Poll

Your title Which of the following do you find most scary? Masked Villian Ghosts Children Murderer Dolls view results

I created a poll on www.snappoll.com to generate an idea on what the audience would enjoy most in a horror movie. Feedback is the one of the key elements that are needed in order to create a successful horror movie, as it is the audience you are creating it for. The options I have given are limited, so if I had to do this again, I would make an option where the user can enter there opinion.

Here below are the results given from my class friends and from these results I will conclude the most popular in my horror idea. Also, the ideas are quite simple to do, so this will enable me to be able to work efficiently without buying or creating complex ideas.

Target Audiences

The BBFC permits the following within the bounds of the 15 certificate:

Theme: No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate to 15 year olds 

.Language: There may be frequent use of strong language; the strongest terms are only rarely acceptable. Continued aggressive use of strong language and sexual abuse is unacceptable. 

Nudity: There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context. 

Sex: Sexual activity and nudity may be portrayed but without strong detail. The depiction of casual sex should be handled responsibly. There may be occasional strong verbal references to sexual behaviour. 

Violence: Violence may be strong but may not dwell on the infliction of pain, and of injuries. Scenes of sexual violence must be discreet and brief. 

Imitable techniques: Dangerous combat techniques such as ear claps, head-butts and blows to the neck are unlikely to be acceptable. There may be no emphasis on the use of easily accessible lethal weapons (in particular, knives). 

Horror: Sustained or detailed infliction of pain or injury is unacceptable. 

Drugs: Drug taking may be shown but clear instructive detail is unacceptable. The film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug use.

Because my horror teaser trailer involves violence and strong swearing, according to the BBFC permits, my trailer should be a 15 certificate.

Practising Titles and Feedback

I got my class peers to rate which font they liked the best to the worst and provide feedback for each one, this is what information I discovered:

The general feedback from this font was that it was definitely a very dramatic font visually, but however it wasn't as good as the second font. This font links into my title as it looks like electrical current, I also like how the characters are not all the same size which could suggest a disequilibrium in the plot also.

This was the font that got the best feedback, it is simple yet effective. I noticed this font straight away because it's very bold and the characters are spaced out. It represents blood and I like the way not all of the letters are coloured in properly.

Feedback from this font suggested that it did not fit my theme at all. Although it is horror, my film isn't very gory as this font would suggest. It's very animalistic and would be more suitable for films like 'The Descent' or 'Werewolf' wheras mine is more paranormal.

According to feedback, this was the least favourite font. It doesn't look particulary scary, therefore not fitting in with the typical conventions of the horror genre. It's not very eye-catching and could be associated with lots of other things. My class peers said that they would not pick this DVD up if the title used this font.

Influences

My Teaser Trailer

                                                                   Blair Witch

 

The Blair Witch has been my biggest influence when coming up with an idea for my teaser trailer. A lot of the locations are similar even to the point of how it is filmed. I have used a large amount of POV (point of view) shots in my trailer, which The Blair Witch uses. Also I have taken elements of the storyline, about a friend going missing in the woods.

Editing Skills I Have Learnt

One of the main skills I have learnt to do is the use of iMovie, I haven't had a lot of experience using a video editing software application apart from Microsoft Movie Maker which is far less complex than iMovie. I have learnt to trim footage from certain clips in the timeline and also how to apply music behind the clip. Transitions have been a big part of the editing process as it enables me to create a more structured and flowing piece of footage. I have also learnt from iMovie how easy it is to upload videos I have edited and created easily to YouTube. From this, it has allowed my peers to access my work with no problems and give me vital feedback and comments about my work so I can improve it.

Reflection of Work so far...

Feedback so far from my class pals:

Briony - "Your trailer so far has a lot of potential, I like the storyline idea and am intrigued to see it finished. I think the title 'The Unnerved' is good as it suggests there could be a double meaning to the plot. I think you need to cut down your bath sequence so it leaves more to the imagination"

Colleen - "I think you have good analysis of what you're doing from different sources of media. I like the concept of your film, I think it's clever. I think you need to be better organised as you're focusing primarily on your blog and not other things"

Jemma - "Your work is really good, it is well researched and you have valuable ideas. Something that may make your work better could be for you to add more photos of your progress i.e production photos"

Babs - "I think that your excitement and passion for creating horror through your own visual eye illustrates to the audience how you capture emotion and meaning. I think you need to manage your time better though as you have been focusing too much on your blog"

Production Photos

Picture one
I like this location because it looks very desolate and isolated, which creates an eerie atmosphere. The surrounding trees automatically make the shot darker and appear much more colder. Therefore this is a good shot to use as it has connotations of the horror genre.


