1. TRAILER OVERVIEW
By: Angel Gordon

2. Click the image above to watch the trailer
for ‘The Amityville Horror’
Click the image above to watch the trailer for
‘The Devil Inside’
Click the image above to watch the trailer
for ‘Grave Encounters 2’
Click the image above to watch the trailer for
‘Insidious Chapter 2’
Click the image above to watch the trailer for Click the image above to watch the trailer for
‘The Possession’
‘The Conjuring’

3. SHARED CONVENTIONS WITHIN THE TRAILERS

4. The six trailers presented above have been designed to successfully promote films within the
supernatural/possession sub-genre. Through carrying out an investigation of them and through comparing them with
one another it‟s possible to identify several repeated codes and conventions within them.
All six trailers feature typical horror trailer conventions. We can identify various general conventions, such as the
film title which is often placed at the end of the trailer so that it sticks in the audience‟s mind alongside the release
date, an age rating is placed at the beginning of the trailer to notify the audience whether it‟s appropriate for them or
not. The narrative structure is another general convention that is necessary for a successful and effective trailer; this
includes a slower start as the audience‟s are presented with the normality of the film, for example, the characters and
setting. The audience is then made aware of a disruption to the normality, the trailer then picks up pace as we see the
characters react to the disruption and a fast montage of edits follow creating tension and excitement with a sting at
the end. This narrative structure is particularly relevant in „The Conjuring’ Trailer where we see Ed and Lorraine
Warren contacting spirits as usual, we then see them giving a lecture about what they do. Cases they have studied
are presented then someone contacts them for help. We see spirits attacking the family, followed by a fast montage
of edits. It then stops dramatically as we see the sting, the audience are lured into a false sense of comfort when we
do not see the expected spirit in the mirror or behind Lorraine but when she puts it down a horrific figure appears in
front of her and she screams putting the audience on edge again. Also, in the „Insidious : Chapter2’ trailer we see the
family moving into a new home, playing together happily then spirits start appearing slowly beginning with the dead
bride on the sofa. We then see the characters react to this disruption and we see them call in Psychics to try and
resolve the matter however this only seems to make the matter worst and a fast montage of edits follow. Another
general convention is horror iconography, this can be anything that signifies the horror genre and makes a trailer
extremely interesting. For example, in „The Amityville horror’ trailer we see Jodie who is a spirit, her hair is stringy
and looks as though chunks of hair is missing. She is extremely pale which reinforces the idea that she is a corpse.
Also, in this trailer we see a figure of what seems to be a spirit, they‟re face looks rotten and as if it‟s deteriorating
which symbolises it being a dead spirit, all of these moments happen alongside stab sounds to intensify the horror.
Extreme close-ups are used to present the possessed characters, for example, in „The Devil Inside‟ we‟re presented
with a close-up of a man undergoing an exorcism, he has a loss of colour in his iris and his eyes appear to be rolling
to the back of his head as they are twitching. This is an effective camera shot as it allows the audience to feel as part
of the action and make it seem more realistic. Close-ups are also used to show emotion, for example, in the
„Insidious: Chapter 2‟ trailer, we‟re firstly presented with the mother peering through a window at her husband and
son play fighting, we then see her happy facial expression which allows us to become emotionally attached to the
characters.

