Setting/Location Research

One of the most important elements of planning a thriller trailer is deciding what locations to use. To do this, I watched several other trailer and researched the most common locations.

School (The Gallows)

Although the film is set in a school, it mainly take place in the auditorium so it is not necessarily recognisable as a school. However this shot includes lockers which is common in a school, meaning the audience can instantly make that association. As almost anyone who watched the film will have gone to school, this adds a layer of verisimilitude and is likely to scare the audience more.

Forest (Last House on the Left)

The forest, and being surrounded by trees, is a common setting for horror trailers, as it often creates the feeling of the unknown and being lost.

Bedroom (Carrie) 

 

Another common setting for thriller films is a bedroom. Like the school setting, the verisimilitude of this location is likely to scare the audience more, making it ideal for such a genre.

 

Car (Catfish)

 

As part of the Catfish film is him making a journey, one setting is in a car. Due to the low keylighting and clothing of the people in the shot, this isn't necessarily a scary shot, however it perhaps shows that not all the settings have to be overly scary.

Fairground (When A Stranger Calls)

 

 

Although a stereotypically happy environment, When A Stranger Calls, manages to twist this location into one that should be feared, mainly using juxtaposition. This is interesting as it proves that locations don't have to be stereotypically scary.

Thriller Brainstorm

 

Above is a collection of ideas and thoughts on the Thriller genre, which was one of the first pieces of research I did. This spider diagram was useful in developing the early stages of the plot for my Thriller film, and working out what should be included in the trailer.

The Exorcism of Emily Rose

Another thriller trailer we looked at was "The Exorcism of Emily Rose".

The Exorcism of Emily Rose is a filmabout a girl who dies after she is exorcised. Her death is blamed on the priest that performed the exorcism. During the 1 minute 58 second trailer, there are between 85 and 95 shots and many of them are a second or less - the trailer had fast paced editing. The trailer features 8 characters, including Emily and the priest.

The main narrative in the film, is the court case that follows Emily's exorcism, although it could be argued that Emily being possessed, shown in flashbacks, is a different narrative. There are a range of settings in the trailer, the main settings being a prison, court, a mental hospital, Emily's house, outside Emily's house, the town/city and Emily's school.

The non-diegetic music is the same track throughout, however it gets faster and louder at certain points of the trailer. There are also some sound effects, including screaming and a demon talking. The sound of a gospel choir also features, and silence is used for emphasis.

There were 8 intertitles in the trailer. The first said "based on a true story", which is likely to make the audience far more tense. The following intertitles then explain the premise of the story so that the audience can get an idea of the narrative and sets up the film.