Horror Film Trailer

Evaluation Question Four

Evaluation Question Three

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

I learnt a lot from my audience feedback. It allowed me to hear vital feedback from my target audience. Audience feedback was very important to me because it gave me the needed feedback about the viral campaigns that I was going to use.

Evaluation Question Two

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




The use of our product and combination of ancillary texts stand out a lot because we used a lot of unique technique methods.  The main thought at hand was to make our movie publications stand out more and also appeal to our target audience.

Evaluation Question One

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





                                                                    Horror film Trailer

My media product (trailer) challenges the forms and conventions of real media products by the type of iconography used.  This was very important because I didn’t want to make a typical dated trailer but more of a trailer that appeals to our target audience.  The main issue was trying to keep the conventions of slasher horror in a modern day type of horror movie.  This was done in many ways by mise en scene and non-diegetic sound used for the trailer.   My trailer challenges the conventions of the horror genre because it goes against the norm.  There are camera shots and motions used that appeal to a modern audience.  Our trailer is realistic and that’s what immediately breaks away from the classical horror genre conventions.  By putting the scenarios in a realistic modern state it makes people much more frightened.  Here is a video below of the trailer devil and how they used a realistic method to make their horror movie appeal.  Our USP has also stood out for example the use of no person or character on the front page of our magazine. 

Devil | Movie Trailer



Horror Film Still Shots

Here are a few shots from shooting on the day!

Horror Magazine Audience Feedback

I put our magazine poster on two of the most popular social networking sites of 2010

Twitter : 



 

Facebook:  




This was very important because we gain a lot of feedback from on our posters and with the use of twitter random members from all over the world were commenting on our magazine front cover. Another good point was that we reach out to our taregt audience via the use of social networking sites and they gave us valuble feedback on how to improve our poster and make it look better and appeal more.  Images are shown below
                                                  

                                                                            TWITTER

FACEBOOK

As you can see they are both crictical and also very happy with our level of work.  So from this feedback I belive we succeeded in appealling to our target audience.



Horror Magazine Front cover

Like the film poster this magazine had many influences from independant film magazines to major ones. 

 

The main thing I like about our poster is that I believe we stuck strongly to the genre by the use of blood and also the background image on the magazine. I belive that we did well by trying to appeal to a youthful target audience. I feel that the iconograpgy also makes a strong reference to the horror genre because it shows classical elements e.g. the use of the red blood.  This poster challenges the classical horror conventions by the text of the film title used and also with the type of language used to communicate with the audience. 

Horror Film Poster

 



Horror Movie Poster Draft

We made a draft to get the basic idea for our film poster. This was mainly becasue we had many influences for it as shown in previous posts,  we believe that this is the product we are going to develop and improve on to give it that commerical image and appeal.

 

We feel as a draft this is very strong becasue the graffti text appeals to our target audience. I also belive it is strong becasue we have kept the hype for the movie on the poster 'UNLEASH THE HAVOC'.  It also looks very realistic and I believe this is becasue the use of the production companies and ratings from other magazines etc.

Sounds Used

Sound Literally makes the horror film trailer work because it adds suspense and life to the trailer. Be it the sound of a heartbeat or heavy breathing, sound is always needed to make a trailer effect  and attract people to go and watch the actual movie. I visited various sound websites and look at many horror videos to see how they created suspense.  

I got most of my non-diegtic sound from the website: http://soundbible.com/suggest.php?q=horror

 

The main thing that made me want to use this website was that it was free to download sounds and very simple because they were small files. This website contained the essentails for a horror movie trailer scary and eyecatching. 

Heres a link to the breathing we used : http://soundbible.com/766-Slow-Breathing.html

Evidence of filming

Below is a slide show of my outtakes of filming.

The evidence of filming os important because it shows that we actually went out and filmed and we did not steal it.

Characters

Below are the lists of our characters.... and why we chose to use them.

Emily Blyth



 

I  chose to use Emily as one of our characters because she had the modern image that appealed to our target audience.  Her sense of style, he way she spoke definietly was what me choose her to star in our film trailer.

Gaberial Ciulla

The reason why I selected Gaberial to be in our trailer was because he had the rough and trendy image that appealed to our target audience. 

