Adobe Tutorial

This helped us put the news banner as Adobe pro elements 10 is complicated to use, this provided plenty of help in producing an accurate and realistic news report.

Thriller Conventions

Thriller film conventions:

• Antagonist- Normally have twisted views of the world and they normally believe there actions can solve the worlds problems, they are normally psychopathic and in certain films they are portrayed as smart and thinking through there plan methodically, such as in Seven.
• Setting- Thrillers are normally set in very corrupt areas such as cities, haunted buildings, prisons etc, the dark streets in the city provide tense and mysterious backdrop.
• Protagonist- They are normally male characters who are going through a normal day, but in the film they are suddenly sent into an extraordinary plot.
• Themes- The director will normally put a number of themes into a film, the plot for example will normally revolve around some kind of mystery or some complicating conspiracy. Some films are designed around a theme such as Seven which is based aroun the seven deadly sins, these themes are placed around the whole film.
• Sound- The sound used in thrillers is crucial to showing the mood of the film, in thrillers the sound provides the most tension and suspense and it can make shots appear very menacing and dramatic to the audience
• Editing- The director will often use jump cuts as it often makes the film flow better and allows the film to make sense to the audience, it can also help build suspense in the audience and can cause jump scares, in some situations, it can also be used to show one of the characters is nervous and this can add tension to the scene this was widely used in the film District 9.

Storyboard Animatic

This is our animatic storyboard, this is what we used to design the different scenes we are planning to have in our trailer, the individual scenes are using the timings we want to use in the trailer. Overall the animatic storyboard was used often throughout filming to give us an idea on what to do next.

To do list this week

1) Questionnaire Evaluation - explain your findings and how this has influenced your film trailer

2) Title Research of films in your genre then create practise titles and explain what is effective and why

3) Sound Research

4) Online Tutorials to help with the filming and editing

5) Animatic Storyboard

6) Stereotypical props and character types featured in the opening - explain that the antagonist photos featured in the trailer are conventional as the detective often looks at the suspects. The antogonist is a stereotypical representation as he is a convicted criminal, male, middle-aged, serious and intimidating etc.

Shot types in our film

This is a list of some of the shot types which will be shown in our trailer, we will try to use a range of shots throughout.

Over the shoulder shot- This shot will be used when Chloe is sitting down watching the news report, the over the shoulder shot will show the TV and it will tell the audience that she is watching the report.

Close up- We will use this shot when we are showing the expression on Chloe's face, this will be when she is frightened due to the lights going off.

Extreme close up- This will be shown when the antagonist is in Chloe's house. There will be an extreme close up of his eyes, he will be seen to be very serious and intimidating which will link to his character.

Long shot- We will use a long shot when the antagonist is shown to be following one of his victims, we will also use a long shot when the antagonist is shown to be walking away from the scene with a knife.

Medium shot- This will be used when Thomas is doing the news report. A medium shot is good for us because it helps us show his smart clothing, indicating his reporter job, it also helps show the background, which is important because we are filming live from the scene.

First Day of Filming

This is Thomas Cunningham in our film, this is the scene where he is reporting in the news about the new dangerous convicts that has escaped the metal hospital. His costume was very good and he looks like a professional news reporter due to the suit and tie and the trench coat. This will be the opening shot of the trailer, we believe it will set the scene, as this character tells the audience what the trailer entails.

Diary of Filming

-On the 30th of November we filmed for the first time.

- The weather was good, as there was no rain, this meant we were able to film without any distractions.

- We were not able to film all of the shots

- We have filmed around half of the shots that we need to do

-We are going to look over the shots in the coming days and see if we need to re-film them

- The rest of the shots needed are at a different location

-These shots will be filmed in the coming days

- We feel the quality of the shots are a lot better than last years filming

- The camera quality is very good as we used a GoPro

This is Thomas Cunningham in our film, this is the scene where he is reporting in the news about the new dangerous convicts that has escaped the mental hospital. His costume was very good and he looks like a professional news reporter due to the suit and tie and the trench coat. This scene is the establishing shot of our trailer as it tells the audience what the trailer entails and what the movie will be structured on.

Production Logo

This is the production logo we have designed to add to the beginning of our trailer. The name J-RAT Media Productions comes from a combination of our filming groups names, and we thought it was effective and memorable.

Film Script

Starts off  near the crime scene, where Tom is reporting the murders.

THOMAS: We are now reporting live from the scene of a murder investigation. We believe that the source of this murder is from the recent outbreaks from the West Park Avenue mental asylum.

PRODUCTION CREDITS

inside Chloes living room while she's watching the news report

THOMAS: We would advise anyone within the area to stay inside until the murderer is caught, the police have informed us that this man has the potential to go on endangering the lives of others. 

To the first murder outside under the bridge.

(long shot of a stranger being followed by the stalker.)

(reverse shot of the other end of the pathway showing murderer walking off and showing the victim laying dead in the background)

TITLES- BASED ON A TRUE STORY


ALEX:  Who is it?  (shouting, while looking at pictures of potential suspects)

(back to Chloe's living room face timing the detective/ boyfriend)

CHLOE:  This stalker person is really creeping me out Matt, when will you be home?

ALEX: I'll be a few hours, you'll be fine, don't worry about it.

CHLOE; What was that?

ALEX: What?

