Assignment 3 - Conventions of horror film trailers

Genre:

Horror

3 Film Trailers:

Orphan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgxVIB2WuHU

Emelie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XZoLut2Ti0U

The roommate 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NX30f8b1Oo

Conventions:

1- One convention all three of these movie trailers share is the storyline. By this i mean that they take normal, everyday situations - common urban fears many people share being turned into a story and a nightmare. This is shown by in 'Orphan' it takes adopting and raising a child and turns it into something creepy with a 'secret'. In 'Emelie' it takes going out for dinner and leaving your children with a 'trustworthy' babysitter and changing it into a parents worst nightmare. Lastly, in 'The roommate' they take going to college and having a roommate and change it into a stalker story with a 'secret.

2- Another convention they all share is how the music predicts the mood being presented. In all three, when the stress is high the music is faster and more exaggerated creating anticipation and suspense with the characters. One example is, the start of 'The roommate' has happy music but when the editors want to change the mood, the music changes.

3- All horror films have a 'brave' or 'heroic' character who 'fights' or 'resists' the bad/mean character and 'saves' the movie. They are usually the main character or one of the main characters. In 'Orphan' it seems to be the mother. In 'Emelie' it is made out to be the eldest brother. Lastly, in 'The roommate' it is made out to be the victim herself, as she stands up to the stalker.

4- A common theme in horror is jump scares, in all three movie trailers they had jump scares to the music and also consisted of lots of screaming.

5- Secrets are also present in all three. In 'Orphan' a piece of text says "You'll never know her secret" which leaves the audience wondering whats wrong with this seemingly normal child and why is she acting the way she is. In 'Emelie' you wonder why and what the girl is doing so it makes the viewers eager to watch the movie for it to be revealed. Lastly in 'The roommate' we hear the mother say "is she taking her medication?" which is when the music changes to a dramatic and exaggerated tone which makes the audience think, what medication does she need? Why does her mum seem so concerned about it?