Thursday 25 February 2010
How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research , planning and evaluation stages?
Each item shown was very useful in either the research and planning of the trailer, or the construction. Overall most of the products that came from using each of these items ended up in final cut pro to be edited into the final teaser trailer.
Blogger is another technology which I am currently using to post blog posts. I find this method of evaluating and showing my progress through the unit a lot better than say, writing an essay. In an essay the ideas are lost in the amount of words there are to read. By using a blog I am able to show my work using screenshots and can annotate them on flickr to be linked to my blog. I have also added tags to certain posts that collect correwpondijg posts into a group to make the certain section that the examiner or I am looking for. It is also also overall a neat and presentable way of showing my work and the progress towards it.
Click the montage for more details...
Final Cut Pro
We used final cut pro to edit our teaser trailer. In the flickr link I have annotated the different sections to the programme. Different areas were useful in their own ways and I found it quite simple to use once I got used to the controls. I found layering the tracks very effective, espe ially with the audio tracks as we were able to switch music by merging them together rather than fading them out each time. I feel this enabled the trailer to keep running smoothly. The zoom tool was something that we used throughout our trailer to keep the audience moving with it. Click the picture for more...
Blogger is another technology which I am currently using to post blog posts. I find this method of evaluating and showing my progress through the unit a lot better than say, writing an essay. In an essay the ideas are lost in the amount of words there are to read. By using a blog I am able to show my work using screenshots and can annotate them on flickr to be linked to my blog. I have also added tags to certain posts that collect correwpondijg posts into a group to make the certain section that the examiner or I am looking for. It is also also overall a neat and presentable way of showing my work and the progress towards it.
Click the montage for more details...
Final Cut Pro
We used final cut pro to edit our teaser trailer. In the flickr link I have annotated the different sections to the programme. Different areas were useful in their own ways and I found it quite simple to use once I got used to the controls. I found layering the tracks very effective, espe ially with the audio tracks as we were able to switch music by merging them together rather than fading them out each time. I feel this enabled the trailer to keep running smoothly. The zoom tool was something that we used throughout our trailer to keep the audience moving with it. Click the picture for more...
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
After showing our trailer to an audience of both male and females aged between 17 and 20, we got some interesting feedback on both the good and bad points about the trailer as both a teaser and a horror text.
Good Points.
A lot of people found the intertitles effective and thought that they fitted well with the horror theme. The opening scenes in the toilets were said to be a good introduction to the film because the use of a normal everyday environment and then moving onto the enigma of the troubled events later fits with the horror conventions. As it is set in a school it also gives a sense of innocence and naivety. The close up shots used were said to be used very effectively because they were sinister and frightening and the sound effects of the 'booms' when zooming into the taps and sink worked well. The constant slow zoom throughout our trailer worked well because it kept movement all the way through. The strange angles and camera movements such as the tilt up the monsters body to her head and the shot of the running taps were said to be creative and again, fitted in with the horror conventions of the view point being unusual. The shot of the silohuette monster at the top of the stairs, with the light shining from behind was compared, by a horror film fan, to a scene from the well known horror film 'Texas Chainshaw Massacre' which shows that our camera shots are fitting with the horror conventions well.
However, one person did say that they liked the hanging feet shot as it created a sense of mystery because you were unable to see the face of the victim.
The sound track we used was generally seen as a good choice, The hiss was a great success and did infact make a few viewers literally jump in their seats.
Another shot that was enjoyed by the audience was the slow sway of the light revealing the monster and then the monster suddenly disappearing because it was ghostly, mysterious and unsual and fitted well with both our story line and expected horror forms and conventions.
Bad Points.
It was pointed out that the film title was very similar to the intertitles throughout the trailer and it was suggested that this should be changed to make the film title stand out more as it is a very important feature to the trailer because it has to be remembered. The audio in the opening toilet scenes part of the track however ("See, I told you nothing would happen."), was said to be unclear and confused the viewer as to what was happening. The slight echo on the voice could be the problem in this shot. One problem that was brought up by the majority of our audience was that the outside shots (eg. the running and hanging feet) were too random as it flicked between being indoors to being outside and they were confused as to why we had ventured outside when it had began set inside the school. As we shot in the daytime this was also a problem of lighting and the audience felt that flicking between lighter shots and darker shots didn't work so well. Admittedly, we did have some problems when editing the outside scenes to make them darker and they did not turn out as well as we hoped. It was mentioned by a few people that the soundtrack could've fitted better with the pace of the trailer. A big problem was that it faded out too soon at the end of the trailer before the mosnters 'hiss'.
