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.

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.

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.

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.

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.