CHLOE: I just heard something

ALEX: Don't be silly, i'll be home soon anyway stop worrying

CHLOE: Okay try and be as quick as...

ALEX: Chloe.... who's that behind you..

she turns around and lights turn off , Chloe screams 

MURDERER:  You better hurry home. ( fade to black transition)

TITLES- STALKER 

Thriller Genre History

The first thriller film was produced by Alfred Hitchcock in 1926, it was called The Lodger and was a suspenseful Jack the Ripper story, Hitchcock is considered by many to be the father of the modern psychological thriller film as he has produced so many critically acclaimed thriller films, he was nicknamed "the master of suspense", six of his 15 films in the 20's and 30's were thrillers and almost everything he did afterwards was Thriller, he also produced The Man Who Knew Too Much.

In the 1940's and 50's, Alfred Hitchcock continued producing suspense thrillers such as the Oscar winning film Rebecca which is about a women in danger from her husband. During the 50's the use of technicolour filming techniques became more widely used, Hitchcock began to use it in his films during this time period, he produced Strangers on a Train in 1951 which was about two train passengers who both staged a series of murders trying to outwit each other.

In the 1960's the violence that appeared in thriller films increased rapidly with the release of Peeping Tom, with Carl Boehm as a psychopathic cameraman the film was released prior to Hitchcock's Psycho. After Hitchcock produced the thriller Psycho, which at the time stunned and frightened audiences for its graphic deaths and tension, the film itself is about a loner mother-fixated motel owner who kills the guests at his motel. Spy thrillers also began to appear, films like James Bond were very popular especially during this time because it was the height of the Cold War.

The 70's and 80's had spy films scattered through them and most of the James Bond films were released during these decades. The industry also see's the last Hitchcock film as he died in 1980, he released one of his last films in 1972, it was called Frenzy and it made nearly $12 million. These years also saw rapid increase in the number of slasher films and films tended to be far more violent as the industry began using improved makeup and special effects techniques.

The 90's and films today have seen a wide range of thrillers, there have been several films based on thriller novels, most famously by Stephen King. The 90's was an era of obsession based films with a stalker usually following or becoming obsessed with a certain character an example of this was The talented Mr Ripley. There was however another theme throughout the 90's and this was the hunting down of serial killers, the most famous of which is Silence of the Lambs, which received best-picture in 1991, Seven was another famous thriller of this decade. Since then the thriller genre has started to reuse elements from previous films and add more violence and brutality, an example of this includes The Last House on the Left.

The difference between Horror and Thriller

this video helps explain the difference between a horror film and a thriller. Looking back at this video we can understand that our trailer/film would correlate more to a thriller film not horror. I can say this because the video explains that a horror aims to make the viewers scared and to make them feel uncomfortable while watching the film. A thriller aims to keep the viewers on the edge of their seats and to feel nervous towards the character. In our trailer there won't be any jump scares or scary monsters but we will build as much suspense as possible.

Targets this week for your group

You need to complete your blank posts.


1) Questionnaire Results

2) Script

3) Animatic Storyboard

4) Shot List

5) Mood Board

6) Diary of Filming and Editing

Institution research

These are the six major film institutions (The Big Six). Film institutions are very important as they provide the money for films to be made, and without them, no one would ever get enough money to make a decent budget film. These companies also own studios, providing places in which major films can shoot exactly what they want. The only problem with film institutions funding a film is that they like to have complete control over the project, so if you go to them for money your film may not end up being completely how you originally planned. They are all about making money, and this stops film advancing as an art form. However a lot of good films are made by studios and the film business wouldn't be what it is today without these major institutions.

Warner Bros studios was founded in 1903. It was formed by four brothers called the Warner brothers, and was one of the first companies to make movies with dialogue in it. They also famously started the original 'Looney Tunes', as well as many more successful cartoons. Warner Bros have a very wide range of films. They tend to make high budget movies, to make a lot of money, and their films are shown around the world. Their films appeal to a very wide range of audience as they make films from many different genres. Previous Warner Bros films include: 'Harry Potter', 'The Departed', 'The Dark Knight', 'Slumdog Millionaire', 'P.S. I Love You', 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory', 'Troy', 'Blade Runner', 'The Wrong Man'.

Paramount Studios was founded in 1916 and is one of the oldest film institutions. Steven Spielberg is a major partner with Paramount as he is one of the leading film directors in Hollywood and this is a major contributor to Paramounts success as he has many fans and followers who will watch anything he puts out, making most of his films instant money makers. Paramount are ranked as one of the highest-grossing film studios in the world. As with Warner Bros, they make a very wide range of films which targets many different audiences with each film. Paramount films include: 'Titanic', 'Transformers' 'Indiana Jones', 'Iron Man', 'Forrest Gump', 'War of the Worlds', 'Mission Impossible', 'Shutter Island', 'Paranormal Activity' .

Sony Pictures is another of the film studios in 'the big six'. Although you wouldn't think that Sony would be in the big six it does own Columbia Pictures, which is a much more well known company. Another slightly less well known, but still widely appreciated company that they own is Tristar Pictures. As Sony are primarily associated with gaming and electronics their film side isn't as well known. Despite this, they are still one of the highest grossing companies in the world. Most of their money comes from the fact that they are already such a big company so people have heard of them so will trust in them. They also do a lot of advertising for their films through their other products (such as the PS3 gaming console). Sony Pictures films include: 'Spiderman', 'Men in Black', 'Gladiator', 'The Da Vinci Code', 'Quantum of Solace', 'Hancock', 'The Pursuit of Happyness', 'The Adventures of Tintin, 'The Social Network', 'Bucky Larson: Born to be a Star'.

