Monday, 13 May 2013
Friday, 10 May 2013
Wednesday, 8 May 2013
Titles Design
- After analysing many inter-titles which were used within the several horror genre films during my analysis it had helped me to successfully construct my inter-title for my own supernatural/slasher horror movie, The Unknown
- Firstly, I had noticed that a common convention of the horror genre films was that the inter-titles used had different font sizes and colours in order to connote to the target audience what the film was about
- For example, the Scream 4 trailer and Paranormal Activity 4 had heavily emphasized both the number 4’s within their inter-title’s therefore making it easier for the consumers to realise that this number had some significance to the movie itself
- I had therefore concluded that in order to connote to the audience that my film had a supernatural and slasher horror feel to it, the main inter-title would contain a blood like theme in order to connote danger to the audience as this is a common code associated with horror movies today
- Also, the Exorcist’s inter-title had followed a single font throughout along with maintaining the colour red which carries a house style for the movie
- I had therefore also decided to inherit this convention and decide to use the same font throughout the inter-titles which are presented within the trailer for my movie The Unknown
- Another common convention seen within the inter-titles of horror movies is that significant phrases and catch-lines are shown to the target audience in order to emphasise and build up tension
- In relation to my horror movie The Unknown I had also decided to use this convention and use words/phrases which would heighten the tension within my trailer such as, “You can’t escape The Unknown”
- This also leaves the audience in suspense which creates demand and excitement for the movie upon its release which grabs the audience’s attention and ultimately makes a successful media package
- Another common convention used within the inter-titles of horror trailers is the fact that many of them contain colours which are associated with the genre itself
- For example, Paranormal Activity is based upon paranormal events therefore by using the colour white which connotes ghosts and supernatural forces, this colour was used on the inter-title of the movie
- Hence due to The Unknown being based upon supernatural horror along with an element of slasher, I had decided to inherit the colour red on the inter-title as this connotes blood, violence, enigma and death which are themes associated with the movie itself. Moreover, by having the splatters of blood alongside the inter-title further extends these connotations which are presented within the film also.
Horror trailer analysis 4
The film trailer which I have chosen to analyse is called The Exorcist (1973), which is a psychological/slasher horror movie directed by William Friedkin and was released December 26th 1973. The narrative of the movie deals with a young girl who is possessed by a demonic force and whereby her mother tries her best to get her daughter back through an exorcism carried out by two priests. The film consists of famous actors and actresses who play the roles of; Reverend Father Lankester Merrin (Max Von Sydow), Christine McNeil (Ellen Burstyn), Damien Karras (Jason Miller) and Regan (Linda Blair). I have decided to analyse this psychological/slasher horror movie as it contains many codes and conventions which are identical and equivalent to many movies released within the same genre.
Codes and conventions/ shot types and angles:
- The main convention shown within the trailer is evident through the uses of conventional camera shots and angles
- For example, within the trailer the use of a zoom in feature highlighting a door to the audience connotes to the consumers that something on the other side of this door or within the room is of great significance. In relation to The Exorcist, the possessed daughter Regan is being kept within the room
- By having the girl being locked within a room and only showing to the audience one side of the door connotes a sign of danger and represents the daughter Regan as trapped. In relation to the plot of the film, Regan is trapped inside of the devil, she is possessed.
