NAME OF FILM: 30
Days of Night
YEAR RELEASED: 2007
GENRE OF TRAILER: Horror/Thriller
MARKS AFTER VIEWING: 9/10
YEAR RELEASED: 2007
GENRE OF TRAILER: Horror/Thriller
MARKS AFTER VIEWING: 9/10
What
happened in the trailer?
At the beginning of the trailer, we see a man and woman silently still in a kitchen and something suddenly bursts through the window and drags away the now screaming woman. The screen then fades to black and we see clips of the film which seems to be about a town where night lasts for 30 days and vampires attack them.
At the beginning of the trailer, we see a man and woman silently still in a kitchen and something suddenly bursts through the window and drags away the now screaming woman. The screen then fades to black and we see clips of the film which seems to be about a town where night lasts for 30 days and vampires attack them.
Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think
you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled
well?
The editing in this trailer is very successful. I really like the use of fast paced editing to create suspense and excitement for the film, and I like the clever use of collision cutting. The use of a jump scare at the beginning of the trailer is cunning and unexpected which makes it much more effective and successfully scares the audience which is what horror fans love and expect from a horror trailer. Rather than finishing with a typical jump scare, the trailer ends with explosions and quick sequences which express the more action-oriented part of the film. But the use of the jump scare earlier in the trailer indicates that this film will be scary as well as action packed. The appearance of this trailer in general is very effective and the dingy filter used looks aesthetically pleasing and fits the themes in the film. Another aspect of the trailer which I feel makes it successful is that the vampires are not shown too much and so it teases the audience as to what they look like, which leaves the element of surprise for the film when it is shown in cinemas as it doesn’t give away the plot or characters backgrounds. In addition to this, the intertitles used between clips on this trailer don’t give too much information away but inform us enough to be helpful. Also, the intertitles are animated to change to red when the trailer picks up and becomes more action packed which connotes danger and blood which then foreshadows events of the film. I also thought that the music used in this trailer was very clever and interesting. For the first half of the trailer, parallel music was used to set the mood and show that it is a horror film and it worked really well with the suspense and then in the second half when the action picked up, the music was slightly more contrapuntal than parallel and if you heard the music in another context, you wouldn’t imagine it being linked to a horror movie. I felt that this works well because it showed that the film isn’t pure horror and does have elements of action and thriller, and this is good because it establishes the genre to the audience so they know what to expect. The cinematography in this trailer was also varied and interesting, and showed that it isn’t a boring film with the same shot used continuously. Close ups were shown which is a typical convention of horror, as well as a creepy location which again establishes the genre of the film.
The editing in this trailer is very successful. I really like the use of fast paced editing to create suspense and excitement for the film, and I like the clever use of collision cutting. The use of a jump scare at the beginning of the trailer is cunning and unexpected which makes it much more effective and successfully scares the audience which is what horror fans love and expect from a horror trailer. Rather than finishing with a typical jump scare, the trailer ends with explosions and quick sequences which express the more action-oriented part of the film. But the use of the jump scare earlier in the trailer indicates that this film will be scary as well as action packed. The appearance of this trailer in general is very effective and the dingy filter used looks aesthetically pleasing and fits the themes in the film. Another aspect of the trailer which I feel makes it successful is that the vampires are not shown too much and so it teases the audience as to what they look like, which leaves the element of surprise for the film when it is shown in cinemas as it doesn’t give away the plot or characters backgrounds. In addition to this, the intertitles used between clips on this trailer don’t give too much information away but inform us enough to be helpful. Also, the intertitles are animated to change to red when the trailer picks up and becomes more action packed which connotes danger and blood which then foreshadows events of the film. I also thought that the music used in this trailer was very clever and interesting. For the first half of the trailer, parallel music was used to set the mood and show that it is a horror film and it worked really well with the suspense and then in the second half when the action picked up, the music was slightly more contrapuntal than parallel and if you heard the music in another context, you wouldn’t imagine it being linked to a horror movie. I felt that this works well because it showed that the film isn’t pure horror and does have elements of action and thriller, and this is good because it establishes the genre to the audience so they know what to expect. The cinematography in this trailer was also varied and interesting, and showed that it isn’t a boring film with the same shot used continuously. Close ups were shown which is a typical convention of horror, as well as a creepy location which again establishes the genre of the film.
Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful
and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
The reason I didn’t give the trailer any more than 9/10 was because I felt that the trailer could have been much better with a few small changes. Firstly, I felt that there were far too many fades to black in between clips. I think they worked to begin with and teased scenes to the audience but as they were used more, they became tedious and unnecessary. I felt that it ruined the pace of the trailer slightly and jump cuts could’ve been more effective for the content and events of this particular film. I also felt that the trailer as a whole was too long and maybe used too many clips. It lasts just over 2 minutes and shows a lot of footage from the film, which I feel is enough and maybe a little too much. It teases the audience to begin with but doesn’t stop where it should stop and continues to show us more of the action sequences in the film which some people could view as spoiling the action in the film when they watch it. Other than these aspects, I think the trailer was highly effective and successful.
The reason I didn’t give the trailer any more than 9/10 was because I felt that the trailer could have been much better with a few small changes. Firstly, I felt that there were far too many fades to black in between clips. I think they worked to begin with and teased scenes to the audience but as they were used more, they became tedious and unnecessary. I felt that it ruined the pace of the trailer slightly and jump cuts could’ve been more effective for the content and events of this particular film. I also felt that the trailer as a whole was too long and maybe used too many clips. It lasts just over 2 minutes and shows a lot of footage from the film, which I feel is enough and maybe a little too much. It teases the audience to begin with but doesn’t stop where it should stop and continues to show us more of the action sequences in the film which some people could view as spoiling the action in the film when they watch it. Other than these aspects, I think the trailer was highly effective and successful.
What the average score in class was and why:
The average score in class that
this trailer received was 8/10. The general opinion as a whole was that it was
a fantastic action horror trailer and showed enough conventions of this
sub-genre to make it clear to the audience what this film would be like to
watch. The class also really liked the use of intertitles and felt that it
complimented the genre and overall composition of the trailer.
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