Conventions Checklists

When analyzing horror posters and trailers for films, there is a set amount of conventions to talk about. (Black talks about Insidious, Blue is Babadook and Orange talks about Suicide Squad, Purple text talks about conventions in both horror trailers). 

Narrative

A fair amount of the story is discovered via the trailer for “Insidious”. For example, the main villain is shown briefly, and the innocent/weak characters are clearly established.  The parts of the story which were left a mystery were; why the boy is evil, and what the monster wants. These are all enigma codes for every horror trailer.  

There wasn’t a lot of the story that had been shown in the “Babadook” trailer. There were minimal showings of the monster of the story, and what the monster can actually do to a person. 

There were parts of the story that were discovered in this trailer. For example, which characters would be in the “Suicide Squad”, and the general location of the trailer/movie. There were parts of the move that were left a mystery however, for example, there was minimal showings of the Joker’s character, and why the characters have been arrested and are being forced to fight for the government.  

Style - Lighting

In all of my horror trailer analyses, there is always lots of Low Key Lighting, with minimal High-Key lighting. The use of the low key lighting in all of the horror trailers, plays along with the stereotype that, monsters always act in the dark. 

In the “Babadook” trailer, suspense is created through the use of flashing lights, which sudden cut to black. For example, a lamp could be emitting high-key lighting, then the light would flash then cut to no light at all.  The overall lighting style was a mixture of high and low key, to build suspense.  

There were lots of different uses of high and low key lighting in this trailer. That is to make the audience feel like lots of time has passed. The majority of the trailer is spent in the darkness, which is a play on the fact that these characters are bad, so they only operate in the darkness. 

Style – Editing

The length of the takes in the horror trailers varied (short and long) which allowed the film’s producer to keep the audiences interest for a longer period of time. The pace of the editing of both horror trailers was slow in places, but was done well, as it avoided showing the villain character.

The pace of the editing in the “Babadook” was a mixture of quick, and slow, to allow the audience to feel a range of emotions while watching the film. The use of snappy editing means that the character in the scene could be in danger, while the use of minimal editing in a scene could imply that nothing is going to happen to the character at that particular time. The longest shot in the trailer lasted 14 seconds, with the shortest shot lasting just 3 seconds. 

At certain points the editing was frantic, to be able to show all the attention in the scene, and, where it needed to be, the editing wasn’t as common, to try and keep the audience’s attention on that scene.  The longest shot lasts 5 seconds, which is a drastically shorter time than that of a horror trailer, as, the audience would need to get to know the characters in the horror trailer, whereas the characters in this action trailer are fairly well known. The shortest shot lasts 2 seconds, which is even shorter than the shortest horror trailer shot.  Fear and suspense is created via the use of editing, as, in the start of the trailer, each character is only shown in glimpses. This has been done to not give the audience the full picture of the characters. This is also done with the horror movie villain, which isn’t typically seen a lot in the horror trailers. 

Characters

There are several ‘stock’ characters in the “Insidious” trailer, such a; a hero, a victim and an implied villain. This is typical of a horror film, and would be identifiable by Propp’s theory as a Villain, a hero and a helper. These characters are also all established in my other trailers. The family seem to have a ‘normal’ relationship with each other, which is typical for a family.  

There are several ‘stock’ characters in the “Babadook” trailer, such as; a victim, an implied villain. The mother character and the character of her son seem to have a ‘normal’ mother/son relationship.

“Suicide Squad” doesn’t follow a typical action film cliché, as, they are all “bad characters”, and so the stock characters in this film are different to a normal film. There are; villain characters, an implied villain, a hero character. Some of these stock characters are also shared with horror films too. All of the characters in “Suicide Squad” can be identified by Propp’s theory as the False Heroes, as they are all evil but are being forced to do good. There is also a hero character whom has to keep the false heroes in line.  The characters seemed to have a friendly relationship with each other, which is unique for a group of prisoners, as they have to fight together. Most of the characters from this trailer all seem to live for the same time.  

Style – Mise en Scene

Typical house props were used in “Insidious” and the “Babadook” trailer. Things such as; beds, sofa’s, kitchen locations, etcetera. The villain in this trailer had lots of make up on, for example, the face was covered in the colour red and black, and slightly grey contact lenses. The costumes used in the Insidious trailer were fairly ‘normal’, which allows the audience to feel sympathy with the characters in the trailer. This also happens in the “Babadook” too.

The costumes used in the “Babadook” trailer have the two characters (mother and son) looking fairly civilian. The monster in this trailer isn't shown for a long enough to judge what it is designed like. 

