Analyses of Horror Movie Trailer: Drag Me To Hell

To produce a successful trailer, a practitioner must combine multiple elements and adhere to conventions. These elements are narrative, lighting, camera angles, editing and straps, mise-en-scene (costume, make-up, props etc.) and sound. When used together, these elements can either terrify an audience into watching a horror movie if used correctly or completely turn them off when not.

 Drag Me To Hell is an example of these elements coming together successfully as Sam Raimi has effectively used them to haunt and frighten the audience into watching his film. The story is of a young woman named Christine Brown who, in an attempt to gain value at the bank of which she is employed for a possible promotion, declines an extension on a mortgage for a decrepit old, eastern European woman. Seeking revenge for being shamed by Christine, the old woman, Mrs. Ganush, sets a curse upon her that, after three days, will send her to hell. The plot of the trailer follows that of the movie very closely, however the audience is shown just enough to tantalise and not to spoil. Trailers conventionally follow Todorov’s narrative structure to the third stage, equilibrium, disruption, then reaction and repair, as does Drag Me To Hell; the audience is shown the reaction and attempts at a repair, but as is conventional, they are not shown the new equilibrium or the repair coming to fruition.

The trailer begins with crane shot of a busy American highway to establish the scene as a normal, average day. The sun is shining, and natural lighting is used to make the scene immediately relatable to the audience. This relatable nature continues as a medium close up is shown of an average woman driving a car. 

With blonde hair, brown eyes, light make-up and a plain hair style, the woman, Christine, is instantly accessible to the audience as the women can place themselves in her shoes, and both genders can recognise her to be like someone they know. Whilst the scene set so far is typical, the overlaying non-diegetic soundtrack of creepy piano, lullaby-like, music adds a mysterious quality to the scene. The audience can instantly realise that this woman is important, and something bad is going to happen to her. As she calls after a man who the audience would presume is her superior, as he is wearing a suit and glasses; stereotypical for a managerial role, the audience see her costume that is as plain as her hair and make-up. The clothing is simple yet feminine, and whilst the gold necklace draws the male eye to her neckline and slightly unbuttoned blouse, it is not overtly sexual. This would be so in a slasher film, however as this movie is a supernatural, women are slightly less obviously sexualised. The setting of a bank adds to the realism of the scene as it is an every-day location, and the busy atmosphere enhances this.

As Christine and her manager talk about a promotion, the scene cuts to her looking forlornly at a desk before it cuts to the sign outside the empty cubicle. This not only tells the audience what it is that she is wanting for, but her gaze shows the audience that it is something that she wants desperately, and will perhaps do anything to get the role. When the scene cuts back to their conversation and the “new guy” is mentioned, the audience feel sympathetic to the main character and an emotional bond is created. By creating this bond between character and audience, when the supernatural happenings occur to the woman, the audience will be much more scared and afraid for Christine as they can identify with her. The message put across by her gazing at the empty desk is reinforced as she is told that the Stu is “not afraid to make tough decisions”, to which she replies “I’m perfectly capable of making the tough decisions.” This foreshadows the coming scenes and shows the audience that Christine feels like she needs to prove herself.

The scene cuts to institutional information, signifying that the previous clips were the introduction, and now the storyline is going to ‘hit its stride’. The diegetic dialogue is played over this institutional information, and it is clear that the voice belongs to an old woman. The audience are lured into a false sense of security by this as they would assume that the old woman would be of a stereotypical “Old Age Pensioner” look, and is therefore unsettled by the old woman put before them. With a shawl around her head and a disfigured eye, the audience will immediately assume that she is a gypsy, and her eastern European accent reinforces this however the natural and available lighting of the bank gives her a more human quality than in the rest of the trailer.