Walt Disney Pictures is probably the most famous film institution, mainly because most people grow up watching most of their films and TV shows. Disney are famous for their traditional family movies and cartoons but recently have made more action films for example 'Tron' and 'Pirates of the Caribbean' to reach out to a larger target audience by doing something a bit more appealing to teens and adults. They also own a large number of institutions: Touchstone Pictures, Pixar, Marvel, and most recently Lucasfilm. Pixar are seen as one of the best film institutions in the world, as they consistently make excellent films. Their films are enjoyable for both children and their parents, making them a real money maker. Pixar and Marvel both stray from producing a large number of films, opting instead for taking their time with each one and increasing the quality of the films. The quality of the films aren't as high as Marvel , but are more 'fun'. This is what makes for millions of fans as everyone is on edge waiting for them to bring out the next film. Through these companies Disney manages to get a huge amount of money, and it is a big factor in their recent success. Disney films include: 'The Lion King', 'Toy Story 3', 'The Avengers', 'Pirates of the Carribean', 'Beauty and the Beast', 'High School Musical', 'Tangled', 'Thor', 'Finding Nemo', 'Hannah Montana', 'Bambi', 'The Princess and the Frog', 'Alladin', 'A Bug's Life' .

Universal Pictures is another major film institution. They have large theme parks around America which help promote their business, helping them make more money. Universal, like many other film institutions, make a large range of film genres to target a large market of people. They are another company that go hand in hand with Warner Bros and Paramount as they are all in it more for the money than for the art form of making films itself. However they don't disappoint bringing out big budget films that have been highly successful and have made many films that are seen to be classics for example 'E.T' and 'Jaws'. Universal films include: 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy', 'E.T', 'Bourne Identity', 'Despicable Me', 'Back to the Future', 'A Beautiful Mind', 'American Graffiti', 'Love Actually', 'Bruce Almighty', 'Jaws', 'American Gangster', 'Mamma Mia!', 'Jurassic Park', 'King Kong', 'Meet the Fockers', 'The Mummy'.

20th Century Fox is another very large film institution well known across the world. 20th Century Fox was one of the film institutions that started a little later compared to the other big companies. This institution is owned by a news corporation which also own the Fox television channel which helps in making them a lot of money. The TV channel has pumped out many shows that the world has loved for many years. They sometimes even make films from the TV shows they play on their channel for example 'The Simpsons Movie'. 20th Century Fox tend to make very high budget films and like many other institutions, make films for a wide range of genres. Many people criticize them and say that the company is nothing more then a logo where as other institutions have more to show for, like Universal with a theme park and Sony with its electronics. However 20th Century Fox are still a widely well known institution. Famous 20th Century Fox films include: 'Avatar', 'Star Wars', 'Independence Day', 'Home Alone', 'X-Men', 'The Simpsons Movie', 'Ice Age', 'I, Robot', 'Marley and Me', 'Taken', 'Minority Report', 'Prometheus', 'Die Hard', 'Speed', 'Alien', 'Eragon', 'True Lies', 'Titanic', 'Moulin Rouge!', 'Road to Perdition', 'Night at the Museum', 'Austrailia'.

Finally, Lionsgate Entertainment was originally formed in 1998, it is based in California where it is able to produce different types of media products from movies to TV dramas to music, Lionsgate is the most commercially successful mini major film and television distribution company in North America and the seventh most profitable movie studio, with total income estimated at around $2 billion. Although not part of "The Big Six," Lionsgate is still a widely known and successful company. Lionsgate are known for producing highly successful film franchises such as The Hunger Games series, as well as this they have also produced several successful horror films such as Cabin in the Woods, The Possession, Sinister ,Texas Chainsaw 3D, and the SAW series.

It seems that many of the large film institutions  that started right at the beginning of film making are the most successful production companies in recent times. This makes sense as they have had the most time to evolve and grow to what they are now, giving the audience the best possible films they can make for us to enjoy.

Title and Font research

This is the idea we have for our title research. The red font colour is common in horror films as it indicates to the audience violence is likely in the film, as the colour connotes blood and danger, which is what the audience would be expecting from a horror film. The text and font is bold and clear, which allows the title to stand out clearly against the background. The black, stormy background suggests to the audience the film takes place at night perhaps and it also has connotations of early horror films as they often used storms to represent danger and horror.

Horror film Conventions

The conventions of horror films are: murders, female with sex appeal, 'jumpy scenes' and creepy music. In a horror film the intention of the film is to scare the audience.  To scare the audience the main theme of horror films are peoples worst nightmare. So for example a serial killer, a scary clown or a ghost. Also tension is created by creepy music. The music is usually very slow paced. The camera shots in horror movies are mostly long shots and close ups. Close ups are used to show the facial expressions of the characters, most of the time the close ups are on the character that is being attacked. This is because it enables the audience can see and even feel their fear. Long shots are used to show the whole setting, sometimes long shots shows things creeping up behind someone, this creates tension. When the audience can see something or someone creeping up behind a person in a long shot it creates dramatic irony.