Picture two
This location reminded me of a UFO landing zone, it gives the feeling of loneliness as it is a wide open space and yet there is no movement or life apart from the murderer and the victim.


Picture three
Again, this fits with the horror theme as it suggests they are not alone, because of the point of view shot. Because it is so isolated, anything can happen and no one would know.

Costumes and Checklist For Filming

Costumes
Black mask
Casual clothing for characters (Jeans, t-shirt)
Bikini for opening character
Black cloak

Checklist
Camera
Crookhorn woods
Bathroom setting
Make-up
Bubble bath
Bedroom setting
Location of outside the school gates

Saw 6 Trailer Sound Analysis

The opening scene of the Saw 6 official trailer presents the audience with a sudden sharp sound of a drum. This immediately captures attention and gives a sense of mystery as you don't know where or what the sound is. You can also hear distorted faint screaming which creates an eerie atmosphere and the high screeches which formulate an uncomfortable viewing and introduces fear arousal. 

The sound in the trailer connotates death throughout with the sound of knives and painful screams, so the audience know that this is a horror movie full of blood and gore. The main sound contains a low beat, which replicates a heart beat, this creates an enigma for the audience. It also increases the suspension as the heart beat becomes faster as if someone is scared. 

Mise-On-Scene Research

Costumes
Horror movies always have a particular mystery to the evil figure itself, this is done by masks and costumes or having the evil as a spirit ('Paranormal Activity'). In 'The strangers', the costumes are visually very horrific. There faces are concealed with pale face masks that make the audience uneasy as the identity of the villain is hidden. I think this is a really effective horror convention as they are used to distort the villains existence and ultimately frighten or shock the audience. Looking at these films, I have now decided to use a black mask in my teaser trailer, in hope that this will create a paranormal secrecy.


Light
The lighting used for 'The Nightmare On Elm Street' is very negative and drab colors. It uses a low exposure to create a horror feel. There is not much visible life and this creates a shadow effect in the frame. There is a foggy background to the establishing shots to create a mystic look. There is almost never any harsh lighting in these particular horror trailer, and the theme is usually very dark and mysterious. It gives me the idea that something could be lurking in the darkness and that no one is safe.


Make up
The make up in horror movies is very theatrical and is hardly used by editing effects, but by a make up artist. 'Hellraiser' uses revolting special effects and Tuplast skin plastic which creates boils and scabs. As I won't have the resources or capital to create this, I am sticking to using a red food dye to make a blood effect.


Setting
The settings in horror movies are normally very isolated so it gives the idea that there is nowhere to run. Either on islands, or abandoned villages, such as 'The House Of Wax'.

Analysis of Horror Movie Titles

This font is very large which enables the audience to focus completely on the title. It stands out a lot against the harsh red background, which represents blood and death. The style is very simplistic and is also a dirty white color, which could be a connotation of innocence. However there is a yellow color which covers the white, suggesting there is more to to it than what you can see. It gives the effect of spirits or evil as the writing is smudged and they do not use a specific block color. The 'K' is in the shape of a knife, so the audience can immediately tell the film is going to involve violence. The writing also looks like it has been slashed with a blade, which links into the horror theme of the film.

The title for this film is very scrambled which shows an altered scale in the text. Some letters are larger than the others and they are not in line with each other, as an audience member this technique makes me feel very uneasy as it does not fit into the typical movie title convention. The actual text appears as if it has been written in blood and it has the paint effect, which makes the film appear more realistic, rather than if it was done with a standard computer font. The connotations of the color red are the obvious blood and death which relates to the horror movie theme. There is also a harsh contrast with the idea of the title of the text being holy with the devil sign on the letter 'I'. I think this is effective as it's a strong comparison of religion to the devil and does make the audience feel uncomfortable.

This text stands out well in this as the background of the image is dark and the text is white with a mystical glow. This connotates mystery and also the title “the strangers” is in a lower case font, but the font has a glow to it which makes it stand out. The glow however looks like a candle glow, so this shows elements of the horror genre. 