 She appeals to Christine, and the audience feel sympathetic towards her, again luring them into a false state of security. The non-diegetic orchestral music is quietened to a low hum of violins at this point to give focus to the dialogue, but to add an emotional depth to the scene. A close up of Christine is shown to see her reaction to Mrs Ganush, a sympathetic one, just as the audience would have. She agrees to help, and the non-diegetic music begins to tense as her boss tells her that it’s her decision to make as a point of view shot of the woman is shown from Christine’s perspective, showing that the old woman is causing a personal dilemma in her as she looks between both her and the manager. The audience at this point would recall back to the previous scene as they spoke about the assistant manager role as the manager says “It’s a tough decision. Your call.” The music tenses at this point as the camera pushes into Christine’s face, showing the conflict more vividly in her face. The audience can pre-empt that she is going to decline the extension due to the building of tension by the soundtrack and the need for a disruption in a film narrative.

Christine declines Mrs Ganush, as the audience would have expected, and the audience would feel very sympathetic towards her as she grovels to Christine. With everyone in the bank staring, the audience would feel second hand embarrassment for Christine and the emotional tie is strengthened further.  As the old woman cries and gropes at her, the music tenses, signalling a pivotal moment coming. The stab of sound after Mrs Ganush says “you shame me” indicates this as the scene cuts to black. Christine yelling for security shows that the old woman is in fact dangerous, and her tone of voice before the stab reinforces this. Her hissing voice is almost demonic and adds to the tension of the scene.

Christine’s shoes echo in the empty parking lot, a stereotypically dangerous place to be in horror movies. There is only available lighting from fluorescent bulbs above her, only radiating a dim light, giving a dark, foreboding tone to the scene, along with the lack of non-diegetic sound. The lack of other cars and her echoing footsteps show the audience that she is alone in a dangerous place, and the audience would be considering her to be a “stupid blonde” for going out alone after the old woman had acted in that manner. The diegetic sound of the car door is enhanced to add to the idea of solitude, and the twist and push in of the camera into a close up of her calm expression lulls the audience, yet also builds tension through lack of action; the audience are waiting for the jump.

A cut and stab is used to Mrs Ganush raising what seems to be a cinder block and smashing Christine’s car window in.  As Christine cowers in fear from Mrs Ganush, the audience fear for her life as the orchestral music swells. When she is dragged from the car, her skirt is pulled up and her bare legs are shown in the process, sexualising Christine when she is vulnerable showing just how helpless she is, the quick cuts showing the frantic nature of the scene and reflecting a racing heartbeat. The low angle camera on Christine and the high angle on Mrs Ganush show a clear contrast in power between the two characters and shows that Christine is at her mercy. When Mrs Ganush steals the button, there is clear confusion written on her face that would reflect the audience, strengthening that bond between character and audience further, and as the old woman sets a curse on Christine, the stereotype of gypsies laying curses on well-meaning, innocent women is perpetuated.

 The close up of her yellowed, dirty teeth removes any remainders of the previous  misconception that she was a sweet old lady losing her house, and brings focus on the button, showing that it is a central part of the narrative. The high angle shot in combination with the backlighting of the fluorescent bulb gives Mrs Ganush a supernatural, powerful representation that reinforces the control she has over the situation and over Christine. The close up of her eyes is a slightly blurred point of view shot from Christine, possibly from the effects of the curse that shows a clear contrast between her good and bad eye, emphasising her disfigurement. A staple in her forehead is seen, relating back to the stationary that Christine was seen carrying to her car, and the bloodied eye shows defensive wounds made by Christine, highlighting the violence of the previous scene. A close up of the young woman’s face is shown and the old woman is seeming to have a drug-like effect on her as the camera shifts focus to create a “trippy” effect from Christine’s point of view, as if she is woozy. A more focused close up of Mrs Ganush’s eyes are shown, and sue to the better focus, her eyes seem darker, as is she has more power after cursing Christine, or that there are evil forces running through her. This is enhanced by the non-diegetic eerie noises being played as the younger woman looks up at her confused and seemingly weak. This weakness is reinforced as Mrs Ganush tells her “soon it will be you who comes begging to me.” The close up is almost like a tilt shift as the focus is altered on the lens. The cut to Christine’s eyes show the contrast between each of theirs and the confusion that clouds hers. Mrs Ganush’s voice is almost taunting towards her, adding to her evil image.

