The Butterfly Effect:
Director: Eric Bress and J.Mackye Gruber
Release date: 16th April 2004
- Sont serif font at the beginning of the film, this connotes horror (literal meaning). you would find this font in most horror films.
- The two main characters are shown in the first shot, this is a two shot.
- At the beginning of the trailer there is also a shot with the production company's logo for example in 'The Butterfly Effect' a shot of the 'Timeline Pictures' is shown.
- There is a black and white shot of the two main characters to show that the particular shot is in the past.
- Throughout the entire trailer there is a voice over, this is a male, mature American voice, they use this to have some power and authority.
- Most of the angles in this trailer are mid angle shots and med/close up shots to show character identification. There are blackouts from the males point of view who is also the central protagonist; he says to the girl, the other protagonist ' do you remember those flash backs?' this then goes into a quick/fast montage of shots (attracting a younger audience) with alot of focus on a churchyard. The shot takes are very fast with fast paced editing, there are also alot of special effects in the trailer/film which will also be to attract a younger audience.
- The music also helps to attract a younger audience aswell as fitting in well with the characters and the genre.
- Near the end of the trailer there is a shot of the girl, messed up by drugs which is a complete contrast to the girl at the beginning of the trailer (binary opposition) In the trailer there is a clear indication that time has passed with all the black and white shots, like the guy is looking back at what his life used to be like.
- There are lots of shots going back to their childhood, signifying, possibly that the past and the present are interlinked.
- At the very end of the trailer two big star names are shown, to show the audience who is in the film aswell as trying to attract an audience to watch it.
- There is a big explosion which shows special effects and high budget, could also show super natural due to the bright lights. The trailer ends with a website and information about the film.
Sex And The City:
Director: Michael Patrick King
Release Date: 28th May 2008
- Starts with pink credits and female music which signifies the target audience.
- The production logo is also shown, they have changed the logo to fit in with the film and the genre of the film. HBO, biggest subscription channel in USA.
- There is an American voice over, again showing power and authority, also could show where the film was filmed and produced, in America. Also talking is the main protagonist, this was a book before it became a big hit on the TV so she talks as though she is actually telling a story.
- There are sky scenes, showing the audience where the film is set, New York City, This gives the film a glamorous effect which links in with the film and genre of the film. The shots over NYC will have had to be taken using a helicopter, which shows that the film is a high budget film.
- The shots are changing over time, they synchronized the cars to link in with the voice over.
- There are a few shots of the four main characters together, one where you can just see there figures in the dark, this suggests mystery and narrative enigma.
- There is a shot of the main character in a wedding dress which could signify that the film is also about romance.
- At the end there is a pun, 'get carried away' this is important because the main character is called Carey so this is also related to the book.
Prom night:
Dirctor: Nelson McCormick
Release Date: 6th June 2008
- The music for this trailer starts straight away, its soft rock music which doesn't signify the genre of this film to Begin with.
- There are also shots of the production company's at the beginning of the trailer too which will just show the audience which companies have produced the film which could also encourage them to watch the film itself.
- There are shots of students who go to the school which is featured in this film and then a sign of the school, showing all the information about the prom, ' Saturday may 17' 'Pacific Grand Hotel' '8.00pm' giving the audience a sense of location and setting.
- Throughout the trailer there are blackouts, where the scream goes black and fading into the screen is writing, 'The preparation' 'The Anticipation' and 'The Celebration' all of these texts are in sont serif font which donnotes the genre of horror to the audience.
- These captions are taking the audience through the course of the day. However this contrasts with the music because the music doesn't signify horror but the music could signify a hybrid genre.
- The main character speaks first in the trailer so then the audience knows who she is, there are shots of her and her friends getting ready for prom night, starting with a close up of the main character and then of her two friends, this could be showing the audience that these characters also play a vital part in the film or that something bad is/will happen to them.
- There is a close up of a boy (whom we presume is her boyfriend) which could also be signifying that something bad will happen to him as well.
- There is a master establishing shot of the hotel where the prom takes place, with blue tinted lights shining up at the building which is signifying horror to the audience.
- The trailer shows the 6 friends going up to a hotel room which could possibly be an important setting for the film as there are quite a few shots of the friends in the room.
