Poster analysis

Click on the picture to see my analysis of the poster.

Magazine analysis

Click on the picture to see my analysis of the magazine cover.

Magazine analysis

Click on the picture to see my analysis of the magazine cover.

Poster analysis

Click on the picture to see my analysis of the poster.

Teaser Trailer

Ancillary Text: Movie Magazine

Ancillary Texts: Movie Poster

Original Photos for Magazine

This is the original photo that I used for my magazine cover and then manipulated within photoshop.

(Click on the picture to make it bigger)

Original Photos for Poster

These are the original photos that I used in my poster, I then manipulated both of these within photoshop.

(Click on the Pictures to make them bigger)

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Our trailer has used many horror conventions that real horror trailers use. Here I have shown nine freeze frames from our trailer and existing horror trailers, to compare the use of techniques on our trailer to others. (Click on the pictures to see them bigger) 

1. We have used a monster with a mask that classic films such as, 'Halloween' and 'Friday the 13th' have used. We used a mask as it creates uncertainy for the viewer because they don't know what the killer looks like, this creates mystery.

2. This shows a close up of a wounded victim, a key convention of horror is to show the gore close up so the audience see something they havent before and are shocked by the effect produced.

3. This shows people being tied up, we chose to emulate the scene in 'Eden lake', as it shocked and horrified us as we saw it so we wanted to achieve the same effect with our trailer.

4. This shows the protagonist in full focus with the monster in the background, so the audience feel threatened for the character and scared to see what will happen. We found this effect creepy and chilling so chose to include it in our trailer.

5. We decided to use hand-held camera to get a shakey feel, like in 'The blair witch project', as we found that it disorientates the audience and gives the feeling of chaos.

6. Extreme close ups are a key convention of the horror genre, so we decided to show an ecu of an eye as this is the part of the body that gives the most character and can give emotion easily.

7. We decided to 'get in the face' of the character. The close up seems uncomfortable and forced into the face, which makes the audience feel uncomfy to watch it. It also shows emotion on the characters face.

8. Another key convention of horror is low key lighting and weird angled lightings to make shadows and unusual images. Our trailer used low key lighting in the car, but a bar of light on her eyes to resemble being imprisoned behind bars from the killer and it also highlights her eyes which are important in this scene as they look at the mirror which sees the killer for the first time.

9.We used the camera technique of placing the camera on the floor next to a laying body. This created a weird angle which isn't conventional to normal films but works in the horror genre because it breaks the rules and looks creepy.

    Our trailer uses forms and conventions of real media products in many different ways. Official teaser trailers are usually between 60 - 90 seconds. Ours is just over 60 seconds, so this agrees with the usual convention of a teaser trailer. Our trailer does not provide a release date for the film and in most cases neither do real teaser trailers. This is because they may not know the date yet because it is early on in production and the release is normally announced during the theatrical trailer. The first sequence keeps continuity and is there to tell the initial story and stage the equillibrium within the story. After this is established we decide to show short shots that use horror conventions to tease the audience into wanting to see the film, which is a key convention of the teaser trailer. A theatrical trailer would give more of the plot away but I found that teaser trailers made more of a confusion to what was happpening and pose questions so that the audience would want to find out what happened and why them certain shots were used. However, I think that this anti-continuity approach to the second half of the trailer lacks in identification with the protagonist. The first sequence sets up identification with the progonist because we see her in a vulnerable situation, however, she rarely features in the second half and doesn't centre enough around the protagonist. The narrative is also an imprtant part of our teaser trailer. The first sequence is there to set up the initial plot line and make people guess what will happen. We also gave away details of the plot line within the intertitles. However, we chose to disclose what happens later in the film, who the other characters are and what happens to the protagonist in the end. We chose to do this because it makes the audience want to know what happens, which may result in them seeing the film at the cinema. If we were to show these details in the trailer then the audience wouldn't need to see the film to answer their questions.

Another convention of teaser trailers that we used was with the intertitles. In real trailers the intertitles are split up, so that the first line sets a normal situation up and then the second turns this around to make the whole sentence sound evil/sinister. In our case our first line is 'Beauty is only skin deep'. This gives plot information, as our victims are models, however, it isnt evil and is a common phrase used. The second line is 'A knife goes in deeper'. This second line makes the whole phrase sound evil and makes it more like horror, it is a play on words that gives clues to the killers motives for the killings and is extremely ambiguous. This use of intertitles carries the viewer along and 'spoon feeds' them information that helps them understand the basic themes and narrative of the movie.

