Existing magazine Covers

Here are existing film magazines in which have given me ideas on how to compose my horror magazine. Here I have an example of a horror magazine and a normal magazine cover. In the horror cover closeups have been used rather than a longer shot as this creates the audience to identify with the character and their expressions.  Blood and scars have also been used to highlight the sort and genre of magazine, seperating it from other magazines. Colours such as red are most commanly used and can be identified with horror. The text also used in horror magazines are less basic and more stylized such as being cracked and uneven connoting unbalance as if somthing is wrong.

Here I have colected two horror movie posters in which instantly scream to the audience they are part of the horror genre. The majority of movie posters in the horror genre have used very dull colour schemes and almosty always has incourporated the colour black into their designs to create an edge and build suspence. Ive noticed that there is a main focal point in which grabs the audiences attention instantly, instead of creating confusion with numerous amounts of images trying to get the plot across.  The simpler the poster the more mystery to the film and there for persuading the audience to want to know more. Both posters also contain a catch phrase that links all their marketing products together , as this line would also be shown in the teaser trailer, posters and all other promotional products.  From this research on existing products I can also see a simple text has been used in which is the same font as in their trailer, therefore when audiences see this font it will be iconic to the film.

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

Here I have taken screen prints of the software in which i have used. From the top left I have 'Final Cut pro' in which I have used to create my final piece trailer. The program allows you to upload captured shots you have taken by video camera and then cut and join them up to make a trailer.


I have used the website 'Youtube' as part of my research in which I searched different horror movie trailers and teaser trailers to give me an idea of the different plots, shots, props and special effects that look effective in a horror trailer.

I've used the site 'Blogger' to record all my development and research to making the final product itself. Blogger allows me to show my products in different media sources, and also allows me to comment and explain why I am carrying out certain tasks.

Flikr is a site in which you can manipulate pictures by adding your personal views and analysis to specific pictures youve used, so that the written text is on the image rather than below it. Flikr has created my work to look more professional as its easier to view specific features on my blog.

By the use of both flikr and blogger I have found analysing specific texts much easier compared to traditional methods such as essays, as the majority of texts I needed to analyse were all on the computer or could be found on the internet, and therefore I found it easier to analyse them, as I could transfer these texts onto my blog or flikr and add notes to the specific image, instead of trying to explain the image and then analyse it. I feel this technique of documenting your work is less complicated and keeps all things together, showing the relations between your own work and others.

During the making of my trailer as well as using 'Final Cut Pro' I’ve added voice over and sound by using the programme 'GarageBand'. GarageBand has allowed me to record and then manipulate voices to sound scarier.

For my ancillary tasks I have used 'Photoshop' as here I can create posters and other texts easily changing the whole image, and adding other objects.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

From audience feedback I have gained a better understanding on what others, possible target audiences, like and dislike about my horror teaser trailer.
Some good points in which the audience liked in the teaser trailer were the canted camera angles, transitions and variety of different shots from the extreme long shot of the boy coming down the corridor to the extreme close-up of the eye. The audience thought these were good points as the close-ups create the audience to identify with the character more, yet feel freaked out by odd angled shots such as the cantered angles used. This being said some people thought the extreme close up eye shots was a bit to repetitive and therefore needed to be changed each time adding different effects to them, making them more unique. I agree with this point yet I don’t think we should add digital effects to them even when the audience said the distortion filters we had used were effective, as I personally prefer creating different shots using different props. By doing this I feel the audience finds the movie to be more realistic as the majority of the shots reflect real life.
The audience also found the close up of a hand scratching the floor particularly interesting and unique, as it has portrayed how the 'final girl' is feeling, this being terrified. They also found this shot to be interesting as it highlights peoples scenes, when in the situation when you are not able to see, your scenes smells and sounds more easily.
Viewers found our trailer easy to follow by the use of a voice over to hint the narrative and inter-titles to create suspense and mystery. On the other hand some found the inter-titles to be too quick and therefore hard to read.
The lighting used and created in our trailer were very successful as it had created the audience to feel nervous and scared, as to what is happening in the background of the shot.
Are biggest criticism was the debate in the music selected. Some said the music was well chosen yet there is not climax therefore lacking in suspense, yet others said the trailer was short enough to keep the soundtrack and the audience intrigued into the film.
Our teaser trailer was 1 minute and 12 seconds in which is quite short even for a teaser trailer, some of the audience felt it should have been longer or bits such as the repeated crawling scene taken out. This is to stop the audience of loosing interest, as some of the scenes are too repetitive.
Overall I think my target audience would want to see our film as I feel we have drawn the viewers in by the use of closeup camera shots forcing the audience to instantly identify with the characters and therefore what to know what will happen further on in the film asking questions such as 'Does she get her original sight back?' 'How is she seeing these things?' as they are put into her shoes and perspective in this horrible situation.