   John  Harvey

 

The reason why I selected John to be in our horror film trailer was because he had the quirky attitude and also the image that appealed to our target audience. 

Ashley Mitton

 

The reason  why I chose to use Ashley was because he has alot of energy and gave off a lot of creative ideas which enhanced the quality of the trailer.

Darren Otan

 



The reason for selecting Darren to be in the film trailer was because he has a lot of creative ideas and also understands a lot about movie conventions which I felt would be very helpful for me as I was recording.

The Script

The script is important but as it a film trailer and does not need to emphasise so much on the what the characters dialogue because that will give away to much information about the about the trailer.

Blood Runner (script)

Scene One

Dylan Arrives home from training turns on the light and hears a noise.  He looks up and goes on with life as if he has heard nothing, soon after he hears another.

Dylan: Hello?

(Walks up the stairs suspiciously, conscious of his surroundings)

Crrrrp (A noise comes from the bedroom)

Dylan opens the door and turns on the light and in the state of panic runs to the phone to call the police but soon finds the phone is engaged.  

Scene Two

Emily is on the phone in her house and walks into her bedroom.

Emily: Yeah Bobby ... you can come over tomorrow, my parents aren’t home so it will be fun.

(Phone conversation ends and she if left looking at her laptop whilst applying make up in front of the mirror)

The lights start to flicker (Emily begins to look at the light puzzled and walks over to the light switch)

Emily: Ok (she says as she pushes the light switch)

(The lights go out and she reaches for the light switch)  

Emily: Damn! Come on, come on! 

She goes to her dressing table and reaches out for her matchbox and as she strikes the match she is met with a blood note on the mirror.  

(She drops the match box and runs to the door but it slams)

Emily: (On all fours scrambles on the ground looking for her matchbox) Oh god! Come on!

(As she grabs the match box she is met with the infamous killer)

Part of our script.

Our three top movie poster ideas!

Here are some movie poster ideas that we liked ..

 

I chose these posters because they all stand out from what is expected.  I also believe that this can also enhance my trailer and make it appear to be much more impacting compared to overs.

Production company

We have chosen to call our production company Epic Motives as we feel they sound universal.  We have decided to join up with paramount pictures as they usually do sub-ventures with horror movies for example with the movie paranormal activity.   Here is a image of the draft below...

Risk Assessment Filming

Health & safety

Legal advice on health and safety issues when filming.
Producers should ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons working with and for them are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. An example of what may be considered reasonably practicable would be if location filming was taking place in a warehouse with poor lighting. It would be appropriate to ensure that extra lighting is used and that all sharp or otherwise hazardous equipment is made safe.

You should have at least one experienced member of the crew who is aware of health and safety issues.

Some genres may pose more risks than others i.e. horror or action films or scenes involving animals. The production team should discuss safety issues before filming begins and take steps to avoid or reduce the risks identified.

Questionnaire and Results

I had decided to create a questionnaire to see what people feel about horrors and how we can use there feedback to improve our movie trailer , poster etc.  I am going to create a quota sample questionnaire as I feel this is much more straight forward and can be altered quite easily compared to the rest.

Here is a image of the process of creating the questionnaire.

Here it is below :

Horror Genre Questionnaire

Male        Female     (Please circle one)  

Do you watch horror Movie?  (Circle below)

YES                      NO

What do you expect from horrors?  (Circle below)

Thrill      Gore       Fear       Unexpected          Other.....

What are you top three horror movies? (Please state below)

..............................

..............................

..............................

What do you feel is more important the trailer or film poster? (Please state below)

...................................

In the next 10 years do you think that the horror genre will become less scary? (Please State below)

Action Planning

This post is covering what we intend to do and when we want to achieve it by.  I feel it is very beneficial for my group to do his because we decide what we want to complete and when we want to complete it.  Having looked at other groups progression and comparing them to our I can honestly say we are putting in mediocre amounts of efforts which is not good enough. We plan to finish planning by November 5th and plan to finish filming within a weeks duration.

