What makes us Scared?

Over the last week we have studied the conventions of thriller trailers and what these connote to the audience. We started by listing the stereotypical aspects of a thriller film such as a dark, quiet and rainy setting. We also agreed that the plot will include some kind of threat to a 'damsel in distress' type character and will include at least one weapon. However the narrative will be based around a sense of confusion and mystery that will eventually be worked out with logic. It also will be realistic so that the audience think it can happen to them which adds to the suspense and tension. The threat character is usually and intimidating male. There is also usually non-diegetic, tense music which builds the suspense of the film. The editing in a thriller film is usually fast paced and includes lots of crossing cutting as the narrative is multi stranded, so the audience will need to see many stories which run parallel with each other.
We also listed as some of the most common fears and these were; The unknown, heights, the dark, getting lost, death, small spaces and isolation. These are often incorporated into thriller movies as it directly affect the audience and will make the film more powerful for them to watch and will keep them hooked on what is going to happen

Se7en- Thriller Film Research

Se7en (1995)  is a psychological thriller directed by David Fincher and starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow.

Characters
The main characters in the film are two detectives. One called Somerset who is retiring  and the other called Mills who is taking his place. The other important characters are Mills' wife called Tracy and the serial killer John Doe.

Setting
The main settings in the film are the Offices of the detectives, the Library in which detective Somerset researches the case, the streets of the city and the empty desert area in the final scene. The offices are used in the film as it offers the audience a safe place in the film that is recognisable and where characters feel safe and also this is where the characters start to make a breakthrough in the case. The streets of the city are only ever seen when it is raining and the sky is dark. This is an example of pathetic fallacy and helps to set the mood for the audience. The final scene is set in an isolated area which plays on people's fears of being lost/isolated as there is nobody to help and have to deal with problems themselves.

Narrative
The narrative in psychological thrillers are very clever and their strength is that the audience can often be confused and so can't predict what will happen next. People often taken comfort in being able to predict what will happen. Todorov's theory can be applied here as the audience prefer a equilibrium, disequilibrium and new equilibrium but seven ends with a few twists that keep the audience guessing.

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.

Film Poster Research

   

Posters such as the two shown here are very similar as many posters in the same genre will share the same conventions. They both have a large image of the main character in the film which is a big focus on the poster. This will market the film as the audience can start to see what type of film it is and what could happen. The Titles are both in large sans serif font which indicates that it is serious and also will be one of the first things the audience sees so they will remember the name. The colour of the title is often similar throughout the genre, such as red and white above, red is used throughout this genre due to it's connotation of danger, violence and blood. Also the overall colour of the posters is black which connotes that the film will be in some way dark/horror themed. Black is a colour associated with thriller/horror films as it it usually associated with darkness and the unknown which is something that is very scary and daunting. If people see a poster that is dark in colour then they will associate this with the horror/thriller genre and will attract fans of that genre. There aren't many sentences on the posters but those that are are short and either promoting the film or building tension. The layout of the poster is so that the Image is the central focus point as this tells the audience what the film is about much quicker and easier than writing would and also has a shock effect on them.

Black Pond, Film Trailer Research

The music in this trailer is slow and played on a piano at the start but slowly speeds up a little and then a string instrument accompanies the piano. Eventually the music is a full orchestral piece and reaches a crescendo before slowing down again towards the end of the trailer. Starting off slow creates tension for the audience as they aren't sure what will happen and then as it builds up the cuts and the narrative also speed up giving the audience a sense of drama and the main action that will happen in the film. This will attract an audience as they will see what the film is about and the music helps to emphasise and advertise this. All film trailers tend to have at least on musical track with them as sounds has a big influence on the audience

In this trailer there are no voiceovers, but instead clips from the film are used in such a way that the audience can understand what the film is about and does a similar role to a voiceover. It helps to tell the story without giving too much away so that the audience are still intrigued enough to go a see the film. They clips of audio and video are put into chronological order as this, again, helps the audience to understand the plot that is being summarised but also helps to build the tension that the full length film would have been made to do. Therefore chronology is useful as such things as flashbacks could be confusing in a trailer as it is only short,
There are 6 title screens in the trailer, two of which are within the trailer, these say "An Ordinary Family" and "Accused of Murder". These are similar to a voiceover as they explain the narrative and summarise it. The other title screens are at the end, one of which is the title of the film and the others are USPs trying to sell the film to the audience. The font used in the titles in a white, bold sans serif font which connotes that it is a low budget film. This can attract an audience as many people prefer smaller films to hollywood blockbusters.
The content used is the main points in the film without giving the plot completely away. The content has to be interesting and engage the audience in order for them to consider going to see  it. If the content in trailer is too detailed then the audience might see too much of the plot and not go to see it but if it is too broad than they might not understand the plot and so not be that interested. The pace of the trailer starts off slow but gradually increases as the plot gets more detailed and the music also increases in tempo.This increases the suspense and tension for the audience so they are more likely to want to find out what happens in the entire film.
The star power in this film is a USP as one of the titles advertises " Two Time BAFTA Winner Chris Langham" clearly showing that he is a well known actor. This will attract and audience as anyone who liked him in one of his other roles may want to go and see this film as well.

Detailed Annotation of a Film Magazine Cover

Initial Annotations of Film Magazine Covers