Codes and Conventions

Magazine

• Image of celebrity
• Puffs
• Plugs
• Magazine title
• Barcode
• Issue date
• Website

Poster

• Title of film
• Tagline
• Image
• "starring..."/actors name
• Release date of the film
• Reviews (4 stars, 5 stars, etc)
• Website
• Film details in thin, condensed text
• Quotes from reviews

What are the key generic features of a trailer?

I watched some trailers and here are some features and aspects that I noted down:

Horror trailers
Paranormal activity 2 -

1. Starts off with some editing of a blank, black shot with some background noise
2. Then a quick, jumpy, action shot of someone being thrown at the camera
3. It then has a pause in the action and slows down, some text is displayed to build up the release of the new film
4. Some shots are shown from the film
5. No background music to create an eerie atmosphere

Isidious -

1. Starts off with company name/logo
2. Then shows the title of the film with some strange background noises
3. Then starts with the shots from the film and some dialogue to introduce the audience to characters?
4. "From the makers of paranormal activity and Saw" promotes the film to audience who may have liked these films
5. It then continues with a tense background soundtrack and cut shots from the film

Romance trailers
Charlie st cloud -

1. Starts with the universal logo and some happy acoustic music
2. image of setting
3. Dialogue from the film
4. More images and shots from the film
5. Happy music throughout

Life as we know it -

1. Immediately starts with shots from the film and a up-going beat
2. Logo of warner bro.s pictures
3. Carrys on with dialogue and images from the film to introduce audience to storyline
4. Text comes up to explain what's happening
   

Comedy trailers
Hangover-

1. Starts with dialogue from film to introduce
2. Chart music song
3. Sped up shots from film

4. Main storyline

What are the key generic features of your chosen genre?

My chosen genre is horror/thriller. There are many key generic features that makes a film a horror/thriller. Negativity is a main one. Something negative always happens in a horror whether it be a gruesome death or a ghost haunting. A majority of horror movies follow the same style of narrative.

It starts off with a balance. Everything is normal until there is some sort of disturbance, a murder perhaps, the film then carries on with the disturbance, normally this gets worse throughout time until a resolution is found and the balance is found again to end the film. This doesn't necessarily mean a happy ending though.

In most horror and thriller trailers they have sudden close ups, fast action cut shots and long, dark shots to create an eery atmosphere. This builds up tension and engages the audience.

Characters in a horror

The typical characters are:

1 main 'good' character or a 'good' group

1 main 'evil' character or an 'evil' group

A male hero

A female victim

Settings and props in a horror

A Haunted house for example a majority of the filming in 'The Grudge' - 2004

Another possible setting is an enclosed space e.g an alleyway or a town for example in 'The Crazies' - 2010



Another possibility is an abandoned public place such as an old hospital or mental asylum for example in 'Boo'-2009 

 

Props used are; knives or weaponry, fake blood and dark clothing for a killer or white clothing for a ghost.