Changing my idea

Throughout this process I have realised it is important to try things out to see if they work out, before you disregard any potential ideas you may have. Not everything is going to turn out good and I have decided to change the idea for my storyline as I don't think it has very much appeal or entertainment value. I don't think it fits the horror theme as well as it could, and the plot isn't very scary.
Instead I am going to create a trailer that has more horror codes and conventions, it is going to be set in a woods and involve murders as I think I will be open to a lot more creativity and ideas in doing so.

Trailer

This is my second attempt at making a teaser trailer. I liked the element of realism, being a bath scene, which makes the viewer automatically more fearful, as it's possible it could happen to them. However I don't feel like the cuts flowed very well, so if I was to create this again I would use different transitions to make the story fit more.

Storyboard For Our Teaser Trailer

The first scene starts with the victim being in the bath, shaving her legs. It will be a mid shot so you can see clearly that she is bathing. It will then flicker to the next shot, where there will be a mystery shadow lurking behind the door. It will be silent and the music will fade and suddenly a pair of hands will come into view and strangle the victim. This shot will be a birdseye and capture the action from above the victim.

It will abruptly cut to another birdseye shot of the main character waking up from a dream.

Thursday November 11th 2010 entry

Today I took a video camera out to the local woods in Crookhorn to film some test shots for my teaser trailer. The shot that I thought worked best was a point of view shot. This was seen through the 'evil' persons eyes. I liked the colouring of the shot as it created an eerie atmosphere without using editing to manipulate the lighting. The trees also surrounded and framed the shot, which gives the scene a secluded and isolated feel.

Here is my first attempt at using IMovie and learning how to use the different transitions and effects that are involved in editing. Obviously this is just my first go, so it is not very professional looking. Hopefully once I am able to develop my skills using IMovie, it will look more like a teaser trailer.

First draft of script

Int                        Bathroom

A young girl is taking a bath whilst shaving her legs. Unexpectedly there is a quick shadow of a figure. It cuts back to the girls face, now looking worried. All of a sudden there are a pair of hands, which strangle the girl   and push her under the water. The girl is struggling under the water and making large splashes. The figure gets the razor and slashes the girl’s throat. The mask falls over the camera, causing to fade to black.

Int                        Bedroom

In a teenage girls bedroom, there is a close up of Katie’s eyes. She is sleeping and her eyes suddenly open as if she has just had a nightmare.

Katie: (gasps)

She sits up; she is sweating and obviously distressed.

Ext                        Outside The College

Katie walks past the school gates and does a double take as she see’s flowers, messages, candles and a picture of the girl she dreamt about last night. Katie’s friend, Charlie joins her to look.

Charlie: Terrible isn’t it?

Katie jumps as Charlie has scared her. She looks confused.

Katie: Huh?

Charlie: Fifth student in two weeks, they’re talking about shutting the school.

Katie: (hysterically) I dreamt this, I knew this was going to happen!

Charlie: Katie, are you ok? I’m taking you to the nurse.

Int                        Nurse’s Office

Katie is in the nurse’s office, drinking a cup of water and trying to calm down.

Katie: I knew what was going to happen to Lucy. I can’t explain it; it was like a premonition or something.

Charlie: I believe you. Two years ago, my sister told me about this girl in her year that went crazy. She said she had these weird dreams about her friends dying and then they actually did.

Katie: Where is she now?

Charlie: The Looney bin.

Int                        Inside psychiatric ward

A creepy looking girl is staring into space; she is rocking forwards and backwards and whispering to herself. Katie walks in, curious by the girl.

Katie: Hello?

Girl: (whispering) It’s my fault, it’s my entire fault.

Katie: The murders?

The girl begins to laugh hysterically and points to under Katie’s chair. Katie looks under the chair and picks up a book. She opens it and screams, touching the pictures in the book. They are of the students; the dead ones have a red cross over the picture, which look like it has been done by blood.

Ext                        Forest

In a dark forest at night, a young girl is running through the woods frantically screaming and crying. She is obviously being chased. She has make-up down her face and her clothes are torn.

Girl: (crying) No! Help me.

She runs into a branch and it knocks her out. She wakes up with the masked figure over her, who continues to stab her multiple times in the stomach. Close up on her face, as blood spills out of her mouth and the black mask falls onto the camera, where it fades to black.

Int                        Bedroom

In a teenage girls bedroom, there is a close up of Katie’s eyes. She is sleeping and her eyes suddenly open as if she has just had a nightmare.

Katie: (gasps)

She sits up; she is sweating and obviously distressed. She looks down and there is the mask in her bed.

