a2 Media

In 1969 Todorov proposed a theory in which he stated that all films followed the same narrative pattern, going through stages called 

equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again equilibrium.

There are five stages the narrative can progress through:

1. A state of equilibrium (All is as it should be.)

2. A disruption of that order by an event.

3. A recognition that the disorder has occurred.

4. An attempt to repair the damage of the disruption.

5. A return or restoration of a NEW equilibrium

 

Editing is a pivotal part of any horror film trailer as it helps to interchange between shots to create the storyline and it builds tension, it represents how the audience see each individual shot, it controls the pace of the trailer and puts in place the transitions that lead every shot onto the next.

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Pacing

Pacing of horror film trailers is a key part of letting the audience watching know what genre the trailer is and in this case, what sub-genre the horror film falls into, which is done through the length of the shots. Horror film trailers build suspense from the start and this becomes more apparent as the trailer proceeds, where it will reach its climax, where usually a jumpscare is implemented to scare the audience watching one more time.

The start of the trailer will generally use lengthy shots to give context to the audience, in visual and spoken form, so that they understand the story of the film and to generate a small amount of suspense.

As the trailer moves forward, shorter more concise shots will be used which build significantly more tension than those at the start of the trailer. A brilliant example of this is the "Sinister" trailer which can be seen in the video above.

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Transitions

The transitions in any trailer, especially a horror trailer are of utmost importance. The aim of the transitions is to connect each shot with the next in a way that builds tension and controls the pacing of the trailer. To build pace quickly, cuts are usually used to get from one shot to the next rapidly, with no transitions in between the two shots. These are mainly used in action or thriller trailers to create suspense and are sometimes implemented into horror trailer, like Sinister, at the end of the trailer to build to the climax, normally featuring a jumpscare.

Another transition that is frequently used, especially in horror films, is the fade to black. It is mainly used at the start of a trailer to help narrate the story at a slow pace so that tension can be built from the off. Sometimes fades to black are used to connect different sequences with each other that ordinarily wouldn't connect. In horror films, these shots usually display different points of fear from the characters; an example of this is in the sinister trailer to the left, towards the end of the trailer.

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Placement of Shots

All trailers include shots from the film that usually aren't in chronological order. This means that the trailer can showcase the best parts of the film without showing the parts of the film that would spoil the whole plot.

 At the start of the trailer generally, the shots are from the start of the actual film, in chronological order, to give the audience an idea of the storyline. After this, the trailer doesn't follow any order in particular, it mainly just displays the frightening moments of the film to intrigue the audience watching. As well, these shots won't demonstrate too much of the story, so that the audience are kept guessing.

 In the sinister trailer, the start is in chronological order, but as the trailer proceeds, the order becomes more and more jumbled, as there are lots of terrifying shots on screen.

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Special Effects

Special effects are a pivotal part of any trailer and can make or break a whole film, even more so in horror films that include supernatural creatures and inhumanly creatures. In the film insidious, seen on the right, the antagonist of the whole film will have had special effects used on it to enhance its appearance so it can be as scary as possible to the audience.

 Special effects can be used in very subtle ways such as colour correcting, which in insidious, was most likely used to intesify the colour of the antagonist to make it look more aesthetically appealing and even more horrifying.