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

When finished my final ancillery tasks i have found my poster to be more effective as its more simplistic and therefore more eye catching and mysterious as only one image is shown. I also prefer the image i have used in the poster as its more mysterious and attention grabbing, I've chosen to use a close up shot so that the audience can identify with the characters expressions.

 I don't find my magazine cover to be as effective as I'm not too keen on the blue and yellow colour scheme. I also find the picture not to be scary enough for a horror magazine, and also feel the shot should have been a close up so that the audience could identify with me more and could have drawn them into reading my magazine.

Distributor’s control promotional posters in which is one of the most important components in the marketing campaign of a film. This is because they are displayed in places in which they think their target audience will notice them. Many different posters will be displayed in a cinema at once, because of this the distributors of each film have to work hard to make theirs effective and grab their target audiences attention.

Overall I feel my poster works well with my main product as I've used the same fonts and main character so that the audience can see that these two marketing products link together, and in the end will identify the typography used and catch phases  to the film. My hearing and seeing these marketing techniques creates audiences to advertise our film through word-of-mouth as they will recognise these certain things from the film.

My ancillary tasks also work well with the trailer especially the poster as a poster is produced for every release. Many months before release, an initial teaser poster will be created to tell the target audience that the film is coming and to whet the audience's appetite. This is why the initial poster is important as it can either draw the audience in more or push the audience away if the poster doesn’t look interesting or eye catching. This is why my poster was the most important sort of marketing material I needed to create, in case my target audience had not seen any other marketing material such as my teaser trailer.

I do not feel my magazine cover relates very well to my main product, as the main character doesn't look scared or troubled, yet she still can be identified with the film. The image i have used doesn't give the audience any idea what the plot of the film is, as her expression isn't clear and an emphasis on the eye has not been created connoting the film to be based on her eye. My magazine relates to the distribution of my product by looking at how publicity has translated my product and market my film.

The public often accepts independently-written news stories and features more readily than advertising. Publicity teams arrange media interviews with available members of the film's cast, and other artists visiting the UK for junkets or premieres. Publicists create a list on what to include for journalists such as containing cast and crew lists, biographies, notable facts about the production and a synopsis. There should also be a selection of images from the film, taken during production. This will draw the audience in as the magazine is giving the viewers an on look on the production of the film in which they can identify with, become inspired by and therefore want to see how successful the end product is.

9 screen shots phantasm

Here are 9 shots in which are similar to the 9 shots i have found from other teaser trailers.




















click on the images for more in depth notes
I have chosen to use these different angled shots and settings in my trailer not only to create my trailer to be unique, but to carry some of the specific horror conventions in my shots. I’ve chosen to use an abandoned hall way for a shot as horror is stereotypically set in small communities or isolated places in which there I no place to call for help or reassurance. The camera work is very important in the way of creating suspense as shots such as point of view shots create the audience to feel uncomfortable as they are looking through the killers eyes. In horror films the camera work is known to be more expressive rather than naturalistic, for example using a hand held camera and canted angled shots, as these shots are unbalanced it creates the audience to feel unsafe and venerable as the effects given off are abnormal to us. The most commonly used shot in the trailer was the use of extreme close ups in which is very stereotypically common in horror films, as these emphasise and allow us to identify with the characters expressions and make us feel uncomfortable as its an invasion of personal space and excluding the threat in the scene. I found this shot to be the most effective and therefore we used it allot in the teaser trailer as it builds a huge amount of suspense. As the teaser trailer is the first sort of marketing material it needs to grab the audiences attention instantly leaving them to want more, therefore it is important to limit what is being shown yet give them a glimpse of the plot by using lots of limited shots such as extreme close ups. In these screen shots we have you can see we have also used allot of iconography in which the audience instantly sets our film to be a horror and not fall into the 'thriller' category. We have used low key lighting in the majority of shots to emphasise the shadows creating this dangerous creepy feel. We have also used allot of blood on the characters in which defiantly is significant to promoting our film to be part of the horror genre. In out trailer we decided to use a girl for the main protagonist as this is a typical horror convention as girls are looked upon to be weaker and virginal therefore perfect for a killer target.