- The music suddenly stops half way throughout the trailer and one of the teachers is about to announce the prom king and queen but then the lights in the room go off and on and keep doing this.
- Slow harsh music stars here, starting quiet then building up to loud and then back to quiet again. There are shots within this sequence, shots of the girls friends screaming and then a shot of a dark figures legs at the top of the stairs. there is then a shot of the dark figures hand, holding a knife, this connotes the genre horror and thriller as the audience now knows that someone will get killed.
- The main character is a typical blonde Caucasian, this is typical for a horror/thriller film so this also signifies the genre to the audience.
Friday The 13th (1980):
Director: Sean S Cunningham
Release Date: 9th May 1980
- The music starts off the trailer, its very slow, sharp and mysterious which could be a narrative enigma.
- The production companies logo is shown at the very beginning too, showing the audience which company produced the film which may or may not encourage the audience to watch the film. The production companies logo has been modified to fit in with the slow moving music.
- All the way through the film trailer there are shots of different people, in different situations but they are all in a wood or near a wood or in a log cabin, which could suggest there is a link between all these people.
- After the shot of each individual person there is a blackout and a number appears on the screen in the colour red, which signifies and connotes blood and the genre horror/thriller.
- Over the top of this there is a voice over, this voice over is an American male, this gives the film some power and authority.
- There is a shot of a male, dressed in dark clothing, holding a knife in his hand, this signifies horror/ thriller and signifies that these people are actually being killed.
- When it gets to the 13th person to be killed there is a still image of her and the camera zooms into her face, the music has stopped now and there is a continuous sound of her screaming as the camera moves in, as though someone is walking towards her to kill her.
- At the very end of the trailer there is a black screen with 'Friday The 13th' zooming towards the screen very fast, as soon as it gets close enough to the screen, it hits it, like breaking glass, this could also signify that people are going to be killed in the film as well as the genre. Over the top of this the voice over is introducing the film.
- ' The events you are about to whitness are true-names and locations have been changedto protect those individuals still living' - could signify the genre of realsim as its talking about real events.
- Master establishing shots of lakes, woods, countryside- suggesting this is a key location as its the first thing the audience i shown.
- One of the main characters is shown, as he says his daughters name (mary) and her age 17, flashing shots of her.
- Red writing- signifying blood, death, the genre of horror/thriller.
- Father gives daughter a neclace and there is a close up zoom of the neclace- signifying its a key symbol in the film and the audience will probably see it again.
- two girls (main protagonists) running through a wood, by a river- signifying another key location.
- Close up zoom of the girls- as though someone is watching them.
- scene changes to the news- talking about some convicts- while the news reader is talking about them there are shots being shown of these convicts in their own house, getting dressed- one lady n the bath.
- one convict on the street- sees two girls loking for drugs so invites them in.
- lock girls in, sexual references throughout the film, guy rips girls shirt.
- shots going back to mary's parents getting ready for her birthday and then back to the two girls, this happens throughout the film- like a juxaposition.
- convict pulls knife out- signifying horror/thriller, death and blood and will show the audience that something bad is about to happen.
- take girls to a wood, the wood near mary's house as she sees her letter box- close up zoom of the letter box- suggesting its a significant symbol.
welcome to the jungle:
Director: Jonathan Hensleigh
Release Date: 15th April 2009
- Production company logos- showing audience who the production company is, encouraging audience to watch film.
- Boat with 4 people (friends) talkign about where they are going to visit, showing the sea and shots of the boat- giving audience sens of location which is important for a teaser trailer.
- Green, large font with black tints, looks unfinished- could signify the genre of horror/ thriller and adventure also links in with the name of the film, 'welcome to the jungle' and the colour green.
- Male and female getting into river girl says ' happy two weeks aniversary'- could signify that there is some romanace in the film so the film could be a hybrd genre.
- Doocumentary style film, characters looking straight into camera as though they know they are being film/watched.
- 'Discover the mystry'- also signifys the genre of adventure.
- Single beat music, zooming into the writing on the screen then fades out- could signify mystry and horror/thriller.
- POV shot of character looking at a book with a picture of a man, then all characters talk about him and what happened to him- signifying that he could play a vital part in the film.
