A2 Horror trailer 'Subliminal'

http://www.youtube.com/embed/gXXi7V1eOnI

Representation of women in horror films

Representation Of Women In Horror Films 

Paris Hilton, a classic example of a promiscuous
female who is killed in a horror film, House Of Wax  

Stereotypically, female characters are seen as the weaker sex in horror films, playing the role as the damsel in distress, usually being rescued by a more masculine  dominant male character or they are killed off during the film. Females in horror films are often very attractive and between the ages of 18-30. Also, those who are killed are often females who enjoy partying and live a fun loving lifestyle, females however who are more reserved and intelligent tend to survive, and become "The final girl" in the film. There is a feeling that the girls who are killed in horror films are being punished for the lifestyle they have chosen and their hypersexual tendencies are frowned upon by the killers in the films. This was suggested by the theorist Laura Mulvey. The ideology of female horror characters has changed greatly as the horror genre has progressed, from the view that females were greatly sexually objectified in order to increase the male audience, playing no meaningful part in the film being essentially powerless. To the ideology of today when females are seen as equal characters in horror films and often take on male roles. 

An example of a promiscuous female character being killed in a horror film would be Sarah Geller in Scream 2, when she is thrown off a balcony. As she is a very attractive female, this particular example follows Laura Mulvey's theory of the sexual female being killed off in horror films due to their sexual lifestyle. Here is a link to the part of Scream 2 when Sarah Geller is killed, the footage shows how she is very naive and quite isolated, this is a typical technique horror producers use when building suspense before a character is killed in a horror film.  http://youtu.be/3uFjIAIkrqQ

Laura Mulvey also developed the Male Gaze theory, which is based around the ideology that the entire story throughout the film is being viewed through the eyes of a hetrosexual male. You will notice that in many horror films, mainly those made from 1970-1990, that females are very much used to promote a film and to increase  male viewings. The way the females are shown, for example with long shots, flattering the females and making them look attractive would make males want to watch the films, essentially making the horror producers more money.

On the other hand however, there is also the "Final girl theory", this was developed by the theorist Carol Clover in 1996, which suggested the opposite of the Male Gaze theory where a female figure was actually quite masculine and took on the stereotypical male role in films. An example of this would be Amanda Young (Mandy) from Saw 2, where she appears to be another victim in the film, however towards the end it is revealed that she is actually very powerful and is working for Jigsaw. She survives in the film and influences the story line hugely. She has great intelligence and helps the young man to survive the trap which the Jigsaw has set up for the characters in the film As you can see, this is a complete opposite of the Male Gaze theory where the attractive female is killed early in the film. 

The Final Girl theory is very important as it is linked with many other female characters in horror films, such as Sally Hardesty in the film Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Where a similar situation arises and the attractive female character survives and actually escapes the antagonist in the film, by jumping out of windows, hitching lifts and running for her life, showing she is a very strong female character, complying with the typical Final Girl theory. 

The Final Girl theory supports the ideology that females should be very conservative, white, middle-class, not indulging in the likes of drink and drugs and generally the perfect female character. It says that if you are all of those things, you will not be punished as you have not sinned, therefore you will survive in the film, becoming the Final Girl. The final girl is an empowered character in the horror films. In comparison to female characters who featured in horror films before the 80's, where they were literally powerless and objects to draw in a male audience, only to be killed later in the film, this was the ideology of female characters in horror films during this time period..

Interestingly, the Final Girl theory is important as it links with the development women's rights where before, women were seen as a very unimportant in society and they we're seen as submissive characters, who we're to stay at home. However after the women's rights acts which were introduced in 1976 were introduced, they were seen as very equal members of society. This reflects the Final Girl theory where women are seen as equal, if not more powerful than  men. Carol Clover developed her theory in 1996, when it was becoming clear that the female characters in horror films were actually were becoming more influential in films, in comparison to those made when Laura Mulvey devised her Male Gaze theory. This shows the development of the female character in horror films and the way they are now much more important have have more influence over other characters and the final story line.  The development of the Final Girl theory is a direct reflection of the increase of women's rights which is very important when studying females in horror films. 

