During my analysis of the 3 vampire trailers I chose, there were a number of techniques used throughout that were common between them. The first main feature was the use of voice overs to help briefly explain the narrative and add to the tone of the film depending on the direction it wants to take in terms of genre. "Blade" was a key example from the way the main character explained the story of how vampires have been hiding in society which creates a very uneasy and dark tone from the sudden realisation that vampires were among us in that world the film created whilst also explaining the film's storyline. Its a very common feature in a majority of trailers and suits a specific purpose for these reasons so during my planning of my trailer, I will see if a voice over would be suitable for the mood and style of film I want to create.
Another main feature is the use of captions and titles which is also used as a narrative device to help give glimpses of the plot but not as much as a voice over so it makes the audience pay attention as they need to read it for themselves and see what kind of scenario or feeling its trying to create when combined with the following shots. They tend to be stylised with the overall style of the film of itself like in "Daybreakers" which fitted in with the desaturated colours used with the rest on the film world to help connote the darker and more depressive tone expressed throughout.
In terms of colour and setting, they share similar features as well. They tend to be set at night in most scenes or cloudy midday so there is less sunlight or none so the vampire characters can be presented much more menacing by combining the fear of the supernatural with the fear of the dark as the atmosphere present in these films is easier to create at night is. It is also set in this level of light so the vampires are not harmed in terms of the vampire "lore" discussed in an earlier post about vampire film codes and conventions. This maybe be problematic during the filming of my trailer as the cameras we use have poor or no lighting so nothing will show up on camera with its too dark but the cloudy midday shots similar to "Twilight" do provide a work around in terms of lighting but another possible fix could be the way I decide on the lore I will use and could introduce something there. It may be a little cheap but its one possible way to fix the situation. The colours used tend to be dark so blacks, greys, the monotone style colours or the desaturated colour scheme seen in "Daybreakers" which have greater connotations of evil and a secretive society which vampires are usually represented as in most of that genre of films, making it the reason they are usually dressed in black to make them instantly identifiable as the antagonist within the film. Red is another predominate colour used, either in the film itself for obvious reasons (connoting a number of things like the destruction the vampires leave in their wake which can literally be represented a trail of blood if wanted to give it the pure shock factor or more subtle in terms of it being a reminder to the curse they have been forced to live and is used to remind them of it by it being the same colour as the thing they need to survive) or the titles as a clear sign to what type of film it as like in "Blade" and "30 Days of Night" which use it for the actual title of the film and credits. It is now a well recognised sign to use red as the audience immediately identify it to be part of the vampire film codes and conventions essentially.
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