 There is the stab of sound on the strap that occurs on each one throughout this trailer. This strap features “From Sam Raimi” on top of a plain black ground with a spotlight at the centre that shifts towards the end of the short strap as the brass instruments of the non-diegetic orchestra music sound. This can be seen to reflect Christine as an average, pure, innocent woman being approached by darkness and shadow. By featuring a well known director, the audience will recognise the name and immediately become more attracted to the film as the y may have seen his other works. A male hand is seen lifting Christine’s as the scene cuts, and the darker complexion and beaded male jewellery would immediately signal to the audience that his hand belongs to a fortune teller, psychic or medium, as is stereotypical in all films; most characters with a darker complexion are wise, exotic people. A medium shot of Christine and the medium is seen, confirming the audience’s assumptions.

 Despite being dark from only using the available lighting from the lamps, the audience can make out the knick-knacks covered the man’s desk, the older books that litter the bookshelves and the worn furniture. These props would tell the audience that this man is the “helper” as seen by Propp’s character types. He will aid the main character in ridding herself of the curse. The small cloth covered table is stereotypical to psychics, and the light tone of the fabric is bold in the dark room, and highlights their joined hands. The close up of Rham’s face adds to the stereotype of a mystical exotic foreigner that knows more than a simple American with his beard, wild hair and dark eyes that make him seem dark and mysterious. There is once more a cut to Christine’s concerned and scared expression before he explains what he knows of the curse. As he does so, the scene cuts to a darkened street lit by available lighting of street lamps as the non-diegetic orchestral music begins to swell and create tension. The wind blowing leaves around suggests an invisible mystical force or some form of witchcraft, and the camera pushes in and lifts slowly before the scene cuts to Christine who, in a close up, turns her head sharply, as if she had heard a noise, and the scene cuts back to outside where the wind is picking up. The music tenses further and stabs as the gate is flung open by the wind and makes Christine jump, as seen in the following shot. The wind breaching the gate makes it seem as if there is no escape for Christine and the supernatural force is invading everything around her.

A tab of sound is heard and a strap shown displaying “Director of Spiderman”, reinforcing the fame of the director and ensuring that those who may not know him by name, would recognise him by his famous pieces of work. In this strap, unlike the last several, the font of the “I” drips down slightly, reminiscent of blood or connoting the curse that is running through her veins. The flicking pages of the books that follow after a cut show ages pages, signifying that the curse is of an older magic, making it scarier. There is an scary, unknown quality that comes with looking into history. With tales of witchcraft and curses in every nation’s history, the audience have been bred to fear such things. The flicking of pages stops on a page detailing the curse. Whilst in real life it would seem unlikely that the person you seek help from just so happens to have an old book on a curse from an eastern European woman, as it is a film, the audience accept an altered reality where such things can happen and they don’t question it. 

 With the details of the curse revealed to the audience, the trailer begins to present the effects of the curse by using a canted camera angle to reflect the main character’s fractured state of mind. The shadow on the curtain is a convention of older horror films seen primarily in the 1940’s, that used suggestion to create fear. The suggestion however is more blatant than subtle in this trailer as the audience is shown a demon-like shadow paired with a beastly cry, then a quick cut of the creature at the kitchen window before it cuts back to a quick shot of Christine turning away with a gasp.  

With a short, slow paced tracking shot, beginning to circle the couple in bed, making it seem as if the camera is a point of view shot from a demonic predator. The strap of “And the Evil Dead Trilogy” slows down the pace for a moment to keep the audience on their feet, with eerie noises overlaying the soundtrack of orchestral music and the narration from the  donor continues over this as the soundtrack begins to rise in volume. There is a close up of a fly to ensure that the audience know where to focus on in the forthcoming scene, leaving the couple in the blurred background in the transition from deep to shallow focus. A close up of Christine’s mouth follows, once more to show clearly where the audience’s attention should be as the fly lands on her lip. 

