Length: 2.30
Genre: Horror
Narrative: A group of sorority sisters play a prank after on a guy, after finding out he cheated on their house-sister. However this prank goes wrong and results in the death of their house sister. They all agree never to speak of it again but, 8 months later at their graduation they start getting stalked by a serial killer and eventually start disappearing one by one.
Target Audience: 15+, Teenagers and Young Adults.
The start of the trailer suggests that the genre of the film is a ‘chick flick’ however as it goes it becomes clear that it is more of a horror film. This would attract the target audience as it represents enigma drawing the attention of the audience.
Characters: There are a variety of characters which are all dominant in different scenes throughout the trailer. However, the main characters are the 5 sorority girls, the guy who they play a prank on and the serial killer. The sorority sisters are represented as being stereotypical young females by their choice of costume (heels, short dresses) and the guy is also represented as a stereotypical male by his costume (jeans, t-shirts). There are also plenty of background characters shown throughout the trailer. These include the people partying at the beginning of the trailer, the teacher who is giving a speech and the other students who are also graduating. These background characters do not have much dialogue or play much importance to the action of the film, which makes it clear that they are not main characters. The main characters would be easily identified by the audience right away as they are shown in most scenes as they have a significance importance to the narrative.
Music: The music at the beginning of the trailer starts off upbeat in the background, whilst the teacher is giving a speech to the students. It then goes to the party scene and the music gets louder and more upbeat, this is unconventional for a horror film. This upbeat music then remains in the background while the girls talk about how to get revenge on the guy who cheated on one of them and eventually fades out. Sound effects and dialogue are then used from this point rather than music, e.g. when the guy stabs the girl there is a loud bang and scream. Further on when they show graduation day and they all get a strange text the music starts again. This time is starts slow and the pace picks up slowly as strange things happen to them. This helps to build tension, keeping the audience engaged and interested. Eventually when they show quick flashes of all the sisters being attacked, the music is loud, fast and upbeat, however sound effects such as screaming and banging can still be heard. Towards the end the music fades out and what sounds like girls chanting and clapping is played in the background, this represents
The music cuts off when the title of the film is shown, leaving the audience in hug suspense. However after this, when the intertitle appears showing ‘coming soon’ the same chant is played again until the trailer fades out to black.
Editing: There are approximately 112 shot in the trailer. These shots start off lasting about 2 – 3 seconds each and use predominantly straight cuts and fade to black, which is conventional of horror trailers. At the start not many transitions are used when they show students doing normal things e.g. listening to their teacher while she is giving a speech and partying. This allows the scenes to flow and seem ordinary. This emphasises the horror scenes later on, which only last half a second and use straight cuts. This builds up the tension extremely fast and keeps the audiences interested.
Production Information: “Summit Entertainment” is shown at 0.20 seconds. Showing the production company is important as it can help to attract viewers. Although they may not be as well known as other production companies, for example “Universal” they have produced some well known and popular films. These include successful films which are now available on DVD such as “Twilight”, films which are currently in the theatre for example “Twilight Saga: New Moon”, “Bandslam” and films which are in production including “Remember Me” which is set to be released next year. If the audience are aware of this and have enjoyed any films that have been produced by this production company, they may be encourage to watch “Sorority Row”, as they believe it will be as good as the others they have produced. Also, showing the production company in a trailer according to copyright laws, ensures them the trailer will not be copied.
Credits/Intertitles: The following intertitles appear throughout the trailer:
0.35 – 0.36 ‘A Prank’
0.40 – 0.41 ‘No One Would Ever Forget’
1.08 – 1.09 ‘A Secret’
1.14 – 1.15 ‘No One Would Ever Tell’
1.50 – 1.51 ‘Sisters For Life’
1.59 – 2.00 ‘And Death’
2.20 – 2.22 ‘Sorority Row’
2.26 – 2.30 ‘Coming soon’
The Intertitles are all written in upper case as they are meaningful and help to tell the narrative. They also appear in white against a black background, making them eye catching and appealing to the audience. Most of the these intertitles are only shown for approximately 1/ 2 seconds, however they appear slowly on the screen and the texts gradually gets slightly bigger.
