main horror of the film, suspense builder, indicator to the audience) between the victim and murderer. 

A breakage in the trailer just before the sinister introduction is essential in a good horror trailer to build suspense. 

breakage 

The lighting is very reflective of a real life house lighting e.g., just the living room lounge light.

The cuts in the trailer get quicker and quicker once the narrative is known, the speed of this trailer is extremely quick, which reflects the chasing effect within the film. 

Cuts quickly to destructive, dangerous things such as broken glass door which scares the audience as the trailer is going that quick they haven't got time to take in that sense of un-realism. 

The non diagetic sound in this trailer is so effective (blasphemy-immediate music) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuQYngLEeY0, this in my opinion is the main feature of a horror trailer, the music has to build tension and compliment and intensify the chase. 

The main character

Within the film Sydney is who the narrative is based around and the audience are following her throughout the whole ordeal. However how this main character is shown is by frequently appearing in the trailer as the masked murderers main victim as he knows her name with the iconic "HELLO SYDNEY".

So in my trailer I need to make sure my main character comes across as the main character through dialogue, frequency and sympathy to connect them with my audience. 


Another way in which horror trailers connect with their audience is by showing them their worst nightmare and things they can relate to e.g. being chased up the stairs 

The cuts often fade to text that increase the audiences knowledge and fear of the film, without having a voice-over, sometimes it can be more effective as it draws the audience more deeply into the trailer, causing attachment. 

Another convention I noticed in this trailer was that another scene can be heard whilst another scene is playing, which creates two complimentary horrors in the eye and ear, whilst increasing the tension. This non diagetic feature allows the audience to digest sound and visually which entices the audience.