5. The beginning of „The Conjuring‟ trailer features handheld footage which makes it seem more realistic and could persuade
audiences to go see the film as it could happen to them. This is a typical convention in supernatural films as often when
the situation is being repaired a paranormal researcher is called in and we see this through a found footage style or
handheld camera shot. Often when a spirit is shown there‟s a low angle camera shot to make them look more superior and
reinforce the idea that they are the antagonist This is effective as it allows the audience to acknowledge the distress the
protagonist is in and this is reinforced by the fact that these types of shots are also point of view shots so we are seeing
things through the victim‟s eyes. On the other hand, when a possessed individual is shown there‟s an overhead camera
shot to show they are the victim and highlight their vulnerability. This is effective as it allows the audience to feel
sympathy for the character and recognise that they‟re under a demon‟s control. In addition to this we see other repeated
conventions, in all of the trailers dark shadows and lighting are used to intensify the fear, this also enhances the isolation
of the characters and makes the audience feel as if there‟s no hope for them. It also keeps audiences on the edge of their
seat as evil often lurks in dark places which create a fear of the unknown as you don‟t know what may be lurking.
Another repeated convention these trailers share is eerie and unnerving non-diegetic sounds, this is a common
convention of this particular sub-genre which deals with spirits and demons. We don‟t know what demons or spirits sound
like so any sound that sounds unearthly or inhuman scares us. These types of sounds are usually intensified to heighten
the fear factor and often compliment the action, for example, in „The Amityville Horror’ trailer, hundreds of flies start
appearing out of an air vent and there‟s an eerie non-diegetic sound accompanying the action, it sounds unearthly like a
demon is inside of the vent, this idea is reinforced by the use of flies as they often lurk around rotten and bad smells such
as a corpse, this ties in with the narrative of the film as it‟s about spirits torturing a family. This clip is part of the fast
montage of edits showing the build-up of the disruption which creates tension and excitement within audiences. Another
example of these unnerving sounds is in „The Devil Inside’ trailer at the end when Maria is thrown off the bench during her
exorcism, there‟s a stab sound followed by a distorted roar type sound suggesting a battle between her and the demon
where we can see the demon winning. Also, before this the demon controlling Maria says “Go burn”, we can tell this is a
demon because there‟s a pitch change in her voice, it‟s extremely low with a rough tone and doesn‟t sound human,
alongside this her iris changes from dark brown to white and she rolls her eyes to the back of her head. This is a common
convention in the possession sub-genre as the loss of colour in the iris shows the loss of the victim‟s soul signifying
possession. This convention is also featured in „The Possession’ during the fast montage of edits after the bible flies out
of the father‟s hand, the victim then screams, this sound is intensified and we see her iris colour change to white again
signifying possession. All of these trailers are no longer than two and a half minutes in length, by using this convention
they give away the audience an understanding of the narrative however they don‟t give away enough to keep the audience
on edge and interested.

6. Throughout the normality and disruption of the trailer, the audience are presented with slow fades and
eye line matches to allow the audience to feel as part of the action and let the clips flow continuously.
Also, match on action edits are presented to allow us to see everything in the scene and again allow us
to feel as part of the action. Establishing shots are presented in all the trailers at the very beginning to
set the scene and let the audience acknowledge that this is the stock location. For example, in „The
Possession‟ we‟re presented with the house the family live in and this is where most of the disruption
and character‟s reaction to it happens. Technical elements such as lighting and sound enhance the
scariness and effectiveness of the trailer; it often keeps our brains engaged and adds tension when
combined. This convention is showed effectively in „The Amityville Horror’ at the beginning where the
action flashes and we see a small girl standing in front of a window with her back turned towards the
audience, we then see an alarm clock with the time “3:15” on it and a telephone hanging followed by a
man shooting a rifle. Throughout this, the action flashes and the non-diegetic eerie sounds that
accompany it heighten the scariness of the scenes. Often the flickering of lights is related to spirits as
it‟s a common convention for spirits to lurk in dark scenes so the flickering of the lights could
represent the battle between good and evil.
The trailers all use straps to effectively portray the narrative; these straps usually contain gripping
pieces of text that not only create fear within the audiences but intrigues them making them want to
watch the movie and find out more about that particular part of the narrative. For example, in the
„Insidious: Chapter 2’ trailer there‟s a strap that says “THE TERRIFYING SECRET” followed by action
then there‟s a strap that says “WILL BE REVEALED”. The separation of these straps are effective and it
entices the audience to watch it as they will want to find out what the secret is especially if they‟ve
seen the first movie. Although it‟s common for a horror film trailer to have institutional information at
the end of the trailer, this convention is only showed in 3 out of the 6 trailers. The type of information
included was the director, film company, the producers, musicians and the main characters, this added
a sense of professionalism to the trailers and can help to draw in audiences as a favoured actor or
director may have taken part in the creation of the film, for example, in „The Amityville Horror‟ Ryan
Reynolds is the leading male character and this may appeal to fans of him and his movies making them
feel obliged to go watch it.
All trailers in the selection are effective at portraying their sub genre and appealing to their target
audience.