Conventions of a Horror Trailer

Conventions of a Horror Film

Lighting: The lighting in both the trailers I looked at was low key when the trailers progressed and more scary scenes were uncovered. The low key lighting makes it scarier for the audience because they can’t see who or what is lingering in the shadows and keeps them engaged whilst they look for it. At the start, when the mood is lighter, a high key lighting is used which usually signifies that it isn’t going to stay like that for long and helps the audience sympathise with the victims because they’re about to come into danger. It also allows the audience to relate with the characters when the trailers show their everyday lives at the beginning because they can feel empathy because it might be similar to their own situation and anything could change for them too.

Isolation: I found that isolation was a key convention in both the trailers too. The house in ‘The Woman in Black’ was surrounded by water showing that there was no way for the protagonist to escape. He was also in the house alone creating a sense of vulnerability, making it easier for the audience to sympathise. In ‘Insidious’ the monster seemed to be around when the characters were alone, for example when it was standing next to the child sleeping or speaking down the baby monitor to the Mum. The characters aren’t strong when they are on their own, connoting the power of the bad presence in both the films.

Children: The theme of childhood and innocence ran through both of the trailers I looked at, making it a convention of some horror films. They used children to show a loss of innocence from the scary things happening and it is easier for the audience to sympathise and become attached to children because they are vulnerable and innocent. It also creates an eerie atmosphere to the trailers when the toys are playing by themselves because it’s showing something bad has happened but the audience don’t quite know what.

Sound: Both the trailers use tense music which gets faster and louder when montages of scary parts of the film are shown. After these montages the music cuts out and there is often some form of dialogue warning the people that there is danger. It makes people listen to the dialogue because it’s surprisingly peaceful after the tense montages. The fast paced music also portrays shows that the film is horror because it represents how people will be feeling when they are watching it. They will be on edge on those parts so the sound is tense as well to make them feel how they might feel if they watch the film.