Friday, 22 April 2016
Thursday, 14 April 2016
Evaluation Question 2 - How effective is the combination of your product and ancillary texts?
The distribution of a media product in very important when it comes to the progress of the product. The people who are responsible for the marketing are the film distributors, looking at identifying with the audience as well as intriguing them in addition coming up with a release date and within that period of time promoting the film using different marketing and advertising. The film distributors also decide how much the film is going to be advertised, when and where. This stage is very important because it needs to be advertised enough to gain interest from people to create an audience for the film, more importantly they need to create the correct audience. For example if you are going to release a children's film it would be a sensible decision for the release date to her in half term so they are more likely to have time to watch it.
There are several platforms that can be used when advertising, these include: posters, TV adverts, radio adverts, billboards, social media advertising, trailers and many more. Without advertising the film, the audience will know what about it, which means there will be no talk about it. By using a wider range of platforms for advertising it opens the film up to a larger audience. This is because someone who listens to radio might not use social media, so by advertising it on a range draws in a larger audience. The audience research is also crucial for the film distributors, this is because they need to know and understand their audience as the marketing will have an impact and will be different depending on the demographics and the size of the audience. For my trailer, it would be inappropriate for it to be advertised within daytime TV, as it wouldn't be to correct audience we were aiming for as children would be watching; it would be more appropriate to be advertised at night so our target audience see it. When you know your target audience they are choose suitable attractions for the audience. Examples of this are:
When comparing children's film posters with horror film posters you can clearly see there is a difference. The children's films use bright and daring colours as well as showing the faces clearly of the characters with their facial expressions being cheery and over exaggerated. By having the characters on the posters means that the children recognise them. Woody and Buzz and the Inside characters are incredible recognisable. Comparing these posters with horror posters you can see that the horror posters use duller colours and not too much is given away, there is no images of any characters.
Film distributors work with a marketing plan which can take up to a year before the official release date of the film. This is so they are able to build an audience by posters, trailers etc. A recent ad campaign which has been effective is the recent film release of Deadpool. The film is directed by Tim Miller and is also based in the Marvel Comics character of the same name, so it already has an audience, this is an advantage as it is easy to find out even more about the audience. In addition by having Ryan Reynolds as Wade/Deadpool also brings in his fan base. The film had a budget $58,000,000, the opening weekend made $134,050,000 (USA) and overall the film made $358,410,029 (USA) (8th April 2016). This is due to how much talk about the film was made. Advertising for the film started early with the release of the cast, soundtracks and small teaser trailer.
The narrative and theme is very important to keep the same throughout the advertising and when merging with the products. This is important because it links them all together, creating a recognisable identity. When looking back at my trailer and promotional products the only thing I changed was the title, this could create more recognisable when linkning it with two different fonts. I should have kept them the same, however I wanted to experiment with my own. However I have kept the gloomy and dark colour scheme through out.
There are several platforms that can be used when advertising, these include: posters, TV adverts, radio adverts, billboards, social media advertising, trailers and many more. Without advertising the film, the audience will know what about it, which means there will be no talk about it. By using a wider range of platforms for advertising it opens the film up to a larger audience. This is because someone who listens to radio might not use social media, so by advertising it on a range draws in a larger audience. The audience research is also crucial for the film distributors, this is because they need to know and understand their audience as the marketing will have an impact and will be different depending on the demographics and the size of the audience. For my trailer, it would be inappropriate for it to be advertised within daytime TV, as it wouldn't be to correct audience we were aiming for as children would be watching; it would be more appropriate to be advertised at night so our target audience see it. When you know your target audience they are choose suitable attractions for the audience. Examples of this are:
When comparing children's film posters with horror film posters you can clearly see there is a difference. The children's films use bright and daring colours as well as showing the faces clearly of the characters with their facial expressions being cheery and over exaggerated. By having the characters on the posters means that the children recognise them. Woody and Buzz and the Inside characters are incredible recognisable. Comparing these posters with horror posters you can see that the horror posters use duller colours and not too much is given away, there is no images of any characters.
Film distributors work with a marketing plan which can take up to a year before the official release date of the film. This is so they are able to build an audience by posters, trailers etc. A recent ad campaign which has been effective is the recent film release of Deadpool. The film is directed by Tim Miller and is also based in the Marvel Comics character of the same name, so it already has an audience, this is an advantage as it is easy to find out even more about the audience. In addition by having Ryan Reynolds as Wade/Deadpool also brings in his fan base. The film had a budget $58,000,000, the opening weekend made $134,050,000 (USA) and overall the film made $358,410,029 (USA) (8th April 2016). This is due to how much talk about the film was made. Advertising for the film started early with the release of the cast, soundtracks and small teaser trailer.
The narrative and theme is very important to keep the same throughout the advertising and when merging with the products. This is important because it links them all together, creating a recognisable identity. When looking back at my trailer and promotional products the only thing I changed was the title, this could create more recognisable when linkning it with two different fonts. I should have kept them the same, however I wanted to experiment with my own. However I have kept the gloomy and dark colour scheme through out.
Monday, 4 April 2016
How My Research Has Impacted My Proposed Idea
By doing research into existing media products had a impact on my idea for our horror trailer. We were able to apply conventional ideas which helped the trailer to look more professional and also help enhance the story for the audience and make it easy to understand.
The idea of the main protagonist being a female came from the Final Girl theory by Carol Clover, where one girl who carried traits of both female and male is left to defeat the villain on her own. Having a haunted house is quite conventional for many horror films and we thought it would be interesting for the protagonist to be left in an isolated, empty and confined space which appears to have a spooky history full of secrets, which throughout the story is told. The haunted house created a basic story for us to then adapt and add more onto to create an interesting story line. By having the protagonist being trapped in the house creates more panic and it then leads to her torments and paranoia that she will go through. By also doing research we fit our story into the supernatural sub-genre, this is because you never see the villain that torments her and it creates an interesting mystery for the audience which will keep them intrigued as they will want to know what is tormenting her. We took this inspiration from Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2009), The Possession (Ole Bornedal, 2012) and Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 1982). The found footage aspect was inspired by The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, 1999) and Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2009). We decided to put these two together because we thought it would be interesting to see things from her point of view within the house and it builds more of a personal level with the protagonist. We were so inspired by the use of teen girl groups from the slasher genre, such as Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) and Sorority Row (Stewart Hendler, 2009).