Another example of a horror film which shows complete female dominance is Alien (1979). Sigourney Weaver plays a female character Ellen Ripley. After receiving a warning message from the ships computer, the crew land on an unknown planet, and discover a new species. The Aliens, and the crew do not know the danger they have got themselves into. As voted as one of the most heroic female characters in horror films of all time, Ellen Ripley is a classic example of an opposing stereotypical gender role in film, becoming an icon for female characters. After every other member of the ships crew is killed by the alien on board, Ripley is the only surviving character, the final girl. After trying to kill the Alien by blowing up the ship after it had already killed every other member of the crew, she survives and discovers the alien on the shuttle. She later expels the Alien into space before setting the co-ordinates for the return to earth.  Clearly, by the way Ripley takes control of the situation, disposes of the antagonist in the film she is a very strong female character, taking on a definite male gender role, complying entirely with Carol Clover's Final Girl theory. 

Overall, the way in which the way women are represented in horror films has changed rapidly and massively since women were shown as helpless and very submissive. Although there are still films made in which females are the less influential characters, its is now far more common that they are actually quite powerful and have a larger part to play than just to attract a male audience by the way they are attractive and seductive. Female roles in horror films have parallelled the development of women's roles in society, and it now seems as though film producers are being much more respectful of women in films. Normally there will always be one female character who has a large impact on the story line of the, which is a complete opposite of films made when females were entirely submissive. Although females will naturally be used to draw in a male audience, raising viewing figures and therefore revenue, they do now play a role in the film too. Which I personally think is an improvement in the attitudes of film producers. 


Kieran Browne   

Evaluation Question 3

What have you learned from your audience feedback?

After the production process of the film trailer came to an end, and we thought we had a finished product we presented the final trailer to our class. They gave us feedback, positive and negative, and what they thought we should have done differently. Therefore, if we were to make the trailer again, we would take these into consideration.

 Here is a list of the positive points of the horror trailer;

-Good setting x3 (Abandoned graveyard)

-Good shot with mask x2

-Good head shake x4

-Effective shot when the enemy was lurking in the trees

-Good sound, the intensity draws the audience in x6

-Flows well

-Clear horror feeling to the trailer, creepy x2

-Good night shots

-Good final shot x4

-Nice use of shadows and lighting

-Good voiceover

Here is a screenshot from the headshake technique we used.
This looks very disturbing while watching the trailer
as we sped up the clip greatly and as it is only
a very short shot, the audience would be very confused
and concerned.

We were very pleased with the positive comments from the class, as the individual elements which we tried to include in the trailer were all noticed by the audience. For example, the use of shadows and lighting, the head shaking to show Louis Caseley's building insanity and to confuse the audience. This was important as we wanted to show the delusional and frightened state which the character was in, this was not easy to do however after much research we decided the best way to show his insanity would be though violent head shaking and as four of the class picked up on this suggests the shots were effective which is very pleasing for the group. 

This is an image taken from the horror trailer of the
final shot, the antagonist appears from no-where behind the
antagonists shoulders, and at this point the sound
climaxes perfectly, adding to the impact of the shot.

 The final shot which would scare the audience for a final time and in particular the use of sound. While studying other trailers, we noticed that they were much scarier when they were accompanied by sound, however if you turned the sound off, they had very little impact.  The sound draws the audience in, builds an atmosphere and creates suspense in the trailer, this would instantly suggest the film is of the horror genre from the beginning. Therefore we wanted to use a soundtrack which would really build the atmosphere, intensity and fear in the trailer, and from the feedback it would appear we have achieved this, which is very pleasing for the group. 

Another key point of the trailer which we focused on was the actual location of the filming. We wanted to make sure the horror trailer was in a location where the possibility of extremely scary and frightening things could happen, therefore we chose to film the trailer in an abandoned graveyard. This was naturally very scary and instantly suggested the film was of the horror genre, thankfully the audience picked up on this and three people commented on the effectiveness of the location. We are overall, very pleased with the positive comments received from our peers as they show that when we planned all the individual parts of the trailer, we successfully influenced the audience.