Overall I have learnt that generally our trailer was a success, however there were a few pieces which may need tweaking to make it that little bit better such as the fading music at the end. I was a little dissappointed by the lack of enthusiam towards the outdoor shots, however I can see how they don't work as well as we expected.
Good Points.
A lot of people found the intertitles effective and thought that they fitted well with the horror theme. The opening scenes in the toilets were said to be a good introduction to the film because the use of a normal everyday environment and then moving onto the enigma of the troubled events later fits with the horror conventions. As it is set in a school it also gives a sense of innocence and naivety. The close up shots used were said to be used very effectively because they were sinister and frightening and the sound effects of the 'booms' when zooming into the taps and sink worked well. The constant slow zoom throughout our trailer worked well because it kept movement all the way through. The strange angles and camera movements such as the tilt up the monsters body to her head and the shot of the running taps were said to be creative and again, fitted in with the horror conventions of the view point being unusual. The shot of the silohuette monster at the top of the stairs, with the light shining from behind was compared, by a horror film fan, to a scene from the well known horror film 'Texas Chainshaw Massacre' which shows that our camera shots are fitting with the horror conventions well.
However, one person did say that they liked the hanging feet shot as it created a sense of mystery because you were unable to see the face of the victim.
The sound track we used was generally seen as a good choice, The hiss was a great success and did infact make a few viewers literally jump in their seats.
Another shot that was enjoyed by the audience was the slow sway of the light revealing the monster and then the monster suddenly disappearing because it was ghostly, mysterious and unsual and fitted well with both our story line and expected horror forms and conventions.
Bad Points.
It was pointed out that the film title was very similar to the intertitles throughout the trailer and it was suggested that this should be changed to make the film title stand out more as it is a very important feature to the trailer because it has to be remembered. The audio in the opening toilet scenes part of the track however ("See, I told you nothing would happen."), was said to be unclear and confused the viewer as to what was happening. The slight echo on the voice could be the problem in this shot. One problem that was brought up by the majority of our audience was that the outside shots (eg. the running and hanging feet) were too random as it flicked between being indoors to being outside and they were confused as to why we had ventured outside when it had began set inside the school. As we shot in the daytime this was also a problem of lighting and the audience felt that flicking between lighter shots and darker shots didn't work so well. Admittedly, we did have some problems when editing the outside scenes to make them darker and they did not turn out as well as we hoped. It was mentioned by a few people that the soundtrack could've fitted better with the pace of the trailer. A big problem was that it faded out too soon at the end of the trailer before the mosnters 'hiss'.
Overall I have learnt that generally our trailer was a success, however there were a few pieces which may need tweaking to make it that little bit better such as the fading music at the end. I was a little dissappointed by the lack of enthusiam towards the outdoor shots, however I can see how they don't work as well as we expected.
Tuesday 23 February 2010
How effective is the combination of your main product and ancillary texts?
The poster advertising the film is a very important part of the marketing process because it is this that needs to persuade passers by to view the film. The poster needs to be bold and eye catching to make them stand out from the others around them and also link back to the film which I have done by having my main background image as an open eye which is also a shocking image in itself as it looks like it's staring out of the poster at you and shows the fear of the victim. It also relates back to the film because the main affect of summoning Bloody Mary is seeing yourself in the mirror with tears of blood. I used a black and white photo, fitting with the conventional horror theme of dark colours. Posters advertising films also show the main characters involved, either the protagonist, monster or both and I have done this by also including a small, yet bold image of the monster within the iris and pupil of the eye with a red filter, again fitting with the conventional horror theme and also our trailer making the poster more frightening. I think overall it links well with the trailer, because I have made the film title stand out whilst using a font that relates to the 'bloody' theme and have also shown key points that link back to the plot. The use of the eye and female face within it also makes the poster more appealing to females (which is our target audience) as they are able to relate with the mystery woman monster and the eye is often seen as a very feminine feautre. The date is also included in both the poster and the trailer so that the audience is aware of when they can expect to see it in the cinemas. We have specifically designed the date to also fit with the film. October is known as the horror month, due to Halloween being on the 31st and so we have tied our film in with this, rather than choosing to release during a holiday because our film is aimed at the target audience of mainly females aging from 15 - 25, rather than school children. Females are able to relate with the central characters or the film as they are also female. The repetition of 10/10/10 also ties in well with the repetition in the legend of repeating the name 'Bloody Mary' 3 times in the mirror. It's also a very memorable date.
