Saturday, 7 May 2011
Film Trailer "Dead End"
This is our main production piece from our promotional package. The film is called "Dead End" and falls into the slasher sub-genre which comes under the horror genre.
Thursday, 28 April 2011
Props
In horror productions props can be mystical books/dolls/jewellery and in some cases fairly plain and normal objects that are twisted/possessed or inter-connected with spirits, as seen in many physiological/supernatural horrors. However I’m looking at the genre slasher and so conventionally these violent storylines contain props that are used to harm and kill people and so are weapons. These weapons can tell what type of film it may be like or help the audience understand what kind of antagonist they are. The killer in horror’s in the past have used iconic weapons that stand out with Jason’s heavy machete like sword which creates loud swooshes’ and shows his character being a mad and reckless heavy handed attacker, whereas Michael Myers smaller yet sharper kitchen knife portrays him as a frenzied quick killing sadistic individual. In my production props need to suit our antagonist, here are a few different ideas.
The wood axe – An axe and this axe in example is very sharp used to cut away victims with heavy blows that can cause very gruesome deaths with limbs being cut etc. Again this is only seen as a weapon in the wrong hands.
Wooden Bludgeon – This weapon compared to the two above is made for or moulded to maime the innocent it is fairly barbaric with there being no sharp edges meaning an antagonist would beat their vicitm to death.
Costume Ideas
Location I feel is going to be vital in terms of setting the film and also creating realism. With no state of the art created locations and affects, choosing the right location is vital, it has to be a place that has a true connection with the filming and plotline, and it must suit the story. Our ideas have led us to a woodland/forest location, which is dark, quiet and surrounded by huge overhanging trees. These rural landscapes are used in many films such as ‘Wrong Turn’, ‘Friday the 13th’ and the ‘Blair Witch Project’, the vast areas stop the protagonist screams to be heard and so makes them isolated, heightening tension. We already have a strong location to use in mind it is a place all of us had visited and was close by it is Black Park in Buckinghamshire, it is very close the Pinewood Studios and has been used in the filming of many of the Harry Potter films to date, this gave us the incentive to also work here knowing the area had many qualities that would help in creating fear and tension within our film trailer.
Mock-Ups
Film Magazine Mock Ups
Below our our two film magazine mock ups where we did two drafts as we wanted to ensure we were creating a cover that would appeal to our target audience. On the left shows our first draft which is very basic but we liked the lay out so we kept it for our final draft on the right but added more detail in which would further entice the target audience.
Film Poster Mock Ups
These are our two film poster mock ups. On the left is our first draft in which was far more basic and we were just starting to draft our ideas whereas on the right you can see a far more detailed draft where we developed our idea with more detail and were a lot more certain in how we wanted our poster to appeal to the target audience.
Questionnaire Analysis
After compiling our results from our questionnaire given out to 18 year old and over students like us we began the process of analysing the results to find out what our target audience thinks it will hopefully give us an insight in to what they want in a slasher horror.
1. What is your gender?
This simple first question may have seen pointless but it actually helped us find out what genre were most interested in not only taking part in a questionnaire but were interested in film and horror, thinking it would be male dominated, we were surprised to see a group of females taking part who in fact enjoyed the newer scream like horrors. 10 out of the 15 people questioned were male and so taking a high percentage of the results however as seen below 5 out of 15 were females who were interested in the genre.
2. What age group are you in?
12-16 [ ] 16-18 [ ] 18-24 [ ] 24-30 [ ]
The age group question gave us an idea of what we were basing our film ideas about. When dividing up the age groups even though including the age group of 12-16 it was interesting see that even though the slasher films were rated as 18’s the younger 15 year olds in the lower years were interested after watching many physiological horrors that were rated as 15’s. However two were questioned to gauge what gets younger people scared. The most common age group however was the 16-18 with many of our peers being made up from this. 8 out of 15 of the questionnaire group were from this bracket and were of course more up to date with the genre and sub-genre with many of them referencing the remakes for example the 2009 Friday the 13th, however had not seen the originals, having enjoyed these ones it gave me an idea that they wanted something a bit new, with a quick modern pace. The last 3 questionnaire results came from my older brother and one of our family friends in the 18-30 category, they had seen quite a few horrors and were eager to help out, making their ideas reliable and seem highly truthful. The last result was taken from the 30+ bracket and so had to be my dad, he also like the older bracket seemed helpful in answering the questionnaire, not liking the newer remakes and new slashers he decided to give me a history in his idea of his kind of horror, which I already knew, his love of the Halloween original was obvious and his ideas helped me because he has seen quite a few horrors and slashers in particular.