- Another conventional shot type used within The Exorcist trailer is the use of a close up shot on Ellen. By showing the audience this type of shot, the consumers were able to see the emotions being represented on Ellen’s face and by having Ellen represented in a shocked manner made the audience feel highly uncomfortable and leaving them in suspense as to what has made the mother of Regan so shocked at first glance
- An unconventional shot is used within the establishing of the trailer as the audience are merely showed a dark black screen with just the sounds of screaming
- By using this unconventional feature at the beginning of the trailer holds the audience in suspense. Also by introducing the audience immediately to the sounds of piercing screams shocks them and makes them want to find out why are screams being presented and what are the reasons for people screaming
- A conventional shot of a low angle is also showed within the trailer of Ellen, Regan’s mother
- By having this type of angle portrayed on Ellen represents her to the audience as being overshadowed and possibly in power. By having the theme of overshadowing conveyed to the audience through the usage of a low angle makes the audience draw to conclusions that possibly Ellen is being overshadowed by someone, that of course being the demonic figure imbedded within her daughter Regan
- Furthermore, by having Ellen conveyed within a low angle at the beginning of the trailer represents her as being in power and having some sort of authority as the audience have to look up to her. However during the scene in which the low angle is used, Ellen switches on a lantern which makes her jitter slightly. I believe that this element has been deliberately added by the director in order to take away all of the authority once felt by Ellen of which she had over her daughter as she is now being controlled by a demonic figure. Moreover this feature also draws out the stereotypical authoritative figure drawn up by many of the consumers previously
Editing:
- As this is an old trailer, there are not many forms of editing used and those used are very basic however the elements used are highly effective as portraying this trailer as coming from a horror genre
- For example, the majority of the trailer consists of quick jump cuts which heighten the tension built up within the trailer. For example, within the opening stages of the trailer there is a close up shot of Regan’s mother’s face where she is represented as shocked to the audience with the help of her facial expressions. Once this scene has passed there are a series of jump cuts which help to build up the tension in revealing the real reason as to why the shocked face was shown by Regan’s mother
- Another form of editing used within the trailer of The Exorcist is used with the use of the camera. By having the camera panning onto the door with screaming and eerie type of music being played in conjunction with it, emphasises to the audience that something behind this closed door is of some danger
- Through having the camera slowly panning builds up the tension as having it at a slow pace makes the audience wait longer in suspense which is a common convention within many horror movies today
Sound:
- The majority of the trailer consists of a voiceover and narration to the scenes which are being shown to the audience
- By having the use of a voiceover it allows a direct sound bridge to be implied which connects the different cut shots together along with building tension at the same time
- Also, by having a voiceover it also heightens the tension built up by the trailer as certain words and phrases are used to grab the audience’s attention such as, “no one could prepare for what happened”, “The daughter isn’t the demon but the devil himself”.
- The use of synchrous sound from the voiceover grabs the audience’s attention immediately as it feels as though they are also involved within the case of solving Regan’s exorcism. Moreover certain eye level shots used along with the actors staring directly down the camera lens makes the audience feel involved within the case and movie thus heightening the tension as a result and creating realism
- Sound effects also play a key role within The Exorcist trailer as within the opening scenes of the trailer there is blank screen with just the sounds of police sirens and loud screaming
- By introducing the audience immediately to sound of screaming it helps them to draw conclusions of the common conventions associated with the sound of screaming and police sirens. This being danger and or someone in serious need of help
- The main soundtrack used within the Exorcist consists of an eerie tone
- By the director’s deliberately using this eerie music it connotes the common conventions and codes symbolised within a horror movie such as enigma and danger. These themes are shown heavily within The Exorcist
Mis-en-scene:
- The mis-en-scene used within the Exorcist help to connote this movie as developed for the horror genre
- Firstly one brief close up shot used on Regan represent her as being the devil.
- The facial expressions used along with the blood and make up on the face represent her as being evil and the devil. The blood used on the face shows her connotes to the audience that this young girl is associated with danger. Moreover, due to the heavy connection to the devil, the red used from the blood connote her as having a direct link to the devil himself as red is a common feature seen with devils
- The costume used on Regan connotes her as being a stereotypical young and fragile girl as she is dressed in a bedtime dress which represents her as being a stereotypical female girl with no association with evil whatsoever. However the director’s of the Exorcist have gone against this stereotype and represent this young and innocent girl as actually evil through the make- up on her face along with the facial expressions. This helps represent her as being an antagonist as the blood on her face and evil look within her eyes shows her as being from the dark side.