The idea of the main protagonist being a female came from the Final Girl theory by Carol Clover, where one girl who carried traits of both female and male is left to defeat the villain on her own. Having a haunted house is quite conventional for many horror films and we thought it would be interesting for the protagonist to be left in an isolated, empty and confined space which appears to have a spooky history full of secrets, which throughout the story is told. The haunted house created a basic story for us to then adapt and add more onto to create an interesting story line. By having the protagonist being trapped in the house creates more panic and it then leads to her torments and paranoia that she will go through. By also doing research we fit our story into the supernatural sub-genre, this is because you never see the villain that torments her and it creates an interesting mystery for the audience which will keep them intrigued as they will want to know what is tormenting her. We took this inspiration from Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2009), The Possession (Ole Bornedal, 2012) and Poltergeist (Tobe Hooper, 1982). The found footage aspect was inspired by The Blair Witch Project (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, 1999) and Paranormal Activity (Oren Peli, 2009). We decided to put these two together because we thought it would be interesting to see things from her point of view within the house and it builds more of a personal level with the protagonist. We were so inspired by the use of teen girl groups from the slasher genre, such as Scream (Wes Craven, 1996) and Sorority Row (Stewart Hendler, 2009).
Monday, 14 March 2016
Horror Poster Font Moodboard
I decided to create this mood board to help me choose my font for my horror poster. I think font 4 and 7 are hard to read which could make the audience less interested. Meanwhile font 3 and 6 doesn't fit the horror genre and I don't think fits the trailer either. The rest fits in with the horror genre and they are what I want. I do think however 8 is too graphic and childish in my opinion, meanwhile font 1 and 9 isn't bold enough and will not stand out.
My chosen font is number 5. This is because it fits in with the horror genre, it is bold and I think the mixture of caps and lower case make it fit in with the trailer and when testing it on the poster it fit well and was eye catching.
Wednesday, 2 March 2016
Let Me In Analysis
'Let Me In' is a romantic supernatural horror, which means it a hybrid genre. It was released in 2010 and written and directed by Matt Reeves. It is set in Los Alamos, New Mexico in the early 1980s. As it is a hybrid genre being romance and supernatural the audience expects the main characters to be female and male and also include ghosts/vampires etc; this film does live up to these expectations. The female main character, Abby is played by Chloe Grace Moretz. Moretz stars in a few horror film which include: Carrie, Dark Shadows, and Wicked Little Things.
The narrative structure of the film doesn’t follow the tradition Todorov’s narrative structure. The film starts off with the disruption, a man who is disfigured being taken into hospital. We then see a disfigured man jumps out of the window and left a note saying “I’m sorry Abby”. This is used as a hook for the film to make the audience wonder what happened to the man and who is Abby. Then it skips back to two week earlier. This is the equilibrium. We meet Owen, who is unhappy and a loner. He meets Abby who moves next door to him with her dad, Thomas. Close up camera shots are used in this film to show the expression of the characters faces and to show detail of things. The disruption builds up when Thomas murders a man and collects the blood however then spills it. Abby is angry with him, which helps the audience feel bad for Thomas. Abby is then revealed as a vampire when she attacks one of her neighbours. Later on another night her dad hides in a teenagers car, murders the passenger and tries to run away then crashes the car and then is tried inside. The use of over the shoulder camera shots here helps the audience see what Thomas is seeing. He then pours sulphuric acid on his face and becomes disfigured. He is taken to hospital, it then tells the story which we saw at the start and takes the story back to 1983 and shows the present day. Abby reveals that she is a vampire when Owen tries to make a blood pact with her, cuts his finger and Abby drinks the blood, she then runs away from him as she doesn’t want to hurt him. This makes the audience like her more and feel sympathetic as it implies she doesn’t just want to hurt people. The use of low key lighting helps to build up tension and creates a mysterious mood; it is a convention of the horror genre. The resolution is when we see Owen decide to leave town with a large trunk. A Morse code is tapped out from the trunk.
Another narrative theory is binary opposites which was introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss. The theory is a set of opposites which reveal the structure of media texts. In ‘Let Me In’ there is a binary opposite of good vs evil, this is Owen and Abby; however, I think there is a twist. Even though she is evil for killing all those innocent people, the audience sympathise with Abby because she is a child and doesn’t have a choice. Another binary opposite is human vs supernatural; this also is Owen and Abby, as Abby is a vampire and Owen is human. By having this binary opposite creates a horror link between the two. There is also a binary opposite of love vs hate, this is because Owen and Abby start to fall for eachother, however Owen is put off at first when he hides out she is a vampire. By this there is the binary opposite created and Owen has to decided which one to follow.
Vladimir Propp identified 8 character roles which include:
Hero – our main protagonist and victor.
Villain – the bad character.
Donor – who provides an object or powers to the hero.
Helper – who aids the hero.
Princess – the hero’s ‘reward’ and object of the villain’s scheme.
Princess’s Father – who rewards the hero.
Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his way.
False Hero – the double agent who hinders the hero rather than helping him.
In Let Me In, the hero is Owen because firstly he is the main protagonist and also he saves Abby from herself as he tries to stop her from killing. This is conventional having the main protagonist being a male. The villain is Abby; this is because she is the killer, however the audience sympathises with her and she only kills people because she has to. There is a lot of character who double up as different roles. The helper is Thomas; however instead a helper for the hero, he is a helper for Abby. This is because he helps Abby get the blood she needs; he also lets her take his life by drinking his blood. Abby is also the princess because she is Owens rewards as they leave town together; that makes Thomas also the princess’s father; however, he is her fake father.
