After watching several horror trailers for my research, the first convention that was obvious was that there are a lot of fast and quick paced imagery and clips are used to help emphasise the tension and suspense of the trailer. The fast paced clips helps to ensure a sense of unknowing and enticement. Horror films aim to shock, scare, entice and alarm viewers with factors that play on the individuals common fears and present an extraordinary situation.
Another convention is that dark elements are usually introduced at some point in the trailer. Most horror trailers in my chosen sub-genre are set in the dark or in an isolated place. This is important to consider for my own trailer so that I consider the time that it's filmed.
In supernatural trailers, there is sometimes a short clip of someone being chased by someone or something else. There is also most often than not, a vulnerable likeable character ot victim, who seems quiet and hopeless. This encourages the audience to emphasise with them and from doing so, they become more attached to the film or trailer.
As a group, we need to take all of these conventions into consideration although, the majority of them have already been included or thought about.
Websites
A horror trailer wesbite is made to advertise the movie that its based on. It's aim is to scare the targeted audience but only to a certain extent. Not to scare them off completely but to scare them a little so that they are still intrigued about the film so they will pay to go and see it.
One of the first conventions that I noticed on a horror website was that they all have a fancy pre-loader. This is so the audience know that the trailer is loading and it makes them more intrigued to see what;s on the site whereas if it was a boring preloader or not one at all, the person would think the website had failed or that there was nothing loading. Either side are the sites for Paranormal Activity and Piranha.They also have preloaders when you're waiting to go on another link on the site. For example, from the trailer to Gallery.
Another convention is that the website always shows the movie trailer so that the audience knows what they are going to see and has a bit of background information or some idea of what the film itself is about.
http://www.paranormal-activity-movie.co.uk/ - This website shows the trailer immediately as soom as the site has fully loaded. Most film websites have the trailer on their site. This is to give the audience a taster of the film.
Most sites also give a bit of background information about the film or cast.
They all share information on the film such as the synopsis, which they all give a brief outline of the plot, and the characters with the actors names also. If you see an actor you like, you tend to watch there movies. Also if you like the synopsis, then you would also watch the movie.
All websites also offer images that you can either buy as posters or download. These things come as extra 'add-ons' or merchandise that make the audience feel as if they should go see this movie because of all the extra things that come with it. Why else would they advertise all these things if a film wasn't good? They also offer soundtracks from the movie and t-shirts sometimes.
Most websites have a section near the bottom where you can suscribe to the movie. Meaning that if you enter your e-mail address, you'll be kept updated with the latest merchandise and maybe even get ticket offers to go and see the movie!
