Screen shots from my trailer and how they're similar to existing products

Here is a screenshot from scream and screenshot from my trailer. The idea of the the killer being at the window suggests that the victims are vulnerable and trapped. In both my trailer and Scream, the killers are first both unseen by the character - there is dramatic irony in that the audience knows the danger for the character first, creating a sense of panic and fear for them. Also, the setting of a domesticated house plays on society's innate fears that you might not be safe in your own home. Both my killer and the scream killer have dark clothing and white masks/paint to disguise their appearance and give them the dehumanising effect. The quality of the prints from Scream are obviously better as it is a professional film, although I think the white drapes and slightly desaturated image on my trailer is an effective look for this scene.

Here is a screenshot from Psycho and my trailer. Although Psycho includes the weapon also, my bloody handprints represent the same; pain and death - sticking to the horror genre ideology and also suggesting gore in the actual film. Both scenes are took in the bathroom, where it seems to be conventional for scenes in horror movies, especially the bath and shower.


Here is a screenshot from I Know What You Did Last Summer and also my trailer. The protagonist females both fit the 'final girl' convention. They both have dark hair and innocent looks and are hiding from the killer. Perhaps I could have made the background in the shot of Emily darker to represent the horror genre more strongly.


Here is a screenshot from Scream 4 and my trailer. The female characters are both in their houses with the unnoticed killer behind them. The effect of this is that the audience feels panic and alarm for the character. The fact that they are both female seems to heighten their vulnerability. The killer in my trailer is further away from the character as this is before the horror action really begins, just to establish that there is danger further in the film. The low angle camera shot gives Emily a sense of vulnerability and the killer a dominance in the scene.



Here is a screenshot from Scream and from my trailer. Both consist of teenagers sitting in on a night in, drinking beer and socialising. This conveys the convention in Slasher films that groups of teenagers are often the main victims. This may be due to the vulnerable situations teenagers can be placed in or the theory that teenagers are punished in horror films for their illicit behaviour. In scream, the teenagers are watching scary films whereas in my trailer they are telling scary stories. I think this is appropriate for my British twist as is fits in with the small village location and myths about old, English houses and hauntings.


Here is a screenshot from Eden Lake and a screenshot from my trailer. Both female characters are trying to evade the killer running through a wooded area. My shot is a Point of view shot (from the killer's eyes) so I think this creates a more immediate danger than the woman coming towards the camera. Also, the darkness of my shot is typical iconography for a horror film. The woods are a very common setting in the horror genre due to their isolation and the fact that there is not really anywhere a victim can truly hide.

How does my trailer fit into narrative theory conventions?

The Russian Formalists of the 1920’s were influential in identifying conventions of narrative. Vladimir Propp’s theory states that there are seven character types which each took on the role of different narrative spheres of action. Propp states that a hero embarks on a quest to defy the villain – this is definitely the case in my film – the final girl, my main character, is on a quest to survive the killer. There are only two main characters in my music video; Emily, the final girl who could be classed as the hero and the killer (the villain), although there are many other smaller characters. Some character types such as the dispatcher are missing in my video, which contests Propp’s characterisation theory. However, there are characters in the plot that do not appear on screen; the dispatcher could be Emily’s mother, who raised her typical of a final girl and willing to fight for her life. I find it difficult to distinguish the extent to which I followed Propp’s theory; my piece does not follow the typical conventions of characterisation, however this is to be expected in a trailer as it is much shorter than full length films. I believe this was more effective as introducing many characters on screen in a short time may confuse viewers and the plot may not develop as effectively as it would in a longer piece of moving image. Also, music videos and film did not exist in the 1920s as they do now. Technology and the media has developed and changed extraordinarily in the last century, possibly rendering Propp’s theory as outdated.

Tzvetan Todorov’s, another Russian formalist, generated a theory which states that there are five stages in a conventional narrative :

1. A state of equilibrium at the outset

2. A disruption of the equilibrium by some action

3. A recognition that there has been a disruption

4. An attempt to repair the disruption

5. A reinstatement of the equilibrium

Although Todorov’s theory shares the same contextual issues as Propp’s, these stages can be identified in most mainstream media texts, such as Hollywood movies. However, a teaser trailer’s limited time length renders it extremely different to many other texts, which often causes the musician to use short pieces which abruptly affect the audience – whether it is outrageous, brutal or fear evoking. Therefore narrative structure in trailers may not be applied in the same way – my video, for example, does not include stage 5 as I would not want to give the end of the plot away to the audience. The video ends on a cliff hanger to persuade the audience to watch my whole film.Therefore, equilibrium is not restored, and my trailer challenged Todorov’s theory.

