Three Horror Movies

Saw 3D



     Me and Rhys decided to watch the trailer for Saw 3D to investigate the use of basic trailer conventions within the horror genre. One of these conventions is that the production values of any film are indicated, and this film is clearly playing on the '3D' experience throughout the trailer. Around half of the entire trailer is footage of a cinema audience with film-related things happening to them, either from the screen or from their seats. This is signifying to the audience that watching this film in 3D will make you feel like you are actually there, part of Jigsaw's wicked game. Another convention is that the voice over and any dialogue will help create an image of the build up to an event, but never gives away the end, instead building the audience up and leaving them in complete suspense eager to see the ending. The voice-over artist in this is the 'villain' character 'Jigsaw' almost asking the audience to play the game with him, challenging them to beat his sinister tasks along with the characters in the film.

Quarantine Trailer



     Also a trailer from the horror genre; Quarantine positions the audience in the eyes of a cameraman, filming the events of an infected zombie uprising, whilst using very different conventions. Any trailer must indicate what genre the film is, and Quarantine does this by showing the audience multiple scenes of violence, deformed/ill looking civilians and scenes of widespread panic. All relevant to the horror genre. The name of the movie must also be included in the trailer; Quarantine flashes up at the end with an odd green glow giving a very out-of-this-world effect.


Sixth Sense Trailer



     This trailer for Sixth Sense uses very similar conventions to Saw 3D in that the dialogue tells a story without giving the ending away and leaving the audience in suspense. Also there are some production values here as Bruce Willis plays one of the starring roles.

There are some basic conventions of the Horror genre that these films all seem to fit in some shape or form.
Violence/Gore is one convention which Saw 3D definitely fulfills, opting for a no holds-barred gore-fest filled with decapitations, amputations and other extremely violent moments which really aren't for the squeamish. Also, the camerawork is typical of a horror film as there are lots of canted shots and general disorientation. Quarantine is also a violent film, whilst not focusing on methods of torture it is still filled with violence and gore but at times when the audience aren't expecting it making for a very jumpy and scary film. The Sixth Sense however is not a violent film, but gore is present. Some of the spirits wandering around are visibly injured in extreme ways (e.g. young boy with shotgun wound to the head) fulfilling the convention also.