- The dark lighting used on a figure wearing a hat at the end of the trailer helps to create enigma and suspense for the audience
- By having no lighting on this figure whatsoever represents him/her as of some significance within the film. The audience wish to know who hold the identity of this enigmatic individual but due to the cliff hanger at the end of the trailer leaves them in suspense
- The uses of dark colours such as black connote main themes and topics which will be seen within the film. For example the heavy uses of black connote darkness and danger. These are topics which are clearly evident within The Exorcist itself
- The décor and lighting used within the trailer consists of mainly low key lighting and dark colours at times where the people are seen running and rushing on the streets. By having the low key lighting within these specific scenes it connotes to the audience that something bad is about to occur and heightens the tension created within the scene. This is a common and reoccurring convention and signifier within horror movies.
- Within the trailer props such as glasses and objects are seen to be thrown around erratically and dangerously. This connotes to the audience that there is a battle or struggle within the film which connotes that the young girl Regan is having a battle with herself as the devil is inside of her. The fact that the target audience cannot see who is throwing these objects around helps to create enigma and tension within the trailer thus creating demand for the film upon its release.
Horror trailer analysis 3
The film trailer which I have chosen to analyse is called Paranormal Activity 4, which is a psychological horror movie directed by Ariel Schulman and Henry Joost and was released October 2012. The narrative of the movie consists of a new sequence and storyline to the previous Paranormal Activity which had shown to the audience that Katie had taken Wyatt, her nephew and has never been seen since. The new plot now shows how a new family consisting of just a single parent and a child have moved into a vacant house in a neighbourhood where paranormal events begin to take place to all those involved with this family. The film consists of many award winning actors and actresses who play the roles of; Alex (Kathryn Newton), Ben (Matt Shively), Doug (Stephen Dunham), and Katie (Katie Featherstone). I have decided to analyse this psychological horror trailer as it contains many codes and conventions which are not only identical to the previous movies released by Joost and Schulman, but because this trailer consists of many codes and conventions which are identical to the movies which are released today within the same sub-genre.
The Codes and conventions/shot types and angles:
· The common code and convention which is highly evident within the trailer is the use of the colours; black and dark green. By Joost and Schulman using these colours it connotes many things to the audience in order to make the trailer appeal to them and create demand for it upon its release.
· Firstly, the colour black connotes to the audience; darkness, enigma, and death. In relation to Paranormal Activity these themes are highly evident of the film and consist within all previous films of the Paranormal Activity series. By Ariel and Henry decided to continue with the same colours used on the previous films, it clearly means that this colour scheme is identifiable and a signifier to the target audience
· Moreover, by having dark primary colours used within the trailer connote to the audience of possible scenes and themes which may be conveyed within the film itself. For example the heavy uses of black connote darkness and death which are clearly associated with Paranormal events and therefore should clearly be seen within the film by the target audience
· Another evident code and convention within this trailer are the uses of close up shots and over the shoulder shots. By the director’s using these shots within the trailer many times, it allows the consumers to see the facial expressions of the protagonist/antagonist within the trailer.
· In addition, by having the audience being able to see the facial expressions represented by the antagonist/protagonist it enables the audience to catch the possible moods and emotions felt by that particular character within the scene, therefore allowing audience interactivity as some members of the audience will be able to empathise with being in that position.
· By having particular close up shots within the trailer, it also makes the audience feel uncomfortable and enigmatic. These emotions and codes are easily conveyed and make the audience wonder why such an uncomfortable shot is being used of the face for example. It allows the audience to see the full extent of emotions being felt by the actor/actress on screen and therefore makes the trailer seem highly scary and conventional of a horror movie
· The uses of the over the shoulder shots allow the audience to see a common convention within horror movies; that being having the antagonist directly behind the protagonist. By having the antagonist viewed as looking over the shoulder of the protagonist allows the audience to see the tension and relationship between the two characters within the shot being represented through their body languages. Furthermore, by having the antagonist’s identity hidden makes the consumers from the target audience wish to see who the person is along with heightening suspense and enigma within the scene itself
Editing:
- Within the trailer there are obvious edits which have been made in order to represent that trailer as coming from a horror genre
- For example, during the trailer there are many jump cuts it connotes to the audience that there is an element of chasing within the film as the trailer starts off with minimal jump cuts however as the trailer begins to pick up pace, the jump cuts become a reoccurring theme. By the heavy uses of the jump cuts it represents to the audience that the protagonist may be getting chased by something or someone and by having the film titled as Paranormal Activity connotes to the audience that something of a supernatural spirit is in pursuit.