    Our trailer also uses horror conventions that many real media products use. We chose that the antagonist should wear a mask as we found that this connoted horror, evil and something unknown and chilling because it provides a mystery to what he person is hiding. I also found that when light was on the mask it made interesting shadows which added to the disfigurement of the face. We used gory parts because blood connotes horror and we also found many horror trailers that used gore and blood to shock the audience, so this is why we attempted to do that. We used many angles that horror frequently uses. The very first shot of the car breaks the 180 degree rule but we decide to do this intentionally because frequently in horror the rules are broken as it gives the audience a sense of disorientation and something out of the ordinary. We used high angles over the dead bodies to show that they were inferior. We also used a shot on the dead body with the camera lying on the floor facing towards the body, this is a strange angle to see and creates a weird look.

     In the trailer, we use many extreme close ups and close ups because they are a key convention of horror. We have close ups of faces that are clearly in pain, this makes the audience feel uncomfortable and puts them into the viewpoint of the character and we as an audience empaphise with them. The extreme close ups give the audience confusion and makes them want to know why these certain shots have been used. It also provides detail to the character.We also have a shot that provides a good depth of field, a victim is tied to a tree and the killer appears behind her without her knowing. This gives the audience a sense of unease because we know that it is there and feel sympathy for the victim as we dont know what happens.

    We decided to use the shakey camera technique for our trailer when the protagonist is running away from the killer. This provides a sense of chaos and makes the viewer unsettled. The hand held camera is a convention of horror that is used frequently in real media products, like 'The Blair witch project'.

During the chase sequence we used a point of view shot from the monster as this is a common technique used in horror movies.

   

    Another convention of horror is the use of binary oppisites. In our trailer we have the fight of good and evil which shows the oppisition in the characters. In the camera sequence we have our characters in a model scenario and then these shots are juxtaposed with their dead bodies, this also shows the oppisites of themselves and can resemble a bigger theme to the film. This juxtaposition and oppisition is used frequently in horror movies and trailers, out trailer does this well as these shots shock the audience because the initial shot is innocent and then it is turned to death.

    The soundtrack of a horror trailer is effective when it creates build up and creates an eerie atmosphere. I think that our trailer does created an eerie and scary feel, however this is no sense of build up in the latter stages when the editing pace becomes quicker, This slow start matches the slow piano, so therefore the quick editing should be matched by fast paced music. I think that this makes the shocking images less shocking because they aren't emphasised by the music.

   This overall collaboration of conventions of the genre help market the film because the teaser trailer shows key conventions and signifiers of the genre so that the audience will know about the film and horror fans will know that this is a horror film instead of, for example, a thriller which can sometimes be confused.

How effective is the combinaition of your main product and ancillary texts?

      My teaser trailer and poster both work together to promote our film. The teaser trailer aims to 'tease' the viewer into wanting to see more, it gives a vague outline of the plot and then shots to 'wow' people and want to see the film, making the trailer a vital part of promoting the film. The trailer has to stand out as it has to compete with so many other trailers are shown in cinemas and distributors have to produce over 3,000 copies to circulate to cinemas. The poster incorporates the trailer well as it shows the killer that is shown throughout the trailer, and the tagline also gives key references to the movies' plot line. However, the tagline could further reinforce the advertising campaign by being the same as any of the inter-titles because this would make the two products advertise each other and further reinforce the narrative idea and a movie 'motif'. For example, my tagline could have been: 'Beauty is only skin deep'. So if I was to improve my poster then this would be the area in which I targeted. This comparison is shown by the two pictures either side of the text.

   It is also talking to the audience so it makes them feel that they are involved with the whole experience. The poster is also a vital part of promoting the film. The film 'Four weddings and a funeral' paid nearly 100 million dollars to have their poster in New York times square. This shows that the poster is an important factor for companies to promote their film. I think the image of the mask on the poster would catch peoples attention and want to look at the poster and may lead to them seeing the film. It would also create mystery because usually on a poster the star of the film is utilised, for example: the film 'Seven pounds' stars Will Smith who is one of the biggest actors in present day, the poster for this film uses only an image of him because of the great interest in him. The poster could be the first way of the audience being exposed to advertising whicvh would consequently make them intrigued to watch the trailer and find more out about the film. They may even go on to the film's website, where the company has made a website to create publicity for the film and stars, to find out more about the film. The website would also include the poster and trailer and may also have links to websites of magazines that cast and the movie have been in, and other publicity items.

