Solo Trailer Review (1)

Name of film: The Women in Black: Angel of Death    

Year released: 2015

Genre of trailer: Drama/Horror/Thriller                         

Mark (After viewing): 8/10

I chose to use this trailer as part of my research as it is a hybrid genre and seeing as it’s only a 15 certificate it has a very wide target audience. The trailer shows the rough narrative of the film and has key features of the film to make the audience jump and to make them remember the trailer so they watch the film.

There are some clever and interesting aspects of the trailer which I think were done well and I could do in my own trailer. The obvious one that I could use in my own is the use of parallel music; this helps to build tension within the scenes and to emphasise the eerie theme of the film. Another common technique that they used is establishing shots at the start. This is not just to set the historical context of the film (WWII), but is also to slowly entice the audience into thinking that it is a drama/romantic film. I think they have purposely done this to attract a wider audience as lots of people enjoy dramas. Finally they used a generic horror technique of a jump-scare at the end. By doing this and other things like prolonged silences and darkness, it creates confusion and fear to the audience which will in theory make them want to watch the film.

There is only one aspect of the trailer that I thought was unsuccessful that might put off its target audience and that is the beginning of the trailer. There are no indications that the film is a horror at the beginning. By doing this it could possibly steer away audiences that are fans of horror as they might think it’s not a horror film or might think it’s boring. If I was to change I would make the start shorter as I think it might be a bit long-winded and could bore the audience.

Overall I gave the trailer a 9 as I think it is really well structured and follows generic horror conventions to make sure the audience want to see the whole film.