My final film trailer

My finished 30 second trailer

My final 15 second trailer

FINAL MAGAZINE FRONT COVER

FINAL POSTER

Question 1

 
INSERT UPDATED VIDEO

Paranormal Activity

 

Here is an effective example of a Paranormal Activity trailer where text has been used to create suspence and give the audience information about the storyline.

 

The Soundtracs I have used in my trailer

 

Sinster soundtrack

Breathing sound effect

Dead silence sound track

 

The Conjuring - Similar 'loosing picture' effect

In terms of location (mise-en-scene) I chose to use one of the most generic settings for my trailer so it was clear from the start of what the genre was. Through my research on existing trailers I found that the most common and most effective was a derelict forest, and as a result I chose to use this setting for my own trailer. From the research I carried out I also found that the most common time of day to shoot was at night. I think this is because people automatically seem to become more scared in darkness, because not as much can be seen, but as the quality of my filming would be better in the daylight I chose to just add the ‘day to night’ effect over the top of all my footage to create a similar effect. Filming I the daylight come to some advantage as it allowed me to create a silhouette when the antagonists are shown following Francesca and Rio into the forest. This I feel acts as a scary effect as the viewer can see the dark outline of the antagonists following the protagonists, making them appear scary and almost ‘unseen’.

A statement to back up my point

Tessa Perkins says stereotypes - can be held about one's own group

"This I believe to be true. The main stereotype about teens is that

they are all ‘thugs’ or ‘chavs’. Although there are many of us that fight this very well indeed, there is defiantly a large minority ofpeople who make this stereotype worse for the rest of us."

 

Link to the site found on

 

 

An example of the protagonist filming themself during a trailer

Horror movie mistakes

Everyone Is an Idiot (to be explained on the slide below)

For a horror film to work, people have to make some pretty awful decisions. Splitting a group up seems especially stupid when dealing with a serial killer who picks people off individually, but horror film characters do it all the time. Inexplicably holding back valuable information when talking to people who might help you (as Ethan Hawke does with his box of snuff films in 'Sinister') offers another example of horror film idiocy. There a whole universe of horror stupidity. But if everyone did the smart thing, we'd have no more horror to watch.

 

Link

          I have cleverly linked this part in the trailer to one earlier by the rhyme 'Twinkle twinkle little star'. I feel this helps to create a sense of continuity within the trailer and almost warns the audience that the antagonists are near.

 

         

         Throughout my trailer I have also followed more conventions in relation to mise-en-scene. I chose for Francesca to wear a red hooded top for two reasons. The first being that the colour red connotes danger and anger and this suggests to the audience that she is the character who is going to get taken in the end. I also chose to dress the two antagonists in pale coloured clothes. I did this to almost trick the audience into thinking that they are not the antagonists because white is a pure and calm colour, connoting no danger. The pale colour could also show that they are ghosts coming back to get Francesca. Finally I chose to dress the antagonists in matching clothes to show to the audience that they are sisters, as this helps the audience understand the storyline better.

         I have chosen to challenge conventions in my trailer so that it stands out from all of the other existing horror trailers that may be shown at the same screening as mine. Although following conventions makes a professional looking trailer, I feel challenging some of them can make a more interesting trailer that stands out as being slightly different, in a good way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 1

(As seen on my 'analysis of a collection of horror film posters' post)

 

 

From these horror film posters I have found that there is a very dark tone throughout them all. The dark and often black back ground helps to communicate the genre well. I feel the most effective colour for the title on these posters is red. I think this because the colour red connotes evil and danger again relating to the genre of the film. The red colour also helps to look prominent on the black background of the poster. The scratched and often ‘dripping’or ‘elongated’ effect of some of the letters in some titles help to create a spooky effect to promote the film.

I believe every image on these images used has been edited to create a surreal or spooky effect. I plan to edit my image on Photoshop, however I am going to use a screen grab from my trailer to do this so the two products relate directly.

The text in these posters often includes come text or a quote that helps to incise and tease the public to tease the film. The also include important information such as the release date, which is often in a different colour, the actors included in the film, and the name of the film. Along the bottom of the posters there are small logos of the production company which helps promote the films producers.

My final film poster

 

 

I have chosen the colour red to use in my title as this is a very conventional colour for a horror genre poster title. The red colour has many connotations including: danger, evil and fire all which help communicate the genre of the film to the viewer. As a viewer the colour red may spark off other, more personal connotations which will in effect make the viewer think about the film and have it stuck in their mind. The red title links with the red scratch effect I have included of the internet (google.com – dust and scratches) and this again helps to link the different features of the poster together.

The name itself I thought about carefully because I wanted it to mean more than just the name of the film. I thought about this hard and did lots of different research before I came up with the name ‘The Terror’

(as seen in my 'the terror - final name' post)

 

When deciding on the name for my film I chose to look at the different definitions.

1. Extreme fear

" people fled in terror
synonyms: extreme fear, dread, fear and trembling, fright, trepidation, alarm, panic, shock

2. a person, especially a child, that causes trouble or annoyance
synonyms: rascal, devil, imp, monkey, wrench, scamp, mischief-maker, trouble maker.

I have chosen 'The Terror' as the title for my film becasue of the connotations and denotations surrounding the word 'Terror'.

(Sourced from Google ^)

The definition of the word ‘Terror’ has two main meanings, one being extreme fear and the other being the name for a child who causes trouble. This is effective for my film as the genre is horror/paranormally and the first denotation expresses fear. Fear is the emotion that I want the audience to feel when they see my film trailer so I think this works well. However the second definition of the word ‘terror’ is the name for a small child who causes trouble. The antagonist for my film is a young child who is going to cause all trouble and fear in my film so this also works very well with the name in which I have chosen.

I believe people will read the title of my film and instantly know that it is a horror film, this is effective for me as this could make the viewer’s read more about the film as they will already guess the genre without even seeing the trailer. Making the audience read more about my film will almost always end up in them watching the trailer, meaning they should then want to see the whole film as a result.

 

In the main image of my poster only a small piece of Francesca’s face can be seen. I think this is effective as she appears to be screaming, showing that she is scared or possibly possessed. If a member of public was to see this poster I feel they would be able to predict that she is the character who gets taken in the end and this will act as an advantage as it could possibly make them want to know what happens to her in the film. It is conventional to have a scary picture on the films poster as it is used to interest the viewer and show the genre of the film and I think the image on my poster does this well.

 

 

I have included my production logo in the bottom right hand corner of my poster. I did this because as a viewer our eyes work their way left to right whilst making their way from top to bottom, so effectively this is the last thing they will see when looking at the poster. I think it’s important to include on the poster who produced the film however it’s not and shouldn’t be one of the main features in the poster so this is why I have chosen to place it where I have, because it is guaranteed to be seen, even though it is only small.

Overall I think my poster follows many conventions of a horror film poster and I think this is why it looks so effective and realistic. The dark eerie colours alongside with the scratched effects and unusual fonts help  to display the genre of the film well.