Research & Planning - Conventions of Trailer

A trailer is seen as a mini narrative as is outline the story in a short sequence of shots in order to grab the audience attention to the film in order for them to go and watch it.

In order to grab the audience’s attention it has to select the best bits of the movie to put together in order to give the audience a glimpse of the movie and what is expected in it.

One liner dialogue is usually in the scenes so too much of the film isn’t given away, especially in horrors as actions are important rather than dialogue, in horror trailers in any there is very little dialogue or none at all.

The mask of the killer is used in some sense to create atmosphere/pace/and tempo as the mask is seen as scary and it being on somebody’s face to cover their identity signifies that they are here to commit a sin, so the mask gives the whole trailer its atmosphere as well as the setting, pace as the clips can’t be too short or too long to create a sense of realism.

Showcasing the stars is an important part of a trailer as it brings audience attention as some people might go to watch a film because their favourite actor/actress is starring in it. This also introduces the stars as some people might have not heard of them before and is the first time they are hearing of them.

Highlighting the release date is the most important aspect of a trailer as it points out when the film is releasing in cinemas as without this information the audience wouldn’t know when the film is releasing and wouldn’t know when to go to watch it.
Dramatic camera angles are used to highlight the action and setting, this is used in different shots to connote each shot, for each example when the killer appears in the scene a low angle can be used to show that danger is appearing this angle connotes that he is in power.

Voiceover is used to tell story if the there isn’t as much speech and also if the storyline isn’t clear through the action.

The credits and text show who has been part of the making of the film this is another important aspect of a trailer as this can be another reason for why people might want to go to watch the film for example, the director might be highlighted this could drive people forward to go and watch as they might have seen a previous film made by that director and want to see their upcoming film/s.

Production details highlighted to show which company is behind the budget of the film and to give an brand identity to the films name.