Solo trailer review - Tucker and Dale vs. evil (2011)

Tucker and Dale vs. evil, 2011, is a red band Canadian comedy horror directed by Eli Craig. 

What happened in the trailer? 
In the 2 and a half minute trailer, a montage of rhythmic short clips illustrates the hilarious unfortunate events that Tucker and Dale get themselves into when doing up their holiday home on vacation. The opening sequence to the trailer is an aerial shot of a group of friends driving to their destination; a typical convention in horror films.


To begin the trailer, the characters are established through point of view shots and close ups, representing each character as a stereotypical person. These stereotypes include; the sexualised, blonde female victim, the male hero, the final girl and the two psycho killers.

When the final girl stereotype is seen undressing to go skinny dipping, the two unfortunate characters seen as the psycho killers are coincidentally in a boat near by, portrayed as deviant men, spying on her. Seeing her fall into the water and knocking herself unconscious, the men save her from drowning but are only seen as kidnapping her from the eyes of her friends.

For the duration of the trailer, the events that occur are jaw dropping for the audience by the classic stereotypical horror conventions being played with and turned into a laughing stock by the overly anxious college kids that make the two softest characters appear like serial killers.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well? 
When focusing on the most inspiring features within the trailer that I feel I would like to include in my own would be; the blunt, dry humour, the music, the great use of cinematography, the awkward silences and the text font. 

If I were to create a comedy horror, I feel as if I would follow the dry humour techniques such as the awkward silences to give the audience time to reflect on the action on screen whilst still including humour. At the beginning of the trailer, the music playing is similar to those in conventional horror trailers, creating an uncomfortable atmosphere. As the trailer goes on and Tucker and Dale's misfortunes begin, the music either stops or alters to contrapuntal music. Alternating the music meant that the trailer adjusted to the action on screen and worked well to evoke the appropriate emotions. 

 The font used at the end of the trailer to inform the audience with more information is a bold sans serif font written in red. Using this battered effect font connotes the horror genre whilst additionally using a colour such as red to connote danger, evil and death which are all themes of the film. 

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing? 
When focusing on the negative aspects within the trailer and features that I would choose not to include in my own, these include; the repetition of fade to blacks, the shortage of breaks for text and the fact that a lot of the best bits from the film have already been shown. 

The editing technique of fade to black is a popular transition in this trailer and due to being used a lot, I felt it slowed down the action. Due to this, I feel that in my trailer, I will take this into consideration and be diverse with the editing techniques and include multiple different effects. 

Having no breaks during the trailer for text means that more footage from the film has to be shown. Showing all of the funny scenes  from the film means that when watching the film, lots of the more funny scenes have already been seen and will be less funny when watching. If I were to do this in my trailer, I will make sure that I keep a lot of the best scenes until the film and not give everything away. 

Personal rating? Why did i give that mark?
Personally, I would rate this trailer a 9/10 due to the intelligence that has gone into the cinematography, the editing, the music, the awkward silences and the general narrative of the trailer. 

Solo trailer review - The Collection (2012)

The Collection, 2012, is a green band action thriller/ horror directed by the American screenplay writer and director “Marcus Dunstan”.



What happened in the trailer?
In the 2 minute 15 trailer, an action pact narrative is explored through short clips, telling the story through a linear plot of a hotel that has been used as a place to hold hundreds of people hostage. Similar to the Saw trilogy, a masked figure kidnaps these people and attempts to torture them. Beginning the trailer with a group of people walking down into a dark alleyway to what they think is a night club; a similar frightening looking male opens the steel door with a controlled button. A quick paced montage shows the hundreds of people filling the night club in the strobe lights, exaggerating the pace and rhythm of the music. The assumed protagonist is seen walking into a thin low wire that triggers a machine to shut all doors and lock every person inside. Another quick paced montage illustrates the sharp spikes and blades as addition to the masked figure walking into shot.

To slow down the fast paced action and to give the audience a chance to evaluate what has gone on in the previous shot, a news headline is shown on a crackling TV as addition to showing the audience close friends and relatives of some of the individuals been kidnapped talking about how much they’re missed.

