Typical Conventions, Changes to the Horror Trailer Convention and how they are Advertised

Over the years there have been many convention changes to the High School Horror film trailer. With some of the conventions that were used in the 1970s becoming completely removed from the horror trailers of recent years. However, the classic conventions stand the test of time and reappear in many trailers, many decades after they were first introduced to this genre. Furthermore, they are used because it is how film distributors attract and appeal to their target audience. Along with the changes to the conventions seen in horror trailers, there is also a drastic change in the way films are marketed.
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Firstly, in the 1970s the main trailer convention was the use of a non-diegetic voice-over, accompanied with text on the screen. This convention was used to introduce the actors of the film and also the film’s director, before revelling to the audience the main premise and title of the film. This can be seen in the 1976 film trailer for the film 'Carrie' directed by Brian De Palma. It was used as a way of appealing to an audience that were fans of the actors or director; also, it appears as if the film promoters are not confident with their final product. So before they give the audience a chance to get a make a decision on whether or not they like the film they are enticed and influenced of the prospect of seeing a certain actors. This convention has faded away over the decades as many of the actors in recent High School Horror films are generally unknown, meaning that an audience cannot be influenced by certain actors like audiences were in the 1970s. In terms of the way the films were advertised, it can be seen as following the traditional marketing campaign. Consisting of movie posters, and previews/ trailers at cinemas played before the movie you wanted to see.

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During the 1980s the popularity of the genre High School Horror decreased, as film industries were more focused on developing films that were set in a high school but around different genres, not just horror. This can be seen with teen films such as The Breakfast Club (1985) directed by John Hughes, high school drama, and Sixteen Candles (1984) also directed by John Hughes which was a high school romance/ comedy. Moreover, due to the influence that the “Brat Pact” had on cinema of the 1980s we also start to see films emerge that involve teenagers but is not specifically linked to the high school genre. This can be seen in films such as Back to the Future (1985) directed by Robert Zemeckis and the 1984 film Gremlins directed by Joe Dante.

.....However, out of the films of this specific genre that were made during the 1980s, we are able to see that they use similar techniques to what was used in the 1970s. Trailers for the 1984 film 'Nightmare on Elm Street,' directed by Wes Craven and the 1980 film ‘Prom Night’ directed by Paul Lynch show us the slit convention changes. We still have the use of the non-diegetic voice-over (narration) guiding us through and telling us about the film. Although, the change is that actors/ director of the film are only mentioned right at the end of the trailer, just before or just after the title of the film appears. Moreover, they still use close-up shots and also shots that are very dark and eerie. In the 1970s, they used the close-ups to show the emotion on the character’s face, but they did not have any forbidding shots.

.....In terms of marketing, these films were still advertised in the traditional way; however, they now included television adverts and also more than one feature trailer. This is used to appeal to a certain aspect of the films target audience that watch certain films at the cinema.
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In the 1990s, High School horror trailers still in some ways use the convention of a non-diegetic voice-over to move the trailer along and inform the audience about the characters and settings. However, we do see a new convention being added, voice-over reading text that is on the screen. Examples of this can be seen in the Scream (1996) directed by Wes Craven and I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) directed by Jim Gillespie trailers. Furthermore, trailers of the 1990s began to have more mystery about them, there was not a significant change to the amount of information the voice-over gave just in the way the trailer was organised and the scenes that were used it created more enigmas for the audience. Furthermore, over this decade the conventions of High School Horror trailers where adapted to fit into the mainstream market. As this genre became more popular over this decade they also gained a spoof of these typical conventions in the 1999 film Scary Movie.
.....Furthermore, there was a significant change in the way these films were marketed. Films with low-budgets used the Internet to advertise and create interest in their film; this can be seen in the 1999 film 'Blair Witch Project’ directed by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez. It took on a viral Internet campaign instead of the traditional campaign consisting of posters and trailers. This way of advertising was to change the way audiences becomes aware of new films and also the amount of money a film could earn its opening weekend. A good example of this can be seen in 2008 on the opening weekend of the Sci-Fi horror film Cloverfield (2008) directed by Matt Reeves and the romantic comedy 27 Dresses (2008) directed by Anne Fletcher. Cloverfield's weekend gross was $46,146,546 whereas 27 Dresses which came in second and followed the traditional advertising campaign only grossed $27,442,040. (Weekend gross taken from the 18th -21st January 2008, figures from http://www.boxofficemojo.com/) kkkkkkkkkkkk

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Finally, in the 2000s (from around 2003 onwards,) trailers of this genre do not use the convention of a voice over anymore; instead they use the convention of written text on the screen to move the trailer along. This drastic change in the high school horror trailer can be attributed to the popularity of these typical and predictable conventions over the period of the 90s. It led to film promoters almost reinventing and reviving the way audiences see this genre of film, creating more of a mystery and interest in a once predictable and unoriginal way. Examples of this can be seen in the film Prom Night (2008 remake) directed by Nelson McCormick and the 2009 film Jennifer's Body directed by Karyn Kusama trailers. Moreover, recent trailers use more special effect and more gore as the budgets for these films are much higher and technology has become more advanced to make things seem more realistic. Also the way they are marketed is quite different from previous decades. Many of the trailers from this genre have incorporated elements of their advertising campaigns that make them become a viral campaign. They have websites and blogs dedicated to their movies, along with follow the traditional advertising campaign by using posters and television adverts.
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Overall, from this research I have gained a lot of knowledge about the typical conventions of the High School Horror trailer genre. Also, I have become aware of the small amount of convention changes over the past 30 years. This has influenced me to use the convention of text on the screen as it is a popular convention at the moment and it will enable audiences to recognise what genre the film is. Furthermore, the drastic changes that have occurred to the way the horror genre is marketed, has made me realise that to in order to achieve greater box office opening weekend earnings, we need to mix our advertising campaign with the traditional and also the viral campaigns to gain maximum exposure and generate more interest in the film.