In almost all horror films there is a teenage girl being killed. The girl is seen to be the damsel in distress. Also she is seen to be fragile and helpless. The girl always seems to be alone in a place far away from anything. This makes the girl vulnerable as she is far from civilisation and therefore, help.

The target audience for horror films are young people aged 16-30 Many teenagers will want to watch a horror film as they will feel as if they can relate to the film. Teenagers are used most of the time in horror films. Also young people will want watch horrors as they will want to see blood and gore, which is shown a lot in horror films. The colours used in horror films are usually black and red. This is because stereo typically these colours connote evil and death. Teens would would be the target audience because they usually want to have adrenaline rushes and they also want to have the shock factor. Older people will not be the target audience as they will feel that horror films are boring and unrealistic as they would of seen many before.

Mood board

This is our mood board, this represents what ideas we have for the trailer, as shown we plan to have a kind of Scream inspired film now, we have brought this in as we can easily access the locations we need, the story revolves around the escape of a convicted murder from a prison. The prisoner uses a mask to conceal there identity, which will add mystery and suspense to the trailer as we can't relate to the antagonist and this makes him appear inhuman and almost like a machine.

On the board we also have the weapon of choice our murder will be using, as we have researched we have seen that each antagonist in a slasher film has had different weapon of choice like in Texas Chainsaw Massacre the main weapon is a chainsaw, or in Halloween Mike Myers uses a kitchen knife more often than not, in our trailer the antagonist will use a meat cleaver to kill his victims.

 Our character types are also shown on screen as we see, their will still be a group of people being hunted, and the primary character in the film will be a film, this goes against what the audience would expect from a female character as we are often given a male protagonist as they appear strong and physically able to beat the antagonist.

Certificate research

The British Board of film Classification or BBFC is the organisation responsible for the censoring of all films and DVD’s. They currently use a certificating system from U to 18 this is an easy way of telling people what films are suitable for who and allows parents a reference as to what films there children can view.



This is the first Certification U this stands for Universal which means that the film is suitable for all ages and there is nothing unsuitable for children. Examples of these kind of films are Turbo and The smurfs 2.

 

 

All ages are admitted, but does contain violent scenes and can contain moderate violence and mild language and drug reference. An example of these kind of films are Wreck-it-Ralph.

 

 

 

The 12A certificate was introduced in 2002 to replace the 12 rating in cinema's only, films under this  category are considered unsuitable for viewing by young children and under age children must be accompanied by a adult over the age of 18. Films under this category can contain soft drug references some strong language and moderate violence, the films can also contain sex references. Examples of this certificate include RED 2 and Pacific Rim.

 

The 12 certificate is for DVD use only as no child under 12 can rent or buy this film.

The 15 certificate are for 15 years and older, so nobody under 15 can view or rent/buy the film. The film can contain hard drugs, frequent strong language, strong sex references and  limited sexual violence. Examples of this film are The Heat and Cloverfield

 

This film category can only be viewed by 18's and over. It contains no limitations on what language can be used hard drugs fully allowed,  explicit sex references along with detailed sexual activity are also allowed. Very strong and gory violence is permitted. Examples of this kind of film include Django Unchained and Texas Chainsaw Massacre.

 

Our trailer is likely to be rated an 18, as we plan to produce a horror film, this means we will be including blood and gore, this could be extreme, as well as this it will likely contain features that are simply not suitable for a lower rating

Costume Research

Our film is based on the idea of having 4 main characters, 3 of these will be the "victims" and a escaped murderer who is hunting them. The murderers costume will be most important as it needs to convey the evil nature of our antagonist in order to unsettle the audience and make him a credible threat. It would not make sense to have our murderer dressed in a hoodie and jeans and wearing trainers as a murderer must be psychopathic and therefore would not dress casually. Therefore the costume needs to convey to the audience the idea of the murderer being crazy and therefore be abnormal. We are already planning to have our murderer in some form of mask which will help to put across the idea of his lunacy and make him a credible threat, it also conceals the murderers identity adding mystery and suspense to the character as the audience won't be able to tell who or what is under the mask. For the rest of his costume, we thought about him wearing black, muddy, worn-out work boots to as these would be conventional footwear for a killer to use. An example would be the character Zep from the original Saw film.

The rest of the killers costume would ideally be mostly black, which has the practical benefits of making them harder to identify in shots which we can use to our advantage in teasing the character to the audience in our trailer without fully revealing him. Black trousers, a black jacket and black gloves with the mask would make our killer look creepy and reveal almost nothing about him to the audience, further helping to make the character intriguing and terrifying.

For our victims, costume-work will be easier to decide on as there is a broader range of acceptable outfit. It is conventional for the victims in horror films to be relatable for the audience, making it easier to put yourself in their shoes and therefore making the scenario more frightening. This is why most of the time teenagers are the victims in these films as teenagers are the main target market for the horror genre. Our 3 victims will also be teenagers and will dress accordingly in t-shirts, hoodies and trainers. Ideally, most of the victims costumes will consist of bright colours like white in order to contrast with the darkness of the villain and to make them seem more vulnerable in a dark environment as they stand out more. Each costume should also be tailored to reflect each characters personality, helping to make them more identifiable to the audience. A good example is from the costume-work in The Cabin in The Woods, which can be seen below. You have the "jock" character wearing an American football jacket to show he is the strong, sporty and typically stupid one in the film. Then you also have the contrasting choice of costume for each of the female-characters, with the blonde woman wearing a short skirt and the ginger woman wearing jeans, making the audience sympathise more with the ginger woman as she seems more respectable and less promiscuous than the blonde woman.