This film challenges most of the theories; this is because it does not follow Todorov’s narrative structure. I think this makes it intriguing as is it not what audiences are used to. It also makes the audience pay attention as they want to know what has happened. It also challenges Propp’s character functions, this is because even though Abby is the villain, the audience doesn’t see her as a villain and they feel sorry for her. In addition, Abby is also the princess because she is the ‘reward’ for Owen. By having overlaps with different character could make it confusing however I think that the audience is sympathise because Owen and Abby are both young. There is no use of ‘Male Gaze’ or ‘Final Girl’ theory, this is because firstly the only female we see is Abby and she cannot be the final girl when she is the villain and there is no male gaze because Abby is young. I think by challenging all the theories, it creates an interesting film.
The narrative structure of the film doesn’t follow the tradition Todorov’s narrative structure. The film starts off with the disruption, a man who is disfigured being taken into hospital. We then see a disfigured man jumps out of the window and left a note saying “I’m sorry Abby”. This is used as a hook for the film to make the audience wonder what happened to the man and who is Abby. Then it skips back to two week earlier. This is the equilibrium. We meet Owen, who is unhappy and a loner. He meets Abby who moves next door to him with her dad, Thomas. Close up camera shots are used in this film to show the expression of the characters faces and to show detail of things. The disruption builds up when Thomas murders a man and collects the blood however then spills it. Abby is angry with him, which helps the audience feel bad for Thomas. Abby is then revealed as a vampire when she attacks one of her neighbours. Later on another night her dad hides in a teenagers car, murders the passenger and tries to run away then crashes the car and then is tried inside. The use of over the shoulder camera shots here helps the audience see what Thomas is seeing. He then pours sulphuric acid on his face and becomes disfigured. He is taken to hospital, it then tells the story which we saw at the start and takes the story back to 1983 and shows the present day. Abby reveals that she is a vampire when Owen tries to make a blood pact with her, cuts his finger and Abby drinks the blood, she then runs away from him as she doesn’t want to hurt him. This makes the audience like her more and feel sympathetic as it implies she doesn’t just want to hurt people. The use of low key lighting helps to build up tension and creates a mysterious mood; it is a convention of the horror genre. The resolution is when we see Owen decide to leave town with a large trunk. A Morse code is tapped out from the trunk.
Another narrative theory is binary opposites which was introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss. The theory is a set of opposites which reveal the structure of media texts. In ‘Let Me In’ there is a binary opposite of good vs evil, this is Owen and Abby; however, I think there is a twist. Even though she is evil for killing all those innocent people, the audience sympathise with Abby because she is a child and doesn’t have a choice. Another binary opposite is human vs supernatural; this also is Owen and Abby, as Abby is a vampire and Owen is human. By having this binary opposite creates a horror link between the two. There is also a binary opposite of love vs hate, this is because Owen and Abby start to fall for eachother, however Owen is put off at first when he hides out she is a vampire. By this there is the binary opposite created and Owen has to decided which one to follow.
Vladimir Propp identified 8 character roles which include:
Hero – our main protagonist and victor.
Villain – the bad character.
Donor – who provides an object or powers to the hero.
Helper – who aids the hero.
Princess – the hero’s ‘reward’ and object of the villain’s scheme.
Princess’s Father – who rewards the hero.
Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his way.
False Hero – the double agent who hinders the hero rather than helping him.
In Let Me In, the hero is Owen because firstly he is the main protagonist and also he saves Abby from herself as he tries to stop her from killing. This is conventional having the main protagonist being a male. The villain is Abby; this is because she is the killer, however the audience sympathises with her and she only kills people because she has to. There is a lot of character who double up as different roles. The helper is Thomas; however instead a helper for the hero, he is a helper for Abby. This is because he helps Abby get the blood she needs; he also lets her take his life by drinking his blood. Abby is also the princess because she is Owens rewards as they leave town together; that makes Thomas also the princess’s father; however, he is her fake father.
This film challenges most of the theories; this is because it does not follow Todorov’s narrative structure. I think this makes it intriguing as is it not what audiences are used to. It also makes the audience pay attention as they want to know what has happened. It also challenges Propp’s character functions, this is because even though Abby is the villain, the audience doesn’t see her as a villain and they feel sorry for her. In addition, Abby is also the princess because she is the ‘reward’ for Owen. By having overlaps with different character could make it confusing however I think that the audience is sympathise because Owen and Abby are both young. There is no use of ‘Male Gaze’ or ‘Final Girl’ theory, this is because firstly the only female we see is Abby and she cannot be the final girl when she is the villain and there is no male gaze because Abby is young. I think by challenging all the theories, it creates an interesting film.
Wednesday, 3 February 2016
Synopsis and Key Characters
Synopsis
A young teenage girl and her friends have what starts out to be a usual day at school/college. Her friend group dynamic is constantly unstable due to the clashing personalities between two of the girls, they constantly argue about who should be in charge of their group. One of them questions the other and thinks that there should be a challenge to sort this out. They decide the best cause of action is a bet, the winner gets to be leader of their friend group. Their bet is can she spend one night in the old abandon house they past every day even though the rumours are it is haunted. She agrees to this bet because she believes it will be easy, she was far from right. The next day she packs a bag and her closest friend tries to convince her not to go. Her friend researches the house and discovers that a teenage girl was found hanging in one of the bedrooms several years ago. The mystery was never solved, no note or murderer was found and rumour has it that her disturbed soul still walks the house. Ignoring what her friend said, she heads to the house. Upon arriving she finds the front door unlocked. She enters and starts looking round. After a couple of hours strange things start happening. First the doors slam shut and lock meaning no escape. Then lights go out, she enters one room and objects are flying at her. She tries to escape but gets dragged back and dragged down a corridor. In the end the paranoia gets to her which causes her to end her life by hanging herself inside the house.