By cutting to Christine talking to the donor, the tension of the scene is raised by introducing a new scene that continues with the narrative, to create dramatic tension by pausing the action yet continuing the fast pace and tense music. The medium-close-up shot of Christine with a person hidden in the foreground shows the character as desperate, therefore increasing the pressure. Christine’s headband in addition to the bright, yellow lighting makes her seem innocent, however the dark tone of her clothing makes it seem as if she is going to a funeral, perhaps her own. The scene cuts once more and the fly enters her mouth as the orchestral soundtrack reaches a crescendo as she flies upright in bed. With the windows in the bedroom open, the audience would wonder at this point whether it was a dream, or whether it was in fact reality and the fly had flown in. The stabs of the brass instruments before the cut increase the heart rate of the audience before it cuts to black. 

The short silence before the donor says "To burn in hell" emphasises the sentence, and the fade in of images from a seemingly ancient text of demons also serves the same purpose. The camera zooms in on Christine’s terrified face with dark, almost pitch black eyes before the fade to a pan across the book. The fade to a following shot of Christine going back to sleep is to slow the scene down and to show deep contrast that in turn accentuates the grotesque horror of the old woman lying beside her. The demonic noise as the old woman roars at Christine is a sharp stab that makes the audience jump just as they were lulled into a false sense of security.

A quick cut to a strap is shown with a quick fade in of the text "This May", which features more distortion on the font showing the transition through the trailer, and how the film is getting more intense. This strap features more brass music to maintain the level of tension and to retain the audience as it cuts to an over the shoulder shot of the young couple as the narrative says "It's coming for me" before a shadow of hands creeps across the bare floorboards as a non-diegetic demonic groan sounds. The bare floorboards represent bare bones in this section, and just as the demon's shadow encroaches and takes over the floor boards, it will take over her too, to her very core.

By using a well known actor, Justin Long, along side a non-well known actor, Alison Lohman, the movie both fits the convention of horror using unknown actors, but also appeals to a wider audience who may be fans of Justin Long and will therefore see it even if they don't like horror films. Clay Dalton, Long, is shown as a sweet and caring boyfriend to Christine over a series of fast cuts. By doing this, it is clear the Clay is only a sub-plot, and not the main storyline. The low angles show him as  vulnerable and confused, not stereotypically associated with males in film, however within this plot, the main female character doesn't need to be saved by a man, as in other genres, as she needs to be preyed upon by the supernatural being for the entertainment of the audience. The low angle shot of Christine followed by the high angle of the skyline with the continued imagery of the hands reinforces this. By cutting back to Clay telling Christine "There is nothing coming for you", the audience immediately know that there is, and that it is coming soon; the denying acts as foreshadowing. 

The strap of institutional information that follows is quick in both length of clip and action of fading to reflect the pace of the trailer with a slight stab in orchestral music to reflect the tension.  There is then a conventional seance, that is common in supernatural films, around a circular table with a geometric design set out by the floor tiles in a similar shape of a pentagram below them, a shape long connotated with the devil. They hold hands and chant, surrounded by candles, as the darkness seems to surround them through key lighting that focuses on the characters' faces only. The pan of the seance members make it seem as if they are being watched, and the cut to a high angle shot of a shaking chandelier makes it seem as if an evil spirit is with them. The donor is then showed again as the trailer begins to come to it's climax so as to tie the story lines further together and entice the audience. 

The distortion on this strap on the stab is reminiscent of wings on the P and T, however due to their colour and the tone of the trailer, they are more likely to be demon wings, or a fallen angels. A fast whip pan moves through the characters as a chanting chorus swells with the orchestra, representing the rising tension as the climax approaches. 

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Analyses of Horror Movie Poster

Overview Analysis of Film Magazine Front Covers

 When discussing conventions of magazine front covers, they tend to overlap across many styles of magazine. The fundamental aspects of a cover, though, are included in all; masthead, dateline, main image of either a famous actor or the person featured in the main article and of course the price and bar-code so that the magazine can be purchased. The other elements can all be 'tinkered' and played with to make the cover more appealing. Whilst these are conventions, some can be overlooked in an effort to make the magazine more appealing to the readership. A strap-line featured above the masthead is often used as when magazines are laid on top of one another, or stacked in a supermarket shelf, the part of the product that is shown is generally only just past the bottom of the masthead meaning that it needs to catch the readers eye. The strap-line usually contains a deal in price, a competition or 'freebie' that comes with the magazine, or a feature article that is particularly alluring, such as "Greatest Movie Art Ever" on the Total Film front cover.


