To create a radio trailer for our own short film, I plan to research trailers audios for our specific genre being horror. I will explore a few rather than one in particular to see if there are any conventions of radio film trailers which will therefore be found in all I have looked into.

Finding it difficult to find radio clips from my research, I am going to watch several YouTube trailers and focus solely on their audio track. I will look at three different trailers from different time periods to see what conventions have been kept in horror trailers as the industry has developed as this will prove they are crucial components. I will also consider the changes that have been made and adapt my own trailer to suit a modern day horror audio advertisement.

Hide and seek, 2004

Sound Character Speech Happy feeling instrumental

‘Boom’ House noises, door creak, curtain rail

Opera singing instrumental

Effect - Male character introduced by his conversation with female at beginning, talking about ‘Emily’ which then allows character narration to introduce the protagonist, being Emily herself.- Emily’s surety and tone is not normal for the typical young girl and therefore sets the idea that something is not quite right.- Emily whispering at end of trailer, counting in the ‘hide and seek’ style. Whispering a sinister mood is created as a loud suspense filled instrumental is playing simultaneously. Also speech ‘Charlie, come out come out wherever you are’ ironically combines innocence and evil as the tone of the character’s voice speck the stereotypical words to the childhood game ‘hide and seek’.

- Makes us initially question the genre of the film and grabs the audience’s attention as they feel the need to discover the advertisement’s purpose.

- Loud and shocking generally used after a diminuendo where music becomes quieter or after silence for more intense effect.

- Reality of the film and indicates the setting as we relate the sounds, the creaking of a door and the drawing back of a curtain to a house.

- Sinister tone created by stereotypical views of society on opera singing. It is solemn and indicates church further indicating passing over to another side after death.

The Eye, 2008

Sound Rain and police sirens with low pitched violin

Characters speech

Tension building motif

Loud whispering voice

Silence

Effect - Dreary mood of the rain uses pathetic fallacy to indicate the horror

- Indication to the plot- Introduces the audience

-Kept throughout the film.-At beginning

- The voice of an unknown source creating an

- Used before a loud chord or screech and becomes the

Research into Radio Trailer

genre.- Police sirens are an indexical sign for danger

to the character e.g. male/female…

the motif is quiet but dominant over the rest of the sound.- Near end, motif plays by with a bass behind to create more tension and indication of action.

element of mystery and makes the listener want to find out what the noise is.

climax of tension building.- Can be scary because it is such a contrast to the loud instrumental sounds.

The woman in black, 2011 remake

Sound Low level wind howling

Thunder storm and rain

Musical instrumental meant to be from several old toys

Young girl reciting a poem about ‘The woman in black’

Bangs

Effect Begins the soundtrack to set the eerie scene. Suggests a dark windy setting and a cold harsh tone.

Pathetic fallacy reflecting and eerie mood.

- Continuous throughout whole trailer and predominantly at beginning and end of trailer.

-Has a sinister tone as it is not fitting with the norm of a young girl’s voice. Defies the innocence that children represent with this surety.-Alternatively, the poem spoken by the child could resemble a child’s nursery rhyme. -Rhyme continues throughout whole trailer explaining the story of the woman in black briefly.

-These banging noises are quick, loud and sharp as the protagonist enters the haunted house. The bangs get closer together as the trailer progresses until they lead into a short moment of silence.

After looking at all three film trailers, it is clear to see that eerie everyday sounds play a key component in creating tension as they indicate reality e.g. wind, rain, door creaking. A motif is key to create tension as it builds throughout the trailer into a brief silence to create climatic suspense. A trailer always ends with this to create a mystery as to the film itself and encourages the listener to go see the whole film to discover the secret.