A young teenage girl and her friends have what starts out to be a usual day at school/college. Her friend group dynamic is constantly unstable due to the clashing personalities between two of the girls, they constantly argue about who should be in charge of their group. One of them questions the other and thinks that there should be a challenge to sort this out. They decide the best cause of action is a bet, the winner gets to be leader of their friend group. Their bet is can she spend one night in the old abandon house they past every day even though the rumours are it is haunted. She agrees to this bet because she believes it will be easy, she was far from right. The next day she packs a bag and her closest friend tries to convince her not to go. Her friend researches the house and discovers that a teenage girl was found hanging in one of the bedrooms several years ago. The mystery was never solved, no note or murderer was found and rumour has it that her disturbed soul still walks the house. Ignoring what her friend said, she heads to the house. Upon arriving she finds the front door unlocked. She enters and starts looking round. After a couple of hours strange things start happening. First the doors slam shut and lock meaning no escape. Then lights go out, she enters one room and objects are flying at her. She tries to escape but gets dragged back and dragged down a corridor. In the end the paranoia gets to her which causes her to end her life by hanging herself inside the house.
Rheanne
Rheanne is arrogant and stuck up, she battles for dominance within her girl group against equally arrogant girl, Emily. She is very girly and teases the boys a lot. Her thinks about herself before others and is extremely self-centered. Her main priority is to be adored by all.
Emily
Emily is also arrogant and bitchy, she fights with Rheanne for dominance within the group. She believes her is better than everyone and deserves to be the 'lead girl', She is also extremely girly and uses her looks to get her own way a lot. She bullies people weaker than her, especially Mia.
Mia
Best friends with Rheanna, she is a timid girl who often follows the crowd and is shy and quiet. She has only gained a position in the group due to a childhood friendship with Rheanne.
Zie
Zie is the best friend of Emily, she is sassy and very bitchy. She doesn't have the confidence however to fight for dominance within the group, so she steps back and is happy to be ordered around. She often hides behind Emily but still backs her up on the bitchiness.
Horror Genre and Shot Types Moodboards
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| Horror Genre |
Monday, 1 February 2016
Individual Ideas and Final Idea
Laura: There is a house, a young girl lives there with her family. She meets a man online, he then starts targeting the girl because he thinks she is his daughter. He sneaks into her house one night and kills her because she doesn't love him and the house becomes haunted with her ghost. Her parents cannot stand to live in the house anymore and the house then becomes abandoned.
Callum: A young film maker is pressured into spending the night in a haunted old house. Sensing the opportunity for a great feature, she takes her camera to document the night. Upon arriving, paranormal instances drive her to insanity. In the morning she has disappeared. Only her footage remains.
Ella: A group of friends go out and something bad happens. Then some of the friends start to die. No one would expect the quite sweet and innocent to be a cold hearted killer.
Zabrina: A group of girls who all want to be the leader and seen as the most popular in the college so they all come up with challenges for each other as a way for them to decide who's the group leader. However when the challenges get out of control bad things start happening to each and everyone one of the girls till there's only one left.
Our Chosen Idea: There is a young girl who is pressured into spending a night by her friends in a battle of dominance within the group in an abandoned house, which is apparently haunted. The house is haunted by a soul of a young girl, killed there years ago.
To create this idea, we took elements from each idea and combined them to create a new idea. From Laura's idea we took the idea of the abandoned house in which the young girl was killed there and the family couldn't bare to go back. From Callum's idea we took the idea of someone spending the night at a haunted house. From Ella's idea we took the idea of a group of friends and finally from Zabrina's idea we took the idea of there being a girl group fighting for dominance.
Callum: A young film maker is pressured into spending the night in a haunted old house. Sensing the opportunity for a great feature, she takes her camera to document the night. Upon arriving, paranormal instances drive her to insanity. In the morning she has disappeared. Only her footage remains.
Ella: A group of friends go out and something bad happens. Then some of the friends start to die. No one would expect the quite sweet and innocent to be a cold hearted killer.
Zabrina: A group of girls who all want to be the leader and seen as the most popular in the college so they all come up with challenges for each other as a way for them to decide who's the group leader. However when the challenges get out of control bad things start happening to each and everyone one of the girls till there's only one left.
Our Chosen Idea: There is a young girl who is pressured into spending a night by her friends in a battle of dominance within the group in an abandoned house, which is apparently haunted. The house is haunted by a soul of a young girl, killed there years ago.
To create this idea, we took elements from each idea and combined them to create a new idea. From Laura's idea we took the idea of the abandoned house in which the young girl was killed there and the family couldn't bare to go back. From Callum's idea we took the idea of someone spending the night at a haunted house. From Ella's idea we took the idea of a group of friends and finally from Zabrina's idea we took the idea of there being a girl group fighting for dominance.
Wednesday, 9 December 2015
Monday, 7 December 2015
Wednesday, 18 November 2015
Horror Trailer Analysis'
The Shining (1980)
This film trailer is for The Shining, 1980. It is a
psychological horror which is produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick. The film is based on Stephen
King’s 1977 novel The Shining, however the film and novel are different is
significant ways. Although
contemporary responses from critics were mixed, assessment became more
favourable in following decades, and it is now widely regarded as one of the
greatest horror films ever made. American director Martin Scorsese, writing in The Daily Beast, ranked it one of the
11 scariest horror movies of all time.
The first shot the audience see is an isolated area, this is
a common horror convention for the narrative. It also starts off with a voice
over, in this the audience can hear the word such as ‘tragedy’ which grabs the
audience’s attention to tell a little about the narrative. By having a voice
over it allows for the audience to have a little insight what it going on. This
is a convention of horror trailers. There is non-diegetic music in the
background to build up the tension, this is another horror genre convention. The
audience firstly sees a close up of a man, we then assume this is the main
character because it’s the first person we see. The shots are quite long and
look normal; this also builds up the tension and shows the equilibrium. There
is a use of different camera angles; some include high angle, long shot, medium
and pan. By using a range of camera angles keeps the visual interesting. There
is also a use of low key lighting to create a sinister atmosphere.
