Applying conventions of trailers

In class we have been working on applying the knowledge of trailers we gained during the research tasks and setting about creating our own trailer. The task was to promote a new London set horror film named Bloodshed High aimed at teenagers through a captivating movie trailer that used and defied some conventions. My group and I discussed first what the plot was going to be; we decided to involve a school prom to appeal to our target audience and have a unique selling point of mixing an American theme familiar to British teens with an English setting. We also considered how we would create audience expectations by using a certain production company or a star director.

Next we began work on the storyboard for the trailer (shown above), using the following conventions:

• Showing the distribution company's logo first. We developed an idea that the style of the logo could be adapted to look more appropraite for a horror film (e.g. have a black background and a glow around the text). We decided to use an independent British production company.
• Establishing the film's setting and themes by including an establishing shot of the school building featured in the film. Straight away this will tell our audience that the film will be set in a London school and we could make it obvious that it is a horror film by using similar lighting, eerie sound effects and angles representative of the genre such as in Grave Encounters:

• The next shots will show the parts of the film that are exciting, built up tension and best represented the film. They will also introduce characters and the one-line dialogues ensure the audience can relate to them. It was crucial that we had to choose shots that hinted at the plot instead of telling it, as trailers are different to movies in that they're a promotional tool to make potential audiences want to see them. Horror films rely on enigma codes used in the promotion because an essential part of the film usually is figuring out the mystery of who the killer is, as in our film, Bloodshed High. We decided to not show the killer or hide their face in the trailer. The pace of the shots at this point will mirror the excitement building in the story, building to a climax at the end. At this point the images will stay on screen for a few seconds to create a sense of disorientation or confusion in the viewer. In the montage of shots, each individual shot will fade to black which gives a sense of impending doom.
• Music will be used in our trailer to portray it as a youth based film: we will use popular music from UK artists in the appropriate scenes to highlight the setting and appeal to the audience but also use non diegetic stings in the scenes where the killer strikes, adhering to established conventions.
• We will use variation and adherence to trailer conventions to allow the audience to recognise Bloodshed High as a horror but one that is appealing to the youth market and to distinguish it from other films.
• Instead of a voiceover or many onscreen titles, we will use dialogue as a soundbridge to convey the themes and story of the film. We will use the film's tagline before the montage is shown to further represent what Bloodshed High is about. After the action is shown, we will present the film title after introducing it as a feature 'from the director of 28 Days Later', another London based horror. We will include the release date which will be near Halloween to capitalise on the mood of it and the fact it may be during the school half-term break. 
• Finally we will end the trailer with an ominous scene of the killer cleaning the blood off the title which we decided would be a typical horror film style: an old fashioned serif font (which fits in with the school setting) in red and a glowing outline against a black background:  

Our trailer is going to express the plot, USP and genre of Bloodshed High and promote the film as exciting for the audience by engaging them with text based images, action, sound which will become more dramatic as the trailer continues. Although it may show the story in narrative order, the enigma codes are still in place to make it seem interesting enough for the audience. We will engage the audience significantly by appealing to their sense of personal identity by using actors and a location they can identify with.