We have also had an idea for a fake news report to feature in our trailer, with a news reporter setting the scene to the audience. If we end up going along with the news report idea, we would likely have our news reporter in a smart suit and tie to add to the realism, as this is typically what you'd expect to see in a real life news report.

Questionnaire

These are the questions we hope to ask our audience, there responses will help us get a better understanding about the genre and what people expect from horror movies. As well as this it will give us an idea about who goes to see horror films as we recognise our target should be young adults, however this Questionnaire could bring some surprise results.

1.What is your age and gender?

2. What would be a good location for a Horror film?

- A house

- A park

- A Forest

- A school

3.Would you prefer the Antagonist to be a person or a ghost that cannot be seen?

4.What would you expect the Protagonist in the film to be like?

5.What would you expect the Antagonist in the film to be like?

6. What is you favourite genre within Horror?

- Blood and gore

- Ghosts

- Thriller

- Psychological

7. What is your favourite horror film? and why?

8. Would you prefer the Antagonist to be realistic or to be a character that is sub-normal?

9. Would you prefer if the Horror film is based on things that actually occur? e.g. stalking murder etc

10. Do Horror films containing blood and gore appeal to you?

11. What would you expect to see in a horror trailer?

Location Research

This is one of our location ideas, it is an abandoned house in Leatherhead, which makes it easy to get to as its only a 5-10 minute walk from our school. It is also an abandoned so we won't be disturbing anyone. However this location is boarded up and we don't want to risk anything illegal. We did visit the house to see what it was like but in the end we decided not to use it because of the law.

This was another idea for a location, this is west park hospital in Epsom, it is located just down the road from Epsom train station, it has the benefit for being perfect for our horror story as it used to be a mental hospital. However this location has recently been demolished and no longer has as many features as it use to have, this makes it unusable for our film ideas, along with this problem it would have also been illegal again to trespass although we could have probably emailed the relevant people to request use of the site.


For our location we came to the decision to use 40 foot recreation ground in Leatherhead as one of our location, this provides us with several ideas such as a chase scene. Another location we are going to use the house pictured, the film will be based on a murderer on the loose and he finds and murders a group of friends in this house, these are likely to be our final locations as we feel they would be most appropriate to the film.

Prop research

The most commonly used props in a horror movie seem to be masks and weapon-focused. A hockey mask or some form of face-covering is stereotypical of the genre, adding to the fear the antagonist instills to the audience as their identity is hidden, raising enigmas. Famous examples include Mike Myers from the Halloween film franchise and Hannibal Lector.

The mask is an effective prop for this genre as part of every horror is the build-up to the antagonists reveal, showing them gradually to the audience to create suspense and tension. With the use of the mask the suspense of the film is not deflated as soon as the villain is revealed to the audience, as there are still questions raised surrounding the man behind the mask, what he really looks like and why he is after the protagonists rather than showing the full picture straight away. This is why we are thinking of using a mask in our trailer, as this will allow us to show off our villain without giving to much away and still giving the audience
questions.



Another key area for props in this genre is weapon-focused, normally what the antagonist uses to hunt down the protagonists. The most commonly used are knives (like Mike Myers, above), chainsaws (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre) and machetes (Friday the 13th), all weapons that would create a lot of blood and gore. This makes the antagonist a more credible threat and plays on audience fears of stabbing and obviously, dying. We are using a ghost/poltergeist as our villain so a weapon prop would not really be fitting with the villain so we may not use this for our film.

Well done Tom, you have included a detailed character list of the stereotypical characters in horror films. Could you develop this further by interviewing possible actors for your film and explain how they adhere to the typcical horror character stereotypes?

Also, your group needs to make some decisions about your film as soon as possble. The posts listed below ideally need to be completed this week.

1. Location research – you need to decide on the setting of your film ASAP, include google earth images and pictures you have taken.- Done

2. Description of the actors and interviews- Done

3. Prop research and analysis- Done

4. Costume ideas- Done

5. Questionnaire and feedback on your initial ideas- Done

Representation in our film

There are many types of representation and stereotypes in Horror films, this is a guide to some of the typical stereotypes that can be expected to be seen in Horror films such as Halloween:

The Female Victim-
The female victim are often portrayed as being vulnerable and in need of protection, by the films protagonist or hero, this kind of representation began in the early days of horror as the main character was often heroic and almost always male. The victim isusually young, blonde and attractive, which helps to appeal to a wider male audience. However this character is often seen as having an annoying and stupid personality, They are often the one character the audience wants to be killed. They are usually never killed first but are normally saved until one of the last victims, they will normally die in the most graphic way possible. The director will often use this character to help build suspense in the audience, as she will often be on edge and very easily scared by loud noices, this would make the audience far more jumpy.

Non-Believer-

There will also often be a character in horror films who is portrayed as cocky and overconfident, they will often try and convince others in the film that there is no antagonist and that they are overreacting. This character can be either sex but is often portrayed as a male. The characters cockiness is usually the thing that gets the character killed off, there death is oftenly near the beginning. The audience will normally be reassured by their calm attitude and belief that there is nothing wrong, however when they are eventually killed this calm attitude disappears and the other characters often become panicked and this can lead to other deaths.