During slow montages of the people being tortured inside the hotel, small bits of text appears stating “only one survivor”, “only one chance”, “to escape pure evil”. At the end of the trailer, second long flickers of light appear on screen showing a male walking into a room. As each flicker appears on screen, the tension builds up until the masked serial killer walks into shot as a jump scare.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
As a starting point, I feel that the masked serial killer was effective and due to not being able to see the killer, the audience are unfamiliar as to what he looks like, meaning that this is left for their imaginations. 

Only seeing the killer a few times meant that when we did, it was more frightening and tense. I feel that in my trailer, I will be including a masked killer and will additionally only show the killer vaguely to let the audience of my trailer use their imaginations. At the end of the trailer, text appeared stating “The new face of American horror”. I feel that this statement is strong in the sense of representing a face that is said to be remembered by the audience.

The second aspect of the trailer I found clever was the use of the Kuleshov effect. At the beginning of the video, as mentioned, the group of people stand in front of a steel door, waiting for it to open. Behind them, a male pushes a button on a control and the camera cuts back to the door opening. Small aspects of this effect made the cinematography more interesting and more atmospheric due to not seeing every single action. I will be including this effect into my own trailer as addition to restricted narration that I also found added tension.

Towards the end of the trailer, the rhythm of the action was parallel to a heartbeat pumping. Doing this made the suspense build up and for the audience to acknowledge that something was about to happen to destroy the slow paced rhythm. As proved, at the end of the trailer, a small jump scare happens when flickers of light match the heart beat rhythm. I will be including a jump scare at the end of my trailer in a similar way and due to this rhythm, have had ideas about including a sound track similar to this. 

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
When focusing on aspects of the trailer that I felt were disappointing, I felt these were; the jump scare at the end, the jump scare half way through and the constant fade to blacks.

Both jump scares in the trailer were unsuccessful in the sense of personally making me jump. By making the jump scares quiet and slow paced, I was prepared for the scare and could then prepare myself. If I were to add jump scares into my trailer, I will make sure that the audience will not see it coming.

The fade to black effect is great itself, however I felt that it was over used and made the transitions appear slightly dull and uninteresting. If the effect was used less and others were also used, I feel that it would have been more effective and so feel I will attempt to do this in my trailer. 

Personal rating? Why did i give that mark?
As an overall rating, I would personally give the trailer an 8 out of 10 due to being action pact, visually eye catching, having a fantastic use of cinematography, using great montages and for the great rhythm. I haven’t given the trailer full marks due to the jump scares not being frightening enough and the repetition of the fade to black editing. 

Solo trailer review - The Grudge 2004

The Grudge, 2004, is a green band psychological horror and thriller directed by Takashi Shimizu.

What happened in the trailer?
During this short one and a half trailer, a montage of mundane, ordinary and everyday tasks are being illustrated at the beginning, portraying the equilibrium that the film once had. Between clips, black text appears, overlaying the effect of long black hair swiping across the screen, representing the motif of the antagonist character; the “Grudge”. Collision cutting separates the equilibrium from the disruption, allowing the audience to see the action beginning. Going from slow paced montages to quick also makes the audience feel alarmed and due to the second long shots of the grudge, makes their hearts race faster. A voice over of the protagonist character begins over montages of her walking around a house stating “The whole time I was in that house..I felt something was wrong. What happened there?”  As the text adds more detail to the narrative for the audience, the trailer ends with “It never forgets” in parallel with the action occurring; tormenting the female protagonist whilst living in that home.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The aspects within the trailer that I personally liked and felt I could include in my trailer were; the motif of the hair trail, the collision cutting, the quick montages and the voiceovers. Using the motif of the hair enables the audience to recognise the film just by this object. Seeing this object will then signify the film and be stuck in the mind of the audience. By adding this to the background of the text meant that the text becomes more visually eye catching and appealing whilst additionally adding subtle hints of horror.