The mask therefore would create mystery and the audience may want to know who is playing the killer and consequently see the film. This would all create a lot of word of mouth as well, which is the most effective way that a film is marketed and advertised. By creating mystery, shocks and showing the best shots of the film will create positive word of mouth which will create a great hype for the film. The combination of the mask shown in the poster and small shots of it in the trailer would create hype for the mystery, it was important to our group while producing the teaser trailer to not show the masked killer too frequently in the trailer. This was because it made the killer an enigma but at the same time teased them into knowing the look of the killer but not any information.

      The magazine also promotes the movie but is less important as it is not in the hands of the company who make the film and aids the publicity part of the campaign. The movies marketing campaign would allow journalists, newspapers etc to interview cast and crew from the movie because then they would be publicised which would advertise the film. A magazine would be publicity for the film, however not produced by the film's company but is a result of the companies involvement with advertising the product. My magazine shows an interview with an actress in the film so people would see the interview and want to watch the film because they relate to the actress or are just interested in the film because it's in their favourite magazine. I believe that being shown in a film magazine of the style that my magazine is helps promote the movie. The movie is about models being murdered, and the actress shown on the front of the magazine is a model in the movie, thus the style of the magazine makes her look like a fashion icon and a role model for people to model themselves on. By being on the front of a magazine the film will get advertised in a different way than the poster and trailer. These two will be shown in cinemas, bus stops, billboards etc. However, the magazine will be seen in shops which is extremely useful because that means a consumer of any product will see the front of the magazine even if they dont buy it. People may skim the front covers and see whats in the magazine and then believe that the best film out at the moment is shown on the front cover. This reinforces the idea of word of mouth and means that a large majority of the population will see atleast one of the three products.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

We performed a screening session of our trailer in one lesson of our target range to receive feedback on the positive and negative parts of the trailer.

Positive
Teaser trailer
  From the feedback we received we found that people found that our trailer set the narrative up well because of the establishing sequence and then after this the different shots linked well together and there were no shots that were unclear why they were there. A frequent positive was that pace of editing was good for a trailer as it started of slow and from middle to end consisted of short shots which made the pace fast and used conventions of a real teaser trailer. We also found that people liked the seperation of the inter-titles as this is a normal convention of the teaser trailer and they helped with the understanding of plot.

Horror conventions
People also thought that the mise-en-scene of the trailer was effective because all shots were dark and lighted darkly. The constant use of blood looked real and was effective because it signified horror and death, and the gore/torture scenes were the most favourite and memorable of the trailer. We found that our use of close ups of faces in distress were powerful and showed a lot of detail. We had a lot of feedback postively saying that the use of a handheld camera was effective and the shakey feel made the pace seem faster and more chaotic. They also said that the angles we used while filming looked professional and contributed conventions of the horro genre, for example, in the continuity sequence at the start they said that it flowed together and the match on actions worked well and it looked like a professional sequence.


Negative
Teaser trailer

   Our main criticism was that the soundtrack lacked development. The audience said that the music fitted well with the opening sequence because it was creepy and the editing was slow paced. However, it didnt develop and as the editing pace quickens so should the soundtrack. This is something we would change if we were to do it again as it would make the overall piece more effective and scary. People also found that the camera sounds in the soundtrack were played too much however the concept of the idea was interesting and original. Numerous people said that the close up of the eye at the end of the trailer didnt fit with the rest of the trailer and after the fast pace of the editing the slow motion shot seemed out of place.

Horror conventions

 There were no negative criticisms, about the horror conventions in our trailer, in the review session that we did.

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Blogger: We have used blogger throughout the year to show our progress of learning the horror genre and conventions, and conventions of a teaser trailer. It is extremely to use and is very useful as it allows me to show my work in a more interesting way and it keeps up with todays technological world. Blogger has helped me through all the stages of this course as I have been able to blog my findings in planning, research, construction, evaluation and of course, my final product and ancillary texts. Blogger was more helpful as a way of showing my coursework than an essay because it was easy to show visual annotations of images and I was able to show teaser trailers that I had studied, whereas in an essay this would have been impossible. It was also useful when evaluating my products because I was able to show pictures of all the technology I used and I could easily compare our teaser trailer to other real media products. However, an essay would have enabled me to create an arguement about the advantages and disadvantages of the software and my production of a teaser trailer, whereas this is difficult with different blog posts that just show information.