9 shots from previous horror trailers.

                                                           Here i have gathered a collection of shots in which i have found from other horror trailers, which i have used in my trailer 'Phantasm'.

Click on the images for notes

Our finished horror teaser trailer 'Phantasm'

Our group's storyboards for the horror teaster trailer

My horror movie pitch

As a lonely timid widow Rosa struggles through the depression of middleclass life in the small deserted town of Jingleberry, whilst mourning her husbands mysterious sudden death. She urges to find out the truth and tries to defend her husbands reputation against the ruthless locals. But as she digs deeper into the truth, and new secrets are revealed, she is visited by an unwanted visitor and is brutally attacked.
One evening fighting for survival, she is luckily saved by her distant neighbour and is relieved when her stalker is brought to justice by death. But can justice be brought to the death? Rosa's life spirals further down as she is drove to insanity as her attacker stalks her and terrorises her through her dreams, as the hallucinations become more realistic.

Mood Board

Audience Research

Are horror fans mainly male?

Which Horror sub genre do our target audience like to watch?

Do You Prefer voice overs or narrative structure?

From this audience research i have gathered through a questionaire i have more of an idea in what type of audience i am trying to target. From my reaserch my pie charts show that the genre 'horror' is more aimed at the male gender as females are more attracted to other genres such as romantic comedies. From my pie chart i can also see that my target audiences are more interested in phycological horror rather than the sub genres; thriller horrors, supernatural and gore based horrors. By this information i will therefore choose to produce a trailer in which hasa phycological plot, to attract the biggest audience.
Ive also found out that in horror trailers audiences prefer the plot to be delivered by a combination of both voice overs and narrative, this therefore gives me an idea of how i wish to portray my film and keep my target audience happy.

What are some of the conventions of the horror genre?

In horror films typical conventions are used to potentially scare the audience, using the right conventions to suit the film genre can seperate a good horror to a bad by creating the right suspence and drawing the audience in. There are many textual elements in which create the horror genre to be distinct, these include: the setting, technical code, iconography, narrative structure, and characters in the film.
The most obvious convention I feel is the iconography which signifies to the audience that they are watching a horror genre. Objects used in the mise-en-scene would include: blood, masks, and icons of the supernatural such as ghosts, moving objects, bladed weapons and references to religion like crucifixes, gravestones and pagan symbols. All of these connote the audience to feel uncomfortable as these aren’t seen regularly in everyday life for example ghosts, vampires and monsters or objects in which lead to or signify death, gravestones, axes and knives.
Anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss studied binary opposites in fims in which I have related to horror films. These are used to convey the loss of child innocence as dolls are iconic to childhood and purity which are binary oppositions- evil/innocence.
Horror can be signified by other sources of iconography by other visible signifiers such as the dark black and red colours used in which have obvious connotations of: darkness, evil, blood and danger. The use of black has been used through the low key/high contrast lighting, emphasising shadows such as the moon, creating the lighting to be more expressive and non-naturalistic, connoting hell and primitive instincts. This is because when we distinguish black objects we instantly imply death as death is promoted as a dark thing.The majority of horrors are set at night time/ out of hour places which convey a characters innocence, as these are when a person feels alone and most venerable.

Audiences also expect the story to be set in small communities or rural isolated places as this offers the audience to feel unsafe in a community in which could harbour a secret, for example: a village may hold a curse. The commonly used houses are quite large and have several floors, easy hiding places which portray more mystery and suspense for the audience.

