To the moderator, This is my A2 Media blog for the film poster,magazine and trailer unit. I have created a trailer for my film idea 'The Grim Truth' and along side this i made a magazine front cover and poster. All of these can be found below starting from September were you will find my research and planning progress. ( http://bethhawleya2.blogspot.co.uk/2012_09_01_archive.html ) If you go to the march posts you will find my evaluation pages. (http://bethhawleya2.blogspot.co.uk/2013_03_01_archive.html ) Feel free to look through my research and planning pages, evaluation pages and completed media products.
This movie trailer is for paranormal activity 1, this would be considered as a good trailer as it would be Farley easy to recreate. The handheld camera effect is an element which i will be using, and is easily done with only parts filmed with a tripod. The cast consists of mainly two cast members in one location and would be a more realistic type of trailer i could make.
This movie trailer is for saw 6, and would be considered a bad trailer as it is unrealistic for me to create. The shots throughout the trailer are structured with high budget machinery with no parts seen with a hand held camera. Plus there are a number of different cast members for each part of the challenge, and the location is shown in many parts of a building, showing corridors and various rooms. This sort of trailer would be unrealistic to make myself with the amount of graphics and all of the elements being an obstacle.
Teaser trailers are different from film clips as they are trying to sell the film to its target audience, to attract people from the target audience to see the film being promoted.
Teaser trailers usually include:
-Montage of clips seen in the film
-Peaks from the film in the trailer
-Titles or voiceovers
-The films title
-Date of release
-Certificate
-Studio name
-Actors in the film
-Director
These results are from our questionnaire to help us decide on certain aspects of our horror trailer. We asked 10 people to answer our questionnaire and these are the results from three questions. The first question showed the majority would prefer to see transitions in our trailer, for this reason we intend to include transitions to our trailer. The second results showed that there are 5 girls and 5 boys, and everyone who answered the questionnaire was 16-15, which appeals to our target audience. The third set of results show that more people would prefer the trailer to be filmed with a handheld camera with a handheld effect, but because there were also 4 people who would prefer the use of a tripod, we decided to use a combination of both.
This is 2 list of the top horror films on IMDB, and Box office mojo. I selected the top 6 from IMDB, and the top 15 from Box office mojo to show the top rated horror films relating to my genre trailer.
The hypodermic model- The message within a film is directly received and accepted by the audience. Cultivation theory- People are more likely to believe social reality portrayed on TV.
Desensitisation- Less sensitive to violence when exposed to throughout many films.
Modelling or copycat- copying a fictional idea from a film, and copying it in real life.
Uses and gratification theory- We select and deselect certain messages, depending on what we agree with, and what we ignore.
This is a trailer for a film called 'Case 39', which is a physiological horror with elements of mystery which relates to the trailer genre i intend to create myself.
Genre-
Case 39 is a physiological thriller/horror with elements of mystery shown within the trailer. The audience this trailer is advertising to attract are 15- 18, with the age rating being 15. The trailer uses a high key lighting to show the normality of the lives shown, but also low key lighting to show that the film is a horror, and has a dark feeling and atmosphere. The plot is shown through short clips of parts of the film, and shows us the darkness and gives us an incline of what happens in the film, but not enough to spoil the experience. Like many films, the main character is an innocent looking child, when in fact as we find out towards the end, the little girl who has been adopted is the devil. The use of children being the evil characters makes the audience believe she is innocent, then the twist is shown with the innocent vulnerable character being evil. One theory that is relevant
to this genre of trailer is 'Andrew Sarris's theory that "genre is the idea
that it has a recognizable style that draws on an existing audience" as
the trailer for case 39 attracts the existing audiences who like films which are
mysterious and become a bit of a mind game, rather than a stereotypical goorey
horror film. Representation- The representations in case 39 are quite stereotypical. The good character is a middle aged woman, who adopts this child who she thinks is being abused by her parents, and like many films she is shown to be quite vulnerable against the evil character even though she is the adult, and is scared of a child. The other representation is a child, who looks like shes going to be the good character when seeing her be put into the oven, but in fact as we see in short peaks of the trailer she is the reason for people going mad or dieing. The other representations are the minor parts of the cast, the people who we see are effected by the child's actions, who are also seen to be vulnerable against a small child. The majority of characters being the innocent victims creates tension in the trailer, but in the trailer the child looks more innocent than she is, attracting the intended audience well.