The mast head is the joint most important aspect of a magazine front cover along side the image as they both attract the audience to buy the product. In each of these products, and in most, a sans-serif font is used to make the magazine more attractive to a wider group of people. Magazines such as the "New Yorker" use serif typeface as it promotes an upper class image for it's demographic, however that makes it much less appealing to middle class and lower class. By using a sans-serif font, these magazines are appealing to all classes as they are sophisticated enough to not put anyone off. Generally, upper case is used for the title as it makes the magazine bold and eye catching, however "backstage"uses lower case in an attempt to look stylish and laid back, trying to appeal to the true cinema aficionados who would deem themselves to be too higher class to buy a magazine with bright bold colours across the cover. Each of these magazines use one, or both, of two techniques to name their magazine; either relating to the film industry, a buzzword, or both. "Empire" and "Total Film" magazines use a buzzword and a word that relates to the industry, or in "Empire"'s case, both in one word. "Total Film" is obvious, however "Empire" relates to not only an empire in the historical sense, of wealth and a mass of countries under one control, but is in reference to the famous Empire movie theatres across the UK. "Empire" has long been connotated with the British movie industry, and the magazine utilised that. "Backstage" is a clear link to theatre and acting and tells the audience that the magazine will show them the "inside scoop" of the acting world. "Fangoria" however is the exception. It is bold and eye catching as the other mastheads, however it is titled to attract a specific audience and to relate to a specific genre.

 On each of these covers, there is a main sell-line to attract the audience in a bold or large font and this almost always overlaps the main image. The table however specifies as to whether the sell-line goes across the image, and that aspect is split 50/50. Two covers have it just overlapping the model, and the other two are across them. On our cover, the choice between the two styles of this element will come down to which is more aesthetically pleasing in regards to the main image. However, whilst two magazines don't adhere to the convention of the left-hand-third, we shall as it is the first piece of text that the eye is drawn to on the cover and we wish the cover to seem alluring. Were we to not comply, then we would risk the chance of people skipping over the sell-lines and the cover seeming boring. This notion also applies to the use of a puff, buzzwords and punctuation and symbols. Whilst we want the cover to look professional, the magazine is aimed at a wide audience of age and the cover need to look fun as well as sophisticated. The sell-lines commonly used feature lists of films and actors that are featured within the issue as well as articles with buzz words in them to make it seem as if they are sharing a secret, e.g."Unseen posters" on "Empire", that makes the audience need to read so that they will know something that other don't. The magazines generally use an informal mode of address by using slang words and abbreviations that treat the reader as a friend rather than a consumer, and this makes them want to continue buying the product. 

  The images featured on the magazines each signal within which sub-genre of film they feature by differing in body language, camera angle, costume and colour scheme. Each of these factors combined in different ways can completely change the perceived sub-genre of an image. Taking the Natalie Portman covered issue of "Fangoria", were the body language to be less stern, such as a smile or her eyes lifted slightly in the corners to represent laughter, her red eyes to be taken away and her natural skin tone to replace the white, then the audience could interpret the film as a romantic comedy rather than a thriller.
The colour scheme and use of font have seemed to concur across all four publications. A masculine tone is often used with black, red, white, blue and even yellow. Each of these colours are used in a bold manner to stand out from the other magazines and attract the target audience. Likewise, the fonts used are generally bold and usually in upper case to make the text more prominent. These are two conventions that will definitely be used in our final product.