Once a week [ ] Once every 2 weeks [ ] Once a month [ ] Hardly ever [ ] other [ ]
This question offers the chance for us to see how often see how many people visit the cinema and what they like, at the minute with their being many offers being included for students and young people. So with no surprise it was obvious the 16-18 were the most common cinema goers with ¾ of them saying they went to cinema once a week or at least once a month. Whereas the older participants saw going to the cinema as an event and went so often when they felt like it, not for an activity. This indicates to us that the younger teens these days will more likely to be in the cinema and would see trailers.
Promiscuous Women/Woman [ ] Masked Killer [ ] Blood and Gore [ ]
Interestingly enough male and female attitudes to this differed with the obvious promiscuous women being in films being chosen by most males e.g. the blonde. Which to be fair is very common especially in slashers, however the results from most of the females showed that they would in fact expect lots of blood and gore, and again when looking at the stereotypes of horror this is commonplace. With the two obvious results we should consider their views; blood and gore might be hard to show however it is typical convention and is something we will try to input. The promiscuous woman is a good idea yet without ideas already we don’t think it would be suitable, yet we must consider it because it is a common convention.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
10 people answered this question ‘no’ whilst 5 answered ‘yes.’ These results show that the 3D element isn’t required in order for someone to enjoy a film. It shows that the audience is less concerned with special features but more with the film itself which favour us because it means people still like the simple elements of films and can be just as captivated through quality use of codes and conventions. This will benefit us as we intend on producing a non 3D film, in which follows the codes and conventions of the slasher sub genre of horror effectively.
Horror [ ] Comedy [ ] Thriller [ ]
8 people answered that horror was their favourite genre whereas 3 answered that thriller was their favoured leaving the remaining 5 participants saying comedy was their favourite genre. These results were positive for us as horror is our chosen genre in which we are working within and therefore through these results alone we can clearly see we have a clear target audience in which we can focus on.
The answers to this question varied quite a bit with the different participants varying their answers between the editing features and the use of sound. A lot of people commented on how they were engaged through fast paced editing which captivates them and creates excitement and attention. Others commented on how the use of sound is very significant in attracting them to watch a movie as it’s a powerful feature within a movie so audiences are going to acknowledge it during a trailer. Some people commented on how the characters themselves attracted them to the movie in the way they were presented through mis-en-scene elements such as costume, make up and their general appearance. If a character is presented in a powerful way, it is going to intrigue the target audience to want to find out more information about them. Through analysing the comments about what grabs the target audiences attention to a trailer I am able to construct the film trailer which these features in mind and can implement them effectively, keeping the original features for a slasher film trailer whilst also adding different ideas in which are new and going to further entice the target audience to the film.
Yes [ ] No [ ]
The results to this question were fairly even although 9 people answered ‘yes’ and the remaining 6 answered ‘no.’ This shows that through the setting of a film the audience are able to gain an understanding of the film itself and it can determine whether the film is of any interest to them. This is particular useful in our situation as in horror movies the setting tends to be very original such as the forest or an abandoned house. Therefore to use these settings in an effective technique as horror film lovers can immediately relate to the genre through the setting and that factor alone might have already enticed some members of the target audience to want to watch the film. It provides a clear base or starting point by using a conventional setting for a particular genre, as the media practioner can develop their ideas on a conventional setting following the codes and conventions of the particular sub genre more effectively and also through their own innovation implement some of their own individual ideas which can be used to throw the audience slightly and further intrigue them to the film trailer.
9. If the answer to question 8 (Have you ever gone to see a film purely because of the set out of the trailer?) was yes, what film was it?
