Genre: The genre is Horror because it uses conventions such as murder, a killer, and people looking frightened.etc. These all represent a horror film. Although you could argue it's a hybrid of a romance and horror story as it has conventions of teenage girls talking about boys and how one of them cheats on a girl and their revenge leads to a death.ie the horror side of the genre.
Narrative: At the beginning the trailer shows a sorority, talking about how a boy cheated on a girl thats in their sorority. They plan revenge as she pretends that he kills her. Her boyfriend believing she’s dead really does end up killing her. After that it seems like she comes back from the dead and starts killing the sorority and her boyfriend. However we are left in suspense as to whether it’s actually her or another prank. The narrative is told from chronological order and the only thing thats left unknown, is who the killer is. This could be because they aim their movie at teenagers of a similar age of the teenagers in the movie.ie 18-20 year olds. They loose the audiences attention if the narrative is not done in chronological order therefore that's why its told very clearly.
Unique Selling Point: The Storyline is a unique selling point as it gives us a sense of security when they use conventions such as a school, teenagers, partys and teachers. Afterwards the storyline turns and becomes a horror movie. This may attract more people as they want to know who the killer really is. So the suspense also used is a unique selling point. The genre is a unique selling point as it pulls audiences that prefer this type of genre and it aims the film at a specific group, 15 and over. This is due to the age restrictions and the fact they have teenagers of this age aswell. The actors are also unique selling points as they use an actress, Audrina, from a reality series called The Hills. This is a unique selling point as audiences may already be familiar with her so they may be more attracted to the film. Also Audrina has an audience of her similar age which is around 20 and her reality series is about her lifestyle as a young independant woman living with the same sort of people, this is similar to the movie as all her friends in the movie are the same age and talk about the same things such as boys and partys etc. This is significant as the producers and directers are aware of what Audrina is already associated with on the hills, therefore gains an audience straightaway as the audience can see she's in a similar sort of movie therefore attracted to watch this movie aswell.
Target audience: The film is targeted at ages 15 and over this is due to the age restrictions. In cinemas it’s a 15 age restriction. This is because of elements of the film such as violence that’s not suitable for a younger generation.
Music: The trailer has rock like music at the beginning where the whole trailer seems like a teen movie to create a false sense of security. A different soundtrack is then put on and the volume is put down so we can hear what the characters say. This is so that the audience understands what types of people are in the movie and dialogue is a good way to let the plot be developed and understood properly. Afterwards the normal music is completely gone and screeching and fast paced music is used towards the end. The music gets faster in the trailer, so that the shots of the film can get faster in time with the music. This creates more suspense as the shots and music gets so fast its impossible to understand the ending. This is significant as it creates ambiguity which is an important convention of horror movies.
Shot types: Close Ups are used when members of the sorority turn their heads and their faces become clearer as the camera comes towards their face. Also when their faces are seen, also the teachers face is shown, close up. This is to show who the main characters are and their stereotypical look. Although another reason why these people are shown right at the beginning, could be, because these people are the ones that are confronted at the end, by the killer. Thus close up shots used at the beginning are used to link it with the end of the trailer. Also close up shots are used when dialogue takes place. This is so that it’s clear when the characters are speaking and we are able to see their expression clearly when saying it. This is significant as the audience can make a judgement based on how they talk and how they look.ie teenagers enjoying their lifestyle. There’s an establishing shot of the house where the girl fakes her death and where the sorority plan to take revenge on the boy. This shot is significant as it resembles where the actual storyline takes place. Web 2.0 such as a laptop is used when the girl fakes her death. Mobiles are also used within the movie aswell. This represents the time when the movie was filmed.ie the present. It demonstrates the relevance of it in today’s society as well as appealing to teenagers who use this technology. There’s a High angle shot to show all the characters in the dark. This is before the actual murder. The importance of this shot, is that it creates suspense and an atmosphere that something bad is going to happen. It is significant as this relates back to the conventions of it being a horror movie. When the murder has taken place, cutaway shots are used to portray the distress on the rest of the characters. It represents the panic of the characters through the rush of the camera moving to different characters and shots that last less than a second.
Pace: The pace gets faster and faster, it only slows down when most of the significant parts of the storyline is told. This is so that the storyline is clear to the audience. By doing this, the audience is hooked on to the main plot of the film and understands it clearly. After this part is shown, the pace just gets quicker. As the pace gets faster so does the music and shot types, this enables only a glimpse of the film without revealing the ending. This is significant as the audience is attracted to the trailer due to the fact they would want to find out the ending.
Dialogue: Conversation is used to reveal the plot. Also by pacing the conversation in chronological order.ie revealing a sorority together and then their plan to fake a girl’s death because she talks about her boyfriend cheating on her. This dialogue is vital inorder for the audience to know what the characters roles are in the film and why a death takes place later on. Also the plot is revealed in their expression as their reaction to certain situations demonstrate what is happening ie screaming to show their fear. This indicates conventions of a horror film aswell.
Voiceover: One of the girl’s in the trailer talks about a ‘prank’ when showing shots of the sorority on graduation day and how they all have a secret to hide. This is significant as this is when the trailer turns from innocent shots of a school to a killer coming after the sorority. The voiceover enables the turn of events and helps the trailer be portrayed as a horror film.
Special effects: Black and white shots are used when the murder takes place. This is an important effect as this is when there is a turn of events when the innocent prank turns into a murder. The use of the black and white signifys a big event happening that completely turns the movie around and also turns the teen movie into a horror one.
Credits and intertitles: There are intertitles in between the trailer such as ‘There’s a secret’. This is to create suspense and keep the audience waiting. Again this represents the conventions of a horror film and targets it at the audience as they are in suspense of what the secret is. Also these could be used so that the audience doesn’t stray away from the trailer and they have to watch the whole trailer in order to see what the secret is, or the film to see who the killer is.
Heres the link n youtube to sorority row's trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbdY3_vLc2k&feature=related
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