 

Hero-

Almost always a male character they are often seen as strong and very masculine, they rarely show enough emotion given the situation, and are often either the only one to survive or the last character to survive. There is an increasing trend in which this steretype is being protrayed by a female lead instead of male character, this can broaden the audience and attract females and males, as females could be attracted by the strong female lead as well as the strong male lead.

Hysterical Character-
This kind of character is often female. They are normally the character who doesn't want to investigate anything suspicous, she is normally the most likely character to be left behind in a situation. This would normally lead to her to eihter being killed first or left till last. Her emotional outbursts would help build suspense in the audience and it could also build hysteria in the audience making them more jumpy and frightened.

Evil Character-
Evil characters are varied and can range from serial killers to demonic possession. If the antagonist is a human they often wear masks, so we can't identify them and it also leaves mystery as we don't know what they look like under the mask, they will also never expose their emotions which means as the audience we can never connect with them. As human's they don't react normally to injuries, and they can often reanimate after the protagonist thinks he's dead, this hints to the audience that there is something unnatural. The unnatural creatures such as Demons are known to play on the fears of the audience and films that contain these monsters in them are often the scariest because they take place in places normally associated with safety such as homes, but they also make the most innocnet looking things the victims worst nightmare. This character is strikes fear in the audience everytime they appear on screen and they are also what builds the most tension.

Practice shots

This video shows some practise shots we have taken, we think these shots were very effective and we plan to use several of these shots in our film. The first shot of the zooming in we think can act as maybe a jump scare, as someone could hide behind the door and pop out into view of the camera, this would jump the audience and at night there would be a torch adding to the tension as the camera approached the door. The second shot was a practice to see how effective the GoPro was in the dark, the door slamming shows how quickly the camera can transition between light and dark and it also provides us with a light we can use. The third shot is one of the most effective shots, this because the sheet we were using to make this effect made it appear no one was behind the sheet and it is also obscuring the area behind the sheet making it perfect for the antagonist to hide behind and in the dark it could be very effective to use as a jump scare, as seen at the 20-23 second mark. The final shot we can see using in our trailer as one of the characters run into a closet or cupboard, the idea would be the lights would turn off and then come back on and maybe books would have fallen off the shelf or there would be a character appearing behind the camera.

Film Ideas

In our film trailer we are planning to make a film similar to make a horror film, the film is going to be shot from a POV view with one of our character investigating an abandoned building, the trailer is going to be based on paranormal activity and Grave encounters, as both these films use Point of View shots, when we are filming the trailer it is likely we will have the main character holding the camera, this allows the audience to view the film from our main protagonists viewpoint, the camera we use will be crucial to having this trailer we are planning to be successful, which is why we will be using the GoPro, the view provided to us by this camera will add realism and will also make the audience more scared as they won't see any scares coming.

We have currently 2-3 location ideas although this is subject to change, our main idea is to use an old abandoned mental hospital in Epsom called West Park hospital, we want to use this because it would be the perfect backdrop for a horror movie, as its an abandoned location with plenty of real history and it also provides a tense atmosphere, the only problem we have with this location is that it has been cleared out and it is also under threat from demolition. Our second option is an old school which we want to use, this also provides us with some tense atmosphere and it also gives us much more free reign as we would have the entire school to ourselves, however the school is the furthest of all our options. Our third option is to use our current school, however this is our last option and we don't want to use this as our location however but if we have to we will.

Camera Option

This is the camera we are planning on using, it is a Gopro Hero 3 black edition, from this camera we plan to make a point of view style film, the camera itself provides high quality HD video, which is perfect for us as we need that level of detail in the film, as our tests shots will show it provides very good quality sound as well as giving the impression of a found footage film. The camera is also waterproof, which has inspired some of the scenes we are planning, we can also attach the camera to a stand or a helmet for added first person view and to get different camera perspectives. We can also use the wide angle lense we have on ours and this will help us fit a lot more footage and people into each shot. The camera also provides a low light mode as well as this the camera has a red light situated on the front of the camera which could provide very interesting effects when utilised in the dark, which is when we plan to have our film based.

Godzilla trailer

The Godzilla trailer uses extreme long shots as the trailers establishing shots, this shows the audience a plane crash on a highway this could make them confused because they don't know how it crashed or what caused it, we also have an extreme long shot of a power station being destroyed, this would continue to confuse the audience posing questions like what is causing these disasters? The narration at the start of the trailer gives exposition, on what was going on at these disaster areas, it could also hint at the power of Godzilla without actually showing the monster. For transitions they appear to use fade in shots, this makes the transition seem as if we are watching some kind of chase as we see multiple areas attacked. We also see the statue of liberty damaged, this could be seen as symbolic because it is not the real statue as it is in the middle of the desert, and it is damaged possibly suggesting the USA is being attacked as a whole.

The trailer also shows the main protagonist, Bryan Cranston, this provides a huge unique selling point because he is a very well known awarding winning actor, he is also very popular, this is likely to draw a large number of people to the film because his appearance as a main character. The audience is also given several glimpses throughout the trailer of Godzilla, the first is it swimming underneath some ships and causing a tsunami, this gives an idea of enormity and size to Godzilla. We then see Godzilla revealed at the end of the trailer during a montage of shots, this would make the audience very excited because Godzilla is a kind of cult movie character and, this film seems to show a realistic twist on the monster.