10 people answered no to this question, but 5 answered yes. Gagan, said that he had gone to watch the remake of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, because there was good suspense in the trailer. He said that because he knew the outline of the plot, but not the whole story from watching the trailer, he wanted to find out what happens in the end, so therefore decided to go and watch it. I also asked if he thought it was worth going to cinema after he saw the trailer, to which he told he that it was worth it.
10. Out of the films listed below, what would you most want to watch?
Scream [ ] Halloween [ ] Friday 13th [ ] Nightmare on Elm Street Texas
This question was pretty open with people’s opinions being at the heart of it, however the favoured choices would enable us to understand what style they liked, and would help us use the conventions in those films. The most popular choice was Halloween and Friday the 13th, this was not a surprise with many respects to the other classics, Halloween’s original status as a slasher first and its iconic soundtrack as well as many remakes Halloween seemed a fair choice. With 7 people choosing the 1978 classic, we was left with 4 people choosing Friday the 13th interestingly with us this was a favourite with the 3 of us actually viewing both the original and the remake, we were most interested in the story and its location, and was probably something our questionnaire participants might have picked up upon. Scream was the most popular next with 3 females choosing this as mentioned in question 1; they enjoyed the clever and witty killings that involved quite a few female characters e.g. Sidney
There was a mixed reaction to this question, however, around 50% of the people said that they found masked killers the scariest part. This was an important thing to find out for us, as we were contemplating using a masked killer in our trailer/film. Other people suggested that the blood and guts part was what they feared seeing the most, but admitted that they couldn’t look away. A final suggestion for scaryness was the music that was used in the background. They also commented that it created a huge amount of suspense.
12. If you were to make your own trailer for a slasher film, what would be your ideal location?
Haunted House [ ] Woods/Forest [ ] Suburban Area [ ] High Schools [ ]
Not surprisingly, 7 people suggested that the haunted house was the best idea to base the trailer/film. I asked them why they thought this, and they all just simply agreed that it would add to the suspense and eeriness of the trailer. 5 people suggested Woods/Forest, 1 suggested Suburban Area and 2 suggested High Schools. After discussion, we agreed that a haunted house would be a hard place to try and find, so we looked into the Forest idea. We had been looking a lot at Friday 13th, so we thought this would go down well, and we would be able to base our trailer better at this setting, as we have done research into Friday 13th.
Questionnaire
1. What is your gender?
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2. What age group are you in?
3. How often do you go to the cinema?
Once a week [ ] Once every 2 weeks [ ] Once a month [ ] Hardly ever [ ] Other [ ]
4. When you go to see a horror film, what would you expect to see the most?
Promiscuous Women/Woman [ ] Masked Killer [ ] Blood and Gore [ ]
5. Do you think the 3D element makes a film better?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
6. What is your favourite genre of film?
Horror [ ] Comedy [ ] Thriller [ ]
7. What grabs your attention in a film trailer?
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8. Have you ever gone to see a film purely because of the set out of the trailer?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
9. If the answer to question 8 is yes, what film was it?
 |
10. Out of the films listed below, what would you most want to watch?
Scream [ ] Halloween [ ] Friday 13th [ ] Nightmare on Elm Street Texas
11. What do you find scares you the most in horror films e.g. blood and guts?
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12. If you were to make your own trailer for a slasher film, what would be your ideal location?
Haunted House [ ] Woods/Forest [ ] Suburban Area [ ] High Schools [ ]
Tuesday, 4 January 2011
Film Trailer Analysis 3
“Friday the 13th”
“Friday the 13th” is another popular slasher movie in which has attracted a very large target audience. It uses the codes and conventions of slasher movies very effectively and the films narrative is very well structured. You can clearly get the representation of evil and darkness from first impressions of this trailer as the trailer creates tension throughout which really does effectively intrigue the target audience. Right from the beginning where the scene of the lake is set followed by the small house the genre of the film is signalled to the target audience as the location appears in the middle of nowhere. This is extremely common for slasher movies as the location does frequently tend to be somewhere where “no one can hear your screams.” This is effective in adding tension and horror to the situation and makes the victims seem even more vulnerable and the killer more ferocious. There is a profound use of darkness where light seems to act as “the way out” as it often does in many slasher movies as you can see the torch lights being used in the early points in the trailer as well as flashing lights. They offer a way out or contrast to the darkness which represents evil and danger.