The voice over tells the audience a story about 1970, a man
went crazy and killed his family. The use of sound is vital in horror trailers,
this is because it is used to add tension; there is a good use of sound where
the man puts the axe into the door, there is a loud bang and then everything
goes quiet, the music then cuts out and we see who the voiceover is talking to
and then a man says ‘well you can rest assure Mr Almond, that’s not going to
happen to me’. Everyone laughs and then the scene cuts off. By this line, the
audience can tell something bad it going to happen. There is a lot of questions
unanswered in this, which will make the audience want to watch the film.
We hear a voice of a child and then see a family. The use of
children are a horror convention to add innocence to the film, by the shot we
see of him riding his bike links in with the pace of the trailer and also the
innocence. We also see shots of mother and son, there is one of them in a maze
which could suggest claustrophobia and confusion. The music then speeds up, in
addition the pace of the shots speed up.
The use of a close up shows the facial expression and emotion
of who the audience is starting to assume is the protagonist and who is also
the villain. He is wearing black which is iconic to show evil and darkness. There
is a use of low key lighting which sets the atmosphere. There are a use of
similar medium shots of the mother trying to protect herself and her son. The
audience can then see the use of weapons can be seen such as axes, knives and
bats, this is often used to portray death and fighting. Then there is similar
shots of the protagonist to show the audience his evil characteristics. The
trailer does not show him actually killing the mother and son, however this is
a trailer convention as it leaves the audience wondering. The word ‘murder’ on
the door in the colour red is horror convention as it indicated death. The pace
is very fast by this point and the phrase ‘here’s Jonny’ has become iconic.
In between some cuts there are black backgrounds with white
writing, some of these say ‘based on the bestselling novel Stephen King’ ‘from
director Stanley Kubrick ‘on May 23rd’ ‘The Shining’. By having
these they give information to the audience and are vital pieces to sell the
film. By saying it’s based on the novel by Stephen King or is directed by
Stanley Kubrick could attract an audience who are fans of them. By having the
film name at the end of the trailer, makes people remember the name and will
encourage more people to see it.
My opinions of this horror trailer is that I think it works
very well as a trailer, the narration draws the audience in and helps the
audience understand what is happening as it adds context. I think the sound
used helps to keep the audience on the edge as they are loud and harsh in addition
the trailer doesn’t give too much away which will leave the audience wanting to
know what happens.
Paranormal Activity (2007)
Paranormal Activity is a 2007 American found footage
supernatural horror film. It was written, co-produced, photographed, edited and
directed by Oren Peli. It is the first entry into the Paranormal Activity film
series. Originally developed as an independent feature and given film festival
screening in 2007, the film was acquired by Paramount Pictures and modified particularly
with a new ending. It was given a limited U.S.
release on September 25, 2009, and then a nationwide release on October 16,
2009. The film earned nearly $108 million at the U.S. box office and a further
$85 million internationally for a worldwide total of $193 million.
Paramount/DreamWorks acquired the U.S. rights for $350,000. It is the most
profitable film ever made, based on return
on investment. There is now 5 Paranormal Activity films.
There is a little Apple sign at the bottom right corner, this
shows that the trailer was edited on iMovie. This means that it was edited on a
cheap software and reveals the trailer to be low-budget, which helps add to the
realism of the film.
The first shot is of a long shot of a line of people with the
words ‘In September 2009, a screening was held in Hollywood California’. Then
there is a low angle showing people sitting in the cinema, with words on the
screen saying ‘this audience was among the first to experience the movie
‘Paranormal Activity’. There is a final long shot showing the cinema full and
it says ‘this is what they saw’. I think by having words on the screen and no
speech builds up and tension and makes people pay attention. There are loud
booms when this is going out, which also builds up the atmosphere. However this
start to a horror trailer is very unconventional that it features the audience
more than the characters. This concept of the trailer is to show the audience’s
reaction to the film. This also encourages the realism of the film; which makes
it scarier for the audience.
The next shot is of the main characters who are a couple. The
use of a hand held camera also emphasises the realness of the film. The couple
looks like they are in their early 20s, which is a part of the target audience
and could encourage people to watch. There are simple camera angles used for
example long and medium shots and also the camera movements are very shaky,
this is could show the simplicity of the film which also could relate to the
realness. In addition by using the hand held camera the audience seeing a point
of view shot, this also helps with making the audience feel included. The
trailer follows horror conventions are it is mainly set up at night; this makes
it scarier as its dark. There is low key lighting used in this trailer; this is
a horror genre convention. By having low key lighting creates a spooky mood and
also darkness connotes the idea of the unknown and danger. However there are
also some moments with high key lighting, which is used to emphasis a subject.
I think that this makes the audience feel uncomfortable as the lighting is very
bright and harsh.
There are is a shot of a swinging chandelier; this is using a
medium shot. It then cuts back to the people watching it in the cinema; there
are close up shots used to show peoples expressions and emotions. This could be
used to make the audience more scared. There is a loud bang and then people
from the cinema scream; this is used to build up the tension. The next shots
all used a montage and the speed is quick, this is edited to allow the trailer
to have maximum impact on the audience. The calmer more balanced scenes which
are shown at the beginning and the more frightening, shocking scene towards to
end makes the trailer look unbalanced but are used to play with the audience
emotions.
When looking at the editing used in this trailer, they
haven’t used straight cuts. Instead they have used dissolve transitions to
remind the audience that this is a home video. The pace of the trailer is made
faster through quick cuts making the video faded. This has an effect on the
audience as it makes it harder to see what is actually happening and allows
them to use their imagination. There is no incidental music, there is very
little sound tension built because the audience are expecting things that will
make them jump. In addition by having no incidental music there is a sense of
realness as the setting is normal and the background music is not needed in
order to create an atmosphere. This makes the plot more relatable as the
audience could see it happening in their lives. Using silence or very little
sound is another convention of horror films as they use it to build up tension
and suspense.
