Introduction

For A2 I will develop more of the knowledge of media products that i did in AS .I will specifically focus on the horror genre within films.I will be studying films to become understanding of their conventions ,concept and features.This research will help me in creating my own horror film trailer,which will i be assessed on.At the end of the year i am hoping to be very informed on the creating and making concept of horror films ,and applying that to my own media product. With the film trailer I will also be making a film magazine front cover promoting the film and a poster of the film as part of the whole promotion package.

analysis of questionnaire miss constandi

I asked 20 people 13 different question to find out what people would like to see in my horror film trailer. This has helped me a lot to find out about the patterns of demography in audiences.

1.This was just a generic question to see the ratio of men to women.

2.This is a also a basic question asking the age of participants. This allows me to see what people are interested in film and what age group im targeting.

3.I asked the 20 people that filled out the questionnaire to state which of the following sub genres of horror have they watched in the past 6 months.When looking at the graph, it is clear that slasher horror, psychological horror , mystery horror and comedy were most recently seen.A lot of horror films have a mystery aspect to it as it creates suspense and keeps the audience interested.Psychological films mentally scare the audience thus are very effective.Slashers usually involve a main killer and the narrative is very simple.This shows that the audience want to be hooked to the story line and want a lot of action.

4.i asked people which of the following appealed the scariest to the them.on the graph, you clearly see that spider, was small spaces and the dark were what people found most scary.If I include those in my trailer I will appeal to my target audience(teenagers and young adults).Ghost and heights also look quite popular, I will try to add this in, to get more fear out of my audience.

5.in this question the people were asked to tick what setting they would like to see in my horror film trailer.Abandoned places was a very popular choice,  I think this is because those type of places is very isolated, which makes them very fitting for a horror film.The second most popular choice was vacation sights, this location would be used a lot in slasher films.Nature and ghost town evenly scored.Overall people expect a location that has been deserted for a very long time and dark.

6.Here I asked whether people mind graphic images in a trailer.Most responded that they could and were totally fine with it and the remaining said that they were ok with it to a certain point.Therefore, I definitely won't hesitate with having some gore in my trailer, however, i will be careful and not have too much of it to remain the audience not looking away if disturbed

7.I also asked people how often they watched horror films.What i took from this is that people probably will watch horror if it specifically appeals to them,therefore i need to ensure that my promotion package will  be very persuasive and encouraging people to watch my film.Only a few said they watched it often,some are very committed to the horror genre so i need to impress them by having a selling point to the film.Those that rarely or occasionally  might not really like the genre at all however by having a very successful promotional package i might convince also by having a sub genre film,it might appeal to a wider audience.

8+9.I asked what upcoming films people would most like to see followed with the next question asking why. It was very popular, I think this is because it a well known classic ,and horror with clowns are very popular. Many people liked death note because of the death in titles and also like the dark tower because of its domestic setting. The few that likes zombies stated that its because they found them scary.

10.This shows that there are many features of a trailer that encourages audiences to watch a film. Therefore I will definitely use those in my trailer. Mystery scored the most, this might be because the audience wants to hooked and kept interested. Audiences also like to be jump scared makes the trailer more exciting and more enjoyable for those that like to get scared. Good important is also an important feature, the music has to immerse the viewers into experience and create atmosphere. Sound effects and voice over didn't score a lot however I still think they can create great effects.

11.This shows that people want to see a demon child villain. The use of the image of children's innocence can be very effective. However some did say that they want to see an adult as the villains, this type of villains seems more complicated and twisted. The paranormal scored evenly ,this further reinforces that people want to see something unknown and terrifying. Teenagers scored the least perhaps because most of people that answered were teenagers so they wouldn't want a teenage villain.

12.The most popular pick from the weapons was a chainsaw and knife, an axe and a dagger. Weapons that are capable of the physical damage seem the most scariest ,so people would like to see this in my trailer. However other weapons such as dark magic ,mind control and poison are weapons that would be used by the unknowns and supernatural. This shows that people would be attracted to a film if they saw a weapon that associates to their favourite horror sub genre. I will include those weapons in my trailer to attract a particular audience.

Evaluating my Survey

What age group did I target?


I gave the survey to 7 random people in my 6th form.I targeted 16 to 18 years old. Both females and males filled out the questionnaire.


What did the majority think about the genry and why?


some didn't like it because it was too scary but most enjoyed it because of its thrliing aspect ,its dark mysterious settings and the costumes and special effects.


what horror texts were mentioned?
The people that took the survey seemed to really like films that involve satanic themes or with psychotic main villains.






Task 2-look at one of the films mentioned din the survey


the devil inside


conventions within the trailer:


-special effect to make eye look rolled back this show she audience that the person is being possessed, this sort of supernatural themes are often seen in horror films
-takes under a basemen in a small operation room, horror films usually are set in tight small dark isolated place just like this one
-feature the 911 call to immerse audience into the story and get their interests

-abandoned isolated settings are very common in film this signifies to the audience the genre
-the story is about a women that has murdered three people ,murder is an often storyline to horror films, the audience knows what to expect attracting them tot the film
-her lose found daughter finds her mother at a psychiatric hospital and interviews her
-images of self harm
-the tempo becomes faster after she screams
-made in documentary style despite being fictional ,creating realism
-close ups on the eye
-camera pans instead of a short reverse shot to add show that the characters are scared
-religious symbols, a priest giving an exorcism
-investigation on a possessed body of a women ,clips of them




promotion method
-a trailer and a poster
-featured in articles such as the new York time newspaper receiving positive reviews
-interview with the priest, promotes the film
-Big movie studios are marketing and distribution machines. Paramount studios' marketing department, its publicity department and its media buying department all got behind this film.
-Trailers advertising the film ran in thousands of theaters for months before its release
-tv ads
-Paramount's distribution team negotiated deals with theater chains across the country. "The Devil Inside" didn't just open in New York and Los Angeles. It opened at Albuquerque and Peoria and Kalamazoo. It debuted on more than 2,500 screens across the country. The Studio System, an entertainment data company, estimates Paramount spent $4.9 million promoting this movie. That is five times more than the movie cost to make.