On the other hand, there were some criticisms raised by the class...

List of negative points of the horror trailer

-Could be longer x3

-Text too hard to read x5-"Wobbling too much"  

-Needs more scary scenes x2

-Camera work out of focus x2

- No storyline x4

-More locations x2

-No final shot x5

-Little pace at ending

Here is a screenshot form the horror trailer which
features the wobbly writing which 5 people criticised.
The writitng is quite difficult to read and we would
change this if we had the chance to edit the trialer.

Although we are pleased with the positive comments we received about the horror trailer, we accepted the fact that there would be elements of it that were not as popular as others. The comments made by the class were completely understood and the group payed close attention to them in order to improve our performance if we were do produce anything similar in the future. The two main criticisms of the trailer, mentioned by five members of the class, was that the text in the trailer was too hard to read and that there was no final shot. In an attempt to add to the horror atmosphere of the trailer, our group added some short title shots to describe the film. These featured red writing which was wobbling to show the horror effect, however there was a feeling amongst the class that the wobbling of the text was too intense, so therefore if we were to make the trailer again we would alter the small title sequences so the writing they involved was more visible. Secondly, five students also said that there was no final shot in the film trailer, this is an important criticism as the final shot is the last thing which the audience would remember after watching the trailer. The group intended to finish the trailer with a very impactful shot of the enemy over the protagonist's, Kieran Browne's shoulder, however this was not quite achieved  So if we had the chance to edit the trailer again, we would definitely sharpen up the ending in order to make it more impactful and scary. This links with the other constructive criticism that there was little pace at the end of the trailer, this is also disappointing as the pace of the trailer is something we tried to focus on in order to build the atmosphere and tension.

Next, four members of the class criticised the way that there was no real story line in the trailer, however this was intentional in order to confuse the audience and to show the delusional state which Louis Caseley endures throughout the trailer. The lack of continuity in the trailer would confuse the audience and would therefore make the trailer more scary and disturbing. However, the criticism has been taken into consideration and my group understand that the idea we were trying to convey may have been difficult to understand. 

The comments from the group which stated that there needed to be more scary scenes were understandable however when working out what type of horror film to produce, we decided that the trailer would not be based around gore and blood, and that it would be more based around psychology and that it would play on the audiences mind. But if we were to re-edit the trailer we would try to include some more hard-hitting, disturbing shots. 

This screenshot of the trailer shows the issue of the blur while
filming, this was not helped by the darkness of the
location and time of day which we filmed at the
graveyard, however it would be improved if we had the
chance again.

Finally two people mentioned the fact that the camera work was un-focused and blurry, however as majority of the film was filmed kinetically, this was very difficult to avoid. If we were to film the blurry shots again we would use a tripod to ensure the trailer would be clearly visible to the audience and that what was happening could be followed.  

Overall, my group have taken into consideration the constructive criticism from our classmates and have concluded that we would alter the  editing of the trailer and we would particularly make the final few shots more impactful and frightening. However we are pleased that the class noticed some of the elements which we were focusing on while planning the trailer, such as the location, use of light and darkness and particularly the sound used in the trailer to build atmosphere. We appreciate the criticism as it has allowed us to see how we can improve future work.

Kieran Browne

Evaluation Question 2

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

Along with producing the main product during the project, which was the film trailer, my group also created several ancillary texts, which are essentially accompanying texts used by film producers to advertise their product when it is released. For example, I created a film poster and a magazine cover based around our horror film trailer; Subliminal. The ancillary products often contain images with characters which may appear in the full film, this is to draw the audience into the story and intrigue them so they watch the final film. The three products all tie in well with each other because they all contain the essential elements of the horror trailer and I think they promote the film well. 