Front cover research

Magazines are very important because they allow us to see visuals of whats going to occur within the horror movie. Horror movies also aid a lot because they generate the ever wanted and needed publicity for the horror movies.  Here is an example of a horror magazine poster



When a movie reaches the front cover of many magazines it generates fans and reaches out to many people from different backgrounds.  A good illustration of this point is with the Twlight movie saga promotions e.g. 

 

These publications and promotional methods work because they reach out to many people of different fan bases, mainly thoses who are unaware of the movie. Emmanuel and I plan to create something unique,  we are going have a main image of the male protagonist then after that we are going to have the rest of the characters behind him causing drama of some sort.

Target Audience

 

The target audience is very important because following the UK film guidelines there is only a certain amount you can place within age restricted films under the R18 age limit.  These rules are set out by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification) they decide to what extent certain images etc can be placed withing age restricted filsm e.g. 'U' which stands for universal  (suitable for all) has been giver these guideline :

‘U’

Universal – Suitable for all

It is impossible to predict what might upset any particular child. But a ‘U’ film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. ‘U’ films should be set within a positive moral framework and should offer reassuring counterbalances to any violence, threat or horror.

If a work is particularly suitable for a pre-school child to view alone, this will be indicated in the Consumer Advice.

Discrimination

No discriminatory language or behaviour unless clearly disapproved of.

Drugs

No references to illegal drugs or drug misuse unless they are infrequent and innocuous, or there is a clear educational purpose or anti-drug message suitable for young children.

Horror

Scary sequences should be mild, brief and unlikely to cause undue anxiety to young children. The outcome should be reassuring.

Imitable behaviour

No potentially dangerous behaviour which young children are likely to copy. No emphasis on realistic or easily accessible weapons.

Language

Infrequent use only of very mild bad language.

Nudity

Occasional natural nudity, with no sexual context.

Sex

Mild sexual behaviour (for example, kissing) and references only (for example, to ‘making love’).

Theme

While problematic themes may be present, their treatment must be sensitive and appropriate for young children.

Violence

Mild violence only. Occasional mild threat or menace only.

Taken from : http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/u 

They set out what is allowed to be featured in films within this country.  Focusing more on horrors many horrors are usually prodominantly rated 15 and this is because producers are aware that horrors appeal to majority of teenagers so they have to follow the BBFC's guidelines so they fit under that category. Only serious gory horror like Saw reach the 18 rating and this is mainly because of inhuman scernarios and also events that take place.

 

We have chosen to make are horror film trailer a 15 and this is because it covers exactly what we are looking for, it allows us to reach out to arguably the most profitable fan base teenagers.  Another issue that appeals to us is that we have created a film scenario that teenagers con realte to so it makes it much more realistic.

Target Audience Profile 

Film Production Companies

Film prodcution companies can be very important when it comes to movies e.g.

Twisted pictures are prodominanatly knoww for there creative procution work in the Saw sequeals. By the audience knowing the production company we automaticly begin to know their standard of work adn what they can deliver.  This is a good thing because production companies generate audience loyalty for example if twisted pictures was to create another horror movie the fanbase of the Saw sequeals would most likely go and see the new movie due to film loyalty. 

Another popular production company that focuses on the production of horrors and other themed movies is Paramount pictures. 

They have been around for quite sometime and are still going strong making multi million pound movies.  They are unuique from other production companies because they venture into many partnerships with different types of films e.g.  On the movie 'The Curious case of Benjamin Button'  they teamed up with the Warner bros and The Kennedy/Marshall Company.  Then with Paranormal activity two they teamed up DreamWorks pictures and Relativity media.  I believe that this was done so that there could be a better outcome on the mvoeis and there was.  Thisn is show on wikipedia by there gross profits.

My group and I have decided to use paramount for our production company becasue they are right in the middle of gore we believe.  They offer levels of production that is not to gruesome e.g. twisted pictures (Saw).  We feel they can protray and demonstrate what excactly needed which is to scare without using a lot of fake blood.

Our title and Font

Having done research on film titles we felt that it was better for us as group to make a strong reference back to the movie. Our synopsis outlines what our movie is about and we have decided to calls our short horror film trailer Blood Runner.  We chose this because we felt that it made a strong reference to the synopsis but also had other meanings behind it, e.g. in the synopsis we mentioned how the victim is trying to runaway from the events that are happening around him.  We do feel that it is very important to make the title reference to what is actually going within the trailer because we do not want to mislead the audience.