More improvements

Further editing adjustments

Out takes

Here is footage showing the out takes in my filming, mostly when the actors break their concentration and laugh. I think it is important to document the mistakes as well as the successes.

Film editing

Further improvements
Here i have made more changes to my trailer to make it more effective. This includes the introduction of the green screen, Warner Brothers logo, the breaking up of font in between the girl speaking on the phone on the stairs, jumpier and more effective music, the flashing edit of the villain at the window, the footage of the girl hiding and improvement on the film title text.

Research of filming rules

The 180 degree rule: The imaginary line that passes from side to side through the actors. We should not be able to see past that line as it confuses the audiences as they see the characters from different points of the scene.

Parallel Editing: Cross cutting between two or more lines of action going on in different locations of scenes. This is similar to montage editing in trailers.

Matching Eyelines: An edit that follows the 180 degree rule, in which the first shot shows a person looking in one direction and the second shows the space containing what a person sees.

Match on Action: An edit that puts two different shots of the same action together making it appear to continue uninterrupted.

Shot, Reverse, Shot: Two shots edited back and forward between two characters.

Film editing

This is the second edit of my horror trailer. I included the voice over to explain the plot more to the audience and establish the horror genre with his mysterious voice. I also included this sound into the phone call so that the audience can hear what the killer is saying - this is conventional of horror films. His British accent highlights the fact that my film is a British twist to the Slasher film. I also included a slide with text at the end to show the name of the film, however I fear that this does not represent the horror genre strongly enough.

Film editing

This is the first edit of my footage. I incorporated the music at the beginning which I think builds tension and foreshadows danger.
The clip of the mother saying 'bye' is not edited well - I will change this. I incorporated a sound effect on the closing door emphasising the fact that the girl is not alone in her house. The cross dissolve slide transition fading into the text is effective I think, although I need to make the font bigger! The clip of the teenagers in the lounge may be too long ad tedious, so I will shorten this. The non diegetic sound, the music, may last too long as I think I need to use more jumpy music closer to the beginning. The sudden jump cut to a close up of the killer at the window is effective I think, and the non diegetic sound effect shocks the audience further. However, I may need to lengthen this clip to maximise the effect on the audience. I need to include a voice over of the killer's voice on the phone! There are many other improvements I plan to make, but this is a start.

Call sheet

I created a call sheet, which is an essential organisational tool for film production or photoshoots, and handed this out to everyone involved in filming. For some people who I did not see face to face, I emailed them this call sheet.
I plan to do all my filming in one day so that I can stick to deadlines but I think I will be filming for a lot of hours! There are two main locations so the call sheet is split up for each one, as some actors are only needed at one shoot.

Locations for my trailer

• Old English cottage - I plan to use this location because my friend's house has the perfect atmosphere for a horror movie! With many extra corridors and staircases, there are plenty of places for scenes. The attic and cellar would also be a good opputunity to film for a horror trailer. Her garden is huge and could be mistakes as woods at the appropriate agle to convey the isolated wooded setting that is often seen in horror films
• Typical British house - I plan to take some footage in my house as it is the only place I would feel comfortable smearing fake blood etc in places that I have planned to! I hope that it will not be too noticable about the different houses!

Audience feedback of subsidiary tasks

I handed this sheet out to ten people in my target audience. Mostly were aged 18 or 19 but a few were older (teachers). I created questions where I could gather both qualitative and quantitative data. Here are my results:



One candidate did not think that the film poster was conventional, therefore I aim to find out why in the qualitative answers.



Everyone replied that my film poster was conventional of a horror genre. This leads me to believe that my film poster is successful for its aim!

Here are examples of answers I recieved:
What do you like about the poster?
- The photograph you used is scary, and the font seems like it's dripping blood so it is very effective for a scary movie
- The billing block makes the film poster look professional
- The slogan is good because you directly address the audiene and is still fits in with the style of the poster
- The girl looks like she's wearing a traditional long nightie, which fits in with the title of your film
- The setting of the photograph is very conventional; the tree and the dark night set a scary atmosphere

What could I improve about the poster?
- Perhaps you could put the main actors' names in larger text
- You could include a review, and put a star rating about your film

What did you like about the film magazine?
- It has a typical magazine layout. The masthead looks good, especially for a film magazine
- I like how you have superimposed the actor on top of the masthead, this looks professional
- Her costume and make up look really glamorous, which you would expect from the cover of a film magazine
- You've included the small framed picture of pretend Skins cast, which looks realistic and suggested a movie, which I think is a good intertextual idea!
- The house style is really good
- It looks professional as you've included a barcode and edited everything really well.