My opinion of this horror trailer is that I like the thought
of making it feel real by using a hand held camera, for this this personally
makes it scarier and I think it makes the audience feel involved. In addition
the fast pace speed of the trailer and the jump scares keeps the audience on
the edge. I also like the introduction of the characters, as it makes the audience
connect with them straight away. However to improve this trailer, I think they
could have develop the story a bit more, for example the fast pace was a bit
too fast and it was hard to understand the shots used.
Saw (2004)
Saw is an American gore and torture horror film, released in 2004 and directed by James Wan. The film stars Cary Elwes and Leigh Whannell as two men who awake to find themselves chained in a large dilapidated bathroom, with one being ordered to kill the other or his family will die. It is the first installment of the seven-part Saw franchise. Saw was first screened on January 19th 2004. Lionsgate claimed the rights and released the film in the United States and Canada on October 29th 2004. Saw performed very well at the box office, grossing more than $100 million worldwide and becoming, at the time, one of the most profitable horror films since 1996's Scream. The success of the film prompted a green-light of a sequel soon after Saw 's opening weekend, which was released the following October.
This trailer
starts off with an over the shoulder shot with low key lighting. The over the
shoulder shot lets the audience see what the character can see, meanwhile the
low key lighting is a horror genre convention. The first character we see we
assume this is one of the main characters. The flashes contrast against the
dark lighting and the sound of the camera within the silence creates an
atmosphere. There is a long shot to look into the distance in addition the
diegetic voice fills the silence and by saying “is someone there?” This gives
the audience the thought that some is there, then there is a loud high pitched
laugh, which could also be a horror convention this is because quite a lot of
horror films used high pitched voices, could be insisted to be a child. The
trailer then speeds up in pace which could also speed up the audiences
thoughts.
The diegetic
sounds are made more extreme to emphasise them. The fades to black and short
clips are also used as a slow paced and keeps the audience interested. There is
another contrast using low key lighting and high key lighting. The quick close
up of the mask and then quick change to medium shot shows who we assumes is the
villain. We can assume this because it is a horror convention that a villain
wears a mask. The sound of a static television creates tension meanwhile the
voice over does not sound like a real voice. There is faint non-diegetic music
is the background which fills the silence and creates an atmosphere. The voice
over then gives the audience context in what the film is about, this then grabs
the audience’s attention as they will want to know what happens. This also slows down the pace of the trailer.
Within the editing there is a
green filter to the lighting and green, which connotes the idea of jealousy and
greed, it also connotes freshness and safety; however we can see in this
trailer this is not correct. I think the green filter does signify greed and
also gore and blood and this sets the tone for this trailer. The speed then
speeds up using quick transitions, by having these it creates a sense of
urgency. However I think this makes the trailer less fluent. Towards the end of
the trailer becomes faster as the victims panic and struggle. There has also
the use of flashbacks, this allows the audience to understand the plot more and
know the history of what happened before.
The text in between the clips also
gives more context for the audience. Words like ‘voyeur’, ‘madman’ and ‘psychopath’
are words use to describe Saw. The font used for these words are bold and in
capitals which makes it stand out. The background is dark and the font is blue
and white, which are all cold colours. The use of colours are a horror
convention. The trailer it made more personal by saying ‘and it’s your move’.
This makes the audience feel more involved. The text at the top ‘twisted
picture’ is wrapped in barb wire which makes it feel the need to escape and it
also reflects horror conventions.
My opinion of this trailer is I think
it works well. The plot is well explained using flashbacks and voice overs
meanwhile the low key lighting and harsh sounds follow horror conventions.
However I think in the middle where they are explaining the plot is loses it
pace and the audience could lose interest a bit. I think to improve it they
could of sped it up more meanwhile explaining the plot.
Wednesday, 11 November 2015
Film Distribution and Marketing
Teaser Poster
Teaser Trailer  Main Poster |
  
Sourced from Wikipedia
|
Tuesday, 3 November 2015
Thursday, 8 October 2015
The Crazies Analysis
The Crazies was made in 2010 and is an American horror film
set in the fictional town of Ogden Marsh, Pierce County. It was directed by
Breck Eisner and is a remake of the 1973 film of the same name by George A.
Romero, who was also the executive producer of the remake. The plot of the
films follows David Dutten, his wife Judy and fellow people other their town
when their water supply is accidentally infected with the ‘Trixie’ virus after
a plane crashes into a lake where the town gets their water supply.
 |
| The first scene of the burning town |
The Crazies doesn’t follow Todorov’s Classical Hollywood
Narrative Structure. First thing we see is a burning town and we don’t see any
people. This draws the audience in and gets the hooked as they will want to know
what happened. This is an unusual setting and not the normal equilibrium. The
audience sees what is going to happen in the future. We then go to ‘2 days
before’ in which we now have the equilibrium of the people of town playing a
baseball game. The disruption is when Rory comes onto the baseball pitch with a
gun the sheriff (David Dutten) assumes he is drunk as Rory is a recovered
alcoholic and the sheriff shoots him and kills him. At the time they do not
know that Rory has the virus which is the overall disruption. The recognition
is when David, Judy and the deputy, Russell discovers what has happened. There
is an attempt to resolve the disruption when David asks the mayor to turn off
the water supply. However overall I don’t think that The Crazies follows the
Classical Hollywood Narrative, this is because of the scene at the beginning.
In addition at the end there isn’t a new equilibrium. We find out that the
virus has spread to another town which David and Judy are now going to. They
are about to go through the whole thing again which affects the audience as
they feel sorry for the characters. There are also 3 important time durations
during this film, the screen time is 92 minutes, the plot duration which is 3 days
and story duration; this could be years as it is hard to tell how long the
government had been creating the virus and also the audience knows Judy is
pregnant, this is at least 9 months.