We focused on three aspects of promotion while creating our three media texts, the first of which; Audience, secondly, Advertising, and finally Publicity. The audience was very important to think about while creating the products because in order to properly target our audience and interest them, we needed to tailor our products to specifically attract that demographic (16-30). Therefore, the products we created were modern looking, and attractive to the younger age range. The trailer story line was based around three young people, who were living very normal lives. This was a deliberate and intentional because it was a crucial way to attract our target audience. Next, the magazine cover was important because it allowed us to advertise the film in another way. The magazine cover contained the picture of the mask which features in the trailer, and is associated with the antagonist, this is important as it fortifies the horror genre and would interest the magazine reader. The image below shows that the magazine cover looks professional and is very similar to other magazines of the film genre, particularly Total Film. While creating the cover on Adobe Photoshop, I had a background of a Total Film magazine cover and built mine around it, making it look as professional as possible, as the image below shows. The mask features heavily in the magazine cover, as it does will all 3 media texts we created, building links between the three and this would hopefully interest people, building momentum, with the intention of a big film launch. This is a common technique used by many film production companies. It was particularly important to use a well known magazine company as the base of the magazine company as it suggests that the film is of the professional nature, and as the film is affiliated with a popular magazine brand, its fan base would assume the film would be worth watching. When professional film producers release new films, they try to join up with these kinds of magazines in order to gain publicity which allows their target audience to read reviews and teasers of the film, which in turn, would make them want to go and see the movie, therefore, making the producers more money. 

Another way our audience was targeted was the poster I created. As you can see from the image below, the poster looks very modern and has the conventions of a professional poster, compared to the Let The Right One In poster, a modern horror film aimed at the same demographic as ours, the two are very similar. Posters are a commonly used when a new film comes out because they build links between other advertisement texts and they also give a quick snapshot of the film, giving the audience an idea of what the film may be about, without telling them the entire story line. This is important as the audience then automatically wants to know more about the film, so would then pay attention to other texts such as trailers and billboards. Another good thing about film posters is that they are very cheap to produce and can be put almost anywhere to promote a film. They can be printed off in thousands for very little money so are therefore an effective way of advertising. If my group were to actually make the whole Subliminal film, poster advertising would most definitely be used due to our low budget. Posters are very effective because they can be viewed by countless amounts of people in many different formats, for example, they can be stuck up around the area, in magazines and in shops, in comparison to trailers, which can only be viewed online and on television, limiting the opportunity of audiences to see the text. Also magazines covers will only be viewed by people who buy film magazines and therefore have an avid interest in films. But in actual fact, you dont have to be a huge fan of films to be able to go and watch them at the cinema. So by using posters as well as magazine covers and trailers, we make sure the target audience is aware of the film as the poster would be very accessible and it would simply tell them that there was a new horror film coming out, they could then research it further if the audience was interested by the poster.  

Usually film producers have the luxury of using many different forms of promotion when they bring out a new product, for example; billboards, synergies, trailers, combining with other companies and there are many more methods available in order to advertise their product. However our group were only able to use the three, trailer, poster and the magazine cover.  However one thing which is noticeable from studying promotional packages made by professional film producers is that all the different texts they create in order to promote the film, all include the protagonist or antagonist. Therefore we decided it was crucial that we did this when trying to promote our film. As you can see from the images of the film poster and the magazine cover, the mask is very central in both images. The mask being the antagonist in the trailer. Although it doesn't feature too heavily in the actual trailer, there is definitely still a sense of its importance in the way that the pace and mood of the trailer instantly changes as soon as the antagonist features. This creates an atmosphere around the antagonist and gives the audience a feeling of fear. This would make them want to see the actual film. This is a commonly used technique by film producers in order to excite and entice the target audience. 

Overall, I believe my group have all produced professional looking ancillary texts for our Subliminal horror trailer. With our low budget and few skills with the technology used, we have succeeded in making three texts suitable for the professional film market. I am pleased with the way all the ancillary texts link with one another and I believe we have produced them at the best of our abilities. We all understood the importance of the three ancillary texts and I believe if we were to actually release the film, Subliminal, it would have a successful launch, due to the impact of the supporting texts, as well as the horror film trailer itself. They are very effective and support the trailer very well in my opinion. 

