The Seductive Lighthouse

Runtime: 02:12

This creative project began as an assignment from my Introduction to Screen Media and Culture lecturer at UCC. For this project I was tasked to remix a trailer of my choice in order to present the film as being in a different genre. Alongside this I had to write a accompanying text that describes the genre conventions that I mimicked when remixing the trailer. You can read the accompanying text below.

Genre Conversion

This essay will detail how I utilised editing techniques alongside a banquet of research to create a romantic-comedy (rom-com) styled trailer for the 2019 phycologicalhorror film The Lighthouse. Hence, it will first discuss my investigation and findings into the rom-com genre of movie trailers. Secondly, it will outline how I put my research into practise, and how I manufactured a trailer to present the film as being in the rom-com genre of movies.

Therefore, after analysing several trailers to rom-com films such as Runaway Bride (1999), The Wedding Singer (1998) and American Pie (1999) I have distilled down the eight essential steps that are prominent in rom-com trailers. Step one; begin the trailer with up-beat music to set the tone that audiences expect for a rom-com trailer. Step two; introduce the main characters of the film. Step three; showcase humorous segments from the film. Step four; show how the two main characters fall in love through unlikely circumstances. Step five; present the audience with a montage of romantic moments between the two love interests. Step six; show audiences a clip of the two characters falling out of love, this occurs at the midpoint of the trailer. Step seven; show audiences a clip of one of the love interests trying to reunite their relationship with the other whilst sombre music plays over their attempt. Step eight; at the end show the title card for the film, which is read aloud by the trailer’s narrator. To note, not all these steps are present in each rom-com trailer, but most of them are. Furthermore, I found a journal that comments on how trailers rely on “… genre, story and stardom [alongside] … graphics [that] are streamlined, narration [that] is punchy [and] … sound effects and music to heighten the sensory assault of images. (Kernan 146). This excerpt became very useful as a foothold of trailer making whilst I was constructing the new trailer.

Implementing these steps and research into crafting the new trailer was crucial for its capability to convince audiences of its legitimacy. After researching I started to scour the film for moments that best reflected each of those eight steps. On finding and compiling the relevant clips I began to write a script for the voice-over lines for the new trailer. After recording the lines, I then put the video and audio files into DaVinci Resolve (an editing software) where I began to piece the trailer together. Subsequently, I then looked for music that would amplify the emotional impact of certain moments in the trailer, such as the use of James Arthur song Say You Won’t Let Go for step seven in the new trailer. In a journal that comments on film marketing it says that movie trailers often use “… critical reviews from professional and amateur critics to drive interest…” (Archer-Brown et al. 160) Using this information I inserted fake excerpts from the major Hollywood trades (such as The Hollywood Reporter, Variety and Empire Magazine) into the new trailer to give more validity to it.

In conclusion, this essay explained how I first gathered intel regarding the rom-com genre of movie trailers. Secondly, it demonstrated how I utilised this knowledge to make an effective rom-com trailer to a film, which was released as a phycological-horror film. Lastly, it detailed the methods I used to turn a trailer to a psychological-horror film into a romantic comedy.

Works Cited:

“The Lighthouse.” Universal Pictures, 2019. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hyag7lR8CPA Accessed 4th April 2023.

“Runaway Bride.” Touchstone Pictures, 1999. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pOmwh43Kr34 Accessed 4th April 2023.

“The Wedding Singer.” New Line Cinema, 1998. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yy-TwYB1UQw Accesed 4th April 2023.

Archer-Brown, Chris, et al. “Conditions in Prerelease Movie Trailers for Stimulating Positive Word of Mouth.” Journal of Advertising Research, vol. 57, no. 2, World Advertising Research Center, June 2017, pp. 159–72. https://doi.org/10.2501/jar-2017-023 Accessed 5th April 2023.

Kernan, Lisa. “Coming Attractions.” University of Texas Press eBooks, Jan. 2004. JSTOR,
https://doi.org/10.7560/706002 Accessed 6th April 2023.