- 1 blonde girl and 1 brunette girl, showing lots of bare skin- could suggest sexually available.
- All characters walking- adventurous, fileds, jungles, rivers, middle of nowhere - giving the audience a sense of location.
- All friends arguing, leave one guy behind and take everything apart from a tent- suggests something bad could happen to him.
- On their adventure, see skulls, man saying ' your not going up there are you?'- suggesting that he knows what could happen to them, trying to stop them from going there and could tell the audience that something bad could happen to them on their travels.
- Shots of a tribe of people with knifes and sticks- suggesting violence and horror/thriller genre.
- Characters find a t-shirt with blood stains on it- signifying death.
- music gets faster as the editing gets faster too- typical editing for a teaser trailer.
- more POVs of the characters.
- 'Welcome to the jungle' film name is shown in the same green writing with black tints.
- Trailer ends with 'coming soon'
A nightmare on Elm Street:
Director: Wes Craven
Release Date: 16th November 1984
- 'New line cinema'- productions company logos, blue tinted lights- signifying horror/thriller, fades into black screen.
- Sont serif, red writing- signifying horror/thriller
- man running into abandond industrial property, man throwing fire bomb into the building, killing the other man- signifying horror/thriller and violence.
- 3 young girls in white dresses- signifying virginal, flashing images of these girls skipping and playing- showing their age.
- alot of artificial lighting, blue and yellow tints/lights- signifying horror/thriller.
- Close up of a girl who we assume is the main character, she talks about a man and as shes talking about him, he appears in the shot.
- The music is putting the audience in suspense which is soemthing else whch is typical for a horror/thriller film.
- see a sign for 'Elm Street'- giving the audience a sense of location.
- Children singing about man, typical song for a horror film, lots of candles- again artificial lighting.
- Low angle shot of two young blonde girls, trapped behind bars- could be significant. They cant move due to nale authority.
Hell Night:
Director: Tom Desimone
Release Date: 28th August 1981
- shots of a girl screeming, location is a party, lots of friends having fun, drinking.
- soft rock music, fits in with genre and the characters as they are fairly young people.
- red writing, entering the screen liek a ghost- signifying blood and death.
- lots of long shots, panning across the house showing the audience whats happening.
- lots of shots of fires, could signify horror/thriller and death.
- shot of two characters (main protagonists)- males talking about another two characters ( also main protagonists) who have just entered the party.
- halloween night, as everyone is dressed up.
- Blonde female protagonist wearing red, strappy clothing- suggesting blood and that the girl is sexually available.
- The other female protagonist is wearing a red cape which is also signifying blood but she is covered up and has no bare skin like the other girl did.
- Guy opening up big gate which is locked, locked for a reason? could suggest danger, that they shouldnt be going in there and could be suggesting to the audience that something bad is going to be happening.
Psycho (1960):
Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Release Date: 25th August 1960
- starts off with a screaching sound, as though someone is screaming- signifying horror/thriller.
- quick, fast shots of what we presume is a woman's legs, body, in a running bath- possibly dead? showing lots of bare skin- suggesting she is sexually available.
- curtain from shower pulled away, dark figure (who we presume to be male) standing behind it holding a knife in his hand- signifying crime, violence, horror/thriller.
- Voiceover of a male american- showing power and authority.
- setting the scene- quite motel, with a high angle shot of the motel, probably taken by a crane.
- shots of many different characters, a female character comes up quite alot- suggesting she is one of the main protagonists.
- A male character talking about all of them being in their own traps and that they can never escpae, as he says this shots of the motel with a very dark sky- location is very dark, not much light- could suggest something bad is about to happen.
- Zoom shot of a character, as though he is being watched or he is watching someone.
- Male character pulling a body out of a room (possibly the bathroom where we saw the first shots)- suggestions that he has murdered the character.
- writing appears upon the screen- fades in and then fades out again- white writing so that it stands out but has black tints over it- as though it is unfinished.
- Music gets faster as the editng gets faster- music also putting audience in suspense.
- a male character talking about a woman, suggesting she is the killer however at the beginning of the trailer the shots suggest the killer is a male character.
- 'psycho' appears on the screen, the same way as the other writing but this time there is a red line going across it, as though its blood dripping- suggesting death.