The trailer is effective in how it cuts from setting the scene early in the trailer of the lake and the small hut to inside the hut where the first character is featured and the non diagetic sound adds that extra element of mystery. When the scene of the lake was set the sound was peaceful and of birds chirping which is a common convention in slasher film trailers but the sudden cuts to the more intimidating, mysterious background music relates to the darkness which has just entered the trailer. About 20 seconds in there is a medium close up shot of a person pushing a door open in an intimidated, reluctant fashion where the diagetic sound of the door creaking adds extra tension. The shot gives off the impression that something may be lurking in this house and it intrigues the target audience to what horrors lie within. About half a minute into the trailer the young, seemingly innocent girl appears to be running with her torchlight away from something. This is very common among slasher movies where young females are running away from danger as it intrigues the male members of the target audience being as the females are frequently quite attractive. The torchlight is again being shown in the darkness and gives off that distinctive impression of a way out for the girl. The camera use in this shot is also very effective as it shakes in conjunction to her running which is really effective in luring in the target audience as it gives off that impression that the audience can really get a feel for the girls fear.
The films narrative is being unveiled to the target audience slightly as the girl continues to search and be horrified about her situation in which she is stuck in an area with a ferocious killer. This continues throughout the trailer and really does intrigue the target audience into thinking what the horror she is running from is. 40 seconds into the trailer there is a cut into the first strap line of the trailer where the producers name “Michael Bay
There is then a very brief shot due to the fast paced editing as mentioned before of a police officer standing in next to his vehicle with torchlight. This shows how dark and intimidating the location is that even a member of authority needs some sort of light to protect themselves from the darkness. It also replicates danger as the officer would not be there unless something was wrong so the audience can start to understand that the horror is starting to be unveiled. There is then a distinctive shot of the girl running away into the darkness where the camera then zooms in on an old sign which reads, “Camp Crystal Lake
About 70 seconds into the trailer there is finally some action in which reveals “Jason’s” barbaric killing nature. There is a scary, high pitched noise, as the shot cuts to “Jason” approaching the young girl screaming with a weapon. The non diagetic sound in the background almost sounds like a steam train which can relate to “Jason” approaching his victim vigorously at lightening pace. The horrifying nature of the character is finally unveiled to the audience to some extent and very powerfully which is going to grab the audience’s attention. As a member of the target audience you get the impression that “Jason” is a very disturbed character who feels great anger and that he is unleashing this upon these young, innocent victims in an unforgiving, ferocious manner. The trailer only gives a slight insight to the film’s narrative due to the techniques used with the fast paced cuts, not letting the audience think to much about the trailer and let them unravel any mysteries as well as there only being one significant murder shown at the end which still is not certain so therefore there are a lot of question marks about the background to the story. However the location is set very effectively and the characters have been identified clearly enough, which combined with the fast paced action shown in the trailer, is going to entice the target audience. Also there is an ongoing voice over used throughout the trailer of an old lady who talks about “Jason” almost as a disturbed mother which yet again intrigues the target audience as there is no explanation for this technique. The overall representation of the film from the trailer is very powerful as the elements of fear, tension and danger are displayed in a abundance and the trailer manages to keep the audience on the edge of their seat throughout and manages to keep the target audience focused without giving to much away about the films narrative which in itself is a very powerful technique.
Monday, 3 January 2011
Film Trailer Analysis 2
“Halloween”
“Halloween” is one of the most recognised slasher movies to date that is very powerful in luring in its target audience through implementing the codes and conventions of slasher films very effectively. Rob Zombie, the films director, uses a very typical narrative for slasher movies with this film with the main killer escaping from a mental institution where he unleashes chaos on an area where he once lived whilst searching for his sister. Straight away the dark and evil nature of the film is indicated to the target audience as the prominent strap lines are shown with the words, “inside every one of us, there is a dark side” with the diagetic sound being used with the voice over which adds to the dark representation. The voice over is deep, and very blunt which does signify happiness but distress and grave danger and this is accurately portrayed to the target audience. The strap lines immediately give out an evil and dangerous representation of the film which is effective when trying to lure in the target audiences attention.