The trailer is a huge marketing point as it is shown on the big screen to a similar if not precise target audience of our film. As it is only a teaser it is only between 60 - 90 seconds long and therefore needs to include only the best bits to draw in the audience and make them want to pay to see more. In our trailer we have included a basic plot line to our film, fast paced horror action, intertitles and the date of release. Our intertitles break up the trailer and also make a bold point about the story to the film. "This time, the legend, comes alive". It ties in well with the poster as I have also included a tag line 'Bad luck is the least you can expect' which links back to the relevance of the mirror and the bad scene of events that occur.
The magazine is a key part to the promotion of the film, however it is out of the distributors hands as to whether the film is chosen to be included in the magazine although they can help to push their film forward into the publicity by using their publicity team to arrange media interviews with available members of the film's cast. If the distributors are able to get their film publicised and reviewed in a magazine, it attracts a larger audience as people prefer to see things written by an outsider to the film. By having a photo taken from during the production of the film on the front cover of a well known magazine, it is giving the film a lot of publicity and showing that by reading into it you will find out more about the film that is not nessercarily shown on posters and in the trailer therefore making more people more interested.
The trailer is a huge marketing point as it is shown on the big screen to a similar if not precise target audience of our film. As it is only a teaser it is only between 60 - 90 seconds long and therefore needs to include only the best bits to draw in the audience and make them want to pay to see more. In our trailer we have included a basic plot line to our film, fast paced horror action, intertitles and the date of release. Our intertitles break up the trailer and also make a bold point about the story to the film. "This time, the legend, comes alive". It ties in well with the poster as I have also included a tag line 'Bad luck is the least you can expect' which links back to the relevance of the mirror and the bad scene of events that occur.
The magazine is a key part to the promotion of the film, however it is out of the distributors hands as to whether the film is chosen to be included in the magazine although they can help to push their film forward into the publicity by using their publicity team to arrange media interviews with available members of the film's cast. If the distributors are able to get their film publicised and reviewed in a magazine, it attracts a larger audience as people prefer to see things written by an outsider to the film. By having a photo taken from during the production of the film on the front cover of a well known magazine, it is giving the film a lot of publicity and showing that by reading into it you will find out more about the film that is not nessercarily shown on posters and in the trailer therefore making more people more interested.
In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
Click the image to see notes.
These are stills from orignal horror trailers. The lighting is low key in the majority of the shots and a lot of extreme close ups (ECU's) and close ups (CU's) are used to get the audience feeling involved and able to relate with the characters.
Teaser trailers are usually shorter than the main theatrical trailer and are usually between 60 - 90 seconds long. They outline the plot to the film, without giving too much away. They're often fast-paced and show little detail in the main action.
Click the image to view notes on flickr.
These are screen shots from our own horror teaser trailer. We have developed the forms and conventions of horror products by using low key lighting and high and low angle shots to confuse and disturb the audience. We've also used close up shots to allow the audience to relate with the characters.
We have followed the key conventions of teaser trailers by keeping our trailer down to just roughly 65 seconds and by only letting the audience in on certain information key to the film. In our trailer we have allowed the audience to see the monster and several causes of death, but never reveal the character that has been murdered as we thought that this would give away too much about the storyline, leading the audience to feel that there is nothing left for the to find out and therefore losing sales at the boxoffice. By keeping the identity of the characters that have been tortured or killed, hidden we are giving the audience something to discover when watching the film. We have then included a few fast scenes to make the audience want to view the film to find out more. Within teaser trailers the main protagonist is usually idenitfied by featuring the particular character a lot in the trailer, mainly with extreme close ups and close ups to allow the audience to identify with them. We have recreated this in our own trailer by focusing on the expressions of the character I have played and by using scenes that this character is included in that point to this character being the protagnist eg. the bloody tear mirror shot as this shows the results of somethin gbad that has happened to a particular character after Bloody Mary has been summoned.