There are several shots in the trailer suggesting the film is a action film these include the large fire seen behind the hill, which suggests there has been some fighting in the film, another clip is the Army in the boats at see, this suggesting they are waiting to attack something, this kind of action is what we expect to see from action films like this. We are alos shown an extreme long shot of San Fransico which conforms to the idea that this film is in the action genre because the this shot shows us destruction on an enourmous scale, this could also be used to show the size of Godzilla which would awe the audience.

The trailer would also make people think about themselves as Humans, as the "Arrogance of Man" line in the trailer makes us think about our place in this world and it also seems to point out that we are not the only ones who live on this planet and we should respect that idea. The trailer itself is slow paced with a gap of around 5 seconds on most clips, however at the end of the trailer we see the gap between clips decrease to show us a montage of action clips, this hints at the danger and the action in the film, however the film doesn't show to much otherwise it might give away some of the key moments. The sound in the film, is a kind of howling and choir singing louder and louder, there are also brief interruptions of the 'inception howl,' this brings more tension to the trailer until the end montage which is fast paced sound adding the excitement to this trailer.

The Hobbit trailer

This trailer starts with several establishing shots, which helps the audience identify that the setting is not modern, it also suggests the film is set in Middle Earth because the audience might also see similarities between this and the original Lord of the Rings, with the large landscapes and enourmous mountain ranges. The narration heard over the clips is non-digetic as it is clear they have been cut from other scenes, this introduces the audience to the premise so they have an idea of what the film is about.

The trailer itself has an normal layout with the start introducing the main character who has a normal or boring life, who then gets thrown into an adventure, this is shown by the appearance of Gandalf and the dwarfs, the audience would find the behaviour of the dwarfs very strange as they wouldn't expect such bad behaviour from guests, there behaviour also acts as comic relief as their actions appear comedic, this could suggest to the audience that the group do not take themselves too seriously. The props and costumes used by the characters in the trailer seems to be basic clothing with some of the characters wearing armour and some wearing large jackets, this suggests the film contains action, added to this the use of swords and other weapons we would expect to be used in the medieval era, however we do not see any fighting scenes until at least half way through the trailer suggesting there isn't much action but more adventure and danger. The dwarfs and Gandalf are shown often either from low-angle shots or high-angle shots depending on perspective this gives us an idea of what the characters are seeing from there view, it also often leads to the dwarfs being looked down on throughout the trailer.

The lighting in the trailer is dark and often takes place at night, or in poorly lit locations, this provides a sense of isolation from the rest of the world, the darkness could also be hinting at potential evil as we see several antagonists throughout, but they all appear to be working for an unseen antagonist, suggesting the film will have sequels.

In addition to this, there is also an appearance by Golem, who much of the target audience will remember from the Lord Of The Rings trilogy, this provides the audience with some comic relief as he his often portrayed as clumsy and stupid, it also provides a kind of tribute to the previous trilogy and also reveals the ring, which also featured in the Lord Of The Rings films, it also suggests to the audience that this new trilogy is a prequel, to those who have only just seen the trailer.

The text on screen as well as the title, are all in the same font as the original Lord Of The Rings films, again paying tribute to the trilogy, the background to this text is a map of the land, this suggests to the audience that the film is likely an adventure film, as this is what we would expect from using maps in a film. The music in the background is tense, this builds tension and it suggests to the audience that the film has danger, but it also has a sense of awe about it as we see many extreme long shots, showing the landscape.

Well done Tom you have analysed 5 magazine covers, 4 posters and 13 trailers.

Targets: when analysing the film trailers, try and always explain how the camera shot/sound/editing engages and attracts the target audience.

Consider the different codes used in the trailer.  For example, enimga codes, technical codes and verbal codes.

Verbal codes - the diegetic and non-diegetic sound and its effect on the audience

Technical codes - camera shots and editing and their effect on the audience

Enigma codes - puzzles teasing the audience and questions left answered

The Dark Knight Rises trailer

This trailer starts of with a digetic version of star-spangled banner, this is the American national anthem, this suggests the film is mostly set in the USA,there is also a panning extreme long shot showing Gotham city suggesting the film is mostly set in this location, The song itself however is a song about hope as can be heard in some of the lyrics, however in this context it suggests hope is fading as Alfred confronts Batman and suggests he is no longer safe. This idea that hope is fading is also added to by the fact that after the previous movie things have become more peaceful. However after the appearance of Bane the audience  knows that there is a lingering danger in the film, this adds menace to the atmosphere, especially as Catwomen tells Wayne that "a storm is coming". After this point we see the football stadium collapsing, this could be signifying the end of the American dream, as we now football is a classic american game which is closely linked to the American dream

There are multiple shots of Bane, suggesting he is the main antagonist in the movie, he is also seen taunting Batman on multiple occasions suggesting he has the upper hand and he can beat Batman, this might concern the audience because as they might know Batman is very rarely beaten by someone and because this is the last film in the trilogy they might believe Batman dies at the end, there are also some low angle shots of Bane, which backs up the idea that Bane has the power as this would make him appear more powerful in front of the audience. Bane appears to the audience as a mystery because we don't know his background and he is hidden behind a mask, this makes his character very mysterious to the audience.

