Teaser Trailers: Difference to Theatrical Trailer

Teaser trailers are always shorter in length compared to their final theatrical trailer. The teasers are often released before all the final footage has been complete therefore some of the short takes in the teaser may be different in the theatrical trailer or the final movie. I.e. Predators (2010) we see Royce (Adrien Brody) targeted by numerous 3 dot sequences all over his body. However in the finished movie, this is not the final cut.
Most teasers tend to be around the one minute mark, give or take a few seconds, although some can lead up to around one minute thirty seconds and very few up to a full length trailer, I.e. Avatar (2009) which is two minutes 10 seconds as a teaser. Original features tend to give away more than sequel teaser trailers; this is because they are trying to draw in a certain horror audience fan base. However if the movie goes on to make a sequel they don’t give much away. I.e. The Hills Have Eyes (2007) you only see two strange men pulling two dead bodies through the desert, this lasting for a minute, until it finishes with the movie title. The teaser therefore like most leaving the audience unknown to the story plot/motive, leading us wanting to go and see the movie on the big screen.
Some original teaser trailers like to have an exclusive look, quite like sequels, giving away nothing of the story narrative. I.e. Buried (2010) is all a black screen with a voice over, up until the end when the thought to be main character ‘Ryan Reynolds’ (Just Friends, Smoking aces) flicks his lighter on to find he’s trapped in a box, unknown to where he is.
Teasers quite often have production values included, Any big stars in the film, I.e. Johnny Depp, Al Pacino, Robert De Niro etc. or leading directors, I.e. Steven Speilberg, James Cameron and Martin Scorcese. All of these actors/directors names included as inter-titles.

Horror Trailer 1: 28 Days later (2002)

Set in the centre of London, this Danny Boyle urban horror, 28 days later (2002) is quite un-like most horrors. We chose this trailer because it is rare to see a horror movie set in the centre of London. especially one that involves clearing out the streets around Big Ben and parliment area.

The conventions of the horror genre

Horror movies typically use many conventions to signify the genre, including settings, technical codes, iconography, narrative structure, character types and themes.
Settings for horrors are rarely seen in busy built up cities, yet nearly most horrors are made in small towns or isolated places/environments. These isolated places do not only keep us on the edge of our seats scared, but within the world of the movie it allows characters to be far away from help and safety. More often these abandoned towns/buildings have had past history of evil, disease and murders, giving reasons to the disappearance of life. Places with pasts often return, like in john Carpenter’s Halloween (1978), after Mike Myers murdered his sister and boyfriend at a young age he then returned 15 years later to the small American town to murder again. Laurie (Jamie Lee Curtis, often used in horrors movies) is then left in the destructive path of Mike Myers who wants to kill her and re-live the murder of his sister. Although being the victim she is also seen as the hero, with her less attractive clothes, unisex name, and job to protect the children. Unlike her two close girl friends that are seen in the film to have sex, she does not, which is typically depicted in movies that if you have sex you die.
It doesn’t necessarily have to be a character, it can also be the repressed mind returning, and this is seen in Stanley Kubrick’s The Shining (1980), when Jack Torrance’s (Jack Nicholson) mind slowly deteriorates in the isolated hotel in the mountains with just his family, until the return of the repressed (Sigmund Freud theory) turns Jack against his wife and son. Once jack has fully turned crazy, Wendy, his wife, is then left to defend herself and her son away from Jack’s thoughts and new aggressive manner. This film is very interesting that there may be two protagonists. Jack’s son Danny gets a heads up of the evil that is going to happen at the hotel that they are looking after over winter, isolated away in the mountain, he see’s visions. These visions warn him that his dad is going to do bad things and hurt him, however could these visions be the lead for him to save himself and his mom. Wendy yet is still got to protect her son, and yet being the victim she is also thought to be the hero by saving her son.
















More recent horrors like Wes Cravens Scream (1996), part spoof and part slasher, we hear the characters in the world of the movie talk about how to survive a horror movie. Their rule number one being, ‘you can not have sex’. Through this classic, those who have had sex are picked off by the masked killer. The main protagonist Sydney Prescott, victim and eventually hero, who has not had sex, voids being killed on numerous occasions, therefore the classic rule is upheld. However Sydney breaks the rule at the end of the film when after having sex (With one of the killers, which was unknown to her at the time) she still defeats the monsters (Now unmasked killers). Throughout the film they carry on the classic theory that having sex will lead to your death, but the main protagonist defeats this rule, and does so in the next two sequels where she is chased by the new masked killers.
The male gaze in horrors can also

Horror movies typically have young teenagers all wanting to break the law, have sex, go to empty abandoned places etc. Teenagers are usually targeted as the victims as the main target audience for horrors are people aged between 15-24, and often couples. Females cast in horrors today are young and attractive, sometimes unknown actresses, looking to make a name for themselves.

