Pre-Production: Trailers 2Question 4 - Genre

Representation:

In terms of the representation

of certain aspects of the trailer

we want it to have some

degree of innovation and to

break genre boundaries rather

than relying on clichés and

stereotypes of modern horror

films featuring a bunch of

teenagers stumbling onto

events beyond their

understanding and

capabilities. We could instead use a variety of other

actors, for instance using adult characters

as well as teens. We could then fit in the

theme of maturity.

Setting:

Somewhere I feel that must be non cliché is the location/setting. To set us apart from other films, we need a location that can stick in the public’s memory. Thinking on this, I realized that we could actually shoot it all in one location like, Phone Booth. This would increase the atmosphere of claustrophobia and would be a subtle way of provoking horror into the audience. I have proof of this success, as Phone Booth received positive critical acclaim.  

Mise-en-Scene:

We could also have fun with the Mise en

Scene of the piece. We could even include

it into the narrative, where the

protagonists have to scavenge and build

their own weapons like in the game Dead

Rising 2. This will allow the audience to

have an emotional connection with the

characters as they struggle to survive

rather than them being just stereotypical

and waiting to die and from this idea, it

has a greater sense of reality, perhaps

striking fear into the hearts of those who

watch it.

Themes:

Another aspect where we

cant be cliché is in the terms

of themes. Horror films

recently, have never focused

on themes and have tried to

just purely scare people.

What we need to do is give

our trailer thematic meaning,

but not to let it overwhelm

the trailer to the point where

it isn’t scary anymore.

Perhaps a larger emphasis on

character building could allow

us to work on themes of unity

and survival.

Editing andSound:

Editing is integral in creating a certain atmosphere in a trailer. We should use multiple fades and quick cuts to scare the audience, or to make them uneasy. We could also play around with the idea of using different kinds of non diegetic music from slow music like the trailer music from Battle: Los Angeles to the more extravagant music of We are Rockstars. This kind of juxtaposition to what’s happening on screen could allow us to get the audience to feel confused, intriguing them to see the film. For sound, we can create horror from using selective sound like when someone picks up a weapon. If it feels heavy, the audience will know if it is capable of inflicting mass damage or not ETC.

Camerawork:

And finally for the camerawork, a Blair Witch

style handheld/documentary approach would

be a good way of getting across a sense of

realism. From the success of films such as

Cloverfield and Blair Witch, it’s clear that this

is a sufficiently powerful method of

filmmaking. I also want to mix in normal

camerawork for most mainstream Hollywood

films like District 9. This would allow us to

take on multiple perspectives with the

camera and potentially, multiple methods of

terrifying the audience.