What could I improve about my poster?
- Perhaps you could have included the theme of the horror movie onto the front cover
- You should make it more obvious that the girl is a character from your film


Conclusion: Most of the feedback for my subsidiary tasks was positive! I think that both of my pieces are realistic for what they are supposed to be. However, I could make improvements such as including a rating and review on my poster, who the director is and put the main actors names in larger text at the top of the poster. For the film magazine, I could have used a horror theme for the front cover and dressed the actor up as her character, but I don't think this is essential because some film magazines do this whilst others prefer a more traditional magazine house style. I could have included some more coverlines and small framed images to make the cover more interesting and busy. Overall, I am pleased with my subsidiary tasks

Final film magazine

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Process of creating my film magazine front cover

Powerpoint magazine cover!!!

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Subsidiary task - analysis of existing film magazines

Presentation film magazines

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Final film poster

Process of creating my film poster

Here are my rough sketches for my poster. I done two versions because I wasn't sure whether to create a slightly comedic one like scream with the closeup of a girl's face or whether to use a photograhp of my actor in a frightening location.





This slideshow documents the stages of completing my poster:

Presentation media poster!!!!!!!

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Subsidiary task - analysis of existing film posters

Presentation film posters

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Choices for costumes and props

Costume choice is essential in representing the character to the audience appropriately, setting mise en scene and reflecting the genre of the piece. Costumes can be very extreme, expensive and detailed in some films, for example the creation of a ‘monster’. However, most ‘normal’ characters in horror films wear every day clothing, although it may be manipulated to carry different signifiers.

Costumes for my trailer
The main two characters that feature in my film are Emily and Alex (the killer). Emily had two costumes. I chose the woolly jumper and jeans because this is still a modern, fashionable outfit which also suggests a softness and sense of innocence to her. Having not much skin on show is important as the ‘final girl’ in slasher movies always seem to dress modestly. Her second outfit was a dark blue jumpsuit, which I chose to represent the ‘fighter’ side in the final girl. This character always seem to evade the villain and carry an innate toughness of character, which the jumpsuit signifies.

Alex’s costume could not be too detailed or extravagant due to financial issues and a lack of specialist knowledge in this area. Therefore, I simple chose an outfit of a black fleece, trousers and boots, as most Slasher villains were plain black clothing to suggest evil and mystery. I used white baby powder on Alex’s face as I could not find a suitable mask to use! This still fits conventions as his facial features are covered up and the difference in his face makes him appear inhuman and therefore invincible.

Everyone else in my trailer simple have been asked to attend in their every day clothes as I asked, because I wanted a sense of British realism to my twist of the traditional slasher film. This will work well as the teenagers look like modern day teenagers and Emily’s parents will be dressed as the average British working/middle class parents. The father will wear jeans and a t-shirt while the mother will wear a skirt, vest top and cardigan which represents normalcy and emphasises how equilibrium is balanced and the plot is happy at the very beginning of the film, where they appear.


Props in my trailer

The main prop that I will use in my trailer is the Gurkha knife. I chose this because it is common in the horror genre to use attention grabbing, brutal weapons that spark fear and alarm in the audience as soon as they seen it. This knife is a traditional knife which is huge and very sharp. It is conventional of the Slasher film as these villains always carry a hand held weapon.





The second prop I will use is the phone. This is also a very common feature of horror films, when the victim recieves a phone call from the villain and Emily will play this scene. This is probabl a common feature because of the mystery of how the killer knows who the victim is, what her phone number is and where she lives. It puts her in a vulnerable position. Also, the killer's voice is often very deep and frightening, heightening the representation that the person on the phone is dangerous.



Another prop I will use is candles. I will use these in the scene of the teenagers in a dark room to amplify the dark and mysterious mise en scene and also the fire will signify danger and fear.


I will also use fake blood. This is a very important prop for the horror genre as it is not possible to use real blood and gore is a huge part of the horror industry.