On the technical approach in horror films the ambient sounds of footsteps and heartbeats high in the sound mix, and camera work is made to be very expressive, meaning the camera angles used are more creative and can even portray a specific mood, as this is all used to try frighten the audience by creating suspense. From changes in the depth of field, watching hidden movement in the back and foreground, to high and low canted angles that both create the audience to feel disorientated and uncomfortable, as they are looking onto the situation in an imbalanced prospective. Extreme close-ups and point of view shots are frequently used, to allow the audience to identify with the characters expressions, influencing us to share their emotions. By the use of these shots this makes the audience feel we are looking onto the situation in the monsters eyes, invading their personal space and experiencing their situation. The editing of shots creates suspense and tension by the pace of long shots which are quickly cut to close ups becomes unsettling, as usually smooth transitions with mid shots have been used.

The main narrative character roles and narrative structure conventions in horror films have a key protagonist, often the victim who becomes the hero. This is usually “the final” girl. The final girl tends to be virginal and is terrorised. She is also usually the pure, slightly masculine girl who’s friends with a group of stupid immoral teenagers.

Lee_Curtis_as_Final_Girl

click on the image to see analysis on the screen shot of Laurie the final girl in the horror film Haloween.

Anthologist theorist Vladimir prop a Russian critic had a theory in which there are 8 character roles in which are: the hero, the villain, the donor (the provider of an object with some magic property, the helper (who aids the hero), the princess, her father (who rewards the hero, the dispatcher (usually sends the hero away) and the false hero. I feel this theory works for most horrors, yet more than one character can fit into a specific role, as some characters with mental issues change from villains to heroes or by being made psychotic by early events. The return of the repressed is often used in horrors as previous experiences of characters are put into their unconscious, until an object or something iconic, forces them to remember the previous incident. This is used in horror as these previous experiences tend to be bad memories in which they try to forget, until being forced by something else to remember and be re-visited by the past.

Children are also used in horrors to frighten the audience as children are so venerable and precious, as they don’t have a lot of experience in what is right and wrong, therefore easily influenced or killed quickly.

Other media theorists have different ideas on the stereotypical narrative structures Tzvetan Todorov believes classic Hollywood structures evolve in horror films. For example the film starts of with normality moves on to the enigma then finding a pathway to resolution resulting with closure, or a hero finds an agent of change in which goes on a quest to resolution resulting with closure. Some films use false closures so left ambiguous to create a deeper meaning in the plot, or left to enable a sequel.

All of these key conventions make up the genre of horror, as this is what the audience expect to, and want to see, creating them to be scared.

In this Halloween trailer the key conventions of a horror film are

addressed, and clearly back up my essay.

Marketing Plan

As the Film Distributor's Association says, "the marketing objective is to create visibility, raise awareness and engage interest, cutting through the blizzard of competing messages for other films. However big or small the marketing budget, audiences, must be met using different ways. When constructing a campaign, distributors aim to reach as much of their target audience as possible, yet cost effectively. Different audiences are met in different marketing techniques.

Different types of marketing techniques include posters, cardboard standees, banners, window clingers, posters and trailers in which are mostly shown in cinemas attracting cinema goers."

Exhibitors select appropriate trailers in which the audience in the screening may find interesting; this is usually done by the genre. Films are also advertised on the internet and on TV, in which is a great visual advertisement yet advertising on the television and in popular cinema screenings is much more expensive, than posters and posting advertisements on the internet and radio. UK film distributors invest around £170 million a year in media advertising to launch and sustain their releases. Editorial advertising can be very successful as the public are often drawn in by independently written news stories and features, in which is a very clever way of advertising as its not paid for in the same way as displayed advertisement. Films are also advertised by the use of tie-in merchandise by selling soundtracks, games, books, clothing and action figures anything that may appeal to the target audience. Premiers, award shows and preview screenings and film festivals are also other techniques in which advertise the film in a cheaper yet useful way.

The most cost effective sort of advertisement in which i feel is most effective are films in which have been advertised through the use of word of mouth. This could be a personal recommendation from a friend or a colleague in which could make you want to visit the cinema to watch the film, yet negative word of mouth is very hard to overcome as this will convince you that the film is bad. However a combination of good word of mouth and further advertisement will attract the audience into viewing the film.