The location is then shown which is a very typical technique used in slasher film trailers where their appears to be a relatively large house and the action immediately cuts inside where the atmosphere appears dim and evil. Slasher movie lovers can immediately relate to this sort of location as it is a very common convention. Another signal used to indicate the sub genre to the target audience is where the knife appears from the drawer in the house with the distinctive sound occurring as it is drawn which yet again is going to intrigue the target audience. The narrative structure of the trailer is very clear and becomes very apparent as the trailer goes on where throughout there are victims getting killed by a psychopathic killer but it omits the reasoning for this ferocious slashing and leaves question marks for the audience about this killers motives and also about the victims themselves as not to much is given away by the director which is going to lure in the target audience further. The structure is however very conventional for a slasher movie as being a member of the target audience and a slasher movie lover you don’t want to be given too much information about the narrative as you want to get more from the film itself and its terror which can be illuminated if the trailer is not effective nevertheless the structure of this trailer is very effective in adding the sense of mystery, darkness and grave danger.
Throughout watching the trailer the audience can pick up on the effective use of mis-en-scene elements that further intrigue the target audience. The use of colour and lighting in this trailer is very strong and distinctive as the entire trailer appears relatively dark and dim which almost no sunlight which gives off a very clear impression about the film itself being dark and dangerous where light acts almost as a way out in contrast to the darkness representing great evil. At the end of the trailer when the house is shown yet again from a medium-long shot there is light outside and the girl appears to try and get out only to be pulled back into the darkness of the house by the ferocious killer which is very effective in creating tension and further intrigue for the target audience. At the start of the trailer for about the first minute the shots are very strategic in that the audience cannot gain a clear representation of the characters due to the shots not showing their facial expressions which makes it harder for the audience to understand the characters within. 24 seconds into the trailer the shot of the character pulling the knife out from the kitchen cupboard is shown where there is a clear pull focus on the knife as the director wants the audience to understand the brutal nature of the film with this weapon being used to devastating effect. Half a minute into the trailer the horror becomes evident as there are brief shots through quick editing showing the killer in a mask with the prolific weapon evidently slaying their victims which is very conventional among slasher movie trailers where an insight to the horrifying nature of the film is indicated. This is followed by the trailer slowing down yet again as another situation unfolds before the girl realises she’s in danger from the killer and screams where yet again the editing speeds up. This is effectively used by the director as it keeps grabbing the audience’s attention and focused on the trailer. The girls in the trailer featured appear to be relatively young with long hair and attractive to members of the target audience which is a common technique used in slasher movies to keep the male members of the audience interested so therefore they are common victims in slasher films.
About 45 seconds into the trailer the strap line of “pure evil” appears as the voice over continues where in the background the mask of the killer is shown in the darkness which is an interesting technique as you can relate the strap line to the killer easier and further add horror to this psychopathic character. After this, the film unravels a lot more for the target audience as the voice over that is featured throughout the trailer appears to be the psychopathic killer as this becomes clearer in the trailer as it goes on. The killer is shown putting on his mask and then shown with its blank expression of evil which is very effective in giving the audience a clearer representation of this traumatic killer. The cutting goes on from here to become very quick as the killer is identified to the audience so some of the events in which the killer is involved in become apparent towards the end of the trailer. For example the killer appears to take a girl from a car and also carry one away into the darkness where the poor girl’s fate seems inevitable as the personality of this psychopathic killer becomes all the more interesting to the target audience. There are constant flashes in the trailer that show not just one but many young girls being either killed or taken and the tension increases throughout the trailer. Right near the end of the trailer, at about 70 seconds, there is a very clever shot which shows the killer behind the unaware, innocent girl who is seemingly showering as she appears half naked in the house. Then right at the end of the trailer once the film name has been announced through the strap line there is a still shot of the house for about 3 seconds. Tension is very high at this point as there is no sound when suddenly the young girl featured in the shot half naked appears trying to escape before the killer pulls her bag into the house. The director has linked the shots very well and the audience can appreciate the horror in which the victims are in for through shots like these. The small element of nudity is also going to further intrigue the male members of the target audience as combining young, attractive women with violence and horror is going to grab their attention very effectively.