I know what you did last summer:
Director: Jim Gillespie
Release Date: 12th December 1997
- Production logos, blue tints- signifying horror/thriller genre.
- 4 friends sat on a beach, talking about someone who was killed. dark environtment, fire- suggesting horror/thriller.
- ' From the creater of scream'- in red writing- signifying blood, death, telling the audience who created the film and what other films they have created, encouraging the audience to or not to watch the trailer/ film.
- characters driving a car really fast, screaming, loud, fast music- characters and cars covered in blue lights.
- characters knocked down a guy and killed him, still night, they didnt know what to do so they put the dead body into the sea.
- lots of fog and blue lights- signifying horror and that something bad is about to happen.
- 1 year later, so its keeping the audience knowing the time period etc.
- one of the girls gets a note ' i know what you did last summer' as though someone is watching them, someone obviously knows that they killed a guy.
- fast music, lots of shots.
- All the writing is in red- signifying blood and death
- This trailer is filmed in a documentary style with jolty camerawork makes the audience feel as if they're really there. This trailers genre is crime horror thriller and drama.
- 2 thieves stay over night at a bed and breakfast where the hosts offer them a free room and sex.
- The camerawork is also blurry which could be argued as an intertextual link to 'white noise'.
- Like most of the film trailers ive analysed the title is white and red on a black screen, however this title appears like an explosive firework signifying explosives and violence, the letters also look as though they've been splattered with blood signifying horror along with a screeching noise which further anchors the horror genre.
- Shifts between typical blue tint and red lighting signify a gory horror.
- A visual bridge is made between the throwing of a bomb and the explosion of it.
- A white police car is een howver both the police officers and the criminals are in dark clothing this connotes that authority has been corrupted and they're now just as bad as the criminals. Yellow lighting also seems to be a typical convention of horror films as it contrats so well against blue tint creating a larger visual impact.
- Fast cars signify crime and action as they're driven the non-digetic music starts to speed up. The non-digetic music then fades to a more gentle lulabye, dark green night-time mode on the cameras low angle view of buildings helps to anchor the genre of crime and the time that they're traveling at night so are likely to be hiding/running away from something, a crying woman in the front seat further connotes unease that somethings not quite right, this is further anchored by the road signs being old dirty and battered, 2 of the male characters arrive at a bed and breakfast iin a small village saying to one another 'Perfect, we'll be fine here' which is a prophetic warning, meaning 'Sods law' will come into play.
- Skinny women are drinking and smoking inside the BnB they look unclean and have greasy hair this connotes possible drug addicts, they give evil looks to the criminals and offer them a free room and sex things seem to be too good to be true for the criminals meaning things will inevitably go wrong as this is a horror film.
- The music lowers its tone to a base guitar sound, flashing scenes of violence and sex are edited together in a montage of quick cuts, each using mainly blue or yellow tints which helps to highlight the contrast between the 2 themes of these shots.
- The montage seems to come to head when the blonde criminal has a gun being pointed to his head, this shot fades to a tagline sequence signifying the death of him that there's no hope. This is anchored by the tagline saying 'They found a place worse than hell' a black the digetic sound of a black crow is heard which is a traditional common convention of horror.
- After this the horror really starts with a montage of violence, blood and gore which is slow to start with but speeds up, these shots include black screens between the violent shots signifying the progression of time and also giving less of a view of a scene leaves more to the audiences imagination until faced by the terrifying truth such as a close-up of a dead man hanging like a piece of meat in the butchers behind a white sheet this signifys corruption as humans are given dignity in death by being buried not hung. A large bald unshaven man from th begining is reintroduced in a violent way as he sows up dead bodies, turns up the heat physically and metaphorically as hes taken murder to a whole new level by enjoying torture, he drags his victims along the floor theres then an even more controversial shot where blue tint is used as he punchs the woman from the car in the face resulting in blood spraying everywhere.
- A title sequence brags about how gory and digusting the film is to try and entise the audience to see it as its an all out horror film, stereotypically french violin music is played.