Narration- From the case 39 trailer we see the
theory of 'Todorov' because the at the beginning of the trailer we see a normal life of a social worker, then we see a huge turn of events when the child comes into her life, and small snippets of the downfall since being in association with this evil girl. The feeling of normality, then the change of mood to fear and horror is a typical way the physiological thrillers present their films in a trailer to make audiences wonder the reason for such a drastic change. The trailer consists of sneak peaks of
selected scenes from the film, giving enough but not too much to spoil watching
the film, however we aren't shown the plot being resolved, apart from when we see the car plunge into the see, which makes audiences wonder about the film being resolved. Audience-
The target audience for case 39 is attracted to 15-18 year old, who enjoy horror/thriller films with the feeling of mystery, and the uncertainty of not knowing what to expect. This trailer is targeted to any gender, but with majority of the cast being female, it may attract more females. The trailer attracts the intended audience as is shows the element of mystery and suspension.
Media Language- Cinematography-
The case 39 trailer opens with an establishing shot of new york sky scrapers, this is to possibly to show the normality of life, and the simplicity of her life before. It then straight cuts to a mid shot of Emily (adult character), and the case file of the Lilith (the child). This shows how right at the beginning of the trailer the child is important, and will be a big part of the film. The close up of Liliths school picture shows the element of innocence and sympathy we would expect to feel for a child. The shot reverse show of Emily and the house, and the poverty within the outside of the house shows a connection, and a sudden feeling of empathy with Emily facial expression. The shots of Lilith are all mid shots, and close ups, this is possibly to show that she is just a child, and not harmful. The long shots of the grave, and Liliths parents taking to the grave gives audiences the idea that she is being abused and harmed. Towards the middle of the trailer there is a montage of mid shot clips of Emily and Lilith and the fight to keep her away from her parent, showing the feeling of love and the positive atmosphere. Towards the end of the trailer there are a number of jumpy clips of bad events because of Lilith, the range of mid shots and close up help to show the emotion of fear and horror between the characters.
Editing-
The trailer uses majority of straight cut, cutting from scene to scene with black screens. When the tension speeds up and the atmosphere is building towards a climax, the straight cuts go to jump cuts, and become more regular jumping from each bad event. There are few title screens to show the studios, which are also changed the the theme of the film to show right at the beginning that this trailer is showing a horror film.
Sound-
The trailer uses non- dietetic sounds for example the background music throughout, although when the scenes speed up so does the background music, adding thuds to add suspense and tension to the trailer. Dietetic sound is used for conversation and quotes taken from the film. These conversations sound quite scary when there are intensified the music and the shot. When Lilith is at home with her parents she whispers "im scared" which is effective to build tension and suspense as is sounds quite creepy and scary.
Mise-en-scene-
The locations shown on this trailer vary, showing scenes of Liliths old house, Emily's house, and the office were she works. But there are also short scenes in other places of were something happens to someone, for example when the male character is in his own bathroom and he dies from a swarm of bees. All of the locations are relevant but the majority happenings are Emily's home and is featured the most.
This is a trailer for a film called 'Orphan' a physiological horror, with elements of mystery which relates to the genre of film trailer which I will create in the coming weeks.
Genre-
Orphan in a physiological horror, with elements of mystery and thriller. The audience this trailer has a wider variety because of the age rating of 15. The trailer uses low key lighting and like many horror trailers, non dietetic music of creepy and tension building sounds. As for the plot the techniques of style of the trailer makes it clear to the genre, and the snippets of trailer gives us an incline of the plot, that the orphan girl is not how she seems, but not enough to give to much away. Many horror films use children as main 'evil' characters because they can be made to look innocent and the suspension and shock factor can be successful to the outcome of a film.One theory that is relevant to this genre of trailer is 'Andrew Sarris's theory that "genre is the idea that it has a recognisable style that draws on an existing audience" as the trailer for orphan attracts the existing audiences who like films which are mysterious and become a bit of a mind game, rather than a stereotypical goorey horror film.