Teaser trailers always contain a set of intertitles that lead you through the background story to the film. We have used a single sentence and broken it up into 3 sections to create the impact of suspense as to what is being said. Our chosen tagline for the trailer - "This time, the legend comes alive" tells the audience:
The sound in a teaser trailer is vital when creating the suspense and buildup throughout the trailer. We begin our trailer with a slow, ghostly soundtrack that as well as linking to the theme of our film, also creatings a calming yet slighlty disturbing presence to the the beginning of the trailer. By adding dialogue to the few opening shots of our teaser we have set the scene to the storyline of our film. This also creates a sense of normality which is then turned on it's head with the return of an eerie soundtrack as the monster is revealed and followed by a faster paced beat that follows you through the action, building up the suspense which is ended by a harsh hissing sound from the monster. The hiss adds finality to the trailer as well as creating fear towards the audience as they are startled by the sudden sound. By adding loud 'booms' to the close up shots of the sink we are also creating a sense of build up as we show the outcome of summoning Bloody Mary and these sounds make them more apparent and draw your attention to the disturbing scenes.
These are stills from orignal horror trailers. The lighting is low key in the majority of the shots and a lot of extreme close ups (ECU's) and close ups (CU's) are used to get the audience feeling involved and able to relate with the characters.
Teaser trailers are usually shorter than the main theatrical trailer and are usually between 60 - 90 seconds long. They outline the plot to the film, without giving too much away. They're often fast-paced and show little detail in the main action.
Click the image to view notes on flickr.
These are screen shots from our own horror teaser trailer. We have developed the forms and conventions of horror products by using low key lighting and high and low angle shots to confuse and disturb the audience. We've also used close up shots to allow the audience to relate with the characters.
We have followed the key conventions of teaser trailers by keeping our trailer down to just roughly 65 seconds and by only letting the audience in on certain information key to the film. In our trailer we have allowed the audience to see the monster and several causes of death, but never reveal the character that has been murdered as we thought that this would give away too much about the storyline, leading the audience to feel that there is nothing left for the to find out and therefore losing sales at the boxoffice. By keeping the identity of the characters that have been tortured or killed, hidden we are giving the audience something to discover when watching the film. We have then included a few fast scenes to make the audience want to view the film to find out more. Within teaser trailers the main protagonist is usually idenitfied by featuring the particular character a lot in the trailer, mainly with extreme close ups and close ups to allow the audience to identify with them. We have recreated this in our own trailer by focusing on the expressions of the character I have played and by using scenes that this character is included in that point to this character being the protagnist eg. the bloody tear mirror shot as this shows the results of somethin gbad that has happened to a particular character after Bloody Mary has been summoned.
Teaser trailers always contain a set of intertitles that lead you through the background story to the film. We have used a single sentence and broken it up into 3 sections to create the impact of suspense as to what is being said. Our chosen tagline for the trailer - "This time, the legend comes alive" tells the audience:
- What exactly the background to this story is - the well known legend Bloody Mary comes to life
- That this is not a common occurence as it is simply believed to be a legend - "This time"
- It clarifies that if the audience is unsure what Blood Mary is exactly, that it is a legend that is said to be resurrected - "the legend comes alive"
The sound in a teaser trailer is vital when creating the suspense and buildup throughout the trailer. We begin our trailer with a slow, ghostly soundtrack that as well as linking to the theme of our film, also creatings a calming yet slighlty disturbing presence to the the beginning of the trailer. By adding dialogue to the few opening shots of our teaser we have set the scene to the storyline of our film. This also creates a sense of normality which is then turned on it's head with the return of an eerie soundtrack as the monster is revealed and followed by a faster paced beat that follows you through the action, building up the suspense which is ended by a harsh hissing sound from the monster. The hiss adds finality to the trailer as well as creating fear towards the audience as they are startled by the sudden sound. By adding loud 'booms' to the close up shots of the sink we are also creating a sense of build up as we show the outcome of summoning Bloody Mary and these sounds make them more apparent and draw your attention to the disturbing scenes.
Monday 22 February 2010
Ancillary Task Research
I used google to research into exisiting horror film posters and movie magazines. I found this very helpful when deciding my layout, font to use and when creating my billing block.
I found that the posters always contained mainly just the one image that was bold and eye catching and fitted with the horror conventions, making it obvious to the viewer what genre of film it is. The image would also link back to th plot of then film.
I found that the posters always contained mainly just the one image that was bold and eye catching and fitted with the horror conventions, making it obvious to the viewer what genre of film it is. The image would also link back to th plot of then film.
I used EMPIRE as a template for my own magazine. I found this easier because it already had a bold title that I could also use, and by doing this it also made it look more professional. It also helped when creating the layout and additional graphics such as the film strip used.