The second aspect, collision cutting, was a feature that I felt highlighted the psychological sub-genre. By including this feature, the action changes from slow to fast which illustrates the action within the trailer going from normal to chaotic. Doing this makes the audiences hearts race and can make them jump or feel on edge. By doing this, I feel as if it would be a great way to scare the audience by sudden alterations such as music going from quiet to loud.

The quick montages were another way that I felt the trailer took the interest of the audience. Fitting more scenes into the trailer at a fast pace meant that the audience will not get tiresome of the action on screen and they will also get more information about the narrative. I will be putting quick montages into my own trailer during montages to gain the interest of the audience and to feed them with adrenalin.

The last aspect that I thought was inspiring for my own trailer was the voice over. This is a feature that also helps to contribute to the amount of information being given to the audience. Playing over the action being seen helps to describe what is going on as addition to watching more scenes.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
Aspects of the trailer that I felt were disappointing and would be discarded when focusing on my trailer were; the music, the length of the trailer and the flash effect that occurs through the quick montages.

When focusing on the music, I feel that it wasn’t dramatic enough to create a fearful atmosphere. Keeping at the same rhythm meant that not all of the action was parallel to the music.

Having the trailer only one and a half minutes in length meant that the audience didn’t get enough scenes, action, jump scares or information based on the narrative to really understand in depth whether this film is for them.

Although the quick montages were a positive aspect of the trailer, I felt that the flashes in between clips gave a nauseating, clichéd effect that made it difficult to follow and take in what was happening in the clips.

Personal rating? Why did i give that mark?
As an overall rating of this trailer, I would give it a 5/10 due to the fact that the trailer was too short, didn’t give me enough information to know if I want to watch it and because of the music that wasn’t rhythmic and dramatic enough. 

Class trailer review - Pusher Trilogy

The Pusher Trilogy, 1996 – 2005 is a green band crime thriller series directed by “Nicolas Winding Refn”.

 

What happened in the trailer?
In the one minute 25 second video, a fast paced montage full of clips shorter than one second illustrates the disorientating, claustrophobic hell that portrays drugs, sex, partying and violence. In between each fast paced montage, the conventional technique of having text inform the audience of information that they would not necessarily understand through just watching the action is embedded. This extra detail gives the audience more information to understand the narrative and makes it much clearer.

During the first few shots, restricted narration enables the audience to be introduced to different characters and scenes within the film whilst getting the idea of the narrative. With the text between shots, not only do the audience get a feel for the film but also get to hear what other people have said about it. “Simply brilliant…uncompromising…refuses to pull a single punch” – Matt McNally, BBC.  

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
Despite giving the trailer a personal rating of 4, I managed to find aspects within it that I felt were interesting and cleverly done. The first aspect was the music. As each montage appears on screen, the music begins. This particular music is perfect for the fast action and sounds just like white noise. By adding this to the trailer, I feel that it relates to the action on screen as the drug enthused men stereotypically like loud music, partying and obvious drug use. The white noise is a typical noise that is said to be heard by an individual who has been heavily using drugs and makes the audience almost feel as uncomfortable as it would be to be in their situation.

The second aspect of the trailer I enjoyed was the collision cutting. Due to the sudden hit of music and the few second pause with the text, the music wasn’t gradual in increasing or decreasing. This added suspense between each shot and was a great way to give the audience time to evaluate the action that was just on screen. I will be using collision cutting within my trailer in a similar way.

The next feature was the fast paced action. Although heavy, I felt that it suited this particular sub- genre of horror well and was somewhat like an adrenalin rush.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The first aspect within the trailer that I felt was disappointing was the narrative as a whole. I felt that it was unsuccessful in the sense of targeting a large audience. Using such basic, uninteresting, unemotional topics, I feel that not only does it interest a very niche audience, but also predominantly men.

The second aspect I disliked was the voice-over. This particular voice-over was uninteresting and didn’t pull me into the action. I felt that I didn’t relate to what was being said and it didn’t give me any kind of emotional response.