Looking at other film titles it is important the design matches the genre but also makes an apparent refernce to what your fillm is about e.g.

This film poster's title makes a reference to paranormal activity that occurs within the movie and also has a read colour font which makes a strong reference to  the genre of the film horror.

The film poster above makes a strong reference to the horror genre by the ghostly effect on the font etc. Having watched the movie I also no that the title makles a refernce to an event that occurs within the movie.  

Font

Font is very important when creating a horror movie because it tells your audience what type of movie you are making. For example if you were to have a really scary image then have a bubbly type font it will make your horror appear as a comic horror.  Having looked at many fonts on the website dafonts.

I have nailed it down to these ten that I am going to use.

1.   28 days later

2. Justice

4. Bleeding cowboys

5.  Birth of a hero

6. Kingdom Hearts

7. cold night for alligators

8. Bloody

9. Head injuries

10. Friday 13th

Synopsis

Blood runner  - SYNOPSIS

Everybody loves Dylan. The story is set in the urban inner city area of Islington, North London. Popular college kid Dylan is known for his athleticism but also knows what it feels like to go through hardships (his mother was raped before his eyes when he was twelve); he is looked up to by all his peers and especially liked by the females at his local community `college.

Late one night the keen runner was training with his running partner on a running track for a race he was going to part take in the following week.  As his running partner leaves earlier on Dylan is left alone training intensely.  In the late hours later he makes his way home  passing through the woods.  As he makes his way down regents canal, he is faced with an issue that alters his life.    He is stunned and caught in the cross fire to which he believes a woman being sexually abused.  Being Dylan he rushing and plays hero by attacking this guy but surprisingly does not stop.  He ends up brutally killing the rapist as if to make up for his mothers death and attends to the frail victim. They are met with a dilemma what to do with the body.   As Dylan realises what he has done they begin to panic but the Becka suggests they get rid of the body as they.  Dylan makes an attempt to put the past behind him and falls to his bed, as the sun rises he is met with a random Face book message.  It is a badly distorted video of him killing.  In his attempt he panics and calls Becka but it goes straight to voicemail, so he pays a visit to her only to find coroners and police at her house, Becka has been murdered.

   Faced with the unexpected death he panics and runs home and decides to do run away.  But in the middle of his rant his thoughts change and he begins to think of his father and friends, so he goes into his garage to say goodbye to his dad only to find him being held hostage by the same person he called his best friend.

Film Titles

Film titles are very important as they have meanings that have to make a reference to the film and also have to be of a certain standard that they can be put on to film posters and magazines. For example Scream had a title that made a strong reference to the the killers costume. 

Film titles also allow the audience to know some sort information about what is going to occur within the movie,  For example with the movie Let me in. 

 

With the reference of blood on the image and the mysterious coloured background we can immediatly make a reference to a horror, but the main striking fact is that with title and image together you can tell that it makes a reference to vampires.  From Dracula movies to the current True blood series we are stilled faced with the passed down made up custom of vampires having to be invited in. 


 



Research - Make Up

Make up is very important because it allows different creations and different characters to be made.  Make up is used in everyday life to cover up imperfections and it is commonly used in many movies to add age or wounds e.g. 

Age

 

Wound

Having a horror without some fake blood, wounds etc would make the horror very bland and not stick to the genre.  In our group we are going to be using make up to highlight on some wounds and fake blood, but we do feel that it is important not to do to much to the extent the horror loses focus and turns into something tacky.

Research - Costumes

Costumes are very important in horrors as they add to the scene and also define a character within the movie e.g.

Freddy Kruger a badly burned character that uses knifes as fingers is distinctive and can be immedately assocated as a villain.


Costumes also aid by hiding individuals identities which are very important because it adds mystery to the whole movie.  Without costumes certain movies like 'Scream' would be forgettable and have no unique selling point.  

For our trailer we have decided to use everyday life costumes such as typical clothing etc to make it seem realistic. 

