Analysis of shot chioces for film trailer : Research and Planning

In our film trailer we will, as every film maker does, is use a variety of shots. With every shot there being a meaning to it, so choosing the correct shot for the scene is critical. From the research I made of other horror film trailers, I came to a conclusion of what kinds of shots are vital to make a good horror trailer.

To start the trailer you have to let the viewing audience know where the film is going to be located. Location is crucial, as audiences can relate to remote locations that they would encounter on a daily basis. Films like Halloween and Strangers that have a normal family house as there main location would make the audience feel more scared because everyone spends most of their time at home. It makes the audience feel as the safest place they have, isn’t quite safe after all. The use of establishing shots or even maybe long shots can emphasise this.
The middle part of the trailer shows all the action that goes on in the film. As we are making a horror trailer, we will follow the traditional format of using high angle shots to show the victim or the inferior people and low angle shots to show the villain, as they are always causing trouble making them superior to its victim. Close ups will be used be show facial expressions of the victims. Two shots will be used to show the couple together. Over the shoulder, shot reverse shot will be used to show the conversation between the couple. Mid shots will probably be the main shot in the trailer, as it will be used the most, but knowing when to use it will be very important.

All horror film trailers have montage shots, this will show all the action parts of the film. Montage shots are used to create a tense atmosphere for the viewing audience, each shot in the montage will be very short, about 1 second each. It usually consists of victims running, hiding and screaming and general terrorising from the villain. So some shots that we will use are, close ups of the victim hiding and the fear in their eyes, mid shots or long shot of the victim running, extreme close ups of the villains weapon or body parts leaving the rest a mystery.
These are the shots that we are definitely going to use in our film trailer, but as our trailer develops our shots choices will develop, giving us even more variety.