Lastly, I felt that the constant flashing on screen was too much. Doing this every minute meant that all of the information was not being transferred properly and meant that the audience would switch off and not understand the point of the film.

What was the average score in class? Why did it receive that mark?
During the class discussion, the film was given an average rating of six. I feel that this is due to the constant repetition of fast paced action, lifeless action and an unsatisfying narrative. 

Class trailer review - Evil Dead (2013)

Evil Dead, 2013, is a red band gory horror directed by “Fede Alvarez”.

 

What happened in the trailer?
In the two minute trailer, the audience are given only a small amount of information regarding the film through slow paced dialogue, cinematography and sound. Leading us through the trailer is the protagonist character informing her assumed partner or friend that there is “something in the woods” and “you have to get me out of here”. From the second shot, the audience establish a book that has been opened reading “leave this book alone” in scribbled red writing. Through both of these shots being put together, using the Kuleshov effect, the shots represent cause and effect, illustrating what this book has done to the five friends staying in the remote cabin hidden amongst the demons living in the nearby woods.

Like usual in horror trailers, the convention of having text in between shots enables the audience to establish more about the action being seen without giving too much information away and using all of the frightening scenes.

A montage of 2 second long clips appears with more action filled scenes of the protagonist running through the woods with detailed mise-en-scene, making her appear possessed and as if she has been in there for days or even weeks. Possessing all of the five young adults in the cabin within the woods, it appears there will only be one survivor.  

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
The first aspect within the trailer that I thought was most effective was the collision cutting. Beginning with equilibrium by using the slow paced dialogue, when the montages begin using faced paced, second long shots, the pace and the music make the audience’s heart rates increase, influenced by the slow build up. The theory by Tzvetan Todorov links in with this narrative by beginning with equilibrium and then the equilibrium being disrupted. I feel that I can include this within my own trailer by including collision cutting that alters slow paced action to fast as addition to quiet music and sound effects to fast.

Linking in with the idea of the slow paced dialogue, I feel that this introduction was dramatic and atmospheric. Watching every movement that she made with her facial expression and metaphorically seeing every word that fell out of her mouth, the audience are in suspense as to what she is going to say next.

The sound within the trailer is rhythmic and powerful. Being in sync with the action on screen, the music increases and in opposition, decreases along with the narrative. The sound effects, for instance; the sound of knives sharpening, the sound of the bag ripping open to reveal the book and the sound of the tree twigs gliding through the woods and wrapping around the protagonists’ legs, are all dramatic and sharp, creating a realistic representation. For my trailer, I will be including rhythmic and atmospheric music. 

The last aspect within the trailer that I felt was most interesting was the body horror. Using such extreme uses of blood, sick and tearing of body parts meant that the target audience of gory horror fans are getting what they want and very effective and realistic approach to it.  Although my trailer will not be focused around gory horrors, I will include small sections of body horror to get as much of an audience as possible.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
Despite thinking the body horror was effective; there were specific scenes that I believe were inappropriate and taken too far. After the demonised character cuts her tongue in half, she begins to kiss another female character. By doing this, I felt as if the horror film was introducing the theme of “sex and the taboo” which was something I felt was not needed. By this, I felt as if the film was directed more for the male audience than the female and although it made me feel uncomfortable, I felt it was a negative aspect of the trailer. By this, I know that I will not include aspects of sex and the taboo into my own trailer and will attempt to get as much of an audience as I can.

What was the trailer’s average class in class? Why did it receive that mark?
The average rating from the class for this specific trailer was eight. Having given the trailer a seven myself, I feel that I have an unbiased approach towards the theory of why it was given this rating. Although the trailer included plenty of close-ups, tracking and panning shots, great cinematic elements, great mise-en-scene and editing; I feel that specific scenes were taken too far and the scenes themselves were far from realistic which somewhat takes away the fear from the trailer. 