In the trailer we have very few glimpses of the actual Batman in the costume, this adds mystery to the character and this adds to the lose of hope this trailer seems to have a theme of doing.

Thor: The Dark World trailer

At the start of this trailer we are shown a large doors opening from a birds eye view, this emphasises, power and it also gives the audience far more overview then the characters in the film. The main character appears silhouetted as we are unable to identify who this figure is, although people who saw the first film are likely to know that this is Thor. The narration is said by two characters in the film, and while one is mocking, and emphasises the abilities of Loki and his hatred for Thor, the other is very threatening and we are told what the threat is but not what it does, this adds mystery to the trailer because we don't know what the 'darkness' is.

There are also numerous extreme long shots, these act as establishing shots, and suggests to the audience that this film is an action film as one of the convention used in action films is the use of exotic locations and we see a couple of shots showing this. We also get a high angle shot of the love interest, this gives the audience the power of her, and this suggests to the audience she is vulnerable. The spaceships in use in the film suggests to the audience that this film is likely a Sci-fi action film, as we normally expect these kind of vehicles in a film like Star Wars, however the use of weapons like swords and Thor's hammer juxtaposes this Sci-fi film as the audience wouldn't expect such obsolete weapons to be used by people who can fly through space, and build such enourmous cities.

The use of slow motion near the climax of the trailer builds excitement because before we see the end of the scene the clip cuts, leaving the audience on a cliff-hangar, this would make the audience want to see the film. The main title for the film is written in gold and black, these colours emphasis the power and wealth of Thor, the background is also a lightning storm, which links to Thor's role as god of thunder. There is also a scene after the main title which helps add comic relief to the trailer which overall has a very down beat tone to it, it could also remind the audience of Indiana Jones.

The Hurt Locker trailer

The establishing shot in the trailer for The Hurt Locker is an establishing shot, which shows the audience that the film is based on a military base of some kind, this suggests to the audience that the film is likely going to be an action film because this is what we would expect from military films, also due to the release date of 2008, it is likely the film is based in Iraq or afghanistan where most people would be aware of the war, it also means the audience are aware of the background and why they are there. We are initially introduced to what appears to be the main characters, and they appear to the audience that they are not going to be the best of friends, this suggests a underlying conflict of interest, this could show that the main character is a rogue soldier, someone who doesn't like being told what to do, evidence for this is the way he is described as a 'Wildman' this description suggests he does what he wants when he wants.

Although the audience might initially believe they are just ordinary soldiers we are quickly shown they are specialists in bomb disposal, as the main character wears a massive suit which many people wouldn't have seen before, this changes the audiences view on what the film could be about, as there are very few films about specific jobs in the army, normally war films show just the ordinary soldier, this could show that this film is different from other films. The non-digetic music in the background helps build tension until we are shown the bomb in the car trunk. the fact that the location is in a hot desert in what appears to be a foreign land also suggests the film is an action film, because they are commonly used in action films. As the trailer continues we are slowly shown different aspects of the main character, this helps the audience get to know the character better, making the film more immersive so we feel sympathy for the main character.

The text that appears on screen looks dirty and broken up but cracks, this gives the impression that the film takes place in a foreign country, it could also suggest to the audience that the country they are in is broken as white can often signify hope and peace, the red used on certain words in the text, draws attention to the word, this could be used to describe the main character, the red font the words are in makes it stand out, but it also could be to illustrate the danger the characters are in, as the audience would normally associate the colour red in war films with danger and death. Also appearing on screen are a number of reviews with the main emphasis on the action based words such as 'suspenceful and near-perfect', this encourages the audience to see the film, these appear to be very postive reviews and this is likely to persuade the audience that the film is worth seeing.

Year 13 A2 check list

These are my current research and planning targets for the 08/09/14

	Done?	Comment?
RESEARCH
Uploaded YouTube videos of 15 trailers – analysed Key Terms: genre conventions, mise-en-scene, camera shots, sound, editing, unique selling points (USP), target audience, verbal codes, technical codes, symbolic codes, enigma codes.	Almost. 7 more trailers	Add coments on Unique selling points, and coment on verbal codes, technical codes, symbolic codes and enigma codes, also comment on how this affects the trailer production
Posters analysed – 5 Picture, costumes, font, captions, text, colours, target audience, symbolic codes, enigma codes.	Done	Comment on target audience, symbolic codes and enigma codes.
Magazine Covers – analysed - 5 Key Terms:  font, layout, picture, target audience, verbal codes, technical codes, symbolic codes, enigma codes. Typography • What font styles are used? • What are the connotations of the font (what do they suggest)? Layout • What effect does this have? Why is the page laid out like this? Colour •What do the colours connote? Images • What shot types and angles were used? • What is the effect of the shot type and/or angle? • What effect does the mise-en-scene have? • Why were the props, costumes, locations, etc. used? • What do they signify? Mode of Address • How does the magazine ‘speak’ to its audience? • What language is used? • What impression do the fonts, colours, etc. have?	Done	Comment more on typography, more often, also comment on verbal codes, technical codes, symbolic codes, enigma codes.
Reflection of Year 12	Done?
Exemplars read and reviewed	Done