Research - Looking at past projects

My group and I went on and looked for past projects so that we can gain ideas and also different techniques and methods of filming and directing. The main hightlighting factor about the  trailers are that they are short but have a lot going on within them.  For example the fake blood shots, the different camera shots etc

Research - Mise en scene

Mise en scene is very important when considering any type of filming because it consist of using four main elements different camera shots, various types of editing, different conventions of sound and lastly the use of lighting, props etc.  All of these factors are very important when considering film etc. That is often why you see a news report crew with these objects below. 

 They are very important because they capture the best sounds using high end mics and best video quality using top line video cameras.  you would usually see a group like this above working as a news film crew.  Below is a video showing how they actually use the equipment even though it is in a humours manner.

 

The video below demonstrates what mise en scene is and how you apply it.  I like it because it was refreshing and reminded me of some of the concepts that were long forgotten.

Focusing on my groups project mise en scene is very important e.g. the lighting of the time of day.  Prefebably horrors are meant to be shot in the nighttime were objects and people come across as mysterious,  the main problem with this is was how are we going to lighting.  The positive thing is that street lights can sometimes have the best lighting and secondky they can also aid in creating a realistic effect.  The only negative problem Is that it often means relocating to find an area with better lighting. Below is a video that benefitted my group by showing us how to film with the night sky,  using electronic tricks etc.

Research Props

Props are extremely important in horrors be it the teddy that the baby drops or be it the knife that is used to kill off the college kids props are used in every single horror.  For example in the 80s/90s character Chucky he is a childs doll tha kills off his victis using a basic kitchen knife.

 

My group and I have been working on various concepts and with that we have been thinking of what is suitable and what is needed.  We looked at various websites from the horror party shop.

This website was appealing because it was cheap and also had what we were looking for.  This is mainly because our film trailer is not going to have a lot of drama to the extent of using vampire fangs or props of that nature.  Our trailer is going to include gore more than anything. The next website we looked at was party kiosk. 

 

We looked at this website and found that it was to expensive and had unnesscessary equipment that was not going to benefit our film trailer, e.g. the prop in the image above.  

My group and I have looked at various websites and we have decided on two prop shops and we feel they are cheap and also have excactly what we are looking for... the blood and gore.





Research stock characters in Slasher Horror

Stock characters are characters that you expect to see within a certain genre movie,  for example with romantic movies you would expect mans best friend and females best friend and they usually orientate the main relationship around them when they have hardships. I am going to be discussing the stock characters within slasher horror. 

The Wander 

There is always a wander in horror movies that causes the killer to kill off the victims one by one.  The stock character would often say the typical phrase 'let's spilt up' and one by one they begin to get killed off.  For example in the movie Freddy vs Jason the death of the character Kia.

The Popular Girl

The popular girl is usually smart, stuck up and extremely two faced, they are pro-dominantly hated but but have a lot of respect because of there wealth.  Below is a slide show showing all types of images of various popular girls within the horror category.

The Jock

The jock is often the popular male in the horror movies.  He is the captin of a sport often American football or soccer and he is known as one of the best.  The jock is also known for his image which appeals to many. Below is a picture slide show of some of the Jocks within different horror movies.

Apart from just being the popular good looking characters they are also often used as the killers and this is very smart because they are the closet to the victims and given a lot of respect so it is definietly not expect from them.  Below is part of the movie my bloody valetine which reveals the killer.

                   The Final Girl

The final girl in horrors is code for the pretty who survives.  This is very common within horrors e.g. Scream one, two and three.  The final girl witnesses the murders but lives to tell the story.  Below is a video from a horror of a final girl.

Pandora



The pandora is a part of the movie were something  that is important gets discovered e.g. the killer or the reason why are certain things are occuring. Every horror has this because its the reason why the killer goes on his spree. Below is the trailer of the movie 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' and it rveals why the popular killer Freddy Kruger kills.

The Pervert

The pervert in horrors is the almost always a man that wants to sleep with the girls and will do anything to get in bed with them. They often die aorund the start of the movie and this is oftenly because they are to busy trying to have sex rather than being aware of whats going on around them.  Below is link to a scene from the movie 'House of wax', it demonstrates the given definition.

Getting Frisky - House of Wax