Photoshop CS4: I used photoshop to create my ancillary texts, where it is easy to manipulate how images look to make them look more horrific and professional. It has also helped me in the evaluation stages. I have been able to produce montages of images to show what technology I have used and certain shots from our trailer and an existing trailer.

Garage Band: We used Garage band to manipulate audio files, such as booms and text message tones and then export them to Final cut pro.

Final Cut Pro: Final cut pro is where the trailer was the software we used to upload our footage, edit the footage, produce titles and add effects (such as brightness and contrast and colour corrector). We used the effects frequently to darken our footage to make it more like night time to make it scarier. We did this by lowering the brightness and changing the contrast accordingly and then adding blue into the colour of the image to create a night glow. We also used fades and the cut/splicing tools that final cut pro provides to edit our footage into a teaser trailer. In the screenshot of Final Cut Pro, you can see the timeline of the trailer with the layers of sound and images. This shows how simple it was to use and made it easy to link sounds to image and navigate our way around the trailer during editing.

Flickr: I have used the website Flickr throughout the course to make my blog posts more interactive and more engaging. Flickr has allowed me to explain images in a more interactive way, so that when the mouse is hovered over an image my explanation of this image will appear. It has been extremely useful when showing parts of official trailers that I have liked and then explaining why this may be. This helped make my research much more efficient as when looking back at certain shots etc that I liked in trailers I could easily see them and why I would use them.

Youtube: Youtube has allowed me to be able to watch existing trailers and then analyse them which helped me enormously while I was researching the horror genre and trailer conventions. It has also helped me in my evaluation stages because i was able to get screenshots of different shots to put into my montage. Also because it is a Web 2.0 website we were able to upload out trailer to Youtube, enabling our trailer to be seen by a wide audience.

Video Camera: We used a video camera to film our footage, we had handheld cameras that could be attached to tripods for steady use and could also be used without that created a shakey image that we used as it is a horror convention because it disorientates the audience. We had sepperate uploader cameras that allowed us to connect it to the Apple Mac computers and then retrieve our footage.

Apple Mac Computers: We used Apple Macs throughout the year for all work done on the internet and in the software shown already. This type of computer has made the production process much easier because Final Cut Pro and Garageband are both products of apple computers, so we were able to use both of these pieces of software.

Still Camera: I used a still camera to take still images for my ancillary texts which provided a better quality then getting a screenshot from our movie. I also used the camera to take pictures of our group's storyboards.

Tripod: We used tripods to fit the camera on so we could pan, tilt and keep the camera steady. This enabled us to achieve a higher quality final product.

Click on the picture to see it bigger.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/49018070@N02/4494110021/

Click on the link to see my analysis of the Final Cut Pro screenshot and how it works.

Preperation for horror gore

In one we lesson we learnt to recreate wounds, cuts, grazes, sick, bullet shots for our teaser trailer. Below are some pictures of some efforts to recreate a bullet wound and a cut. (Click on the pictures to see them bigger)

To recreate blood we used the non-alcoholic drink: Grenadine. This had the right consistency of blood, a nice vibrant blood colour and tasted nice. it also did not burn your skin unlike tomato ketchup. We made the wound by using latex and building up fake skin in a cut shape then filling that in with black eyeliner to make it have depth. this was then filled in with the Grenadine.

To recreate sick we were told to use  porridge oats and water, as this tasted nice and looked like real sick. For bullet shots we were told to put a little amount of greanadine in a small plastic bag that would have air in it so it could be burst and made to look like someone had been shot.

Storyboards

We created storyboards so that we went onto set we could easily remember what shots we needed and how they looked. Some shots that we pictured at the start and put on our storyboard were deleted because we changed our mind during filming and found shots that we liked better. Pictures of these storyboars are shown below. (Click on the pictures to make them bigger).

Planning and Distribution

Planning a release:

Disrtibutors must consider the timing of the release of their film carefully to optimise it's chances of success.