Kieran Browne

Magazine Cover

This is the magazine cover which I created for the Subliminal horror trailer. As you can see from the image above, the burlap mask is shown on the cover, with horror style font below it, this suggests the film advertised will be of the horror genre. This is important as a consumer would instantly be interested in buying the magazine if they were interested in horror movies. The magazine cover is partially based around those which feature on FANGORIA magazine, as I believe they stand out very well on the shelf, due to their bright colours and use of large images on the page.

Kieran Browne

Subliminal Poster

This is the poster I created for my Subliminal horror film trailer. As you can see from the image, the burlap sack features heavily in the poster, and the effect used on the eyes looks very haunting. There is a clear feeling that the poster is advertising a film of the horror genre due to the horror type text "SUBLIMINAL" at the top of the page. The effect around the image is also quite interesting as it makes the mask looks hidden as if the character is trying to hide. This would raise questions in the audiences head and it would make them want to see the film.

Kieran Browne

Media Evaluation Question 4

How did you use Media Technologies in the construction, research, planning and evaluation?

We used different media technologies throughout the entire process of constructing our horror trailer. From filming the shots, to making the sound clips, different technologies were continuously being used. 

Google, the search engine used while
doing internet research for our project.

During the research stage, we decided that we wanted to make a trailer with a psychological theme. This is where we began to use technologies to our advantages. We used the internet to research typical elements of a horror film trailer, other films of the psychological horror film theme, angles and camera tricks used in horror trailer and many other things in order to give ourselves a good outline and idea of exactly what we wanted to produce at the end of the project. And, although we had to tweak the trailer in areas and did not entirely sick to the initial ideas, after finally finishing the end product, the thorough research has proven to have been worth the effort as we are all very pleased with the final trailer. We also used the internet for many other reasons, for example, when we were creating the mood boards for our horror trailers, we used the internet to browse for appropriate images which were relative to the theme of our trailer. As an example, our trailer was of the psychological nature, so I used images of people in straights jackets and optical illusions for my mood board. These were found on Google Images. 

This is the Microsoft Word logo, the programme
we regularly used to create documents for the
project, such as a filming schedule, questionnaire
and shot list.

Another technology we used was Microsoft Word. When we did our independent audience research, we had to create a questionnaire to find out what other people of our targeted age group were interested in with regards to horror films. This proved to be advantageous because we were able to see that it was mainly people of the ages 15-30 who mostly enjoyed the horror genre, and they particularly liked the idea of a non-gore themed film. This instantly suggested we should make a horror film which played on the audiences mind instead of just simply grossing them out. Microsoft Word was very easy to use and its practicality was unmatched throughout the process of making our horror trailer. Although we only had to use the technology for a simple task, it was easy to use and accessible from the beginning. Also without Word, we wouldn't have been able to make the questionnaire, limiting our knowledge of peoples opinions on the genre, meaning our trailer may not have been so effective.  After we had constructed the questionnaire, we put it on a website called Survey Monkey (surveymonkey.com) which meant we could advertise the questionnaire on the internet via such social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter, in order to increase the amount of data we collected, in order to get a wide range of information about peoples opinions on horror movies. This proved to be very advantageous while planning the trailer. 

Survey monkey was the website we used
to create an online questionnaire
in order to collate data and
information about our target audience.

Another technology we used on the internet was Google Earth. We were able to research locations, without actually having to visit them, this would have been very time consuming and we were on a strict filming schedule in order to finish the trailer before the final deadline. Using Google Earth allowed us to see if a location would be firstly accessible, and secondly appropriate for filming a horror trailer. We researched a few locations and finally decided on some church ruins because they looked perfect for what we required. Without the use of Google Earth, we would have wasted lots of time visiting potential filming locations, instead, we could just assess them quickly at home, which was very practical. 