Film Synopsis

Synopsis

In a small British countryside town of Crookhorn, where nothing exciting ever happens, Katie a confused teenage girl is having strange premonitions about her closest friends dying. Every night whilst she sleeps, her distressing dreams reveal a dark and dangerous figure in a mask killing her friends one by one. In the morning, that dream has become reality.

Not being able to trust anyone, Katie confides in her school teacher, who is extremely interested in the strange goings on. The teacher advises her to visit the psychiatric ward to talk to a young girl who also claims she has had paranormal premonitions. Katie unwillingly stumbles across a book she wishes she hadn’t.

When she finds her best friend Jenny gruesomely killed by the unknown, Katie starts to give up and await her own fatality. As the deaths add up, she begins to realise the masked killer might be closer to her than she imagined. 

Audience Questionnaire Results

I asked people only in this age group, as this is the age of the market I will be targetting. I shall be creating my teaser trailer purposley for the needs of people within this age band.

This data shows that more people like horror films then not, which re-establishes the popularity of the horror genre.

Audience Research Questionnaire

On the website freeonlinesurveys.com I created a free survey to find out what is most preferred in a horror movie. The link to my survey is here

Click here to take the test

Taking the next step...

Today I finished all of the pre-production questions and completed our analysis of a film magazine cover and also discussed the synopsis so I can establish a clear plot for my trailer and also considered possible ideas for the location. A location I have been thinking about is an old victorian style house, as we need a bedroom. We also would ultimately like to have a typical forest scene, so we would need to think about different forest's we could film in.

We thought about characters and would like to use a main girl and also other small parts for the gruesome murders. We also considered props and everything we would require for filming and pre-production. This would be a black mask, a bed, fake blood etc. Next week we hope to look at our location in detail and also write up our synopsis from act 1 to end. We also hope to devise a rough draft of our script, which we will be inputing ideas onto a mind-map throughout this week.

Horror film trailers

I have analyzed three trailers which are Paranormal Activity, Halloween 2 and The Hills Have Eyes 2.

Out of these three trailers i feel that Paranormal Activity is the one that has the strongest indication of the narrative. I think this because in the trailer there is a lot of quick shots of footprints and things flying at the camera, and objects crawling under the bed cover. By doing this i think that they have put all the scary parts from the film into the trailer so that most of the narrative is given out in the trailer so that you have a lot of knowledge about the film already before you have seen it. There is also speech from the characters in the trailer which give more of the narrative away such as talking about catching a phenomenon and such things like "I feel it breathing on me". I feel that this gives too much away because the audience knows that there is something in their house which they can't see just by the trailer of the film.

However, I think that Halloween 2 is the opposite and doesn't give a lot of indication of the narrative away. In this trailer there is a lot of screaming and no indication of what it is about, there is also shots of a woman getting rushed into hospital and no indication of to why which leaves you in suspense, and leaves you feeling like you have to watch the film to see what actually happens in the film, like a trailer should do.

The Hills Have Eyes 2 trailer is also very similar to the Halloween 2 trailer, where it doesn't give a lot of information away. At the start there is shots of a girl screaming and no indication to what she is screaming for or about. Then it suddenly changes to something completely different where it looks like men in some form of dessert, which doesn't seem scary but then there is shots of things happening in the dessert, but you still don't get an idea of the real story line. There is also a bit of text on the screen about the film but it doesn't give too much away.

Analysing film magazine cover

As there are no magazine covers which feature our analysis of trailers or poster films, I have decided to analyse a front cover from Empire magazine which features the film Hulk. I believe this is relevant as it is from the same horror genre and provides the same connotations and themes.

The normal title of the magazine has been edited to fit in with the theme of the film, the font is very bold and has connotations of blood. The title has also been made to look like it has burst and broken, creating the atmosphere of aggression. They have used the word 'incredible' which relates back to the title of the film, this connects the audience and makes the theme appear consistent and more professional.

The character of the 'Hulk' has been made to look like he is breaking out of the magazine. Because it is a 3D cover, it has a greater impact on the audience as it is more realistic and life-like. The image in the middle also has direct eye-line to the audience which gives the impression of direct address as if it is singling out the reader. It also reinforces his strength and power because it shows him breaking through a concrete wall.