• Firstly, they must work out their target audience which then leads to a 'guestimation' of what the film will earn. This will then affect how much they invest into releasing the film.
• More than half of 15-24 year olds visit the cinema atleast once a month, so it is vital to attract these people but also try to attract a wider range of people as well.
• Pre-screenings can help distributors guge the kind of people that will go to the film to help them work out a budget.
• Other than these reasons, distributors take into account many other reasons for a release date. Competition is a big issue with distributors, it is important to know what films are being released the same week and whether they have the same target audience. Films have changed their release date due to bigger films being released on the same day.
• They must take into account whether it is an event film or a specialised film.
• Whether the film includes a star and how well they did in there last couple of films will dramatically change distributors perspective. The same applies for a director.
• Whether cast members are avaliable to attend premieres, because a star will attract attention at premieres which will make more publicity for the film.
• If it is a holiday film distributors will release the film during school holidays as they are the main cinema goers so they have more chance of these people going to the cinema.
• The award ceremonies cant boost a film dramatically, if the film is released just after it has won numerous awards it is more likely to get an audience than if it was released before.
• Distributors must also take into account whether they should do a saturated release or staggered. A staggered release could be more beneficial because the countries who see the film first will create a buzz via word of mouth for those that havent seen the film yet. However, a saturated release could prevent bad word of mouth from happening.
• Many cinemas now have digital screens so distributors must take this into account because they are much cheaper to make than the standard 35mm copies (around 10% of the cost).
• After all this, the distributor watches the film and plans the release date. The distributors in the UK pay for marketing, printing, the launch and susatinging the films budget post-release.

Film marketing and publicity:

The marketing of a film will greatly affect the outcome of the film, a good marketing plan can make the film receive box office success.

• It is the job of the marketing plan to create a buzz about the film so that the hype for the film peaks when the film is released.
• The biggest way of marketing a film is through word of mouth. This could be created through pre-screenings, to let few people see the film and then tell people how good or bad the film was.
• They must consider their audience because different age groups react to advertisements in different ways. Older people generally respond to advertisements in the press or on the television. However, a younger audience will see the film more online, on radio stations, bilboards and bus shelters.
• The posters aim is to catch peoples attention and make the viewer want to know more about the film. Stars can be extremely influential on a poster because fans will not want to miss out on a film including their star.
• The trailer is aimed to 'whet peoples whistle' with little footage from the film and entice them to see more. The teaser trailer which is usually made while still in production is made to get peoples awareness of the film early on by showing the best parts of the movie with little plot.
• Most films have their own official website which contains trailers, photos, interviews with the cast etc. This helps build the awareness of the film from a very early stage.
• It is essential for members of the cast to be seen in interviews and chat shows to promote the film.
• Some films have special on-se visits for competition winners which can put the film into the limelight.
• Tie-in merchadising can help a film enormously. For example, Jaws was the first films to majorally use tie-in merchadising, with t-shirts, mugs etc promoting the film as well as posters and trailers.
• Some films have made educational cd's to advertise their film. 'The boat that rocked' released cd's all over england for educational purposes only, therefore advertising their film to a young audience.

Licensing films to exhibitors:

A big consideration when distributing a film is where the film should play.

• Cinemas will play films because they have to play a wide range of different films, while others will chose the film due to their geographical placement.
• After the first weekend of playing the distributors will have a meeting with the exhibitors and discuss screen avaliability. This is because there are usually nine or ten new releases each week to contend with, or maybe some previews are planned for the next week.
• The distributors have to sell the film to the exhibitors with a screening and present release dates and advertising plans.

Our group's horror idea

After discussing all our ideas this is the idea we have decided to work on.


