Film Trailer Questionnaire

I have created a questionnaire to help me decide on what sub-genre to use for my horror film trailer, aswell as the music genre I should use and the relevant information that should be placed in the film. This is for my A level media coursework so it would be deeply appreciated if you could fill it in here, many thanks.

'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' Poster Analysis

This is the first 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' poster that I will implement. The poster is very basic, yet remains relevant to the horror genre and keeps in touch with the stereotypical side of horror films. The poster shows us a picture of the 'villain' in the film 'Leather face'. The picture makes it look like 'Leather Face' is watching the audience and coming after them with the chainsaw this can scare people (the main point of a horror film) but can also build intense anxiety. The picture has low lighting to add mystery to the plot, it also has a yellow fade on the picture, probably completed on Adobe Photoshop to give the poster a unique twist. The title of the film 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' is shown in a lit up yellow/orange font, in my opinion this font doesn't do the poster justice has it has no real relevance as it looks like a clean text, I believe that the text should have been more rugged looking like it had been carved out with a chainsaw for example.

This is the second poster for 'Texas Chain Saw Massacre' as you can see immediately the font style, colour and size of the title is very similar to the first poster. This is to show intertextuality between the two posters. In this poster another picture of 'Leather Face' has been used but this time the lighting around the picture is much darker making everything seem more terrifying in the picture, a black line fade has been used on the picture as well to give the picture a darker tone and definition. Unlike the first poster this one has the names of actors, actresses, producers and directors as well as including the companies and institutions directly involved with the film. One strange comparison between both posters is that there is no date release on either posters, this is quite strange for the advertising and marketing side to do, in my opinion there should be a release date on at least one and therefore I will make it part of my criteria to add a release date to my film poster.

'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' Film Trailer Analysis

I decided to analyse this trailer as I felt it had a lot of relevance to the film trailer that I will be producing shortly. The genre of this film fits in perfectly with what we are trying to achieve for our coursework and the trailer is 2:21 long, this is good as our trailer must be 2 minutes long so we can use this trailer also to see what extent of detail needs to be in the trailer.

The trailer starts with the institutions and companies involved with the film, typically. It then quickly cuts to an establishing shot showing the vehicle on the road in the middle of nowhere, the sound in the background is quite soothing near the start, rather unusual for a horror film. There are then a couple of quick cuts between the different actors & actresses in the vehicle and then there is a bit more sound when the couple are talking, these quick cuts of the various people are to establish the characters that will be involved in the film at some point to the audience. The next clip, at 0:40 the backing track takes a dramatic turn, it starts to use a heartbeat rhythm, this has been cleverly synced with numerous quick cuts that keep in time with the beats in the background, this is used to build suspension. Numerous other establishing shots are used to now show the house were all of the horror will take place. More and more quick cuts are used and the lighting is dark, this is used to create a greater feeling of anxiety. At 1:32 the film disappears for a few seconds and the producer, directors names etc are displayed but still enticing the audience by using some dialogue (mostly screaming) in the background. The last 50 seconds or so are when the trailer becomes more upbeat and the cuts and music begin to get faster, most of the shot types used near the end are close ups/ extreme to show extent of horror in the faces of the people. As the trailer begins to gain maximum tempo it cuts to the name of the film and then shows the credits and finishes with 'Coming Soon' for the date, this will also get people talking about it as there are now more questions to be answered.

I believe this is a suitable analysis for our group as it has all the important parts of a psychological horror film, the cuts, dialogue, shot types and all other key information is there and all in the right places, to make my film trailer to a high professional standard I will need to include all of the above criteria shown.

Horror Genre for Trailer

As a group we have decided to make a 'Horror' film trailer, to sub categorise this we will be making it into a 'psychological horror'.


Based on the disturbed human psyche. Obviously psychos on rampages fall into this category, but it is just as often more subtle. Since the reader's perception is sometimes altered by exposure to an insane viewpoint, psychological horror can also deal with ambiguous reality and seem to be supernatural. 


Films we will use to help to produce our trailer which fit into the same genre and sub genre are:-


- Texas Chainsaw Massacre
- Slime City

Golden Trailer Awards

In may of each year the Golden Trailer Awards are held, these awards allow producers and marketing advertisers to gain acclaim from a film, awards can be won for trailers, film posters and television advertisements, these all link back to motion picture marketing.

"Movie trailers play an increasingly important role in entertaining us and helping us determine where to spend our leisure time. The best trailers are works of art in their own right, expertly blending elements of cinema and advertising.


Each year through an open competition judged by film industry notables, the Golden Trailer Awards recognize the creative people who make movie trailers, and the best examples of their unique art, in a gala award show.


The Golden Trailer Awards is the awards show devoted to feature film previews. Since moviegoers consistently rate movie trailers as the most entertaining part of the theater experience, the Golden Trailer Awards celebrates the craftsmanship and allure of these potent mini-epics with a fast-paced show whose frenetic and sometimes irreverent style is perfect for the post-MTV era.


Taking only 90 minutes to roll through 16 categories ranging from Best Drama to the Golden Fleece, the Golden Trailer Awards is as diverse and exciting as the art form to which it pays homage."


Some awards that can be won at the Golden Trailer Awards:-


- Best independent trailer
- Best comedy
- Best foreign action trailer
- Best documentary poster
- Best in Show
- Most original

Here is a link to the Golden Trailer Awards website - http://www.goldentrailer.com/

Trailer History

Movie trailers first appeared in front of us in 1913, with the short promotional film 'The Pleasure Seekers' which was produced by a man called 'Nils Granlund'. During the 1950's most movie trailers were produced by the national screen service, they consisted of loud music, large font, limited amounts of slow shots and unrealistic dialogue in the background, the film trailer above the 1950's original cinderella trailer is a great example of this.