Catfish is a documentary-style film produced by Relativity Media and distributed by Rogue Pictures. I chose to study this trailer as the film had a low budget of $30,000 so I will be able to take inspiration from it when creating my own low budget horror trailer. I have already annotated the trailer of a horror film so I decided to study another genre of film to see how they compare.
The trailer is 2 minutes 21 seconds long and includes a total of approximately 71 shots. There are only 6 characters shown in the trailer; Nev and his 2 friends who work the cameras, Megan, and her mum and sister who are only shown briefly on Nev's computer. Nev is clearly portrayed as the main character as it follows his story and he appears on camera most, however despite rarely being on camera, Megan is also portrayed as an important character as she is the main focus of the trailer and film.
Throughout the trailer there are approximately 9 settings shown; Nev's house and bedroom, a dance studio, a street, inside the car, an office, an airport, Megan's house, a beach and a theatre stage. This is a wide range of setting which makes the film seem action-packed and busy, connoting that there is a lot of travelling in the film due to a lot of shots in the car, this also gives an insight into the plot.
There are 3 separate music tracks used in the trailer, which is common for trailers to do. The trailer begins which non-diegetic background music that is upbeat with a simple melody and suggests a happy atmosphere. Around 45 seconds into the trailer the music transitions into another non-diegetic track. It sounds as though it is being sung by a choir and is slower than the last song, which fits with the trailer as it reveals there is something suspicious happening, however it remains happy sounding. The final track begins about 1 minute 30 into the trailer when the first footage of Megan's house is shown at the end of a long, dark drive way. The music is still non-diegetic and slower than the last track. The music is low and quiet to seem mysterious and emphasise the eerie atmosphere.
Non-diegetic synchronous sound effects such as phone beeps, typing, camera clicks etc are used which particularly emphasises that the film is focused on online events which is why the sound of these devices are made to stand out. Diegetic voices of the people in the film talking to the camera is what informs us that it is a documentary-style film, breaking the verisimilitude as well as the hand-held camera work which also suggests this. Additional sound effects such as hisses and mouse clicks are used when inter titles appear on the screen to catch the audiences attention and draw them in.
There are 13 inter titles overall in the trailer. They include reviews from well-known magazines and newspapers, for example; "A shattering conclusion. - New York Magazine". Positive reviews from reliable sources people are familiar with helps build good expectations for the film. The inter titles also give key information on the plot to give the audience an idea of the basic story that the film follows.
By studying this trailer after The Gallows horror trailer, it's helped me to compare the differences between a horror trailer and a trailer of a different genre which will be useful for when I create my own horror trailer. The Gallows trailer had quicker cuts between shots than the Catfish trailer to help build the tension, something that is very important when advertising a horror film as this is what people want to feel. As a result of this, the horror trailer also had a larger amount of shots altogether. I also found that The Gallows trailer used only 1 music track throughout it, whereas the Catfish trailer used 3. By using only 1 song it helped keep the eerie atmosphere of the trailer, on the other hand the mood of the Catfish trailer changes from happy to mysterious which is why it was suitable to use more than 1 song. In addition to this, the music in The Gallows trailer cuts and pauses in certain places to emphasise the tension which is also why only 1 song was suitable, unlike Catfish which has music playing throughout the entire duration of the trailer.
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