Ria, a typical teenage girl from the small town of lowestoft, was spending the evening at her boyfriend's house. At about half midnight, Ria decided it was time to leave as they both had to be up early that morning. She said her goodbyes, got in her car, turned her music up and began her 25 minute journey home. She was singing away and tapping her thumbs on the the steering wheel when something in her rear-view mirror caught her eye. Her head sparply turned towards it and she had a closer inspection, nothing was there. She shook it off and carried on driving. Wary of what she saw, she turned down her music. As she drove along the deserted, dark roads, she could feel soft, warm air blowing her hair forward on the right hand side of her face. She frantically checked that all of the windows and doors were fully shut, they were. She couldn't understand where this warm air was coming from, she turned her music off. She began to hear faint sounds of someone breathing near her head. She inhaled deeply through her nose, her eyes widened and she pulled over immediately. She got out of the car straight away without even turning behind her to look in the backseat, she turned off the ignition and slammed the door. She figured if there was something or someone in her car that she would be able to see them through the window, and at least then she would be outside of the car. Her palms sweating, she looked closely through the window, she saw nothing, she opened the boot, she saw nothing. She slammed the boot shut and looked back along the road she had driven down, she put her hands on her hips as she breathed a sigh of relief. Before she knew it, she heard her engine start, she whipped around and watched her car be driven into the woods nearby. In a desperate attempt to get her precious car back and without further thought, she found herself sprinting as fast as she could after her car. The ground was bumpy and uneven and as she tried to keep up with the car she stumbled. She didn't give in, she could hear the sound of her cars engine so she knew it wasn't far away. She thought maybe the driver had freaked out, left the car and ran off, why could she still hear the car? As she got closer the car got louder and she could see the headlights peering through the branches. She finally got to her car and was horrified at what she saw and was possibly about to happen to her...

Horror movie idea

Heres my pitch or an unnamed horror movie.

A man named Jake arrives at a quaint old cottage in the countryside, he is there to buy some jewellery from an old woman after purchasing them on ebay. As he enters the house he notices that there is an awful smell, similar to burning flesh but puts this thought to the back of his mind. The old woman settles him down and says she will be back in five minutes as she needs to get the jewellry.

After ten minutes of silence Jake gets up to investigate and he can not find the woman anywhere in the house. However, he is intrigued by a certain room as the smell he smelt earlier is coming strongly from there. He tries to open it but it is locked. He then searches the neighbouring room and finds a strange collection of clown masks. As he bends down to look closer, he hears a high pitch cackle behind him and turns round to see the old woman with a clown mask on and she repeatedly stabs him eventually killing him. After weeks, a friend of jakes is deeply worried by his disappearance and goes to the cottage as this is the last place he was known to go. Will Jakes body be found? will we find out what was in the locked room?

I can't think of a resolution for this idea, but i believe it is a good starting point to a movie.

Target audience research results

Are you male or female?

14 - Male

14 - Female

Do you like horror? (Male)

Yes - 11

No - 3

Do you like horror? (female)

Yes - 7
No - 7

Do you like horror? (overall)

Yes - 18
No - 10

What type of horror do you like?

What settings do you like?

The results answered other were warehouses and abandoned buildings.

Mood Board

mood board
Originally uploaded by Jordan Brett

What are some of the key conventions of the horror genre?

The horror genre has many conventions that make it very distinguishable and unique from any other genre. However, it is not only conventions that make it a genre, more of an expectation between the audience and institutions. The key conventions of any genre are: settings, technical code, iconography, narrative structure, character types and themes.
The setting of a horror genre is normally an isolated place, more rural than an inner city. In this isolated place there will usually be an abandoned house, or a place of significance to the killer which they want to return to. This is true to the film, ‘Halloween’ where the killer returns to his first home to murder more people. It is also true of ‘The Shining’, where they are left to run a hotel by themselves, leading to the Jack to become insane. Usually the house will have different levels; this is linked to the psychologist Freud’s analysis of the brain (http://shrinkwrapped.blogs.com/blog/2006/03/the_return_of_t.html), where he says that at the bottom is the unconscious where we repress bad feelings. This transposes to horrors as usually something evil or a secret is kept in the basement of the house. Horror also is sometime set in a mental hospital or the killer has escaped from one, this is shown in ‘Halloween’ also as after killing his sister Mike Myers is sent to a mental hospital but then breaks out to return to his old neighbourhood.

The camera work in a horror is often expressive and not naturalistic as to make the audience feel that the film isn’t natural and is visually and mentally disfiguring. Directors use weird high and low angles, and also a lot of canted angles to make the audience disorientated. Extreme close ups are used so that the audience identify and feel sympathy for the victims and they also exclude the monster from the frame so we are left to wonder where they/it are. One of the most common camera techniques in horror is the point of view shot. The audience is put into the monster’s eyes so we can see the victim and it also raises issues about we, as an audience, identify with. Another main camera technique used is using the depth of frame to show the protagonist in the foreground and the monster appearing in the background to add to suspense and tension. The editing can also connote danger, if there is a sudden change of pace in the editing from slow editing, then the audience knows something is going to happen.

