Horror Trailer Graphics and Titles analysis

Carrie Graphics and Titles analysis
 The first caption we see is a brief sentence. ‘In every neighbourhood there is one family’. This sentence alone gives us a idea on the narrative. It suggests that there is a family that is different to the rest of the families in neighbourhood. This might suggest this family is different because they might be haunted or scary. The text is all in capitals and is a serif font. This gives the idea that it is sharp like a knife which is a common prop in horror films. As all the letters are capitals it suggests it is shouting. The font I white on a black background which makes it stand out. This emphasises the idea of one family not being normal as they might ‘stand out’ just like the white writing on the black background. The black background might suggest something dark and scary is effecting this family like a demon or ghost. The second caption comes a few seconds later. It seems to follow the sentence before hand and complete it. ‘With A Secret’ suggests that this family has a secret. This suggests that it is a scary secret that no one can know. It uses an enigma code (Barthes) to persuade the audience to watch the film as they want to find out what the secret is. The third caption supports this idea as it explains how no one talks about it. Maybe it is a dangerous secret or an embarrassing secret so they don’t want to talk about it. All of these stills use an oligochromatic pallet.

 The fourth caption is showing the production companies involved in making this film. Metro Goldwyn Meyer is a well known production company that makes films like James Bond. However they are not known for horror films which might cause people to turn off this trailer as they might not feel confident that they can do a good job. The second production company is Screen Gems which have made a few horror films like ‘Deliver us from evil’. This would attract fans of this film as if they enjoyed that film then they might enjoy this film. Screen Gems is in red. This is symbolic to blood and danger. This suggests that this film might be bloody and gory. The black background emphasises a dark and mysterious feel to the trailer.

The fifth still is showing that it is based on a novel by Stephen King. It also explains how he is an acclaimed author. This would make people want to watch it as if his other books have won him awards then this novel would be very good as well. Stephen King is a well known horror novel author producing books like ‘IT’, ‘Misery’ and ‘The Shining’. These are all award winning books which have all been turned into horror films. This would attract fans of both his books and the films. 

 This caption gives us a hint as to what the film is about. It suggests someone realises that they have some sort of special power. This could suggest that it is a sci fi horror about someone with supernatural powers. However they have only just found these powers. The next still is continuing on from the previous still. It shows how strong these ‘powers’ are. It explains how the powers can change everything. This suggests that they can change her whole life. However we don’t know whether they are good powers or bad. The next caption is telling the audience when the film is coming out.

The next caption is ticking to the colour palette and font style which does help us stay focused on the trailer as if it were multi-coloured it would confuse the audience as to what genre film they are watching. It says ‘Everyone’ which suggests that everyone might be effected by these ‘powers’. The next caption follows on from the previous and says ‘Will know her name’. This suggests that these powers are going to make her do something that will make her become known. It also suggests that maybe the character was quite a shy person as it seems that not everyone knows her name. This could be a reason why she uses her powers. The next still shows the name of the main actress, Chloe Grace Moretz. She is a young actress but has been in some big name films such as Kick Ass 1 and 2. This will attract her fans as they want to see if she will play the character well in this film.

The next still in the trailer shows another actress in the film. Julianne Moore known for Jurassic Park the Lost World. This would also attract her fans and bring in ticket sales because o0f this. It also shows she is an Academy Award nominee. This shows that she is a credited actress and would suggest that she will be a good actress in the film. This would effect the films verisimilitude as a good actress can make the story seem real and will also immerse you more into the film. The next still is the title caption. It sticks with the same colours and font. However the font is large which emphasises the importance of this still. It lasts a few seconds and as it goes on we begin to see some blood dripping down the letters. This is a trope to horror films as blood suggests death and danger.

 The second to last still is giving then audience information about the film such as the director, who did the screenplay. The director was Kimberly Peirce. The screenplay was Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa who also worked on Glee. The important information like the names are in larger letters which makes it stand out to the audience. The release month is also shown on this still. It is the same font but in red letters which connotes blood and danger. This emphasises the genre of horror in this trailer. This date is significant as it is in the sae month as Halloween which is also a common month for horror films to be released. The last still was part of a unique advertising campaign. It gave phone number to call which was supposedly Carries number. If you phoned this number there would be an automated message of Carrie speaking and then her mother coming and locking her ina closet which also happens in the film. This was a effective advertising strategy as it created traffic to this number and made the audience feel like Carrie was alive and real. This would have created lots of hype and buzz as it is quite a unique way of marketing. It also attracts the younger audiences to use technology to find out more about the film. It also leaves a website URL. This gave people a place to go to find out more information. The URL itself was related to this telephone call as we don’t find out what exactly happened to Carrie in this phone call. This is another enigma code (Barthes) and would persuade audiences to watch the film in order to find out what happened to her.

Scream Trailer

The very first still in the Scream trailer shows the ‘Dimensions films’ logo. It is in a bold sans serif font which makes it stand out as if someone was shouting it. It is set in a black background which gives an element of darkness and a scary feel. This is a trope to horror film trailers. This production company made horror films like Halloween and made the spoof series ‘Scary Movie’. Halloween is especially a big horror film series. This will attract fans of these films and would create hype and buzz for the film.

This gives the audience a idea of what the narrative is going to be about. The text is in a white serif font. It is in a font style which is similar to that of a typewriter or an old computer. These fonts are common in thrillers where the antagonist is tormenting the victim through communication. The white text stands out over the black background. It gives a ghostly feel to the trailer. The text then distorts into a red colour. This colour connotes danger and blood. This gives the audience the idea that someone might be murdered in the film. The text itself gives a direct instruction to the audience. ‘Don’t answer the phone’. This suggests that the antagonist is going to phone you and if you pick up then bad things might entail. The next still is the same style. This time it says ‘Don’t open the door’. This suggests that the antagonist is going to try and get in your house. This would make the audience feel scared as it will make them scared about doing these things at home. The fourth still is sticking with the same oligochromatic colour palette. It also gives yeat another instruction. This time it says ‘Don’t try and hide’. This suggests that if the victim attempts to hide from the antagonist, he will still find them. This gives the idea that there is no escape from this villain.

The fifth and sixth stills in the trailer gives the audience the name of the director. This fifth still says ‘From the first name in suspense’. This tells the audience that the director is well known for his suspense films. This will make people want to watch the film as if it is the best suspense director then it must be a good film in order to maintain this title. The sixth still shows the name of the director ‘Wes Craven’. He is known for making the Scream films as well as ‘A Nightmare on Elm street’. This are all big name horror films that most people have hear of. This will attract his fans to come and watch the film as they want to know whether he can maintain his big name horror film title.

The seventh still says ’Comes the last word in fear’. This suggests that this film will provoke fear in the audience because of the use of the word ‘fear’. The next still shows the title of the film. ‘Scream’. This is a common reaction to jump scares in horror films. This suggests that there might be some jump scares in the film. The font is in a blood red colour which connotes blood and danger or stop. This could refer to the instructions we saw earlier. The colour red meaning stop might be reinforcing the instructions. The font also changes. It looks like a blood splatter which enforces the idea of a murder in the film. It also suggests that it is a gory film. This will persuade people who enjoy gory horror films. The last still in the trailer gives the credits of the film. It shows the three production companies involved in the film. Dimension films, Dolby and woods entertainment. Dolby is a big name production company which suggests the film would have a reasonably big budget in order to afford big name stars and a big director like ‘Wes Craven’. This still also advertises the films cross media convergence. Near the bottom it says that the soundtrack is available. This will attract people to buy the soundtrack. It also shows a website URL. This will create traffic to this site and would advertise the film.