Overview Analysis of Horror Trailer

Within movie trailers, just like all products, there are a set of codes and conventions that the film maker must abide by in order for the film to succeed. Were the film to not contain these, it may be less like to be a hit. There are however some elements that can not be had and still work, such as contrapuntal sound. Only one of the movie trailers I watched had this, but the others worked just as fine without. This is because some aspects aren't applicable to all trailers. Quick cut montages, cuts to black, flashing lights, screams, a sting, stabs of sound, the title, and release date were featured in all as they are necessary to make a trailer as scary as possible or provide the information needed. The latter two are necessary for the final reason as without the title and date of release, the audience may have loved the trailer, but have no way of finding out anything more about it or going to see it. The other aspects, though, are essential because when combined in the correct way, they scare the viewer thoroughly and convince them to see it. There aren't many successful horror trailers that do not have these elements.

 The happy family equilibrium is a convention, but not one that must be adhered to as it depends on the narrative of the film. Also, it may be switched around a bit. "The Possession" begins with  a happy family, however the parents are divorced. They all do seem to be happy, though, as the children go and stay with their father. This shows how conventions evolve with the time period we are in. It is common nowadays to see parents divorced, but happy. On the other hand, in "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" there is no happy family equilibrium as the main characters family isn't mentioned. Or in "The Devil Inside", this element is not there because the mother is possessed and the daughter is trying to save her. As stated, this element is no longer a 'must-have' convention, but when it is adhered to, it can be very effective because it destroys the safety that is connotated with family. 

 Establishing shots has a single exception with "Paranormal Activity 4", but this film is an exception due to the methods of filming. This movie is filmed through webcams and video cameras to give it a more realistic effect that will strike the audience hard. Otherwise, the establishing shot is a fundamental tool in the attraction of an audience. Were you to have the first scene in a house, the audience would be lost. They would not know where the house is or what it looks like, and those two characteristics of the building can add to the horrific effect. 

 Emphasised diagetic sound is when the editor makes the breathing or heartbeat of a character louder to create tension. This, in turn, makes the audience's breath and heartbeat quicken. This is a useful tool to strike fear in the audience and enhance a trailer. When matched with low lighting and a stab, it creates the perfect sting for the end. This element was only used in three out of five trailers, but will most likely be used in our trailer to emphasise the silence in a scene by making a small sound seem incredibly loud. Then, when the stab of sound follows, it'll seem all the more terrifying.

The trailers I examined are featured below.


   

Overview Analysis of Horror Posters

This table shows the frequency that the main conventions of movie posters appear across four examples of the product. Whilst "Amityville Horror"'s main image does not fill the entire frame, the space around it is used and filled with a distorted black background with two images overlaid onto it. All of the other conventions are adhered to with the exception of a tagline for "Amityville Horror" and a date of release for the previous and "House at the End of the Street". The tagline, whilst useful to draw attention and create intrigue, is not always necessary if the main image speaks for itself. It can, on the other hand, anchor the meaning of the image and make the poster much more memorable. "Pray for her" on the "Possession" poster is paired with the bright light, that shines so brightly on her face that it masks her features, to suggest that she is doomed to darkness for some reason, and by going to see the film, the audience may be able to save her. Date of release, however, may not be featured as it is an early poster and does not have a release date yet. Our poster will not have a release date, so as to create intrigue, however we will feature a tagline to achieve the same effect. 

 Each of these elements are featured regularly on film posters and are expected by the audience. The title of the film is commonly 1 to 3 words, however the guidelines are not very strict, as shown in "House at the End of the Street". A small amount of words are used so that the title is remember-able; a short and snappy title is much easier to recollect than a long one. A longer title is sometimes used however to add more substance to the film and make the film less vague; if a person only hears the title of the film and it's vague, it may turn them off. If it is longer, it may interest them more.