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| One of 'The Crazies' |
When looking at Claude Levi-Strauss’ theory of the binary
opposites there are a few in The Crazies. Firstly good vs evil, which is an
obvious binary opposite for a horror film genre as it is conventional. The
audience can see that David and Judy are the good guys; this is because they
want to everything to go back to normal and are trying to survive. The
government however could be seen as the evil ones as well as the infected
crazies, this is because they are the ones who are killing innocent people and
they were the ones to release the virus in the first place. Another binary
opposite is past vs present, this is because of the scene at the beginning with
everything of fire. This is actually from the middle of the narrative and then
we are shown 2 days before this occurred. There are different links made of
past and present throughout the film. Another example is when they find the
plane which crashed, as the audience we don’t get to see it but it happened 3
weeks before. The idea of this for the audience is for us to make links which
include us within the film. Another binary opposite in the film is normal vs
strange. The audience can see that there is a clear difference between ‘the
crazies’ who are the infected and the normal humans such as David and Judy. The
infected cannot think straight and want to kill everyone, which is a strange
desire. The normal people are shown as living normally, an example of this is when
Judy comes home with David and Russell to collect the care and she is taking
down the washing off the washing line. She is trying to make it seem as normal
as possible. Another binary opposite is order vs chaos; an example of this is
again at the beginning the scene of the burning town then, it swaps to 2 days
later when everything is normal and in order. In addition there is also order
and chaos in the characters; at the beginning it shows David and Judy. At first
you can see the town is very well run, with a sheriff and deputy as well as
doctor and nurses however then when the virus spreads people are going wild,
killing each other which create the chaos. There are a few more binary
opposites in which I think are in this film, these include: sanity vs insanity,
healthy vs unhealthy, alive vs dead. All these are to do with ‘The Crazies’ in
relation to David, Judy, Russell and Becca.
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| Deputy (Russell), Sheriff (David), Judy and Becca |
Vladimir Propp identified 8
character roles after looking at over 100 folk tales which include:
Hero – our main protagonist and
victor.Villain – the bad character.
Donor – who provides an object or powers to the hero.
Donor – who provides an object or powers to the hero.
Helper – who aids the hero.
Princess – the hero’s ‘reward’
and object of the villain’s scheme.
Princess’s Father – who rewards
the hero.
Dispatcher – who sends the hero
on his way.
False Hero – the double agent who
hinders the hero rather than helping him.
In the terms of The Crazies, it is clear that the hero is David Dutten, who is the sheriff of the town. He rescues his wife when the government takes her away as they think she’s got the virus, he is also alive at the end of the film. The donor and helper is the same character in this film who the deputy, Russell. He is the donor because firstly he gives his life to distract the government so that David and Judy can get away and he is the helper because he saves David’s life 3 times during the film. The princess is Judy, this is because she saves people and also is the reward for the hero in addition she also rewards the hero with a baby. The villain in this film is the US government and army, this is because they are the reason the virus exists and also they kill innocent people who they think have the virus. The villains are also the infected crazies as they do try and kill people, only because they have the virus because of the government. The false hero is the mayor; this is because he refuses to turn off the water. He thinks he is doing this for the good of the town people are they are a farm town who needs the water for crops etc, however he doesn't
In the terms of The Crazies, it is clear that the hero is David Dutten, who is the sheriff of the town. He rescues his wife when the government takes her away as they think she’s got the virus, he is also alive at the end of the film. The donor and helper is the same character in this film who the deputy, Russell. He is the donor because firstly he gives his life to distract the government so that David and Judy can get away and he is the helper because he saves David’s life 3 times during the film. The princess is Judy, this is because she saves people and also is the reward for the hero in addition she also rewards the hero with a baby. The villain in this film is the US government and army, this is because they are the reason the virus exists and also they kill innocent people who they think have the virus. The villains are also the infected crazies as they do try and kill people, only because they have the virus because of the government. The false hero is the mayor; this is because he refuses to turn off the water. He thinks he is doing this for the good of the town people are they are a farm town who needs the water for crops etc, however he doesn't
In relation to ‘The Male Gaze Theory’ by Laura Mulvey I don’t think it
plays a big role in this film; even though there were some females in the film,
Judy and Becca. The females in this film appear to be smart as they are both
doctors. They are not sexually objectified in the film, they are both covered
up and in addition Judy is pregnant.
Judy is the final girl in this film, even though she is the ‘princess’
she is the reward for the hero. She doesn’t exactly fit the final girl theory
by Carol Clover. This is because as Judy is pregnant the audience can assume
she had sex even though we do not see it in the film. However she is smart
because she is a doctor.
Wednesday, 7 October 2015
Halloween Analysis
Halloween was originally made in 1978 and is a horror film. The director was John Carpenter. The film is set in a quiet town, Haddonfield, Illinois which is a horror genre convention. This setting is common for a horror genre because it means that it could mean to anyone which creates fear for the audience. The plot of the film followers the psychopath antagonist Michael Myers after murdering his older sister Judith Myers. 15 years later on 30th October 1978, he escapes from a psychiatric hospital and begins murdering teenagers from his home town on the following day, which is Halloween. By having it set on Halloween night helps create the the horror iconography as there are pumpkin lanterns, children dressed in costumes and trick or treating.
Looking at Todorov’s narrative structure, Halloween closely follows his structure of equilibrium (the normality of the setting), disruption (something disrupting the equilibrium), recognition (the characters realise there is a disruption), resolution (trying to fix the disruption) and new equilibrium (everything goes back to normal) however I think there is two sets of this narrative. The film starts with a very brief equilibrium, this is of Judith Myers and her boyfriend. There is a use of point of views shots and silence to build up the tension within the narrative which keeps the audience hooked. By using these they are following some conventions of the horror genre. Then it’s the first disruption, which is Michael Myers killing his sister. The recognition is when his parents find Michael with the knife, there is a sense of innocence when we see the killer is actually a little boy. The resolution is when Michael is sent off to the psychiatric hospital and then there is a new equilibrium created. However; then a new set of Todorov’s narrative structure is set. Then the other disruption is when Michael Myers escapes the hospital, we then see an equilibrium of Laurie and her friends lives. There is a use of non-diagetic music, this builds up the tense and intensifies the fear and suspense.The recognition is Laurie realises Myers is trying to kill her and her friends and the resolution is then when Laurie thinks she kills him and a new equilibrium could happen, however we then see his body has gone, so there isn’t really a resolution to this film. However as there is a sequel, that might be the resolution. I think it does follow this structure, however not fully. This is because firstly the first set of Todorov’s narrative structure is in order, however the second set the audience see the disruption because they see the equilibrium and there is a resolution.