- Lots of quickly cut shots are cut and edited into a fast pace montage of violence, close-ups of the victims faces are shown to connote the terror anger and emotional trauma they're experiencing the womans face is caked in mud signifying crime doesnt pay, prophetic fallacy is used to anchor emotions felt by the central protagonists, scenes of screaming cuting hair and gun fire connote they're so scared and beaten that they've been striped of their personal identity due to criem and violence. The seriousness of the topics seen in the trailer and raw emtion connotes also the genre of drama.
Valentine
Director: Jamie Blanks
Release Date: 13th April 2001
- The trailer starts with the introduction of 4 female central protagonists who are good friends all trying to find the perfect man in time for valentines day.
- A voiceover with a deep male husky voice explains and shows various men on many dates accompanied by slow music.
- There's an intertextual link to 'psycho' which is one of the clearer early signifyers of horror turning the preferred reading (chick flick/rom-com) to its educated reading of horror/thriller, also anchored by the music becoming more sinister sounding. The male CP is first introduced alongside the most stereotypical looking female CP, shes blonde caucasion which signifys purity the 'good girl' where as the male has dark hair and is in dark clothing signifying he may be a corruption to her.
- The dates the 4 women attend seem to get more serious becoming more sexually active which is a common convention of horror (women punished for being sex objects)
- Blune tint is used to connote horror over the female the blonde female with hair tyed up implying no-one is safe shes scared and shocked finally asking 'is someone there' which is an inevitable catalyst to horror action this speeds up a montage of the plot of a valentine revenge murder as the screen first fades to black the audiences fears are confirmed its a horror film when the voiceover says 'Its a nightmare'
- The music is then used to accentuate actions to scare the audience, for example the music increases to higher pitch as a quick close-up of the blonde being attacked is also emphacised by her scream, a close-up was used particuarly focusing on her eyes to signify the fear felt by the female CP.
- Slow menacing drum beating music is accompanied by the screaming whisper of a male making the audience feel uneasy as the 4 females open up traditional looking valentines cards and are attacked in various ways, lots of shouting and screaming is used to further anchor the genre, as chocolates filled with maggots in a red heart sheaped box is dropped to the floor, which connotes romance and horror intertwined, ie violent scenes based around sex.
- A large male black boot stamps on a red rose as he attacks a female, this is an ironic signifyer that romance is dead and corrupted.
- Another typical object found in a horror film is a phone the female CP tries to use it but its dead this is possibly an intertextual link to screama nd blue tint an intertextual link to 'Halloween' with the increase of violence comes the increase in porocative shots such as vest tops and the slowed down close-up of the busty brunettes body as shes pushed into the water in a black bikini.
- The rock music starts to fade as the eary sound gets louder along with the faint sound of a heartbeat, the quick cuts finich on the blonde female CP in a low cut blue vest top running, the word 'I'll put a spell on you are incidentalaly symbolic as the male CP has her fooled in beieveing him when hes the killer, the screen fades to black and the male CP is juxta posed to the killer in black on a res carpet holding the phalic violent object of a knife followed by the ironic iron, using both typically male and female objects shows hes clever and implys hes playing a game with the other characters.
- These violent hidden scenes are juxtaposed to the caucasion females innocently waving over at a creepy looking male giving the trailer a slight red herring so not to be too obvious of who the murderer is. A series of red herring males are then shown as the women try figuring out who the killer is intertwined with shots of half dressed females, the speech between the females links the male CP to the killings creating an argument the camera then pans across to the black figure whos face is ironically covered by a cherub mask with its nose bleeding, this connotes the murderer thrives on killing needs to do it so is a psychopath which helps to signify the genre also being a thriller.
- The trailer starts to end with the brunnette whos a binary opposition in the sense that shes most sexually active so will be punished the longest is screaming to get out of the jacuzi, the scene fades to black which connotes theres no hope for her.
- The title starts to appear 1 letter at a time like red beams of light with high pitched ear piercing music, the text is sans serif and turns to white like a white flame its more intense than the red, which links to the intensity felt by the audiences's hearts. The title is slowly zoomed into before being faded out to black all the time the heartbeat is still going as the trailer ends aon the shot of a young boy and girl holding hands and smaling at a school party, this shot fades to black with the realisation of a long drumbeat ending on the morbid tagline 'love hurts' in white text.