Tuesday 5 January 2010
Friday 20 November 2009
Film Distribution
The task of the distributor is to identify and deliver the largest possible audience for every film. This is a highly competitive busisness and a very important job and determines the amount of recognition that that film recieves. For each of the films brought out the distributor needs to know the age group, gender, lifestyle, social networks and media consumption pattern of the target audience to promote the film in the best way. This helps to determine when to release the film and where to place the advertising for the film etc. For example, if the film was aimed at children aged 6 - 12 then the best time to show their film in the cinemas would be in the school holidays when their parents are able to take them.
Competition and Budgeting.
As well as working around the target audience, they also have to take the competition of similar films on the market into consideration and plan a good release date to receive full viewing potential from their audience to gain the biggest profit possible. If there are a lot of popular films on around a certain time, this may not be the best time to show your film as there is maximum competition at this time. Taking into account the cast, director and whether it is from a book can also help to judge how big a hype the film will receive as well known actors and directors can attract an audience and can give an indication of how popular the film may be. If the film is a sequel this is also very useful as the audience is already apparent. As well asusing these factors to distinguish themselves from the competition, the distributor can also draw up a budget that covers both the launch of the film and sustains the post-release.
Marketing.
Thursday 19 November 2009
What are some of the key conventions of the horror genre?
The setting of the horror film is one of the most important conventions used to create the atmosphere. Small rural or suburban communities are often used as the establishing setting as they can also start the base story. For example there could be a hidden secret between the villagers that is yet to be uncovered. These places could also have a past that is making a return or an abandoned house or old lunatic asylum could cause the return of the repressed. The houses used also often have a lot of levels to them and almost always have either an attic or cellar or both. To us, attics hold our hidden fears because we’re never really sure what could be up there as it’s not common territory to us. They’re also known to contain old artefacts which, in our minds, link up to ghosts and ghouls. Whereas, the cellar connotes our primitive instincts and our minds run ary with thoughts of hidden monsters lurking in the dark corners. All these places may even seem like perfectly innocent buildings or areas in the day time, but at night the truth may unfold to reveal a very different atmosphere of horror and fear.
In the film ‘Halloween’ for example, the murder house appears to be perfectly normal until the night of Halloween when eerie happenings begin. This particular house also had a past to it which brought home the repressed Michael Myers who’d killed his sister 15 years previously.
Within the iconography used in horror films, visual signifiers such as the colours red and black that are used are obvious connotations of dark, evil, blood and danger. The lighting used is expressive and non-naturalistic. Low key, high contrast lighting is used to emphasize the shadows allowing the audience to imagine the monsters that could be hidden in the shadows. The light is often shown from unexpected angles such as beneath the character also, as we are used to lighting usually being from above. Lighting from low angles casts odd shadows on the characters face and could connote hell, or bonfires (relating back to our primitive instincts). Common objects such as weapons, blood, masks, supernatural icons, crucifixes etc are all common objects used in the mise-en-scene. They’re all commonly related to fear.Horror films usually follow similar narrative structures. Normality-enigma-path to resolution-closure, or hero-agent of change-quest-resolution-closure are the classic realist/classic Hollywood narrative structures. However, there may be ‘false closures’ with the real closure left unclear, either to suggest a mythic quality to the monster or to enable a sequel. The obvious hero in the classic Hollywood narrative becomes problematic in many horror films as throughout the film the main protagonist is often also the victim. As the audience identifies with this character it provides a point of masochistic identification which is more complicated in many other genres.
In sub-genres such as slashers the narratives become very formulaic. A childhood psychotic event creates the killer who returns to a past location on an anniversary to kill again. The victims are usually a group of dense teenagers, mostly girls, including one virginal, slightly masculine female character who survives to be the ‘final girl’. An example of a film that fits this sub-genre narrative is Halloween. Boy kills sister-15 years later he returns (on Halloween) -kills group of sexually active teenagers-Laurie (main virginal girl) is the victim/protagonist and survives and is known as ‘the final girl’. Levi Strauss’s analysis of narrative structure works particularly well with the horror genre. Horror often plays with opposites such as innocence and evil. It develops the menacing atmospheres by relying on our awareness of the existence of the ‘opposite term’ to innocence. The use of dolls, fairgrounds, nursery rhymes and children etc in horror therefore plays with this term as these objects are often associated with innocent acts and are now being used in an eerie sense. 
