Thriller Trailer Research

As a class we described the features of the trailer 'Room 1408'. These included sounded, camera, editing and mise en scene. For sound there was non diegetic, slow piano music to set the mood at the beginning and this music picked up tempo towards the end of the trailer. There was also electronic sounds and screams to build tension and show the audience what genre the film is, in addition to  the mise en scene of the rain and thunder at the start. The editing helps to show that the film will be a thriller as there were quick cut suggesting there be a lot of action and it will be exciting and tense. Also there are slow black cuts/fades that build suspense for the audience as it gives them time to think about what will happen. The voiceover is a male American with a deep/ scratchy voice that makes the audience feel uncomfortable and sets the mood for the film.

We then went on to analyse the trailer for 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose' in detail. The convention we identified were that it was dark and rainy, there was tense music, special effects such as a distorted face and blacked eyes. Also the theme of exorcism and the devil is typical of a thriller as this is a popular fear amongst people. The trailer starts of slowly like the majority of trailers do before the editing gets faster and the tempo overall increases, which increases the tension for the audience. Also one of the only selling points in this trailer is the inter title that says "based on a true story". We also concluded that the audience would be 18+ and more male than female but females would still be interested because the victim is female. The main characters in the film were the main girl victim, the priest, the detective, the roommate, the doctor and the judge. There may be more in the film but the trailer only summarises the plot so will only show the main, important characters. It also only shows two narratives, again there may be more during the film but the trailer is only summarising and if it showed more it would ruin the film. The music has a large effect on setting the mood and building tension for the audience. It was low, string music that was screechy and uncomfortable to listen to, as well as choir music which connotes the exorcism and religion involved in it. There were 5 inter titles that are used to break up the action so the audience can watch the trailer ore comfortably than the film.