The word 'Hulk' is bigger than the rest of the text on the cover and is in the same consistent green color to make it stand out. Also it enables the audience to recognize and establish the film title. The front cover is very simplistic and gives no information about what is in the contents of the actual magazine. This emphasises the focus on the film and shows its importance. The color scheme is also very simple which consists of green, black, grey and white. This enables the title of the magazine, which is in red, so be the most bold text on the cover. The word 'unleashed' emphasises the fact that the 'Hulk' is trying to break out and how aggressive he is.

Scream horror poster analysis

This is the film poster of the 1996 film, Scream, which is the first of the Scream series.
The colour scheme of the poster is mainly black and white, this is very common with horror posters as it makes it seem very dark and scary. The colours could represent the darkness of death, or the darkness of a murder. This mirrors shots which are used in many horror films and is a very common convention which is used in horror film posters. There is not a lot of light in the poster, the only light seems to be coming from the eyes on the photo of the girl. For her eyes, there is a bit of blue used which is contrasting from the rest of the poster which is in black and white. This is used to give the poster some edge to it, and show the audience that the character we are seeing is human.

This girl takes us the whole of the poster and is the background of all the writing. The photograph is an extreme close-up of a girl, the girl’s eyes are very wide and she looks petrified. This is very commonly used for horror film posters. The girl in the photo also has a hand covering her mouth, this could suggest various things to the audience. Is she covering her mouth because she shocked? Is her hand or someone else's? This also links to the film, as in many horror films there are many extreme close-ups of peoples expressions, to emphasis fear.

The main title, Scream, is in white, which contrasts against the black background of the bottom of the picture. This colour is used to give a ghostly presence which is another commonly used convention of horror film posters. As it is big, bold and stretched across the page, the audience notices it. It could also be big and bold to represent that a scream is big and loud. The letter 'M' has also been editied and the middle has been stretched down so that the middle has a sharp point, this could be symbolism for a knife.
Near the bottom of the film poster there are quite a few actors names, this is because they are quite well known and they have put them there to try and entice the audience to watch the film. They have placed Drew Barrymore's name under the 'M' which is edited to be made to look like a knife/dagger. They have done this purposely as in the film, the characted which is played by Drew Barrymore, is the first person to get killed.
At the bottom of the page there is some more smaller text which reads, 'The highly anticipted thriller from Wes Craven.' Wes Craven's name has been placed on the poster as he also created the film 'Nightmare on Elm Street' which is another popular horror film. This is another technique to try and attract the audience as they might of enjoyed his previous film therefor might go and watch Scream.
There is also writing at the top of the poster on the womans head. This narrative reads 'Someone has taken their love of scary movies too far. Solving this mystery is going to be murder.' This texts gives the audience more information on what the film is about and gives a clearer understanding of it. By using the word 'murder' in this peice of narrative, to describe how hard it is going to be to solve the mystery, implies that there is going to be murders in the film. This text is also a little introduction to the film as there is nothing else other than the title and names on the poster, so it allows the audience to construct an opinion on what might take place in the film.

Horror movie ideas

Here are a few horror movie titles and ideas that we are considering for our final media product:

1. A group of teenagers spend a night at an abandoned field. They realise it was in fact an old circus. There are strange paranormal events that occur throughout the stay. A killer clown goes on a killing spree, brutally murdering every single one of the teenagers. There are 3 left. The twist is that the clown is one of the last 3.

After looking at a similar horror movie trailers, we started to think about the music and the different types of editing that we could use. The music is something that we wanted to make really effective in the trailer. We came up with the idea to subvert the normal convention regarding music in horror trailers. Normally, the music they choose builds and matches the increasing speed of the editing. At this point, we have decided to use the a slower song, to hope to create an even scarier feel to the trailer. We will look at this again later on in the process when we are editing to see if it has the desired effect.

The Hills Have Eyes 2 Analysis

The Hills Have Eyes 2 trailer is quite slow paced at the start, with short clips appearing on and off the screen. It is not until nearer the end of the trailer where it starts to speed up, using longer clips, and louder music. There is a lot of scary sounds, loud noises, black screens, and screaming etc that a typical horror trailer has.

Throughout the trailer there are many short and longer shots, these shots are cut with a black screen which writing appears on. By having the dramatic black screen cuts it leaves the audience in suspense and wanting to know what happens next, that is a good convention which is used as that is what keeps the audience watching the trailer and the attention from the audience is maintained. There is also in this clip, a montage of sequence is used, and from the trailer you can tell that when one of these is shown, a longer shot will shortly follow after it. There is a longer shot nearer the end of the trailer when it starts to pick up pace, and this is used to tell the audience more of the storyline. As the trailer uses short and longer shots throughout the trailer, as there is a mixture it keeps the audience interested as there is a lot of action and never gets dull.