The image is dominant in the frame and is the primary element that catches the audience's eye. As with "The Last Exorcism", the main image is of a young girl bending far backwards. This image isn't 'normal' to that viewer, and so it attracts their interest and they may go and see the film. The images generally seen in horror posters are meant to scare the audience in some way, either drastically or subtly. The image on "Amityville Horror" is more spooky than scary as it subtly suggests that the man in the image is evil, and paired with the effects on the house, the "katch 'em & kill 'em" painted in blood beside him and the article on his right, the image is designed to send chills down the audience's spine. The image from "The Last Exorcism" however is designed to disgust the audience into going and watching it. By having the girl bent backwards in an inhuman stance in conjunction with the effects on the image and the religious imagery, the audience are both horrified and intrigued by the advertisement. Common iconography in horror film posters is the use of religious imagery and the use of light and darkness. Religious imagery is only featured on one of the examples used, but it is used throughout horror as it is generally seen as pure and wholesome, so horror simply reverses that to scare the audience. Light and darkness, or the use of shadow, is common as the original horrors were based around things that lurk in the shadow, and this has continued on until now. "The Possession", 
"Last Exorcism" and "House at the End of the Street" all feature the main antagonist or protagonist in the light to show either that they are good, or to highlight their horrific features. "Amityville" however features the main character in the frame in darkness so that his identity is shrouded from the audience, creating a sense of mystery. Both techniques are commonly used to attract the audience depending on the narrative and the nature of the character. Our poster may also take this into thought and impedimenta this idea within our products. The image also needs to have a scary element that is beyond unusual and actually 'spooks' the audience to signal that it is in fact horror just as the four examples do.




Almost all horror films have their titles made from capital letters so as to be bold and attract the eye of their audience. Distorted text is also used commonly to reflect the sub-genre of the film, and if it is not distorted, it has some form of embellishment, such as the 'y' in "Amityville", to reflect a part of the narrative. Films that contain exorcisms or curses tend to have font that are disjointed and look slightly eroded to represent the evil spirit within a main character.These films also usually have black fonts to represent the evil also. Those with murder, or a desire for it, tend to have red fonts to symbolise the blood or white to show fear and death. Several possession themed films however combine these elements to show the demonic presence and also the fear and death that the film may contain. This is also shown in the dark and dull colour scheme; the curse or possession has left a main character with out life or is threatening to take it from them, and this main character is generally featured in the main image. Also, the posters all feature some form of institutional information to advertise the producing companies, the actors, directors and the crew that worked on the film. By placing this on the poster, the audience may become attracted to the film by who made it or who is starring in it. 

Codes and Conventions of a Film Magazine Front Cover

The conventions of a magazine front cover are almost the same for every type. The conventions of film magazines will be similar to women's magazines or sports magazines. This is so that the readers know just at a glance what it is they are looking at. However, there are slight differences between each type so that the reader knows at a glance what they're looking for.

Masthead - This is basically the title of the magazine. Dominant and striking, mastheads of film magazines tend to continue the masculine colour scheme of the front cover, or reflect the main feature article. The name itself tends to have strong connotations with the film industry (e.g. SFX), is a buzz word (see below for definition) (e.g. Empire), or a combination of the two (e.g. Total Film).

Buzzwords and punctuation - Punctuation such as exclamation points and buzz words such as "new" and "awesome" are used to excite the reader about article or features of the magazine. 

Symbols - This aspect is commonly used on magazines that are aimed towards males. It is scientifically proven that men respond better to symbols in regards to taking in information and paying attention. Lots of plus signs and arrows are used and other positive icons to show the reader where to look.

Strapline - Featured above the masthead, this is a sentence that can detail an important feature article, a deal in regards to the price of the magazine or something free that comes with the product such as posters or competitions.

Dateline - Generally written in small type beneath the masthead, this is a line of informaiton detailing, the issue number or month of release, the website of the magazien and possible the price.

Main image - This is the primary focus of the magazine front cover. Generally the element that draws in the audience, the image on a film magazine is usually of a famous actor that features in the main article. Depending on how many models the magazine has on the front cover, the tops of their heads may cover the title to emphasise the importance of them or their character. Also, the image of the film character is often the one used on the movie's poster and this creates a symbiotic link between the two pieces of media and makes it more recognisable for the audience. The image contrasts those found on lifestyle magazines as it usually features the model in a much more dominant pose that shows the strength of the character. The model will also be dressed to coincide with their movie, rather than just for fashion, and will be placed on a background of sorts, such as part of the setting of the film or in an action style shot, as opposed to a plain background used in lifestyle magazines as seen above to the left and right.

Feature article photographs - These images are designed to be the secondary attraction after the main image and shows the articles featured within visually.

