To gather more research on Horror film trailers, I looked at an existing Horror film trailer 'Scream 4' which is an 2011 American slasher film and its the fourth film of the franchise. The genre of the film is Horror and from the start of the trailer to the end it provokes fear through the idea of the antagonist killing the characters.
The trailer follows codes and conventions of a typical slasher and horror film which is seen through mise en
scene, camera shots, editing and sound.
Mise en scene
The lighting as expected is dark but some characters are lit with a bright light but the background behind these characters is dark. Therefore this somehow draws the audience in as they focus on each character, but the audience can automatically indicate who the main protagonist as as somehow the lighting is much brighter on this character then the other characters.
Mise en scene part 2
The location of the film indicates its set in a small town and this increases the audience's fear even more as the film trailer looks realistic as the location may seem familiar to the audience. Also small town's are usually seen as safer locations then living in a big city. People would expect there to be killers loose in a big city rather then a small town. Therefore by placing the protagonist of a horror movie in a small town would break down the wall of a 'expected safety'. Also the audience usually relate to small towns and that is why most horror film's are set in a small town. However when I create my film trailer, setting my film in a small town is a better solution then setting it in a big city but as I live in London and not America, it isn't possible for me to do this.
Mise en scene part 3
The antagonist's costume has become very iconic and the idea that anyone can buy his costume and the mask of scream creates a large amount of fear. The mask of scream is in black and white which blends with the dark lighting and the bright lit of each character which suggest any one of each of these characters could be the killer. If the audience have watched previous scream films they would know that the females who are wear revealing costumes are usually the characters who are killed the first. For example there was a medium shot of a girl getting dressed and she showed her brightly colored underwear and bra which follows Laura Mulvey's male gaze theory . This shows that women who are shown as vulnerable tend to be killed first.
Mise en scene part 4
There is a variety of shots included in this trailer but the trailer mostly used close up shots, medium shots and long shots. Long shots were used to see the setting of where the characters were placed. Also titled camera angles were used when the girl is being attacked by the killer and this allows the audience to be terrified. There was an high angle shot used as well to show the women falling on top of the van and this could represent the killer breaking the conventions. Also the trailer shows technology is adapting alongside the adaption of the horror/slasher genre as when one of the characters looks into the webcam the killer planted, showing the perspective of the webcam. This then again increases realism and how the technology is somewhat promoting the killer. Also it shows how the killer has changed conventional horror. There are even quotes said by the characters such as 'the unexpected is the new cliche' and this means that the horror genre is adapting.
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