Trailer Research Rationale

The following videos highlight reactions from the horror film trailers Insidious, Mama and Sinister 2 with a focus group ranging from ages of 16-17.

This trailer was for Insidious : Chapter 3. My focus group begin to watch the trailer in a state of equilibrium and seem engaged but do not react to initial elements of the trailer. Further into the trailer, they are shocked and annoyed by the antagonists naivety towards the evident paranormal occurrences as this is typical of horror films and lacks realism. They also remarked on the basic nature of horror soundtrack and found it too generic and widely used within the horror genre. The group generally didn't enjoy the video as they felt it was too typical of horror conventions and lacked depth in terms of intrigue gained from the story line.

  

This trailer was for MAMA. This trailer seemed to engage the group from very initial stages with use of shocking images and clips. One girl remarked that "this seems like a trailer that's based on a true story"; it's evident that realism and moral panics are a real scare within teens.Similarly to the Insidious trailer, the group didn't react to much however for very different reasons, They said that the trailer was very "intense" and focused on a new concept and structure in terms of horror trailers, The trailer didn't give away much which was unique of horror trailers, the group liked this feature. they also felt as thought the acting and general plot was better in this film.

This trailer was for Sinister 2. The group had similar reactions to the soundtrack used for the Insidious movie and said it was quite predictable, However, the group were a lot more reactive to this clip as it features more jump scares and shocking images. Also, the group found that the enhanced element of realism was especially evident when the TV or "imaginary world" was turned off and we as viewer were introduced into the real world. The relatability was also a frightening concept of moral panic picked on by the group. 

The next two clips summerise my thoughts on the reactions from the group and highlight what I would take from this experience when making my own trailer.