Sunday, 25 September 2016

Teaser Trailer Structure

The teaser trailer for a film should follow the 3 act structure.
Act 1: Equilibrium
Act 2: The disruption is introduced
Act 3: Fast editing of the stock scenes that are typical of a horror film

In the first act of the trailer the one or two of the characters are introduced and the tone of the film is set. This can be done through the actual location being shown. Obviously a location such as an abandoned warehouse or a graveyard would be good for a horror film. Lowkey lighting is very important for setting an scary and dark setting. Another way of setting a tense tone to the trailer is sound.

The second act of a trailer should introduce the disruption. This can often be through small glimpses of the antagonist but it's important that the antagonist isn't fully shown or they aren't scary to the audience as they already have information on the antagonist or atleast their appearance.

Act 3 should be the longest as it is meant to contain the many different stock scenes that can be expected in a horror. It is the longest part and becomes faster paced as the trailer approaches it's climax. The trailer may uses techniques such as strobes (which weren't present in my summer work) to create this fast paced tempo until there is a sudden jump scare or the trailer cuts to black and the last title slates fade in.

No comments:

Post a Comment