The iconography of a film is a clear signifier of the genre. In horror the colours red and black both connote darkness, evil and blood. The lighting of a horror creates weird shapes and un-naturalistic/expressive lighting which make people and objects look disfigured. Mise-en-scene would also signify clearly to the audience what the genre of the film would be, in the horror genre the mise-en-scene would consist of weapons (mostly knives), blood, supernatural objects and religious items. Horror normally has iconography of childhood and innocence as they are a binary opposite of evil, so horror plays on this and develops sinister atmospheres by using dolls, fairgrounds, nursery rhymes and children.

The narrative of a horror film is similar to others as it has the classic Hollywood narrative structure, although they may be false endings and the real ending left open because then they can make a sequel or to suggest a mythical quality of the monster. The genre also uses a lot of ‘red herrings’ which are things that make you think something is going to happen but then doesn’t, these are used a lot in horror films to provide more tension. The structure of a ‘Slasher’ film is very formulaic, like the film ‘Halloween’, the killer has a psychotic background and returns to a certain location on a certain anniversary to kill people, the victims are usually immoral teenagers with one sensible female who survives.

The main protagonist of a horror film is normally a victim/hero, where they are targeted throughout the film as a victim but eventually survives. Monsters are normally made into a killer by psychotic earlier events or in the case of ‘The Shining’ they are driven psychotic by isolation. The victims are normally young and mostly stupid teenagers and driven by sex. Children are often a victim or the protagonist of a horror film, relating back to the binary opposites where children are indicated as innocence. Usually in horror films the law are useless and will not catch the criminal, this adds to the tension of the movie as we think there is no way out for the victims.

Normally a main theme of horror is that science is out of control. In ‘Frankenstein', (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tTNN5h8CG_Y), this is true as the professor Frankenstein makes a monster; this was part of the mad scientist stage of the horror movies and is a key theme of most horrors. Murders in horrors are also linked to sex a lot, which is true of ‘Halloween’ as the victims are killed when they have or are having sex.

Overall, there are key signifiers of a genre, but many things overlap with other genres so it is hard to pin down certain conventions of each genre and films cannot contain every single set of conventions so we have our own expectations that make up a genre.

Friday the 13th

The genre of the trailer is clearly identified as a horror movie, a clear signifier of this is that the trailer uses low key lighting throughout. The producer's and director's name is given through intertitles. The producer is Michael Bay, so this makes fans of his work want to come and see this film. The director is the same director as 'The texas chainsaw massacre', so fans of this film will also want to see the film. The name of the film is given at the end of the trailer, the 13 part of the title changes colour to red which is a sign of blood and danger. The release date is the last thing we see, this also reiterates the movie title which is 'Friday the 13th'.

There is narration throughout the trailer but from the diagesis of the movie. The killer's mother is speaking about her son, her voice is chilling and adds a creepy feel to the trailer.

There is no music to the trailer but sound effects manage to create tension and disturb the viewer. There are constant uses of screaming, bangs and creaky noises which all make the watcher scared.

Friday 13th
Originally uploaded by Jordan Brett

Click on the above to see my brief analysis of mise-en-scene of a still in Friday the 13th.

Triangle

The Omen

The trailer clearly indicates that it is a horror movie, this is because the use of red clothing signifes evil and the sound is creepy as is it just a squeaky swing.
The name of the trailer is not revealed and neither are any production values.
There isn't any music for the majority of the scene only the sound of a creaky swing is used. But when the child looks at the camera there are long held notes to emphasise his unnatural, chilling stare. There is use of inter-titles at the end of the trailer, these explain that the release date is on 06/06/06, the number of the devil.

The Omen
Originally uploaded by Jordan Brett

Click on the above picture to read my brief analysis of the mise-en-scene.

Saw VI Teaser Trailer

The genre of the trailer is clearly identified as a torture-porn movie, this is because of the people screaming and the torture chambers shown. The name of the movie is given at the end.

No star or director names are shown and no special effects are shown in the trailer.

The trailer gives away glimpses of torutre, which will make the target audience interested to see: how they got there, what happens when they are there and how they get away from their captors.

The music builds tension throughout with the use of drums and string insturments, they both climax after a crescendo when the movie title is given, leaving the audience wanting to see more.

There is no real dialogue in the trailer, there is alot of screaming, to show the intensity of the film. There is no voice-over to the film, but the use of inter-titles instead. The inter-titles are all '6' something e.g '6 choices', this fits in with the movie title as it is the 6th movie in the Saw franchise. These inter-titles make the audience want to go watch the film because it makes them want to know what the chances, lessons and choices are going to be.

