Genre Theory

Original Trailer:

Re Cut Trailer:

Above are two trailer's for The Shining. The first one is the original one and the second one is the edited one. The first trailer is within the horror genre and the second edited trailer has been made to be a family friendly rom-com trailer. The original trailer makes it clear to the viewer that the genre is horror due to various aspects. The non diegetic sound that has been used makes the scenes more tense and from this we can recognise the film to be a horror. It also contained a lot of jump cuts and it was fast paced, this creates more adrenaline for the viewer and sets the pace of the film, fast, which will grip viewers who like horror films. Another editing skill which has been used is the font of the writing, the font used makes the trailer appear to be within the horror genre, the trailer doesn't contain a font which we would associate with being in an action or romance film.

The second trailer which I looked at, which was the edited version, has been edited so it is no longer within the horror genre and now appears to be a family friendly, rom-com film. All the dialogue used within this creates an image of new happily formed family who are always smiling. The non diegetic music which was added to this trailer creates an up beat atmosphere and this can change the whole feel of the trailer. The main character within the trailer is a well established actor, which means there will be a much larger audience for the trailer/film, also in this trailer, as it perceives the character to be a much more likeable one, it makes more people want to watch it as they will want to watch the trailer as they will like the character. In the original trailer, the colours used when text is displayed is mainly black and red, these colours are related to darkness and blood therefore showing it is a horror film, however in this edited trailer, the colours are lighter and it has diverted from the dark colours and red to connote blood and anger. The page of the film is a lot slower than the original one as the focus on this is not to provide adrenaline for the audience but to create a family friendly film.

The re cut version has different non-diegetic sound, which is used within it. This shows the genre which the trailer fits in to, with the re cut, a happy upbeat song has been added which automatically changes the atmosphere of the trailer, it no longer has tension anymore and is perceived as now a family friendly trailer. The music in the new trailer is a narrative one which is happy, this implies positivity and shows happiness of the characters. The mis en scene within the trailer has been changed in order to make it look friendly. Any weapons that were in the original trailer have now been removed and therefore the trailer is not associated with violence anymore. 

The re cut trailer contains dialogue from the characters, in the original trailer the main character is threatening and the tone of his voice is lower, in the re cut version, slight changes to the tone of his voice have been changed in order to cater for the new genre. The dialogue of the characters works in parallel to the upbeat music which has been added to the trailer.

I know this film is going to be a horror as the way the characters have been presented, the types of fonts and colours used and how the trailer contains aspects which feature in typical horror films. Non diegetic music which is added to build tension/suspense is a common thing within horror movies. Also the characters, you can distinguish that there is always a bad character, the ghost, spirit, villain, in this case a murderer, and then you get the character who is the victim/trying to resolve the case.