Distribution Plan

The Distributor consists of being a partner in the project, contributing to the films development/production costs and later on bringing the film to the market. Individual distributors may release from 1 or two films a week, or as much as 25-30 a year.
Every film has its own tailor made distribution plan in which the producer and distributor work closely together. The most important decisions are when the distributor is to decide when the film should be released, and how to release the film in order to optimise its chances. Therefore the distributor would have to gather a combination of market knowledge, have commercial experience, do statistical research, and use professional judgement to determine the audience for each film.
The distributor should also have considered what the film may earn, as therefore if they feel they will earn a high amount they can use more money to market the film without loosing valuable money as the extra audience they have attracted would make up for the money they have spent on launching the film.
The distributors challenge is always to attract as wide a spread as possible- identifying niche interest groups as well as the broad mainstream, and ideally helping a film to 'break out' and 'cross over'. Yet the distributor should never loose sight of their core target audience in which they have to consider; age group, gender, lifestyles, and social networks and media consumption patterns.
The most frequent cinemagoers tend to be teenagers, students, young adults in which more than half of these 15-24 year olds visit the cinema in the UK once a month. Therefore the distributor would have to find when in which they can release their film in order to catch their target audience. This can vary quite a bit as to looking at what other films are to be released that will also attract a similar audience, as there is allot of competition in which you have to create your target audience to watch your film instead of theirs. The Competition is very large in public holidays as this is when the majority of films are released, as therefore a wider audience will visit the cinema.

Mirrors teaser trailer

This teaser trailer for the horror film Mirrors, is short yet attention grabbing as it leaves a big impact on the viewers, by its strong use of sound crescendos and silences in synchronisation to the jumpy cuts used. This therefore clarifies the horror genre, the character 'Kieth Sunderland' is also addressed, promoting the film as he is a well-known strong actor.
Intertitles have been used and have broke up sentences into clauses, with dialogue between each clause in which ia very comman in the horror genre to create suspence and mystery.

A nightmare on Elm street teaser trailer

This teaser trailer uses alot of the stereotypical connventions of a horror film. It instantly indicates that its of horror genre, by the use of mise-en-scene and sound. The sound carries alot of mystery and has a haunted feel to it as it builds up a series of crescenndos then cuts to silence, this creates the suspence, and also disturbs the audience to feel unsafe. The sound then transforms into the feint singing of children. Children are used alot in horrors to potray the loss of innocents, as children are stereotypical for being naive and guiltless.

The storyline has been told through the use of dialogue from the characters, this creates us to identify with the characters drawing us into the film, addressing the problem then leaving us with no resolution. This therefore grabs the audience ito wanting to go watch this film, to see what happens in the end of the film.

This teaser shows typical trailer conventions by showing information, such as the film is directed by Micheal Bay in which is a well known film maker. The title is then shown, all the text is written in a red blood splattered font, in which emphasises the genre of the film.
Actors have also been slightly adressed at the end of the trailer alongside of the film company, and the date of the films release.

A Nightmare on Elm Street teaser trailer screen shots

media screen shot
Originally uploaded by Yasmin westveer de mul

click on the image to view connotations of the screen shots.

Saw 2 trailer

This is the Saw 2 trailer in which holds the typical conventions of a horror film through the use of mise en scene.
In the trailer lots of diegetic sound has been used stereotypical to this genre, such as screams, emphasised heartbeats and shouting signifying the scary situation they are in.
see the posts below to see my analsysis of certain stereotypical shots I've found.

screen shot media
Originally uploaded by Yasmin westveer de mul

click on the image to view analysis on typical horror film screen shots.

ecu saw 2
Originally uploaded by Yasmin westveer de mul

This is a typical horror trailer. For example this ECU is a common shot for the genre.
Click the image to read about it.

Pandorum teaser trailer

This is the Pandorum teaser trailer. When watching this trailer the genre becomes more clear the more you watch, in the beginning a blue/grey colour scheme has been used which represents a typical si-fi genre, yet as the viewer continues to watch it becomes clear that the genre is a si-fi horror as the colour scheme changes to black and greys.
The genre has also been highlighted by the music and soundmix used of heavy breathing,screams, gradual orchestral crescendos to sudden silences, and long unsteady notes, as well as sirens in which are both significant to si-fi and horror genres creating tension and a sense of fear.

An overwrite and vioce over has been used in flashes, in which are typical conventions in which to create suspense and draw the viewer in. Cuts have been used in between other shots to emphasise information such as the film company, producers in which are behind other well known films,concluding to the title of the film then the date in which it will be released. The actors havnt particularly been mentioned, in which connotes the actors are wellknown, therefore need not to be mentioned or are not recognisable.