Stereotypical fan

Name: Anastasia ‘Stasia’

Age: 23

Job: Library Worker/University Student

Likes: Reading, Poetry, Thrill-seeking Activities, Coffee Shops, Politics, Protests

Dislikes: Ignorant People, Celebrities,

Extra: Has a natural fashion sense and takes care of her appearance, but does not actively follow fashion. Actively takes part in protests against civil injustice and in marches for human rights. In a stable long-term relationship and is living with her partner with no children. Is currently studying for her master’s degree in history and works at her university library to support herself.

Demographic: C2; Skilled Worker

Psychographic: Reformer, she wants the world to change/ Mainstreamer 

Class trailer review - "30 Days Of Night" (2007)

What happened in the trailer?
"30 days of night", 2007, is a green band action horror film directed by “David Slade”, situated in an Alaskan town. Within the two minute trailer, the audience are given little information about the film through fast paced, collision cuts and montages that entice the target audience through the dramatic, atmospheric text that appears in between shots. Beginning with seconds of equilibrium by having a couple sitting in their house, the attack of the bloodthirsty vampires begins immediately, disrupting the equilibrium. With descriptive text appearing in between every shot, the audience understand the narrative and through the immediate jump scare beginning 12 seconds into the trailer, the audience see the attack but are still not aware of what it is until a close up of a vampires face at 0.55. The trailer illustrates the narrative through a slow paced montage that subtly speeds up. As this occurs, the descriptive text colour changes to a red as oppose to the white it was beforehand, with an effect that appears as if blood is dripping from the letters. 

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled?
Having given the trailer a personal rating of 9/10, there were many positive aspects to mention. At the beginning of the trailer, the immediate jump scare enticed me into the trailer and made me fixated to the screen. By having this scare so early on in the trailer makes anybody who isn’t paying complete attention suddenly become aware of what is going on and somewhat already pleases the horror film fanatic target audiences. This feature of the trailer will be an aspect that I would definitely be inclined to include in my own trailer as addition to other jump scares during the trailer and when the dramatic music finishes at the end, reminding the audience of the psychological sub-genre. 

The second aspect within the trailer that I thought was clever was the music. Having such a rhythmic soundtrack meant that the action within the montages could be played alongside the music, creating more of a dramatic atmosphere. As mentioned, the montage is a feature that is additionally intelligent by vice versa, intertwining this with the music. By adding the montage, the audience got to see a wide range of scenes within the film and due to the fast paced speed, couldn’t get bored during each scene shown.

Collision cutting is a typical convention of horror films, going from fast paced to slow and quiet to loud. By the jump scene at the beginning, awakening the mundane scene, the sudden crashing of the glass and screaming of the female character frightens the audience and makes our hearts race. Collision cutting is a technique that I hope to include within my trailer with the jump scares and dramatic music.

The last interesting aspect within the trailer that I would like to incorporate into my trailer is the text. The narrative of the film is explained through seconds of text appearing on screen between shots. Towards the end, the animated text alters to a different font and appearance and connotes danger, blood and violence through the colour red as addition to the dripping of blood from each word or letter. 

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful, and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
Despite rating the trailer extremely high, there was one aspect that I would not include within my own trailer. This aspect is the constant use of shots fading to black. By doing this, I felt as if the action was slowed down a lot which resulted in the continuity not flowing as much.   

What was the trailer’s AVG. score in class? Why did it receive that mark?
During the class discussion, the average rating of the trailer was 7/10. I feel that this was the case due to people believing that the trailer didn’t scare them enough or drag them into the narrative. The constant fades to black began to get predictive and made any of the psychological scenes less frightening and convincing. 

Class research: Favourite horror sub-genre pie chart

During a class discussion, we discovered which sub-genres each person preferred, dividing the answers into females and males. The most popular sub-genre ended up being psychological, having 9 females vote for this. For males, the most popular was gory horrors. Having discovered this, I feel that our group will take this into consideration and aim our film towards a wider target audience, focusing on psychological horrors but be hybrodised to include a small amount of gore. 

Practice poster design - Delirium

Having been put into groups for the production of our horror trailers, myself and the other two in my group designed a first draft of our horror film poster. Coming up with a basic narrative, we received both positive and negative feedback from the class during a discussion to then improve upon our idea.