There were lots of different props used in the “Suicide Squad” trailer, for example, each of the characters had their own unique costumes, weapons. There was also a helicopter which was used in the trailer as a transport method. Characters in the trailer Like Harley Quinn and El Diablo had lots of makeup on, with Harley having lots of white, black and red makeup on her face and El Diablo having gang signs drawn on his face in black makeup too. Each characters costumes looked unique, with a different style for each character. However, to stick with the evil intentions of the movie, each character looked as though they belonged to a gang. 

Industry Details

Film District is the first screen shown in the “Insidious” trailer, with Film District commonly making action films. This company was only around for 4 years however. In that time they co-produced; "Looper" (2012), "Dead Man Down" (2013) and "Olympus Has Fallen" (2013) there was a link to the Insidious movie page (www.insidious-movie.com) There was a given release date of April 1^st for this film.  The caption screen lasted 2 seconds, with all of the captions being in the same place.

ICon’s logo was shown briefly in the start of the “Babadook” trailer, with Icon Productions typically making action/horror films, such as; “Braveheart” (1995), “Infestation“(2009) and “The Neon Demon” (2016). 6 actor names were given at the end of the trailer. There was a web address which led to the “Babadook” webpage (www.DiscoverThe Babadook.com) this would have been done to get more eyes on the film, and to learn about the backstory of the film. ‘Coming Soon’ was the release date given for this film, as, the production company might have wanted to get the trailer out, but not want the film to be released straight away. The caption screen lasted 3 seconds. All the captions were in one place, to make them easier to read.  

From this trailer, the audience found out that the film was created by Warner Brothers, whom also made the "Dark Knight"Franchise, as well as "Harry Potter" and "Man of Steel", which proves that Warner Bros. know how to make a good action film. 6 actor names were given, and Will Smith was not one of them, which is surprising, given that he is a world renounced actor.  No website link was given unlike the horror trailers, but there was a ‘Hashtag’ at the bottom of the screen, which is used for the audience to talk about the movie, which is #SUICIDESQUAD. The trailer also gives a release date of August 5^th. All captions were in the same space.  

Themes

The common themes in all of my horror trailers are; Good VS Evil, Darkness and love. These themes are universal, as, anyone (and everyone) can feel them to a certain extent at some point. There is a unique theme in Insidious, which is Science VS the Paranormal. 

The themes in “Suicide Squad” are Good VS Evil, Darkness, love, justice. These are all universal themes, and “Suicide Squad” shares themes with most horror films too, as these are commonly felt by most people who watch the films.  These themes were identifiable as there is lots of evil in the film, and darkness is one of the main plot points of a movie based on villain characters.

Style – Sound

The sound effects used in both the “Babadook” and “Insidious” are very horror-esque, with noises which would make the audience jump, like loud crashes and piano keys being slammed on e.c.t. Scary scores were also used to enhance the scariness of the film trailers. The levels of the effects and music in both trailers varied, as, at certain points the music/effects would be really low key, and shortly after, they would become really high key. The fear was created in this trailer by the use of screams, shouting and scary sounds/music.

  There were lots of sound effects which were used in the "Suicide Squad" trailer, like punching sounds, shooting and loud explosion sounds. These are sound effects which commonly used in action films, as, they draw in the audience as these are universally recognized sounds. Well know songs were played in this trailer, such as "Bohemian Rhapsody" and "You don't own me". These songs were used as they are iconic and well known across many generations of people, and they also fit into the theme of the trailer. The volumes in this trailer spikes from quiet to loud very rapidly. The trailer used a few seconds worth of silence, when showing off the main characters in the film. This was done to try and not distract the audience with loud sounds, which could make the audience miss what was just presented on screen. The fear and suspense is created when the music is faded up when all the characters have been shown, and starts played louder and louder. 

Locations

The locations for the “Insidious” trailer and the “Babadook” trailer are regular houses, and minimal outside locations.These are the locations where the main victims live. This coincides with Carol Clover’s ‘Terrible Place’ theory. The use of minimal locations in the trailer is done to try and not confused the audience with several locations, which the audience could think that a minor location is a main location.

The locations for the "Suicide Squad" trailer takes place in a prison, and in a downtown city location. The city location has been done as it is recognizable, and the prison has been used as it is synonymous with prisoners, which  are the main characters of this film. these two location aren't fearful as much as a creepy, dark, damp house in a horror film trailer, but the prison is dark and depressing. 

Poster conventions

Posters and horror films often times use the same conventions to portray their themes to the audience; 

(Black talks about Silence of the Lambs, Blue talks about the Conjuring and Green talks about Shutter Island, Purple talks about all of the posters.) 

