As we set our play in the country side around an old georgian mansion we needed the plot of the film to fit in with this. We did not want it to be supernatural as this becomes unrealistic and can be hard to portray so decided to create a dark mystery. A bried plot to our horror Trailer consists of two girls/friends taking their dog for a walk. They pass a large, old mansion and discuss the tale of a ferocious fire that happened in the past killing the family who lived there. What hasn't been reveiled is that the father of the family has severe mental issues and purposely started the fire killing his wife and three young children. The wife and children were found but the husband's body never discovered. The reports said they all died in a tragic accident. What no one knew was that he still secretly lived in the cellar of the house as it hadn't been damaged by the fire. The dog that the girls are walking runs off through the bushes of the house and gets lost. The two girls knock on the house calling in asking if their dog has been seen...then all the drama and secrets begin to reveal themselves. The father of the house hold captures children in his cellar to replace them with his children he killed. Whether the girls escape or not is never reveiled as this leaves a cliff hanger to the trailer leaving the viewer to want to watch the film.
A teaser trailer, or just teaser, is a short trailer used to advertise an upcoming film, television program, video game or similar, usually released long in advance of the product, so as to "tease" the audience. Movie teasers, unlike typical theatrical trailers, are usually very short in length (between 30–60 seconds) and usually contain little, if any, actual footage from the film. Sometimes, it is merely a truncated version of a theatrical trailer. Tester trailers are usually only made for big-budget and popularly themed movies. Their purpose is less to tell the audience about a movie's content than simply to let them know that the movie is coming up in the near future, and to add to the hype of the upcoming release. Teaser trailers are often made while the film is still in production or being edited and as a result they may feature scenes or alternate versions of scenes that are not in the finished film.
We originally wanted a supernatural narrative to our horror film as this can be the scariest type of horror/thrillers. We then decided we could make our trailer much more realistic making it natural as our location, cast and technology is a lot more naturalistic. We feel we can create a more realistic narrative and clips with a naturalistic base overall making our trailer better.
Researching other horror films helps me to understand how they present these films in just 2-3 minutes telling the narrative of the film, yet not giving too much away. These are a few examples of the films that i liked the most that also relate to my horror trailer.
'Long Time Dead' (January 2002) Genre-Horror/thriller. This film is about a group of British students who enbark on summoning spirits on a Ouija board after a night of clubbing. But someone breaks the link before they have finished and now a demon is trapped in their world and the only way to banish it, is for all the people who summoned it to die. I was really interested in this film as it has all the aspects I was looking for in my trailer. e.g. The film is about British students, the film involves the supernatural world and spirits. It also involves the teenagers partying which is something I wanted in our trailer.
'Tormented' (May 2009) Genre- comedy/horror.
The head girl Justine gives a speech on the funeral of the teenage school mate Darren Mullet that has just commited suicide but she does not recall who he was. Then she is invited by Alexis to date him in the celebration party in the house of his friend Bradley. Sooner Justine discovers that Darren had a crush on her and was bullied by Bradley and his friends including Alexis. When each one of Bradley's friends is found dead, they discover that Darren has returned from beyond to revenge the humiliations he was submitted. 'The Texas Chainsaw Masacre' Genre- horror/thriller
Driving through the backwoods of Texas, five youths pick up a traumatized hitchhiker, who shoots herself in their van. Shaken by the suicide, the group seeks help from the locals, but their situation becomes even more surreal when they knock on the door of a remote homestead. It's quickly apparent the residents are a family of inbred psychopaths, and the unlucky youths suddenly find themselves running for their lives. In hot pursuit is a disfigured, chainsaw-wielding cannibal known as Leatherface.
Trailer analysis
-the trailer begins with setting the scene in a positive way- the lighting is bright and happy, the setting is a nice location-a desert area on a hot day, the music is calm and peaceful. The people in the van are laughing happily, they are shown to be in love. All of these effects show the scene as being positive and happy. -In this beginning part, we are shown a road sign of the location they have just driven into-this gives a subtle clue/answer to the trailer helping us understand more. -Slowly the atmosphere begins to change and the horror begins to reveal itself.
Set in England, in the cellar of an old, georgian house-the setting of the cellar is very English/medieval looking.
Don't see creature/monster-we wanted the film to seem realistic and not comic. So hiding the creature will heighten the suspense; and the audience are left to use their imagination.
Main stream cinema style-The filming is realistic and easy to watch, un-like a hand held camera the audience don't realise they are watching through a camera but feel like they are part of the narrative.
Adolescent characters- the reason for the characters being young/teenagers is that we thought this would interest our target audience who are around the same age. Most horror films star teenagers in, simply because the audience can relate and identify with these characters.
Adolescent behaviour- in many horror films and trailers, there are always scenes/clips of the teenagers 'partying' or behaving badly. I think this is a really good theme to have in a horror film as it is interesting to watch, attracts our target audience and shows a good contrast between the characters having fun and when the horror begins.
For the A2 practical coursework, students must create a detailed brief from 10 different options. My chosen option was:
- A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:
a website homepage for the film;
a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
a poster for the film.
Group
I am working in a pair with Tilda. We have chosen to make the trailer, magazine front cover and a poster. We decided to choose a film production as our AS task last year was to produce still a print production-a music magazine. We wanted a change so we could show our full skills in all media aspects. As for the magazine front cover we can use our experience from last year and produce a really suitable front cover for this horror trailer.
Genre
The genre of our trailer is going to be horror/thriller. The reason for choosing horror/thriller is because we're particuarly interested in this genre. I also believe that this genre is aimed mainly at our age group-teens/young adults. So because of this we know what people our age like and what excites them. I personally have watched many horror/thriller films since I was very young and think as a pair we can really grasp the conventions needed in our trailer. These things consist of:
-Suspense and excitement
-Urban or suburban setting
-The narrative revolves around the investigation of a puzzle
-There is a rational rather than a supernatural explanation of the puzzle
A bried plot to our horror Trailer consists of two girls/friends taking their dog for a walk. They pass a large, old mansion and discuss the tale of a ferocious fire that happened in the past killing the family who lived there. What hasn't been reveiled is that the father of the family has severe mental issues and purposely started the fire killing his wife and three young children. The wife and children were found but the husband's body never discovered. The reports said they all died in a tragic accident. What no one knew was that he still secretly lived in the cellar of the house as it hadn't been damaged by the fire. 
The dog that the girls are walking runs off through the bushes of the house and gets lost. The two girls knock on the house calling in asking if their dog has been seen...then all the drama and secrets begin to reveal themselves. 