Here is a screenshot of the programme PremierPro, which we used
to construct the horror trailer

After we had finished our research and had decided the theme of the horror movie, we had to finally produce the content. In order to do so, we used the iMac computers. All members of the group were familiar with the iMac computers due to previous use, however we were introduced to a new technology called Adobe Premier Pro, which was used to edit the horror trailer, eventually achieving a finished horror film trailer. Although the technology was un-familiar to begin with, meaning the group initially struggled to put the clips together, with practice over time, we became much more confident and we were all able to equally contribute to
the editing of the trailer.  The effects which we were able use on the software, for example; trimming, fading in and out and the use of blurring in the trailer, made our trailer look very professional and well produced. One effect which we used a lot in the trailer was the fade effect at the beginning and  end of clips, paticularly at the beginning of the trailer. This was done because we had many long takes and we wanted to show the calmness of the equilibrium. The fades also made the trailer flow freely, adding to the professional effect.  

This is the GarageBand logo, the programme
we used to create and edit our sound clip
for the horror trailer.

We had to use sound in the trailer and to do this we used software called Garageband. We found a sound clip on YouTube.com, which was of the horror genre, however it needed some tweaking. Garageband allowed us to perfect the sound clip to make it as effective and as powerful as possible while it accompanied the film clips. This was particularly important for the very last shot in the trailer because the evil character suddenly appears over Kieran's shoulder in the darkness. The music climaxes at the perfect point and this ends the trailer perfectly.

Here is a screen shot from Adobe PhotoShop, evidence of
the construction of my horror magazine cover.

Arguably one of the most important pieces of media technology I used during the project was Adobe Photoshop. I had previously used the software many times before so I was familiar with the tools available to me, meaning I could create professional looking products, such as magazine covers and film posters to a high standard. Although I had used the software before, I did learn some new tricks and techniques, these came in handy throughout the project, particularly with the poster. I also used Adobe Photoshop to analyse horror magazine covers. The way you can select just a certain part of the magazine cover was very important as it allowed me to talk about individual parts of the magazine cover with ease.

An image of the hand-held HD camera
used for filming the horror trailer, it was
very easy to use and transport, making it
a vital piece of equipment.

Arguably the most important media technology I used during the construction of the horror trailer was the HD camera used to film the footage. The camera was easy to use as all of the group members were familiar with the technology due to previous experience with the camera. The camera was of high quality allowing us to film very clear footage which benefited us greatly. We all acted in the trailer and also had an equal contribution with the actual filming of the clips as we were all capable of doing both. The tripod we used was also very important as we were able to film a mixture of hand held shots and those which were static. This gave the trailer a professional feel and it added to the horror effect as the audience would have been disorientated by the mixture of the different styles of shots. Although none of the group had any previous experience of acting, we tried to be as convincing as possible in the trailer and overall, I think we achieved this.

The blogger logo, the website we used
to present our work.

Another important media technology used during the project was the internet website, Blogger. I used blogger in order to present my work step by step in an organised way so the project could be clearly viewed. Having previous experience of Blogger meant the process of uploading the posts was relatively simple, however I definitely developed my skills while using the site, and I think there is a clear improvement in comparison to my blog in my first year of Media Studies. Blogger itself was a fantastic way of presenting my work because it acts as an online portfolio, allowing the user to import images, video files and, of course written documents. This was important as during the project I created many different forms of media texts, for example, the Subliminal poster and Magazine Cover shown below. There is no comparison between presenting the project on paper or online in my opinion purely due to the freedom Blogger gives the user to make their blog completely original and interesting. The flexibility and freedom of Blogger makes it the perfect interface for presentation.

The use of technology was crucial in throughout the project because without it, there would simply be no final product. From the early stages of researching other professional trailers, to finally producing our own of a similar standard, the use of technology has been ever present. I think the use of modern technology during the project was important also. If we only had access to outdated and old-fashioned technology, this would have reflected in the final trailer, however as we had very hi-tech devices and programs at our disposal, the final outcome is one that I am personally very proud of. The entire groups enthusiasm is reflected in the final trailer, because I think it is clear that there has been much time and effort spent on it and I think we the final grade awarded for the trailer will prove that the time and effort was worthwhile. Overall, the technology used in the trailer was crucial to producing a final product to be proud of and without it we wouldn't have a horror film trailer to be proud of, the entire group are happy with the final trailer and the work ethic which has ultimately gone into producing it. 