Representation-
The representations in orphan are stereotypical ones, but the plot makes a twist on the good and bad characters. The main character (Ester) is the evil character , seeming to an innocent child, who has had a bad life and need a loving family. She looks different from the start, innocent yet different because of her clothes. As the trailer progresses we see that Ester isn't as innocent as she seem, she starts looking creepy with the change of mood, and we see different acts of physiological behaviour, which makes it clear that she is the evil character. The other representations are of the family not including Ester, the mum, dad, brother and sister. They all seem very innocent throughout the trailer as they are the victims of their adopted child's actions. Both stereotypes are relevant to have good and bad characters, although each character are naturally innocent looking, the twist gives a good tension builder.
Narration-
From this trailer we see the theory of 'Todorov' because the beginning of the orphan trailer everything looks happy and normal, a happy family adopting a normal child, then right after we see the destructive actions of Ester, showing how the trailer starts with a happy feeling, then suddenly changing completely to a horrified mood. The trailer consists of sneak peaks of selected scenes from the film, giving enough but not too much to spoil watching the film, however we aren't shown the plot being resolved to make the viewer want to go and see the film to see how the disruption and is resolved.
Audience-
The target audience for this film is people aged 15 and over, who enjoy horror film where they are on the edge of there seat, and like the suspension of not knowing what will happen next. Any gender could be interested in this genre, as both genders do generally enjoy films involving physiology, stalking, possession or anything paranormal. The trailer makes the audience wonder what's wrong with Ester, specially when a title page during the trailer says 'Threes Something Wrong With Ester'.
Media Language Cinematography-
The trailer opens with establishing shots of the orphanage, the car driving into the showy drive, and the atmosphere of the happy children inside, using long shots to show that Ester is always alone. The mid shot of ester painting and happily talking to the adopting parents shows how innocent, and like any normal child, during this conversation whenever Ester talks it is a one shot of her face, whereas when the parents speak they feature in a tight two shot, to show how much of a close family they are, and how alone Ester is. The first minute of the trailer there are a range of shots and scenes to show Ester settling into her new life, meeting the family, and going to school. This light mood and tone soon changed with the mix of close ups and long shots of Ester screaming and having an angry fit in the toilet, the shots after that are close ups and mid shot of Ester and how unlike a child she is, and how deluded she is to burn down a tree house, push a girl from a tall slide, and turn the car on so it speeds of with a child in the car.
Editing-
The trailer uses straight cuts throughout, changing from scene to scene with a straight cut. The editing is very simple but as the atmosphere picks up, and becomes more intense, the scene is on for a shorter time and moves quickly with a straight cut. There a few shots acting sort of like title screens, saying 'There's Something Wrong With Ester' and 'You'll Never Guess Her Secret', these are successful in adding tensions and create more of a mystery for the whole film.
Sound-
This trailer uses non dietetic being background music to add a stronger feeling of suspicion, and at building up to find out that something wrong with Ester, to then speed up to the climax highlighting the key parts of the film, and the events that lead to a final action. When the mood of the trailer changed from positive to negative, there are two shots of a park swing creaking, this intensify the creepiness and weirdness of Ester. Dietetic sound is used for conversation, when talking to Ester at the begging, then their is move conversation when Kate (The Mum) investigates Ester finding that she went to a mental institute in years that her age would beg to differ, there are also screams to emphasis the horror of the film.
Mise-En-Scene-
The locations of the trailer range beginning at the orphanage, to school, then back and fourth to the family home. The scenes which show the outside setting have a snowy backdrop, showing the look of a cold winter. The family home which features the most is a nice home, but to me it doesn't seem homely, and has quite a clinical look, which is why the constant sight of which could relate to a feeling of clinical, to suggest madness and insanity.
Me and my partener Gaby made some decisions regarding to making of our horror trailer. We decided that i will be in charge of the cinematography, and that Gaby will be in charge or the Mise-En-Scene. We have not yet decided on edeting and sound yet and come to a decision soon.
We have come up with two plot ideas, one being about a stalker, another about the possession of someone. The idea about a stalker has been developed further, and is what has been though of in more depth, this will probally be the idea we use.
