Class Trailer Review 2

Name of film: Cloverfield
Year Released: 2008
Genre of Trailer: Horror/Action
My Mark after Viewing: 9/10

What Happened in the trailer? 
The trailer begins with a handheld camera being taken from person to person at a leaving party. As the homemade film progresses, a power cut occurs; as the lights are out the audience can hear the building shaking and strange animal like sounds in the surrounding areas. When the lights come back on the documentary style of filming continues and the audience are shown people panicking and news report on the television suggesting something eerie and suspicious is happening. As the party of people venture up to the roof to investigate further, explosions can be seen from the centre of the city. To their surprise, the explosions get closer and the camera cuts out as the characters search for safety. This example of a ‘scene trailer’ ends with a shock factor as the audience see the statue of Liberty’s head be thrown from miles and land in the street crushing cars and scraping buildings.

Which positive, clever or interesting aspects do you think you could include in your own trailer? What generic features are fulfilled well?
Due to the fact that Cloverfield has a ‘scene trailer’ and it’s entirely handheld, the audience have to keep asking themselves ‘what is going on?’ and ‘why am I seeing this?’ in order to try and understand the narrative. This keeps the audience engaged and immersed in what the director has chosen to show as they’ve been thrown into the movie which results in a high level of interest. In order to keep our target audience engaged in our own trailer, techniques like the handheld camera, documentary style and the scene trailer could be used. Not only this, but the use of black screen and sounds in the background also added to the really eerie feeling which reinforces the creepy, horror genre of the film. Similarly, the fast and jumpy cuts also emphasize both horror and action genres of the film. In the final stages of the trailer more of the narrative structure becomes evident as the audience see the statue of Liberty’s head; due to this the audience can make assumptions on how this could have happened and how the peculiar occurrences could be resolved. This big shock ending also leaves a very strong visual image in the minds of the audience; in order to have the same effect on our target audience we could include a big shock factor at the end of our own trailer, enticing them into watching the film.

Which aspects of the trailer did you think were unsuccessful, and would put off its target audience? How is it disappointing?
Although key conventions of the horror genre were used, the trailer seemed to lack the type of suspense that is really unsettling for the audience to watch. For example, there were no added sound effects of sound tracks that emphasize the disorientating and confusing element of the film that the trailer conveys. Similarly, including an element of body horror could have really caught the attention of the target audience. In addition to this, the handheld style of filming can give the trailer a more amateur outlook at times; therefore it would be best in our own trailer to stick to the professional looking highlight trailers so it doesn’t look as though it was created by students. Overall, it seems that including lots of different key conventions would have more of an impact on the viewers; unlike the Cloverfield trailer, our own trailer could include body horror and parallel/contrapuntal music in order to emphasize the horror genre our trailer is conveying.

What was the trailer’s average score in class? Why did it receive this mark?
The overall rating the trailer received in class was 8/10. The most successful feature of this trailer was its ability to use a scene trailer in a really interesting way that can still really capture the attention of the target audience. For example, the homemade style of filming gives the trailer a more realistic and believable plot. Sometimes the more real the trailer seems, the better the audience can relate to the situation the characters are in which entices them into wanting to watch the film. This is why the trailer worked really way and was highly rated.