- Also, within the trailer there is a use of fast paced music which is accompanied with fact paced editing. Through using this common convention within horror trailers it speeds up the trailer and heightens the tension which makes the trailer seem more dramatic and grabbing the audience’s attention. Moreover this also connotes the element of chasing being a code within the film as previously mentioned
- Another form of editing evident within the trailer of Paranormal Activity can be seen through an effect of no signal being used. This can be seen at times when the trailer is cut off and skipped to a new scene within itself. The reason why this is used within the trailer is to allow a smooth transition from one time period to the present. In relation to the trailer of Paranormal Activity 4, this has been used to show the baby Hunter (young boy) who was snatched from his cradle and taken away, whereas within the present scenes portrayed within the trailer shows just a young boy. This has been used to show the link from the previous set of films to this new one and by using the effects allows the consumers to make a direct link to previous films of this nature and link a story line from it; this is what creates demand for the movie upon its release.
Sound:
- The sound within Paranormal Activity varies from short voice over’s all the way to a long eerie soundtrack
- Within the trailer, the majority of the synchrous sound comes from natural sources such as a baby’s crying and a hefty amount of sudden screaming. The uses of this connotes to the audience that this film has a natural element to it and this is further extended from the fact that Paranormal Activity is based upon real life events
- Furthermore, by having the uses of sudden screams within the trailer at points where the audience don’t expect them give an element of shock and surprise which is a common convention within horror trailers
- By having sudden screams within the trailer followed by darkness connotes enigma to the audience as they wish to know why someone is screaming
- By having someone screaming and babies crying it also connotes to the audience that someone is in immediate danger and discomfort and these emotions are easily felt by the consumers of the trailer also. This helps create realism along with audience interactivity which creates demand for the movie
- Due to the different sounds being used within the trailer it assists the movie in building up tension which keeps the consumers at the edges of their seats and will result in demand being made for the movie upon its release
Mis-en-scene:
- The mis-en-scene within the trailer enables the audience to easily establish that this film is from a horror genre
- For example, the antagonist within the film is shown within a conventional over the shoulder shot with his/her identity hidden through the use of low key lighting. By having the antagonist’s identity hidden through the uses of low key lighting creates enigma and makes the audience want to know the full identity of the antagonist
- The representation of the antagonist makes him/her easily identifiable by the consumers from the target audience. For example, by having the antagonist dressed and heavily viewed within low key lighting with black clothing connote the audience that the antagonist is associated with death, enigma and darkness which partly show his/her identity. This is a common convention within psychological horror films
- The damsel in distress is also easily identifiable by the target audience through being represented as weak and fragile
- The audience can draw these stereotypical conclusions through the damsel in distress being represented in minimal clothing and having blonde coloured hair thus connoting her as a blonde bimbo
- Furthermore, by having the teenager wearing minimal clothing possibly connotes her as having hardly any protection as many protagonists wear heavy clothing and do not reveal a lot therefore connoting themselves as preserved hero’s.
Saturday, 4 May 2013
Thursday, 2 May 2013
Production Stills
Here are some images and shots of us on the day of filming using several pieces of equipment for the making of our horror genre movie, The Unknown.
Camera Tests
The purpose of taking trial and test shots prior to actually shooting our trailer for The Unknown was to determine any adjustments which needed to be made in order to ensure we would've achieved maximum efficiency when shooting the actual trailer. Many high end institutions also do the same in order to ensure that a trailer and in this case horror genre movies, maintain realism and professionalism upon its release. Here are some pictures of our test and trail shots prior to our actual shoot for The Unknown.
