Stock camera shots (blog)

Typical Shots in horror film campaigns

I will now look at 3 horror film trailers, and discuss the common shots that appear in them, and why they are

placed in the trailers. I will then use the shots and understand how I can use the shots for my own production

Film: Exists

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What is the purpose of the shots used in the trailer and what point do they come?

1) The shot labeled number 1 is giving us information about the production company. The function of it is to tell us who made the film, and this is usually shown at the very start of the film trailer. The successful production company try to make customers watch the film, as the company already have a good background, which tells us that the film will be good.

2) The second shot is also towards the beginning. The shot purpose is mainly to visually show us who the characters are within the film. The film trailer starts with giving us an insight to who the main stock characters are and maybe even a protagonist will be revealed. The characters mainly involved will come at the start of the trailer, and the purpose is to get an understanding of the main characters by revealing them.

3) The third shot comes also at the beginning stages of the trailer, although can be seen in the later stages also. The purpose of this shot is to show a sense of being followed or watched. The idea of the camera being behind the characters filming them, shows the vulnerability of the characters, and that they are being watched. This shot may be through the perspective of the killer in horror movies, and the purpose is to show that they ae not the only people in the location in this case the woods.

4) Shot number four is around the start/middle of the trailer. The shot is showing a character opening a door, and curiously looking into it. The curiosity and search for something always occurs in horror movies, and this trailer purposefully includes this to give the audience a sense of the location of what's going on, and more importantly current situation.

5) The fifth shot occurs right after the fourth shot. This is showing a recording camera of a room. The important part of this shot is that the camera is not functioning properly and is crashing. The function on this shot is to reveal abnormality. The camera crashing tells us that there is even more danger towards the characters, and the trailer shows us this.

6) Shot number six usually occurs at the earlier stages of the trailer, and in this films case, it is shown at the start/middle. The purpose of this establishing shot is to set the scene of the film. We get an idea of where most of the action will take place. By seeing this shot, we know where the majority of the film will be based, and by looking at the shot, I already know the location is mainly the woods.

7) The seventh shot in this trailer that I have picked up on can crop up at any stage of the trailer. The purpose of the typography is to tell the audience about what may occur in the film without spoiling it. For instance ‘there have been stores’ makes us wonder, who told the stories and what are they about? These written codes are functioned to get us an understanding of the backstory to the horror movie and make us watch it.

8) Shot number eight usually comes in towards the middle or later stages in the film. The function of the close-up or extreme close up of a face is to make us feel confined. We see the facial expressions of the characters, and sometimes the shots are showing a POV view. This is used to make us feel that we are actually in the scenario like the image on the right.

9) The last stock shot I gathered from the first trailer comes at the very ending. The image is showing the abnormal creature which is threatening the characters in the film. We see glimpses of the creature in the trailer, and the function of these shots are to tell us what is the danger in the film. Without seeing the threat, how would we as an audience know what they are running from, and also how could we tell the genre?

Film: As Above, So Below

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What is the purpose of the shots used in the trailer and what point do they come?

1) Shot number 1 features at the beginning of this trailer. Similarly with the first trailer, the function of this trailer is to show the audience which production company is involved in the making of the film, which will be motivating the viewers to watch the film by promoting.

2) The second shot is also towards the beginning. The shot purpose is showing us clearly the location of the film. We can see that the film will be set in Paris through the Ethel Tower. All of the trailers show the main locations, and this one is showed straight away at the start.

3) The third shot is all about making sure we get an understanding of the film, and the backstory. The written codes purpose is to tell us what the situation is or will be. This written code can come anywhere in the trailer but doesn’t usually appear towards the end/

4) Shot number is revealing the main characters within the film. We tend to see a shot which has a group of people who will be the main stock characters in the film. The purpose is to show us who features in the film, and this generally occurs at the starting parts of the trailer.

5) The fifth shot occurs after he fourth shot. This lingering camera angle gives us a sense of the characters being watched. The handheld camera view also makes us feel as if we are the person watching the characters. This occurs towards the start/middle of the trailer and most horror trailers contain a sense of being watched.

6) Shot number six occurs towards the middle of the trailer. We see blood on the screen, which can only mean one thing. The blood tells us the film will be gory, and the purpose is to show us the common themes which may occur; whether it be death, blood or gore. All of the themes will be negative after this shot has been revealed in the trailer.

7) The seventh shot is a close up of one of the characters faces. We feel confined and get to see the expressions on the characters faces in much closer detail. This shot has a purpose of making us see what the characters are going through by making us confined. This close up shot comes in towards the middle of the trailer or the ending.

8) Shot number eight usually comes in towards the middle or later stages in the film. The function of this shot is to show the danger which makes the film genre horror. We see glimpses of the killers and the threats. The purpose of this shot is to make us understand what is the threat, and makes us ask questions to how they go about escaping the threat.

9) The last stock shot I gathered from the first trailer comes at the later stages of the trailer. Just like the first trailer, the camera crashing and not functioning properly gives us a sense of vulnerability and lack of escape. The purpose is to get us frightened and the idea of the camera being recorded on a point of view makes us feel as If we are holding the camera which is not working properly.

Conclusion/Evaluation

From this task I have gained a good understanding of what common stock shots occur in the horror film genre trailers. I have

learnt where the common genre conventions are specified throughout, and now have knowledge of where they appear, for instance the first parts of the trailer will have the production company logo, alongside the introduction to the locations

and characters involved.