The writing on the black screens which is used at several times throughout the trailer, fades to the background. This gives the audience more time to read the text as it is fading.

The sound in the trailer is used very well with the editing and is linked throughout. At the start there is what sounds like a ticking clock, or maybe a bomb. This creates suspense and makes the audience feel uneasy. Each ticking noise is followed by a blank screen and a loud bang is heard. This works well as the loud bang emphasises the blank black screen which leaves the audience wanting to know and wondering whether something is going to happen. Where the trailer is also broken up with the different sounds and blank screens, the audience is maintained because it leaves the audience waning to know what is going to happen.

Nearer the end of the trailer, when the longer shots are used, diagetic sound is used, this is to tell the audience more about the film and to give them more information about the story line. Diagetic sound is also used in the longer shots as the attention of the audience is on the acting so therefor there is no need for non-diagetic sounds because they are more effective in the shorter shots.

The Last House On The Left Poster Analysis

The poster has been de-saturated to create the harsh contrast between the black and white. The main color palette is very dark and represents night time, which is a strong convention of horror movies. The text 'HOUSE' is in blood red and symbolises dripping blood. It gives a strong representation of danger as it suggests brutal murder. The black connotates dark themes and ideas and the white is quite chilling and cold, this also re-inforces the contrast between the two and the juxtaposition of the two colors makes the poster appear abnormal.

The image of house is framed in the middle of the poster, which makes it the main focal point. The position of the house is right on the audiences eye-line, and it also has a cloud around the image which is almost highlighting it, again making it the main attraction. There is also reference to the house in the title, so the audience are now aware that the house is the keynote for the film. The image of the haunted house also signifies the genre of horror/thriller as it is set in the forest/woods which is a stereotypical horror setting.

They also use font continuity throughout the poster in a large, bold, gothic style. There is also a rhetorical question underneath the title of the film reading "If bad people hurt someone you love, how far would you go to hurt them back?" This is another way of attracting the audiences attention as it is directly addressing the reader, willing for an answer.

Having the word 'Amityville' in the title, suggests the film could be real as Amityville is a real place in America. This becomes more scary for the audience as they believe it could happen to them. Films such as 'Paranormal Activity' and 'The Blair Witch Project" also play on the idea of creating a false or exaggerated background of the film, to make the film appear factual.

The title is in a red which is a connotation for blood and danger and there is also a red, thin and long 'Y' which resembles dripping blood. This suggests the movie has a lot of association with death and specifically blood. The mis-en-scene is of a large old-fashioned house, which looks like a face. The poster has very low-key lighting, apart from the house which has high-key. This is the main focal point of the poster and suggests the main action of the film takes place in the house. There is a male with his back to the observer in a very aggressive position, which suggests he is a protagnonist. He is also carrying a gun in his hand so you can immediately tell he is evil.

There are also no names of actors mentioned, this could symbolise there is no one as the family is dead. It gives the effect of isolation and distances the audience from the poster. Also at the top of the poster it says it's from Michael Bay, who produced Texas Chainsaw Massacre. He is a well-known horror producer and so instantly it will be given more recognition by an audience that enjoy horror. Another thing to comment on is the tag line 'Watch 'em and kill 'em' it sounds like it is direct address, it singles out the viewer as if it is talking to them.

Pre-Production: Trailers Continued

The difference between a teaser and a full trailer is that a teaser only offers a small glimpse of the movie being advertised but a trailer will generally be longer. A teaser trailer is a shorter version of a theatrical trailer, which is intended to create the hype about the film and entice the audience about the upcoming movie. Wheras movie trailers are film advertisements, that will be shown in the future at a cinema.