Another narrative theory is binary opposites which was introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss. Binary opposites are sets of opposite’s values which reveal the structure of media texts. In Halloween there is a binary opposite of good vs evil, which is Laurie and Michael Myers. Laurie being good is supported by her being good at school and not drinking or having sex. By having binary opposites helps to develop our understanding the narrative. Another binary opposite from Halloween is smart vs stupid; this is demonstrated in Laurie and her friends. Laurie cares about her studies and is smart meanwhile her friends don’t care which ultimately leads them to their deaths. By having this opposite it also suggests the final girl theory. There is also an opposite of past vs present, this is used when Myers kills his sister and he is put into the hospital in comparison to the present when is he back in the present day. Another one I think is used in this film is light vs dark. This is because in the day their lives are normal and compared to the dark when Myers tries to kill them. The use of lightening at night creates the tension in the film. There is a use of small motivated lighting to create shadows and creates fear.
Vladimir Propp identified 8 character roles after looking at over 100 folk tales which include:
Hero – our main protagonist and victor.
Villain – the bad character.
Donor – who provides an object or powers to the hero.
Helper – who aids the hero.
Princess – the hero’s ‘reward’ and object of the villain’s scheme.
Princess’s Father – who rewards the hero.
Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his way.
False Hero – the double agent who hinders the hero rather than helping him.
It is common to have one character play more than one character, an example of this is the donor and helpers. In Halloween the hero is Laurie, she is the main protagonist and is the one to fight against the villain, Michael Myers. This is unconventional as stereotypically the hero is male. Michael Myers is the villain because he kills his sister and then returns to the town to kill Laurie and her friends, the audience has an idea how truly evil he is. Dr Loomis is the helper, this is because he is trying to track down Michael Myers and stop him. Not many others of Propp’s characters are used in this movie as there isn’t a quest to be set on.
As I said before Laurie demonstrates the final girl theory by Carol Clover. Even though Laurie is also the hero she follows the final girl theory; this is because she is virginal, pure and does not smoke, drink or have sex. She is good at school and is smart. She has a name which is not traditionally feminine. In addition she has quite a masculine voice. By having all these traits it means that she survives until the end. In makes sense that she is the final girl and she is also the hero.
Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space”. This basically means an event will occur and then consequences will follow. In Halloween I think there are a few moments which relate to this theory. First example of this is when Laurie drops the keys off at Michael Myers old house and he sees her through the window. This sets up the narrative for him to target her for the rest of the film. He follows her around, firstly killing her friends and finally tries to kill her, even though he is unsuccessful. Another event which has its consequences is that use of sex to tell the audience when that character is going to die. For example firstly Michael Myers kills his sister just after she has sex with her boyfriend. We don’t know if that was the reason he killed her, or if he is just pure evil. Another example is when Annie is was her way to meet her boyfriend assuming to have sex when Michael strangles her in the car. In addition Michael Myers also kills Lynda and her boyfriend after they have sex in Annie’s house.
 |
| A sense of innocence when the audience finds out that the killer is a little child. |
Another narrative theory is binary opposites which was introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss. Binary opposites are sets of opposite’s values which reveal the structure of media texts. In Halloween there is a binary opposite of good vs evil, which is Laurie and Michael Myers. Laurie being good is supported by her being good at school and not drinking or having sex. By having binary opposites helps to develop our understanding the narrative. Another binary opposite from Halloween is smart vs stupid; this is demonstrated in Laurie and her friends. Laurie cares about her studies and is smart meanwhile her friends don’t care which ultimately leads them to their deaths. By having this opposite it also suggests the final girl theory. There is also an opposite of past vs present, this is used when Myers kills his sister and he is put into the hospital in comparison to the present when is he back in the present day. Another one I think is used in this film is light vs dark. This is because in the day their lives are normal and compared to the dark when Myers tries to kill them. The use of lightening at night creates the tension in the film. There is a use of small motivated lighting to create shadows and creates fear.
Vladimir Propp identified 8 character roles after looking at over 100 folk tales which include:
Hero – our main protagonist and victor.
 |
| Michael Myers with a knife. This image demonstrates he is a villain. |
Donor – who provides an object or powers to the hero.
Helper – who aids the hero.
Princess – the hero’s ‘reward’ and object of the villain’s scheme.
Princess’s Father – who rewards the hero.
Dispatcher – who sends the hero on his way.
False Hero – the double agent who hinders the hero rather than helping him.
It is common to have one character play more than one character, an example of this is the donor and helpers. In Halloween the hero is Laurie, she is the main protagonist and is the one to fight against the villain, Michael Myers. This is unconventional as stereotypically the hero is male. Michael Myers is the villain because he kills his sister and then returns to the town to kill Laurie and her friends, the audience has an idea how truly evil he is. Dr Loomis is the helper, this is because he is trying to track down Michael Myers and stop him. Not many others of Propp’s characters are used in this movie as there isn’t a quest to be set on.
As I said before Laurie demonstrates the final girl theory by Carol Clover. Even though Laurie is also the hero she follows the final girl theory; this is because she is virginal, pure and does not smoke, drink or have sex. She is good at school and is smart. She has a name which is not traditionally feminine. In addition she has quite a masculine voice. By having all these traits it means that she survives until the end. In makes sense that she is the final girl and she is also the hero.
 |
| Laurie at school, shows she is a good girl getting on with her work. Also demonstrates as the equilibrium. |
Thursday, 24 September 2015
Wednesday, 23 September 2015
Monday, 21 September 2015
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