Narrative-

Little to none of the story for "Silence of the Lambs" has been uncovered by looking at the poster for the movie. All that is known from this is that the movie is of the horror genre, and that women might be the victims of the movie. The rest of the movie was left a mystery to get people to go and see the movie, as, if the plot is discovered before watching, people wouldn’t want to waste their time and money. 

The same has been done for "The Conjuring" too, as, horror films don’t typically tell lots about their plots, as it could ruin the movie.

The poster for "Shutter Island" only shows where the film takes place and whom the main actor is. This has been done to draw in the audience’s interest, as a creepy island could make for a good location for a movie like this.

Style- Lighting 

All of the lighting in the posters are the same, they all have a set amount of darkness and light in them. This has been done to try and creep out the person looking at the poster . 

There is minimal light in the "Silence of the Lambs", and the only light in emitting off of the face of the girl in the foreground. The use of the minimal light has been done to not show off what is happening behind the girl, as the girl is the main and important thing happening on that poster. 

Style- Editing 

The main image for the "Silence of the Lambs" poster uses the same editing techniques as Shutter Island, with having the main characters face edited onto the poster, and surrounded by darkness.  The girls face on this poster has been edited by being faded out and looks quite blurry too. The Butterfly has also been edited onto the girls face to make it look more realistic. The fear is created due to the fact that there is no visible background on this image, and the butterfly has an evil design on it.

"The Conjuring’s" poster has used editing techniques such as darkening the room in which the girl and the doll have been placed in. The fear has been created as the room looks like it is getting smaller due to the darkness enveloping the room, which could imply that the doll is bringing the darkness closer to the girl.

Shutter island has created suspense as it has a creepy looking island with the main characters face is floating above it, while holding a matchstick which is on fire. The editing techniques are the same as Silencing of the Lambs. 

Characters

The main characters in the film "Silence of the Lambs" aren't shown, but it is to be assumed that the girl on the front cover is one of the main character in the film. 

There two characters shown in "The Conjuring" poster are the girl and the creepy doll on the girls lap. From this the audience can assume that the doll or the girl in the poster are the main characters in "The Conjuring". 
Leonardo DiCaprio's character on the poster of "Shutter Island" is the main character of the film, as, the characters on the poster of action/thriller posters are often times either the main protagonist or antagonist. 

Style- Miese En Scene 

The only visible prop on the"Silence of the Lambs" poster is the evil looking butterfly on the face of the girl on the poster. This could of been done to try and draw intrigue into the film.
The props visible in "The Conjouring" poster consist of a doll, a wooden rocking chair and white walls which are fading to black. The doll on the girls lap is looking creepily into the eyes of the audience. The girl in the poster is also wearing pure white which is to convince the audinece that she is a pure, innocent character.
The visible props in the poster of "Shutter Island" is the face of Leonardo DiCaprio's character, and a mysterious looking island underneath his floating face, which is being shrouded in darkness. Leonardo DiCaprios character is also holding a matchstick which has been lit too. 

Industry Detail

Silencing of the lambs was made by Orion, whom also me the first "Robocop" which implies that they are able to make a decent film. Three of the actor’s names were also given on the poster. No release date was given for this movie however, implying that this poster came out a long time before the movie’s release.

The Conjuring was made by Warner Bros who often make good films, however, don’t typically make horror films (Batman films). Four of the actor’s names were given. “Coming soon” was the release date given, implying that the film is coming out later in the year. 

Phoenix Pictures was the company behind Shutter island, and they also made Holes (2003), Zodiac (2007) and Black Swan (2010), so they are able to make a good movie too. Only one piece of social media was linked on the poster, and that is to Shutterisland.com to get more attraction to their movie, and show behind the scenes footage too. There was a release date of February 19^th.

Themes 

The themes in the "Silence of the Lambs" poster are horror and being scared, which are two very universal themes. The use of these two themes (which are very similar in "The Conjuring" too) ave been used as they are typical horror film themes, and comply with 'normal' horror tropes.

"The Conjuring" uses the same themes in "Silence of the Lambs" too, as these are 'normal' horror themes. 

The themes in "Shutter Islands" poster consist of darkness, inteigue and also confusion, due to the act that this island isn't fully shown in the poster, and why the characters are on the island to being with. 

Locations

The location for the conjuring takes place in an empty cell- like room, which was used to portray the girl as crazy, and her doll is the only source of comfort that she has. 

The silence of the lambs doesn’t have a visible location for the poster.

Shutter island take place over an island, which is to be assumed to be the main island for the film. The island is very dark and has been sued to give the audience a glimpse of what to expect from the movie. The poster for Shutter island has been taken using an establishing shot of the island where the film takes place. The suspense was created as the island appears to be dark and abandoned, which has been done to show that this island could be dangerous.