Poster Analysis
Connotations and denotations:
Once these psychological horror film posters hit the box offices it will be evident to its consumers that this comes from a certain hybrid genre. Immediately we are struck by the both of these posters containing hand held cameras and having dark enigmatic colours surrounding the majority of the film posters. Through having the horror poster institutions deliberately including hand held cameras within their posters it creates a sense of audience interactivity as it connotes to the consumers that these films will be shot through a hand held camera therefore creating a fast paced, real life event horror movie. In addition by having the hand held camera in use it creates an unnatural angle for the consumers to view the poster, this therefore makes the audience want to find out why the angle of the camera is of a low one (the poster on the left) for example therefore creating a sense of suspense and enigma thus resulting in demand for the movie upon its release. Lastly, the hand held camera also gets the consumers from the target audience being able to relate to the movie through owning this type of technology therefore creating a sense of real life which therefore will result in further revenue for the box office institutions as having a sense of real life elements within the movie will create demand in relation to Blumler and Katz uses and gratifications theory. In relation to the media theorist; audiences will want to see a movie to escape and relate from a personal view. This is further enhanced by having a hand held camera on the front of these posters as the target audience nowadays are in use of hand held technology and are constantly in contact with web 2.0 technologies. Therefore by the media institutions involving the hand held camera within the horror posters, it’ll result in demand being created for the movie as consumers wish to have some sort of interactivity with the horror movie in order to escape and relate it with their everyday lives and this can be shown by involving a hand held device on the front of the posters.
Conventions on the posters:
Both of these horror posters contain many conventions which are commonly associated with their psychological and paranormal hybrid genre. For example;
- The common convention which can be seen by the target audience is the uses of the colour black. The media institutions have deliberately used the dark primary colours in order to connote the common conventions which are seen within this genre type of film. The colour black connotes to the target audience; darkness, enigma, paranormal events, death and mystery therefore by having heavy uses of this colour on the front cover of the posters, it will appeal to the target audience as they wish to know why the colour black features so heavily and if the common conventions associated with the colour black will be evident within the movie itself. Furthermore, the colour black is also a constant code with many horror films as it heavily endorses and creates and enigmatic atmosphere along with being a consistently used convention by many media institutions.
- A conventional camera shot and angle has been used on both posters to appeal to the target audiences. For example, one poster has used an extreme close up shot in which the consumers are instantly hit with the facial expressions of the actor being used on the front cover. By having this extreme close up in use on the poster it conveys the common conventions seen within horror movies such as fear and danger. The sense of fear is being enhanced by the body language and facial expressions. By having the low angle of the camera looking directly up at the actor, it represents the actor as being in control however by having the mis-en-scene set in darkness around him and the sense of fear being represented within his eyes, the target audience can see and feel a sense of danger. In addition, by using this type of camera shot it makes the audience and consumers feel highly uncomfortable as being this close to someone’s face is unnatural and unconventional in everyday life. This therefore makes the consumers create demand for the movie as they wish to see why this individual is in such an unnatural pose and feeling uncomfortable. Furthermore, these types of facial expressions and body languages being represented are common conventions within a horror movie.
Non verbal language being created to the audience/camera angles:
Due to the position of some props and body language being represented to the consumers by the iconic figures used on the posters it creates demand for the horror movies and also connotes the common codes and conventions seen within this genre of movies.
- By having the camera angle shot from a low angle within the Blair Witch Project poster it represents to the audience that this iconic figure is an protagonist that could possibly be in danger
- The low camera angle represents a sense of uneasiness for viewers of the poster as they wish to find out why the camera is in such an unconventional position
- The low camera angle shows the sense of fear within the protagonist’s eyes therefore creating suspense and enigma for the audience who wish to find out why he is feeling uncomfortable and possibly in danger. By having the majority of the primary colours used as dark and black it further extends the fact that this protagonist may be in danger due to something peering out from the dark woods within the film poster.