Examples of fonts for my trailer & poster

All of these fonts repesent the horror genre clearly, and are conventional of those used in existing horror texts. I will use something in this style when creating my main task and subsidiary tasks.

Classification for my film

"A motion picture rating system is designated to classify films with regard to suitability for audiences in terms of issues such as sex, violence, substance abuse, profanity, impudence or other types of mature content. A particular issued rating is called a certification. This is designed to help parents decide whether a movie is suitable for their children. Yet, the effectiveness of these suspenders is widely disputed. Also, in some jurisdictions a rating may impose on movie theaters the legal obligation of refusing the entrance of children or minors to the movie. Furthermore, where movie theaters do not have this legal obligation, they may enforce restrictions on their own. Ratings are often given in lieu of censorship." Source - Wikipedia

Classification rating is an important area of consideration for creating a film, as it is essential to consider the effect of extreme horror on younger audiences. The British Board of Film states the guidelines of an 18 rated film:

18 Suitable only for adults. Nobody younger than 18 may see an '18' film in a cinema. Nobody younger than 18 may rent or buy an '18' rated video (These films may contain extreme gore/violence and/or sexually explicit content).
The following factors could be present in an 18 rated film:

Discrimination

The film could include discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

The misuse of easily accessible and extremely dangerous substances could be portrayed within the film (for example, solvents or hallucinogens)

Horror

There maybe strong threat and danger present, which could be sadistic or sexualised.

This could include dangerous behaviour (for example suicide and self-harming)

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language. There may be repeated or aggresive yse of strong language.

Nudity

There could be nudity with strong detail.

Sex

There maybe strong verbal and visual references to sexual behaviour.

Violence

There maybe a large amount of violence present in the film.


As my film would depcit a realistic, yet explicit, portrayal of British culture, it would contain sexual imagery, extreme scenes of gore and violence and contain language would could be said to be inappropriate for younger audiences. For this reason, my film would be classified as 18, as most horrors are.

Script & shot descriptions

· Green screen, establishes appropriate audiences for viewing of the film

· Production / distribution company logo

· Establishing long shot of the front of the house & parents standing at the door talking to the daughter. Suitcase will be clearly visible in the shot.

· Close up (three shot) of girl ensuring her parents that she will be fine.

· Long shot of parents walking towards the camera, away from the house

· Long shot of parents walking away from the camera, away from the house. POV shot from Emily’s point of view.

· Long shot of Emily closing the door.

· Slide transition with text – “When the parents are away”

· Mid shot of Emily sitting on the stairs on the phone – “My parents are gone now, I’m on my own”

· Slide transition with text – “The Slasher will play”

· Mid shot of Emily sitting on the stairs on the phone – Pans up to reveal a dark figure standing above her on the stairs, unnoticed. Low angle here.

· Long shot of Emily and Michael leaving the living room, to wolf whistles

· Long shot of the rest of the teenagers sitting in a circle- Voice over – “sometimes scary movies can come true”

· Long shot of the rest of the teenagers sitting in a circle- dialogue – “Have you heard the story about this house?”

· Long shot of teenagers relaxing, can see killer at the window

· Zooms into close up of killer at the window.

· Text transition – “Don’t trust anyone”

· Long shot of Emily in the kitchen on the phone to the killer

· Close up of knife being raised

· Long shot of teenagers in circle. “Someone should look for Emily”

· Hand held camera. Point of view shot from killer running up the stairs after Emily.

· Point of view shot from killer watching Emily run into an attic stairway

· Long shot of Emily backing into a smaller door

· Close up of her face while closing the door

· Close up of her hiding, “Oh my god..”

· Close up of killer running the knife along the door

· Close up of door opening with the knife

· Long shot of door closed – A scream

· Text transition - “Don’t fall asleep”

· Long shot of killer walking up the stairs

· Emily running into the darkness

· Close up of Emily’s face after being captured by the killer

· Mid shot of Mother coming in through the door to camera shouting “We’re home..Emily?”

· Long shot of Mum walking through the house looking for Emily

· Close up of door opening to reveal bloody handprints

· Close up of handprints on the bathroom wall

· Surprise clip at the end after long transition – killer jumping out

· Text transition – “The Sleepover”

· Text transition – “Coming soon”

· Fade to black

Storyboard of my trailer

Here is my storyboard for my trailer. I do recognise that the drawings are not the best quality and I could put more detail in the descriptions. I will create another post with a more detailed version of the shots and descriptions of my trailer.