This is a test trailer poster for a horror film relating to my chosen genre. I created this by using photoshop, and used the skills and techniques I learnt last year when creating my music magazine. This task was to remind myself of photoshop. to familurise myself with the tools, effects and ways of editing images. To create this poster I chose a photo from google images of a mysterious looking dark setting, with an girl who could act as either the stalker or the victim of a stalker. The photo is dark and looks more horror film related by adjusting the brightness and contrast on the editing effects. I didn't need to use any cutting out tools because the image featured the right setting and fit the whole space of the page. The text off the 'Stalker' title was made on indesign using a simple font, and adjusting it with the warp tool, this makes the font look scary and relates to the genre. The other effects were simple fonts, i included this because i wanted the look on a whole to look simple and lonely, relating the the person in the photograph. The writing at the bottom is featured on all real posters which is why i included it, i downloaded the font 'Steel' tongs to get the right look. For the certificate symbol and the studio symbol i simply used the magic wand to erase the background then positioned them accordingly.
We have chosen to make our horror film trailer a 15 certificate because we want to attract a wide audience and feel our plot and ideas would suit people of a 15+ age bracket. Our film trailer will be a mysterious and scary trailer involving possiably a stalker character, which would be unsuitable for children under 15. Our trailer will probably be shown after the watershed as it will involve material that would be unsuitable for people under 15, showing it at this time will attract the attention of the audience intended.
Majority of horror films have an age certificate at 15 and 18, this is because the genre of film is more for adults and use techniques to attract the older audience.
The actual film of the trailer will also be a 15 certificate as the content will be the as suitability as the trailer.
This is a short horror trailer called 'the chase', in groups we created a short trailer to test our abilities for different areas, and as a practice for creating a trailor in the upcoming weeks.
Cinematography- When creating a test trailer we used a variety of
camera angles and type of shots. Majority being long shots of the characters to
show there movement and actions, this was because the trailer consisted of
action rather than emotion and dialogue. The beginning shot of the victim
coming out of her house blends, long shots, a close up on her bag, and the a
long shot front the other side of the door to show her movement. The other
shots when she’s running to college uses a long shot and an establishing shot
to show her surroundings, a pan movement is used to see her running past from
the stalkers view. A shot I think works well is when the victim runs up the
stairs, with the camera filming rom behind her, to move to a close up of her shoes
running, ending in a shot from the top of the stairs. The film inside the
college combines shots of long shots of her running to different areas away
from the college. The final shot I a medium shot of the victim and the stalker
looking at each other, this shows emotion and the worried face of the victim,
all of the cinematography shows a development within the plot and the journey
of both characters. Editing- We used editing throughout the trailer beginning
with the fade effect when the character leaves her home, to her running up the
street. From the running to college scene each shot I fast forwarded along with
the adding of fast music, this makes it feel more like a chase. Each shot in-between
the running shots and the final shot are fast forwarded but when entering the
college and the victim acknowledges the stalker, the speed is slowed down, then
slowed down further to slow motion when the stalker gets nearer to the victim,
creating suspense the end shot fades to black which creates an atmosphere of
fear, and being caught in the chase. Sounds- The sound on our trailer I feel doesn’t suit to the
actual trailer, and makes it look less serious and more comical. We used non diegetic
sound being the background music, which is fast and upbeat relating to the
running, but a slow sound like the iconic suspension music from jaws would work
better. If I was to improve this trailer I would change the music to give more
of an atmosphere of mystery, suspense and fear. The diegetic sound we used only
features at the beginning which include, the victim putting the bag on then saying
“I’m going to be late’, then the slam of the door when leaving. Towards the end
shot, when the stalker catches the victim and slowly walks down the corridor,
there is a slight non diegetic sound of a heartbeat, which works well although
it could be more noticeable. Mise-en-scene- We used the college to be the setting of the
trailer because it was most convenient and worked well with the plot. The
beginning door was actually at college but we focused on the door and character
making it seem as though it was somebody’s home. The outside shots were also
near college on Clarendon Road, and looks well as the looked like she was
actually running to college. The end shots were shot in college, in the main
hall and made the end of the trailer look good.