Halloween 2 Analysis

The style of this trailer is very dark and fast-paced. It uses typical conventions for horror movies, dark titles and shots, disturbing themes and blood. There is one main focus throughout the trailer, which is of the main character's murdourous revenge. From this short trailer you are able to understand the genre of this film is horror.
The actors in this trailer are not well known, but the characters have continued from the first movie. There is a typical horror convention of the evil male killer and the victim of a young girl who tries to escape being killed. The victim however becomes strong, and typically always survives in the end. They have also used the code and convention of the male stereotypically being the fearful character and the female being the 'damsal in distress' and the weaker character.
The music throughout the trailer helps the audience establish the genre that is horror. The non-diegetic music used is typically creepy which creates an un-easy atmosphere. The non-diegetic music then becomes more fast-paced and quick which builds up the action and enables the audience to become excited about what they are viewing. Suddenly the music and sound stops and a montage of moving clips appear. This breaks the codes and conventions of using music to build a scary atmosphere. It also suprises the audience and puts them in a state of uncertainty about what is going to happen. Another sound used resembles a heartbeat, which makes it more energetic. There is diegetic sound as well from the victim, her screams and cries help make the trailer more dramatic.
After the shots, they use a lot of the fade to black editing transition which symbolises a more significant beggining/end. There are a lot of fast editing sequences and quick reverse cuts which have a more abrupt transition. This is to symbolise the urgency of the plot and build up tension. They also used a clever editing technique of jump cut, they show the murderer and then a sudden switch to the little boy, which is used deliberately to create a dramatic point.

Charlotte Green

Paranormal Activity Analysis

The reason why Paranormal Activity is considered so scary, is because it used the same device as The Blair Witch Project. The production company provided a false story behind the film which made the audience believe that what they were watching is real footage. The style of the trailer is 'mock-umentary' and you can tell it has a very low budget. The opening of the trailer shows people queuing up to watch the film, to show the footage is not part of the film, the camera is hand-held.
The trailer doesn't show many frames of the film, instead the trailer focuses on night-vision documentary footage of reactions from a preview audience watching it in the cinema. This makes the viewers of the trailer feel very uncomfortable, as it has broken the expected conventions as you are watching the audience watch the film. The actual film footage is also using home video footage, you can tell this as the shot has the time and date on the bottom of the screen, this is a convention of a home video. This makes the film appear even more scary as it enables a possibility of it being real and the audience can believe it could happen to them.
Throughout the trailer, there is diegetic sound from the audience. The screams and gasps make the film appear much more terrifying, as the reactions from the preview audience are very dramatic. There is also enhanced diegetic sound like strange noises and the locking of doors, for a dramatic effect. Non-diegetic music is used which helps build the tension, it is also a typical convention for horror movies. The audience associate non-diegetic scary music with the horror genre.
The actors used in Paranormal Activity are a plain and ordinary couple who have no star status. This is done to enhance the realism of the film. The main focus of Paranormal Activity is for the audience to believe that what they are watching is real footage. Having a typical couple, dressed in normal everyday casual clothes, in a regular suburban house achieves this.
The editing of the trailer provides a mixture of fast and slow paced cuts. Some of the shots fade to black, which anticipates what next is going to appear on the screen. The fade up is very slow, which builds tension and makes the audience apprehensive to see what the next shot is. There are lots of shot-reverse-shot techniques used from the audience back to the footage, this is so the people watching the trailer see how the preview audience are reacting. There is then a fast editing sequence and montage, the camera quickly cuts from supernatural events, to the couple and then to the audience. It becomes exciting and implies chaos.

Charlotte Green

Pre-Production: Trailers

As part of my pre-production, prior to planning my own trailer, I have carried out some background research to help me.

A trailer is an advertisement for a feature film. It is a series of selected shots from the film being advertised, these are normally the most funny and exciting clips as a trailers main purpose is to attract an audience. It allows the viewers to quickly get an understanding of the film genre and the main purpose of the film.
A trailer is normally exhibited in the cinema, before a film begins. This could limit the audience however, as the viewers all have similar taste in movie genre, as they have all chosen to watch the same film. The actual exhibition of the trailer will be incredible visually as the screens are large, but also the surround sound will make it more appealing. I think to show a trailer at its best, it has to be shown in a cinema. A trailer is also shown as part of a normal television advertisement, it is normally shorter than the cinema version as it has less running time. The distributor will pay for the trailer to be on at a certain time and on certain channels. There is a larger demographic for trailers shown on the television as it is viewed by a larger audience.
Recently, the fixation of viral marketing has been very popular with showing trailers. You can see them on the production company websites or video websites such as Youtube. However the format of these make the picture and sound not as good. Another way trailers are exhibited is through radio, although this is limited as the audience is not able to see the full effect of the advertisement.
A genre convention is a typical or standard plot, character, setting, theme etc you expect to be shown in that genre. It is something we presume to have certain things within that particular genre. For example, a convention of a horror might be the scary music in the background. You instantly recognise the music played and associate it with a horror movie and the horror genre.
Charlotte Green