- By having the iconic figures within the Paranormal Activity poster sitting in an unnatural manner within the bed’s it connotes to the audience that they have been awoken by something which could possibly be of some danger towards them
- The body language represents to the audience that something unnatural and or paranormal is about to happen to the couple within the bed. The audience can easily extract this information from the finger pointing gesture being symbolised by the female actress.
- The damsel in distress theme is also being portrayed within the horror film poster as the male actor is trying to comfort the female actress by having his arm close to her. The proximity between the two actors shows to the consumers that these two iconic figures are clearly distressed and staying very close to each other for protection.
Mis-en-scene and colours:
- By having both posters containing dark colours such as black being the primary colour it connotes to the audience a sense of enigma as the uses of the colour are being used to cover up some iconic symbolisers which may connote to the audience of any hints about the movie itself
- A great example of this can be seen within the Blair Witch Project film poster as the black is used to cover up the protagonist’s mouth therefore hiding any immediate facial expressions which may show to the audience what mood he is feeling or if he is in any immediate danger. This therefore creates demand for the movie as the target audience wish to find out why exactly his mouth is hidden out of view and if he is in any danger.
- By having the setting of the poster taking place within the woods it also arises further enigma and also connotes to the audience that this horror film may have significant links to psychological/slasher elements within it as many consumers of horror movies today associate the woods or forest with murder scenes and/or paranormal events
- The fact that one main colour consisting of dark primary colours connotes to the audience the elements and codes which may be evident within the horror films
- For example; the dark blue used within the Paranormal Activity is significant as it connotes to the audience that the film is being shot through a hand held device which is heavily endorsed through the lines across the screen creating realism and in relation to Blumler and Katz’ theory on uses and gratifications, will create demand from the target audience
- The black used within the Blair Witch Project is significant as it connotes to the audience enigma and darkness which are common themes which occur within the film
- In relation to the Paranormal Activity poster, the type of colour used for the text connotes the common themes which may be portrayed within the film itself. For example red connotes to the audience that themes such as; blood, death and danger may be shown within the movie which is again another convention within horror movies therefore creating demand for the movie upon release. In addition, due to the intertidal being luminous in the colour red it immediately catches the consumer’s eyes and draws them in to see the movie. The fact that the words ‘Paranormal Activity’ are in an luminous effect it shows to the audience that something big and bright is about to occur within the movie therefore creating demand and revenue for the media institutions.
As a promotional package, these film posters released by the media institutions immediately appeal to the target audiences due to the common uses of the codes and conventions of a typical horror genre poster, the USP’s and the elements used to connote a sense of realism. The typical uses of the dark primary colours, representations of the actors and actresses used on the covers, the camera angle and shot types all connote to the audiences themes which will not only be shown within the films itself, but are also portraying the conventions of a horror genre. The dark colours connote enigma and fear, whilst the uses of the colour red promote a sense of danger and blood, all of which help to successfully promote a horror film as these conventions appeal heavily to the target audience therefore by having the posters further enhancing these elements will result in a huge revenue for the media institutions and demand created for the movie once its released. In addition, by having one of the horror posters containing an unconventional camera angle (The Blair Witch Project) it has resulted in the film having a unique selling point as this type of shot is uncommon among many horror genre’s therefore by having this single poster portraying this camera angle it makes it unique in comparison to the other conventional hybrid genre horror movies identical to this therefore appealing to a wider target audience and creating demand for the movie. The camera angle makes the consumers feel uncomfortable and makes them want to know why the camera is positioned in the way that it is. Lastly, both horror posters share almost identical target audiences in the sense that it’ll appeal vastly to older teenagers, however due to the Blair Witch Project poster containing a hand held camera it may appeal to an older audience and consumers of who are wealthy enough to own hand held devices as they will be the ones most likely to be able to relate to the movie through being able to actually afford and own this type of technology. In relation to the audience demographic scale, I believe that the group most likely to view both movies will be from the C2-D category.
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