The Shining

Vladamir Propp was a theorist who, after watching many films, noticed a pattern within them all and created typical charecter roles and narrative structure.



The Shining (Stanely Kurbrick 1980) has many of Propp's features, firstly the character roles:

The Villain and False Hero: This is Jack. He fits both of these descriptions because to begin with we see him obtaining a job as a normal man, we are led to believe that he will be the hero. But later on in the film Jack breaks down and starts to become pyschologically distressed eventually trying to murder his family, this is why he ends up the villain.



The Hero/Victim: This is Danny. We are first led to believe this when we find out he has a magical telepathic ability called 'The Shining'. He is also the victim of Jack's abuse and murderous attacks.



The Hero/Victim: This is also Wendy. She is more of a victim than a hero to begin with, as she seems vulnerable. But eventually we see that she is stronger than we think, by hitting jack with a baseball bat and locking him up and then avoiding being killed by him by slashing his hand with a knife.



The Helper: This is Chef, Dick Hallorann. He is the helper because he tries to come to the rescue of Wendy and Danny, however not achieving this. He also tells Danny about his telepathic powers and tells him not to go into room 237.


Narrative Structure

Preperation:

• A member of the family leaves home - Jack leaves home at the start for the job interview.
• A prohibition or rule is imposed on the hero - Danny is told by Dick not to go into room 237.
• A prohibition is broken - Danny enters room 237.
• The villain learns something about the victim - Jack is told that Danny has mystical powers and is telling someone to help them.

Complication

• The villain harms a member of the family - Jack tries to kill both, Wendy and Danny and harms them mentally by killing Dick.

Transference

• The hero leaves home - Danny leaves home to the hotel with the family.
• The hero is tested, attacked, interrogated, and as a result, receives either a magical agent or a helper - Danny is attacked in room 237 and tells Dick through 'The Shining' who comes to the hotel to help.
• The hero uses the magical agent - Danny contacks Dick through 'The Shining'.

Struggle

• The hero and villain join in direct combat - Jack chases Danny through the maze with an axe.
• The villain is defeated - Jack freezes to death.

Return

• The hero is pursued - He is chased by Jack
• The hero is rescued from pursuit - Danny finds a way out of the maze and drives away in the snowcat with his mother, Wendy.

Recognition

• The villain is punished - Jack dies.
• The false hero is transformed - Jack at first was mentally stable but is subject to cabin fever and becomes mentally unstable.

The Return of the Repressed

This is a theory made by Sigmund Freud. It is about feelings and thoughts that are in the unconcscious mind of a person, like a bad memory is repressed and put to the back of the mind into the unconscious part of the brain. This is where the term 'Freudian slip' comes from. In horror this can apply to settings, as basements are the part of the house where things are repressed and monsters normally come from them.

The Strangers

I like how the trailer first builds supsense by introducing the characters and setting. The trailer says that the film was inspired by true events which makes the audience more scared as they think it could happen to them. The man's phone is put onto the fire and they hear banging noises, then a man with a mask appears in the background. This makes the audience on edge as they dont know what will happen next. Towards the end, alot of short takes and quick cuts are used to aid the pace of the trailer and to make the audiences' heart's beat faster. I really like it because it uses no special effects and is simple, but has a great effect on the audience as the masks disfugure them and scare the audience.



This trailer uses common features of a movie trailer. The trailer clearly shows that the genre of the movie is horror because of the low key lighting used and the use of weapons and disfiguring masks. The name is also shown near the end of the trailer, although the text is not as big as it is in other trailers. The two stars/actors in the movie are named after the movies title is given. There are no special effects shown in the trailer as this isn't a key convention of the horror genre. The director's name also isn't shown, I infer that this is because he is not a well known director.

I believe that it shows what the target audience will want, it shows a 'cat and mouse' chase like structure, where the killers are toying with the victims and then chasing them around the house. This is exciting and will make the audience want to watch more.

The music is emotive, with a slow piano at the start as a romantic/creepy sound. However, the music then stops and then percussion is introduced which then builds up to a freak broken record track for the resrt of the trailer, which gives a sense of being hectic.

Voice Over isn't used in the trailer but is replaced by the use of inter-titles which poses questions to the audience which they then want answering, making them go see the film.