Horror Movie Production

Analysing a trailer

The Hills Have Eyes 2

I have decided to watch the horror movie 'The Hills Have Eyes 2' and I am going to evaluate the trailer through five set questions.

The title of the film is shown at the end of the trailer. This is because the director wants you to be excited and wants to give you a taste of his work before he decides to invite you in and find out the name of the film.

In this trailer, we are not told who is starring in the film. This could be because the trailer is used more for visual terms instead of reading blocks of writing.

From this film we see quite a lot of action in the quick rapid shots. We already get an idea that there would be a lot of action because many weapons are involved. Before each shot is changed there is a pause of a blackout. This is because each shot shows the best parts in the film, and this wants to be portrayed in a way that each of the shot excites you so the shots are not prolonged.

At the first half of the trailer, there is no music used, only sounds such as statics from the radio, the sounds of army cars, a hollow sound in the background to represent the isolation and the dialogue between the military officers. In the second half of the trailer, we get sounds again but we also have a song played in the background - Insect Eyes by Devendra Banhart - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCmDV5lYjWo - This song makes the whole film trailer thriller even more scary. This is because of the lyrics used in the song. It unsettles vibes encircling around your mind and sends chills through your spine. The song creates a more creepy and haunting atmosphere. These obvious clues shows us that the film is based around the gruesome horror genre.

The film trailer does not have a voice over. This could be because they want to create a sense of realism and they want the viewers to focus on the dialogue between the actors as they are delivering to us the narrative of the story-line.

The speed of the trailer is much more quick and snapy compared to clips we would see from a film. This is because the trailer aims to capture all the best bits together but in short clips so that you are more urged to know what happens. The speed through the trailer stays the same except at the end. This could be because the trailer wants you to engage in what is happening.

In the very last frame of the trailer, we are shown the promotional details of the Fox Film Corporation and also the website to this corporation. This for promotional purpose, to create more publicity towards the corporation.

Trailers are more effective in making you want to see a film then the poster because instead of looking at a still picture you are looking at moving images, and you get a better idea about the film in watching the trailer as it goes into more depth. Although creative pictures do captures viewers eyes very quickly, and these are the reason why people then want to look at the film trailer.

You would expect to see this trailer before watching a horror film in the cinema's because it is aiming to lure in the fans of the horror genre to watch the film. As it is rated 18, it would not be shown in between breaks of TV Programs unless it is a late show.