There is a strong use of non diagetic sound throughout the trailer as there is a voiceover of a male voice which is deep and husky which is very effective in creating tension and that element of evil. This voiceover mainly applied to the strap lines which featured throughout the trailer although there was background music in which didn’t have much of an impression towards the beginning of the trailer although as the trailer went on the music became more immanent where the sound gave the impression of evil lurking around every corner. There is the common exaggerated use of sound which is frequent in slasher movies as the knife is drawn during the beginning of the trailer, which is effective in raising the audience’s awareness of the knife and understand the horror and danger it brings to the film. About a minute into the trailer the killer is represented for the first time very clearly in its mask and the voiceover changes to what appears to be the killers’ creepy voice. The sound is non diagetic although the sound was very relevant to the scene in the trailer and effective to a large extent as the representation of the killer is getting further built on so the target audience can understand the horrific nature of this killer through hearing its voice and being able to get a clear representation of the killer. You could argue that too much is given away of the killers’ representation as its appearance has been shown and voice is seemingly correlated to the scene nevertheless the ruthless nature of the killer still leaves question marks as the trailer didn’t give much away about the narrative itself, it only showed very brief clips of the killer in action but no explanation of these ruthless murders which is going entice the target audience.
The editing compliments the narrative structure of the film itself being a mixture of fast paced and slow edits that compliment the trailer and add elements of tension and horror combined with the strong use of diagetic sound from the girls in agony screaming throughout the trailer.
Through watching the trailer throughout you can gain an appreciation for how the director has used the different cuts at different points. The shots are shown for longer when the director wants the audience to understand part of the location which is effective for setting the scene such as 18-22 seconds into the trailer where the cuts are slow as you can see the house and the girl in her room. This contrasts later in the trailer where the killer starts getting ferocious and his movements are quicker as he seemingly murders his victims. The fast paced edits are in conjunction with these apparent murders which is effective in not giving too much away to the audience but also adding a new dimension of fear for them. Half a minute into the trailer, there is a shot of the killer approaching a young girl sitting down from behind and as he attacks her with three quick movements the cuts correspond to this with three quick cuts as well as the non diagetic sound adding three distinctive noises. This is a very strong technique combining these elements because it adds tension, a great sense of danger and horror to the trailer and is therefore going to grab the audience’s attention further. The camera use is very effective when focusing on the murder weapon being the knife as there are two significant pull focus’ which want to stand out to the target audience with one being right before an attack, which is clever as the knife seemingly ‘tells the story’ of what horror is going to unfold next. 54 seconds into the trailer the camera unveils the killer from a close up shot from a still camera shot which adds the element of evil and danger to the killers’ representation. Before this was a slight low angle shot of the killer from a mid shot range which yet again gives the impression of power to the killer and shows the target audience that the killer is in control in this film.
In conclusion to the “Halloween” trailer you can clearly see that it has implemented all the significant conventions of a slasher movie and to a very powerful extent. The codes and conventions are followed through the implementation of quality techniques which give off the impression of fear and terror. The narrative structure of the film is reflected very clearly in the trailer itself, being a fast paced, action packed movie where a psychopathic, ferocious killer seeks revenge. Through analysing the poster, I believe the use of sound and editing is the greatest compliment to the trailer and the most powerful in enticing and grabbing the audience’s attention. The strong voice over’s used throughout the trailer are conventions of slasher movies but not to common due to the fact that they sometimes can hinder the trailers performance although in the trailer the technique is used very powerfully and effectively. It adds that extra dimension to the trailer which keeps the audience focused on the trailer as the voice over’s relate very clearly to the action in the trailer. The use of camera in the trailer is also very effective, especially with the way in which it focused on specific elements such as the location and the weapon to really give the target audience a horrifying and deadly representation of the situation of the film which it gave to great extent.
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