Horror Trailer 2: Scream (1996)

The original trailer for motion picture Scream (1996)indicates many aspects of a horror film. It is clear through the trailer that the film is a slasher horror, due to the masked ghost face killer pursueing to kill people with a knife. The name of the film itself 'Scream' spells out how the reaction of the audience is wanted. The production values have been touched at the end of the trailer, the trailer includes an inter-title 'Director Wes Craven', who is known for his horror directing and producing, which may draw in Craven fans or people who are aware of his type of movies and fancies a scare! You also see the likes of star Courtney Cox, known for t.v comedy series 'Friends'. The presence of her and what we see during the trailer we know that there is also going to be an area of humour amongst the horror (relating to the spoof of the movie). Throughout the trailer the dialogue between characters states how to survive a horror movie, this alone dictates itself as these teenagers are all trying to survive for themselves within the world of the movie. We also hear them state in the trailer the rules to survive, number one being 'you can never have sex'. The trailer also leaves us unknown to who the mysterious masked killer is, leaving us wanting to know who the slasher killer is. The use of a telephone plays as a major prop for the killer as he stalks his victims, asking questions then turning on them. His knife is not his only weapon as wihout his 'Celluar' phone, that would destroy his own personal motive. Through the trailer an inter-title also states 'Don't answer the phone', meaning you answer your basically dead! When we see star Courtney Cox for the first time, we also see the back of a jacket saying 'Top Story', Gales weathers (Cox) is clearly seen as a news reporter,

Applying narrative theory to 'The Shining'

Stanley Kubrick's 1980 psychological horror, 'The Shining', has shown parts of narrative theory from media theorists, Tzevtan Todorov, Vladimir Propp, Claude Levi-Strauss, and Bordwell & Thompson.
Tzvetan Todorov applied that the equilibrium at the start of a film is disrupted. Forces are in-balanced and take affect after a event. The Disequilibrium is then restored at the end of the film to a new equilibrium. In the case of our feature film 'The Shining', the equilibrium is disrupted when Jack Torrance(played by Jack Nicholson) slowly deteriorates as a normal stable human being. Making him follow the footsteps of a past murderer who axed both his kids and wife. In Jacks case his wife Wendy(played by Shelley Duvall) and beloved son Danny(played by Danny Lloyd). However Todorov's theory says that there is an end closure. Although we are left with Wendy and Danny escaping, we are still left confused to who let Jack out of the cupboard and how many years has he really been at this hotel? So we don't end with knowing the whole story.

Theorist Vladimir Propp examined 100's of folk tales to see if they had anything in common. He identified eight character roles and 31 narrative functions. The eight roles within folk tales included The Villian/s, A Hero, Donor(provides something or information important to the affect of the film), the Helper(aids the hero), the Princess(reward for the hero), Princesses father(person who rewards the hero), the Dispatcher(sends hero on his way) and finally the false Hero. In this film the characters do desire some of these roles, yet they seem to have more than one role. Jack Torrance starts appearing to be the hero seeking work at a deserted hotel during the winter. Although early actions from Jack show a slightly twisted mind, especially accepting that cannabalism is normal infront of his young boy Danny. As time goes on at the hotel, Jack's mind deteriorates turning get into the villain out to kill his family. This change could also state that he is the false hero. Dannys visions and Jacks new Psychotic ways makes Danny flee from his father and potentially becomes the hero of the film. However according to Propp, Danny could be seen to play 'the Princess' role as this could be the prize for Jack. Not as a reward but as a goal for Jack. Throughout the film,

The Return of the Repressed

The return of the repressed is the process where repressed elements, preserved in our unconscious, reappear. If we do not have memories of our early child years this is because of the repression that has affected them. However all memories may be retained, although the recollection of them are depending on the way they are cathected, decathected or anticathected. Freud considered the return of the repression to be a specific mechanism, where it is also a third distinct phase in the overall process of repression. He also states that repression is a normal part of the human development, the analysis of dreams, literature and jokes. Freudian slips tells us the way that our secret desires continue to find outlet in perfectly normal individuals.

Initial Post: Scream 4 (2011)

I have chosen to include this trailer on my blog as i believe it has distinctive elements of a typical horror trailer. The fourth movie of the quadrilogy, Scream 4(2011) directed by legendary horror director Wes Craven shows the rebirth of horrors legendary killers, the ghost mask faced killer. Although in every movie the antagonist is always a different person. The trailer does not give away any clues as to who the killer is, but it does show many characters, and I'm betting one of them is the killer. The trailer includes montage sequences which if paused are just normal shots. Montage sequences are common among horror trailers often finishing with something or someone jumping out at you to give you a little scare.
The trailer also has the directors name mentioned (Wes Craven) which is used to attract his fans, common among films which include big stars or directors.