Main sell-line - Placed centrally, below the main image, this short phrase either sums up an article in a witty fashion, or is simply the name of the actor or film in the main article.

Puff – This element is the circular, square or other shaped bubble placed atop the main image, usually towards the right of the page and at the top, to highlight a special feature of the magazine, be it an article, a competition or something of the like.

List of movies included - This is to attract the audience further to the magazine and establishes the type of magazine that it is and to what demographic they aim towards (e.g. mainly action movies aim towards a typically masculine audience). If the reader doesn't like the main article, they may like one or more of the other films featured and therefore still want to purchase the product.

Banner - This may be a strip of colour placed across the main image to highlight the main sell-line, or it may be, or may also be, featured at the base of the page as a way to show the images of feature articles.

Layout - The layout of the text, puffs and banners of a magazine is intended to frame the main image to make it seem more important.

Text - Generally in the left hand third of the page, the text is usually  between three and four fonts and three and four  separate colours so as to not confuse the reader and to not let the cover look too cluttered. The colours used in the text can also reflect the main image and sell line by reflecting a character (e.g. red, white, and blue for a cover with Captain America on it). The text usually follows a masculine colour to appeal to the primarily male target audience.

Codes and Conventions of a Horror Movie Trailer

Common equilibrium of a happy family - Whilst this convention has evolved with the times, there is generally some form of equilibrium with a happy family at the beginning of the film or trailer. The evolution has come as divorce and single parenting has become more commonplace, and so the beginning of the narrative may have a family in either situation.

Disruption - The disruption generally comes in the form of an object in supernatural/paranormal films. This object can be small, or it can be a house, but it is usually cursed with an evil being. For example, in "The Possession", the disruption is the purchasing of the Dibbuk Box, whereas "A Haunting in Connecticut"'s disruption is moving into a cursed house.

Quick cut montage - This editing technique is to increase the heart, fear and tension of a trailer to attract the audience. This technique is usually combined with emphasised diegetic sound or a quickening soundtrack to increase the audience's heart rate.

Cut to black - This is used generally in tandem with a stab of sound to shock the audience.

Title and release date - Crucial information, this is generally featured at the end of a trailer before the sting so that the audience is left with the name of the film and a scary excerpt to remember it by.

Sting - This is a small clip of the movie featured at the very end of a trailer after the title, tagline and institutional informtation with a stab of sound intended to scare the audience and leave them with a memorable image of the movie.

Stabs of sound - Usually with silence beforehand, a stab of sound is used to scare the audience and make a scene scarier.

Contrapuntal sound - This technique is when a usually innocent sound, such as a lullaby, is placed over a scary scene to create horror out of innocence and destroy the safety that is usually connotated with it.

Diegetic sounds emphasised - Heavy breathing, heart beat or other quiet sounds are commonly used for this effect and it is used to emphasise the silence of a scene. For example, if a character is hiding in a closet and the antagonist is approaching, the breathing or heartbeat of the protagonist would seem louder, and the footsteps of the antogonist would as well. This is to enhance the fear of a scene.

Lighting -Within a trailer, the lighting tends to get darker as the trailer continues to increase the sinister feel to a story. Also, flashing lights may be used to disorientate the audience and make them scared. Other lighting techniques used are profile, under lighting, and back lighting to make the protagonist seem more menacing.

Dark washes over film - This also creates a more sinister feel in a scene and increases fear: no-one knows who's in the darkness.

Other types of non-diegetic sounds - Eerie music is played over the scene to help build tension, or 'other-wordly' sounds such as ghostly moans and talking is used to show that there is a supernatural presence.

Screams - Obviously, this is to enhance the horror in a scene by showing the pain and fear of a character that scares the audience.

Camera shtos - High angle shots of buildings are used to give them an imposing feel, and this may be used as an establishing shot of a scene. Aerial shots are also used as establishing shots, like in "Devil Inside", to show an entire town and make it seem so small and hard to escape from.There are also low angle shots of the protagonist to make them seem small and vulnerable and contrasting high angle shots of the antagonist to make them seem threatening.