Subgenres of horror films

Cannibalism or Cannibal Films
Classic Horror
Creature Features
Demonic Possession
Dracula
Erotic
Frankenstein, other Mad Scientists
Ghosts
Gore
Gothic
Haunted House, other Hauntings
Halloween
Macabre
Monsters
Older-Woman-In-Peril Films ("Psycho-Biddy", aka 'Hag Horror' or 'Hagsploitation')
Psychic Powers
Psychological Horror
Reincarnation
Satanic Stories
Serial Killers
Slashers or "Splatter" Films
Supernatural Horror
Teen Terror ("Teen Screams")
Terror
Vampires
Witchcraft
Wolves, Werewolves
Zombies

Audience research

It is essential to carry out audience research in order to find out the preferences and dislikes of your audience, and establish which features to include into your media product. I created this questionnaire and gave it to 20 people who were willing to answer it. I think this quanity is enough. Most questions will result in quantitative date as this is easier to put into graphs and analysis. This is a form of primary research which is beneficial as it comes straight from the source and is more reliable. This was also a quick and free method of researching audience opinions.




I wanted to ask an equal number of males and females in order to find out what both genders want, as this is my target audience. The number of males and females is almost equal, however I don't think this small difference will have a huge effects on my results.



Most people said that they preferred an orchestral score in a horror trailer. This may be because the music can change tones and suggestions very suddenly; a piece of music can be calm at the beginning of the trailer but then get louder or lower at scary moments, increase the shock response from a loud bang etc. Music from established artists can work sometimes to create a certain atmosphere, but I think this is preferencial for genres such as romantic comedy, not horror.



A large majority of my particpants preferred the human villain (the murderer). I established when I gave out the questionnaire that I meant which would be a scarier character, as my question was printed out quite vaguely. I think that the reason for this is because horror films play on the innate fears of society. Many people are very sceptical about other worldy phenomenons such as ghosts, vampires and aliens. The fact that many people find a human killer more scary is probably because it is more realist, and easier to invoke a personal fear that something bad could happen to them. The human killer is something that does occur in real life and the audience would have heard of examples, whereas ghost stories and alien stories usually recieve a response of disbelief.



Most people preferred a female main character, although quite a few participants still did like a male. I think the reason for the majority result is that females can often be portrayed as vulnerable and naive in the media; this makes better criteria for an audience to watch someone in a dangerous position and fear / panic for them. It is essential for an audience to empathise and sympathise with characters, which I think is easier to do with females.


All of these results are generally popular horror movies and I have seen most of them. I will remind myself of these films and try to include as many features as I can from these films. Many of these film include isolated settings, torture/gory deaths and mysterious/dehumanised murderers. Therefore, it seems that these are the features in horror films that scare an audience the most, therefore I aim to include these features in my trailer. Teenagers are a very common character victim group in these films.


The majority voted that they prefer to watch anonymous actors in horror films. In the general film industry, a huge amount of production costs will be paid to famous actors because it is well known that including these actors will attract a much larger audience and therefore larger revenue. However, I think this is not the case in the horror genre. A sense of realism and belief it the storyline very much amplifies the audience response of fear, therefore having unknown actors would allow the audience to believe more easily that the characters and the storyline is real. If a very successful actor is used, the audience may find it difficult to distinguish the character in the horror film from another role they have played.


Most people prefer a horror film to be shot on a tripod, with a smooth effect. This non - shaky effect on the footage is clearly much easier to see and the audience is suggested to be omniscient - they can see the plot happening from different angles, locations and points of view. However, I do think that some hand held camera technique in horror films is beneficial because this increases the sense of realism by far, thus increasing the fear response from the audience, which is one of the main aims of a horror film. From this feedback, I think I will shoot most of my film using a tipod but include a short amount of hand held camera, too.



Before I gave the paticipants I made sure that noone who never watched horror films filled out my questionnaire - this would be pointless. A huge majority of my participants watched horror flims at least once a month, therefore they will be very qualified to answer the questions reliably because they have a high exposure to horror films.



I intentionally asked a much larger number of people in the 19 - 25 age range to answer my questionaire because this is my main target audience. I did, however, still include participants from all age groups so that I could get an idea of what different groups of people prefer in horror trailers.


I will use this audience research to plan for my trailer and hopefully include the most popular features of horror films.