Mood Board
Personally, in horror films I prefer the setting to be somewhere unexpected such as in the home because this is where people usually feel safe. Enclosed spaces are also good for making the viewer feel claustrophobic themselves and deserted areas make you feel lost and alone.
The use of candles as motivated lighting during low-key lighting scenes gives a peaceful atmosphere, which can then be changed by the use of flickering candles which starts to make your mind race as to what could be causing it etc.
Horror Film Research Results
This shows that an equal amount of both girls and boys enjoy horror films.
On average, people watch 1 - 2 horror films a month.
This shows that the majority of people that enjoy horror films like to watch torture films.
The storyline is what appeals most to the target audience of horror films. This also shows that the trailer is very important and needs to show the outline of the storyline to attract viewers.
Tuesday 3 November 2009
Horror Movie Idea
After a long day at work, Sarah Cornstone finally made her way to the tube station for the last tube home. When arriving at the station she finds it completely deserted. Re-checking the time she confirms that she's on time and sits down to wait. As expected a train appears from down the tunnel and pulls to a halt. The doors open and she steps onto the empty carriage and takes a seat, relieving herself from her heavy bag and folders. The tube soon pulls away from the platform and takes Sarah down through the dark tunnels. Suddenly, the tube brakes hard and the lights go out, and Sarah is in pitch black, unable to see a thing. Reaching into her pocket she retrieves her phone and makes her way around the carriage, trying to find her way to the front of the tube to the driver. When she reaches the box however, there is no one there. Lights flash through the window from outside so she makes her way to the nearest exit to see if there’s anyone out there. She hears a male cry out and follows the sound of his screams down the tunnel. Wet drips from the ceilings and she hears gurgles and shrieks from something that can only be inhuman. She feels her foot catch on something soft, thinking it’s a rat she shrieks and shines her phone light to the floor. There she see’s a male body, drained of his blood. There are huge tears in his clothes and a large open cut in his neck. Something appears behind her. A wet, slimy hand is placed on her shoulder. Too stunned to make a noise she freezes; hoping whatever it was would just disappear. Leave her alone. The hand began to run up her neck, pushing her hair aside from her shoulder. Now she knew she had to run, but as soon as she made it a little way up the tunnel she ran into something that looked vaguely like a human but with just 2 slits for a nose, squinty eyes and a pale, slimy skin. From here on Sarah’s journey through the tunnels becomes a fight for her life as she defends herself from the creatures that have evolved down below in the darkness to become vicious, human eating animals.
Friday 23 October 2009
Teaser Trailers
Friday the 13th.
This key conventions of horror film trailers also apply to this teaser trailer.
The teaser clearly shows the genre, name and production values of the movie. The music used builds to a crescendo, pauses for dramtic effect and then finishes on a final high note. Dialogue from the film, of a woman speaking is used to explain the premise and complication.
[REC]
This trailer does not follow the key conventions of horror film trailers.
It starts off by appearing to be more of a action or documentary film as the camera work is handheld and simply following the action of the firefighters running up the flight of stairs. It's not until the end of the trailer that the horror is shown with the girls face and screams.
However, it does include the title of the film and the production values.
We hear the voices of the characters talking through radios creating the tension even more as it makes us feel part of the film and makes us relate with the firefighters, wanting to see the film more to know what happens.
A Nightmare On Elm Street
This film does follow the key conventions of a horror trailer, however the genre of the film is unclear at the beginning of the trailer. It appears to be more of an action film with the car chase and gun shots, until around 1minute into the trailer when the childrens singing starts and the deserted street sets a scary scene. It shows the name of the movie and the production values of the film at the beginning and end of the trailer.
The dialogue used is the panicked cries of a male telling a woman to wake up, setting the storyline and also of the monster saying 'You won't have nothing to worry about. This won't hurt one little bit' in a deep, sinister voice reinforcing the horror genre.
The singing of the children becomes a scary tune as we relate children to innocence.
Tuesday 6 October 2009
The Shining - Narrative Structure
Propp outlined a list of 31 functions to create a basic structure for all fairy-tales. After watching The Shining i am going to attempt to apply the story line to this narrative structure.
Characters
Villian - Jack (father) Visible signs of Jack being the villian are seen at the very beginning of the film for example, when in the car Jack says "he saw it on tv!" in a strange tone of voice which isn't normal.
Helper - Dick Hallovan (Cook) He teaches Danny about the Shining and explains what 'Tony' is making Danny become more understanding.
