To get an idea of the typical conventions of a trailer in the thriller genre, I watched the trailer for 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose'. It's obvious that the film advertised is a thriller/horror due to the fact that it's fast-paced and dark. The pace suggests that there will be action or suspense in the film a lot as it creates tension.
The narrative is quite simple and very easy for the audience to understand - Emily is possessed and on trial. Although it's a very basic plot, there are many characters included; for example, there's Emily, lawyers, a vicar and boy that tries to help her (who could be her brother or a love interest). There are also a lot of settings shown, with most of them being quite stereotypical - such as the dark forest or the dimly lit jail cell. There are also demons featured in the trailer - which are stereotypical in a horror film. Throughout the trailer, there are close-ups on these demons to put emphasis on the supernatural aspect of the film.
There is non-diegetic choir/gospel music throughout the trailer, which gives religious connotations and emphasises the presence of demons and vicars. The music starts off slow, with the pace of the clips matching it, and then gets faster after about the halfway point of the trailer to fit the quick editing of the footage. The music went silent when one of the characters spoke to put emphasis on what they were saying which I found very effective for getting the audience's attention. A non-diegetic heart beat can be heard in the trailer, that fades to black with each beat. I found this technique very good as it added to the tension created and adds another element of horror to the trailer. Synchronous screaming is also featured in the trailer, which is typical of the genre as it is a woman's scream.
By looking at the trailer, I got the impression that the audience was for ages around 15-35 and of both genders - due to men stereotypically enjoying horror films more but also because the main character is a woman females in the audience could relate to. The violence shown makes it obvious that the film is only for people who enjoy being scared people who enjoy being scared.
The trailer is 1 minute and 58 seconds long and has around 90-95 shots in it. Many of the shots were in the fast-paced sections of the trailer and only shown briefly, which is how so many were included. The structure of the trailer is non-chronological and the editing jumps around different very quickly - resulting in quite a lot of the film being shown. Even though I found it effective to build suspense, I also got the feeling that it wouldn't be worth seeing the film after watching the trailer.
There is an intertitle that says "Based on a true story" and this sparks interest in the viewer as they want to know about how something featured in the trailer could have happened in real life. There were 8 intertitles and I found them effective as it seemed as though they were talking to the audience and giving them information. At the end, it says that the film is "coming soon" and this would make people who are interested in the film want to research it some mare and find out just how soon the film will be out.
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