Do narrative theories work on The Shining?

Do narrative structures work?
Our teacher set us out the task to look at different narrative media theorists to see how well their theories worked on horror films, these include Vladimir Propp and Tzvetan Todorov. After watching the horror film 'The Shinning', i have tried to fit its narrative structure into these theories.
Vladimir Propp found that all Russian folk tales shared common properties, no matter how widely they differ in characterization, setting or plot, they shared certain structure features. Propp's theory is that all narratives have 8 character roles and 31 narrative functions, the character roles include:
-The villain.
-The Hero.
-The donor- who provides an object with some magic property.
-The helper who aids the hero.
-The princess: the reward for the hero and object of the villain schemes.
-The father: who rewards the hero.
-The dispatcher: who sends the hero on his way.
-The false hero.

Propp has also outlined a list of 31, in which are organised in narrative groups indicating their place in the development of the plot. These narrative groups in order include: Preparation, complication, Transference, Struggle, Return and recognition. To test if Propps theory worked i decided to compare the narrative structure from 'The shinning' to one of the narrative groups.

Recognition:
1. A member of a family leaves home/ Jack goes for an interview.
2.A prohibition or rule is imbosed on the hero/ Jack needs to look after the hotel.
3.This prohibition is broken/ Jack and Danny go into room 237.
4.The villian makes an attempt at reconaissance/ Jack disables the radio.
5.The Villain learns something about his victim/ Jack learns that Danny has the shining.
6.The villain tries to decieve the victim to get prossedion of him or his belongings/Jack wanting Danny's powers.
7.The victim unknowingly helps the villain by being decived or influenced by the villain.

From this i have found that Vladimir Propp's theory doesn't always work in chronological order, as some narrative structures work in the opposite order. For instance some more modern films start with flash backs or clips from the future to create more suspense and mystery. Therefore these type of narrative structures wouldn't fit into allot of theories made. On the other hand the characters from 'The Shining' can fit into his 8 character roles, some in which fit nicely into two roles. In 'The Shining', Danny is both the 'hero' and the 'princess', as he is the prize, the villain in this case the dad wants Danny, yet Danny is also the Hero when he and his mom, are trying to escape.
Another narrative theorists Tzvetan Todorov, had a less specific theory, in which therefore fits film narratives better. This was that each story begins with an equilibrium, a potentially balanced world. This is then interrupted by an event, the disequilibrium, creating a chain of events resolving to a new equilibrium.
This i feel works in the the majority of stories, as each film starts in an equal manor until something changes, therefore creating a a series of events to fix the problem. This works in 'The Shining' in the sense that in the beginning there is a pleasant relationship between the family member, until the father becomes mad, therefore the family is put at risk (the disequilibrium) yet this is then solved through the pathway of resolution until the closure (the new equilibrium).
As a conclusion these theories move you from thinking characters are real people, but as a narrative man made character in which goes through a series of events.

The return of the repressed

The return of the repressed is when repressed elements, often distressing memories, thoughts, or feelings from the conscious mind, have been preserved into the back of your mind into the unconscious. These repressed elements in which only reappear in consciousness or behaviour. A person could forget something, and only remember it again after being reminded of something else or seeing a specific thing.

Horror Trailer

I chose this trailer because it is filmed in the London Underground, a place which i can identify myself with.
I can also see myself being in similar situation as the main character,creating the trailer to be more realistic.



In the "Creep" horror film trailer, certain stereotypical connventions are used to highlight the film as being of the horror genre, this therefore attracts their target audience. The tailer has been openned instantly with a dramatic breathing soundmix and unsteady handheld camera work, which allready signifies to the audience someone is scared worked up. We are put in the characters eyes in a point of view shot, struggling towards the escalator. This signifies that this is a horror film as she is struggling by herself, possibly limping, in a isolated place ( stereotypical setting of a horror film).
The music in the trailer is a huge give away as to the film genre by bulding up crescendo's leaving us wanting more. Bursts of sounds have been use such as screams and heartbeats in which are shyncronised with the gradually getting faster pace of the shots, building tension and suspence.