Hero or Victim - Wendy (mum) Wendy is the primary person that Jack is after. She's also the character that fights against him and lives to tell the tale.
False Hero - Dick Hallovan (Cook) At the beginining Dick seems like a character that would save both Wendy and Danny from hysterical Jack. However, he is not a very prominent character after the helping of Danny's shining gift.
Preparation
1. Jack leaves home for his interview
2. rule; "don't enter room 237"
3. Danny enters room 237
Complication
?
This film does not fit into Propps basic narrative structure as the events that occur are not as predictable because the horror genre likes to build suspense and generate fear among the audience.
Characters
Villian - Jack (father) Visible signs of Jack being the villian are seen at the very beginning of the film for example, when in the car Jack says "he saw it on tv!" in a strange tone of voice which isn't normal.
Helper - Dick Hallovan (Cook) He teaches Danny about the Shining and explains what 'Tony' is making Danny become more understanding.
Hero or Victim - Wendy (mum) Wendy is the primary person that Jack is after. She's also the character that fights against him and lives to tell the tale.
False Hero - Dick Hallovan (Cook) At the beginining Dick seems like a character that would save both Wendy and Danny from hysterical Jack. However, he is not a very prominent character after the helping of Danny's shining gift.
Preparation
1. Jack leaves home for his interview
2. rule; "don't enter room 237"
3. Danny enters room 237
Complication
?
This film does not fit into Propps basic narrative structure as the events that occur are not as predictable because the horror genre likes to build suspense and generate fear among the audience.
Monday 21 September 2009
"The Return Of The Repressed"
To repress something is to put feelings away into the subconscious such as anxiety and anger. These feelings are often hidden from a young age, such as the eldest child being jealous of the attention that their younger sibling is receiving. This may at first be covered up by emotions such as love. However, over the years these repressed feelings may begin to re-surface and develop leading to illogical, self-destructive or anti-social behaviour. This is often a good base story line for a horror film as troubles from the past can change a character's personality to become a killer. It coud also be that the character has dual personalities and therefore leads the story to have more mystery behind it.
Thursday 17 September 2009
Horror trailer - Saw 2
The fast moving images create a sense of panic and fear.
The screams tell you that it is a horror film and the low, husky voice narrating is mysterious and as it tells you the storyline it makes you want to watch more.
The low key lighting creates a scary atmosphere.
Key Conventions within Movie Trailers.
The genre of this trailer is obvious from the opening images as they flash on the screen showing the fear that is created with Horror films. This continues throughout the whole trailer. The text used is red on a black background, connoting horror again s it relates to blood and unknown darkness. The blue and green colour scheme and low key lighting also indicates the horror genre.
The name of the film itself isn't shown until the end of the trailer, when you are most likely to go away remembering the title. This is again written in red text on a black background.
The directors of the movie are shown near the beginning of the trailer. Even these are flashed up onto the screen in a dramatic way with loud, sudden noises to accompany the appearance and movement of the text.
The target audience for this film would be people that enjoy identifying with people in dangerous positions. Clips from the film of people in panic have been used in the trailer to attract this audeience, as well as images of various weapons and torture items such as nails and needles.
The music begins as a low siren-like sound, and behind the dialogue and sounds from the film scenes, slowly get higher and louder and builds to a crescendo. However, in this trailer it is not the main emotive sounds
The screams tell you that it is a horror film and the low, husky voice narrating is mysterious and as it tells you the storyline it makes you want to watch more.
The low key lighting creates a scary atmosphere.
Key Conventions within Movie Trailers.
The genre of this trailer is obvious from the opening images as they flash on the screen showing the fear that is created with Horror films. This continues throughout the whole trailer. The text used is red on a black background, connoting horror again s it relates to blood and unknown darkness. The blue and green colour scheme and low key lighting also indicates the horror genre.
The name of the film itself isn't shown until the end of the trailer, when you are most likely to go away remembering the title. This is again written in red text on a black background.
The directors of the movie are shown near the beginning of the trailer. Even these are flashed up onto the screen in a dramatic way with loud, sudden noises to accompany the appearance and movement of the text.
The target audience for this film would be people that enjoy identifying with people in dangerous positions. Clips from the film of people in panic have been used in the trailer to attract this audeience, as well as images of various weapons and torture items such as nails and needles.
The music begins as a low siren-like sound, and behind the dialogue and sounds from the film scenes, slowly get higher and louder and builds to a crescendo. However, in this trailer it is not the main emotive sounds
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