sub genres

Sub genres of horror:

Psychological horror is a sub-genre of horror that focus on the mental and psychological feature of the characters to make audience feel frighten or unsettled. An example is Haunter(2013) the film is about a girl experiencing the same day over ran dove again. Another example is Quarantine (2008) which, is about being trapped in their own house full of zombies. Last example is As above, So below (2014) is about a group exploring the catacombs in Paris featuring tight passages.

Sci-fi horror is a sub-genre of horror that concentrates on science and the unknown. Pandorum is a sci-fi horror about a trip to a new planet on a spaceship. Alien Is also one its set in space about an isolated space crew that has to fight an alien monster. At but not least Splice is very intriguing sci fi that feature hybrid humans.

Romance horror focuses on the relationship of the characters. Bride of chucky (1998) is about a homicidal couple. In clover field (2008) the main character searches for his trapped ex-girlfriend during the apocalypse. Another example is A girls walks home alone; at night (2014) based in an Iranian ghost town where a vampire fall in love with a man.

Questionnaire questions:

Do you enjoy horror genre?

Why do you enjoy the genre?

If you do not enjoy horror why?

What your favourite sub-genre of horror films? 

In which medium do you consume most horror?

What aspect of horror do you most enjoy?

When you watch horror films and/or programmes at the cinema or on tv,do you do so alone or with a group of people?

What are your favourite horror texts?

 

Frankenstein research task

1931 poster

• Black red blue dark colour scheme
• The key image is Frankenstein's face
• The fonts are very bold
• Caption “ the man that created a monster”
• Features famous actors
• Describes it as an original
• At the bottom is an image
• Cartoon style
   
   

   
   
   
   

1994 poster

• Less colours used only electric blue and  black as the background
• Main image is of lighting
• Features actos
• Tirle is in the middle
• Caption “ be warned”
• contrast of black and white

comparison

the older poster has more colours and more information on the poster whilst the 1994 poster has one caption " be warned" this makes it more mysterious, also many would already be familiar with Frankenstein therefore that much information is not needed. The 1931 poster has less clear writing, it fits the style of that times whilst the other poster is modern as its typed.

Trailer analysis-miss contandi

The Babadook (2014) trailer analysis


The babadook is about young mother that reads a book called mister babadook to her children however soon weird things start happening relating to the book.
Genre :drama thriller horror, psychological




Denotation-her body levitating in here sleep
connotation-she's possessed, supernatural
-being haunted by the lost




Verbal/non-verbal communication
There is a use of verbal communication to create the tone of the film.in most of the trailer the characters look upset worried or scared, this indicates that the general atmosphere of this film is ominous and sad. The trailer communicate to us that the family is grieving over the loss of their father this suggests  the family is haunted by the loss of a loved one. The use of dark shadows and lack of colour in the trailer creates mystery.




props,mis en scene setting
use of a scary pop up book, threatens the innocence of the children ,the book also features the monster which make it feel as if the monster is there
it set inside their home
crossbow-the family will try to protect itself from this monster, a weapon




camera angles
-short close ups help to make the trailer dramatic
-zoom on faces to show emotions show the fear


Sound
-use of eerie sounds to make audience feel uncomfortable
-emphasis natural sounds

semiotics -miss constandi

Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols and what they communicate to audiences.When a sign is linked to a meaning it is therefor called a code.In media we often describe that message given as being encoded by the creator and decoded by the receiving audience.Signs are simply anythings that can convey meanings,signs are used in media language to construct certain meaning through the use of mis en scene,sound,editing and camera angles.The similar alternative to code and decode are sign and signifiers.Ferdinand de Saussure believed that a sign is split into two parts(signified and signifier).The signifier is what we see and intake ,each signifier has a signified meaning within it.Together both make a sign.The meaning can also change depending on the context for example if someone was wearing a ring we would automatically assume they are married,as a ring symbolizes marriage.However in different cultures the signifier will be misinterpreted in different ways..This can also be described as connotation and denotation the connotation is what we culturally associate with that object and the denotation being the literal object shown.In this example the denotation is the ring and the connotation is marriage.Another theorist Roland Barthes took this further suggesting there are different levels of how a sign is decodes.The semantic code is firstly what we associate it with secondly the symbolic doe which is the deeper meaning that arises when different conflicts and ideas are brought up.Lastly the cultural code which is the audiences cultural understanding and knowledge their ideologies ideas , religion and morality.Those levels all decide how the code will be perceived by the audience.Therefor semiotics are very important as it explains how the media uses the same symbols repetitively to construct meaning to the media text.

Poster created for woman in black-miss dhillon

I have created a film poster for woman in black which is the film we watched in class and followed the conventions of film poster that I have learnt about in my previous task.

When creating this poster I have followed the conventions of film posters:

-I included the title at the bottom of the page

-the image fills the whole poster to capture attention

-a release date to inform audience when the film is being released

-a caption to reveal more about the content of the film

-I used a layer of fog on top of the image to reinforce the idea of an unclear danger

-the font is rough and black all in upper case to reflect the genre and atmosphere of the film

-the image is of a female corpse , to create fear

-use of low key lighting and dark colour scheme