Kieran Browne.

Media Evaluation Question 1

Media Evaluation Question 1

Usually, most horror film trailers will share similar conventions and forms, in the sense that they are all designed to entice the audience into watching the film by intriguing them and making them interested.

In comparison to our horror trailer, I think we have displayed many of the different conventions of a professional horror trailer. For example, the first thing the audience would be able to notice when watching the film is that the genre is of the horror nature. We were able to do this by creating suspenseful scenes and we incorporated long and short takes in order to shock the audience. This is a typical technique used by many horror producers and we thought this would be an important aspect to include. Another trait of our trailer which is similar to those made by professional directors is that we only show the name of the film right at the end of the trailer. This occurs in almost every trailer for films in general, and it is done in order to leave the audience with the name of the film stuck in their head, coincidentally, they go and watch the film. One aspect which separates ours from those made in the professional industry is that we didn’t have the luxury of being able to include well known stars such as Johnny Depp or Christian Bale.  We were only able to use students in our horror trailer therefore could not try to entice the audience with the actors themselves, which many film companies do. However this was not a hindrance to the group as many horror films in particular rely more on the actual content of the film and the thrills and adrenaline rush that the film gives the audience. For example, the SAW films never include many well-known actors however the brand is one of the most successful in the horror industry, suggesting the audience is more interested in the content of the film than the actors in it. In comparison to genres such as Romantic Comedies and Dramas.

While making film trailers, horror producers will target their trailers at a specific demographic who they believe the film will be enjoyed by. For example, the horror genre is mainly followed by people of ages 15-30, as our research showed, so we tried to aim the film at that group of people in particular. We did this by making sure the trailer was quite modern and used a complete teenage cast, this means the target audience would be able to identify with the characters, and after watching the trailer, they would instantly want to know what was happening with them. The trailer gives small snippets of what the boys, myself, Kieran Brown, and Louis Casely, go through in the trailer, and the audience would be drawn in. It was important that we used teenage actors of ages 17 and 18 because in recent times, films which are based around a teenage age group have been very successful, such as the Twilight Series, Project X, and even more so, Harry Potter. The audience instantly builds up a relationship with the characters when the realise they are of the same age, therefore enticing them to see the film. Films which include a teenage character base have been very successful mainly due to the fact that people of ages 14-25 is the age demographic which watches films the most. This is one convention which our film shares with many modern films. 

Although our horror film included teenage actors so the film would automatically be associated and aimed at that audience, the actual story line and genre of horror was very much aimed at an older audience due to the fact that the film is not just a normal slasher film, where the main focus is blood and gore, which a teenager would normally enjoy. The film is in fact based around psychology which is a rather adult approach and genre of horror film. This would not be easy to understand if the audience were quite young and only used to gorey slasher films. So in this sense the trailer does not follow the usual conventions of a horror film aimed at the demographic of 15-25 year old audiences. 

Most horror trailer share the convention of using a mixture of quick and slow shots, generally building the pace as the trailer progresses and intensifies. We included this convention in our trailer as we thought this was very important to cement the idea that the film was of the horror nature. In order to increase tension in the trailer we used a mixture of dark and light conditions. This was used to confuse the audience and they would be disturbed by the lack of continuity in the trailer. The way the audience would be confused by the trailer would be appealing to a producer as it means the audience would want to watch the film in order to work out the confusing elements. We also used sound in the trailer to create suspense and atmosphere. Another element of the trailer which is similar to other trailers of the horror genre is that we used red text while showing the title of the film at the end of the trailer, this is a common techniques used by horror producers due to the way the colour red is often associated with blood, fortifying the idea that the film is of the horror genre.

As previously mentioned, we used sound in the trailer, creating an atmosphere and making the trailer more suspenseful. We were able to edit a sound clip making it speed up throught the trailer and the final part of the trailer was very important as we have a shot of the evil character, Isaac Reeder, wearing the burlap mask appearing over the shoulder of myself, this was a very important shot as it was very powerful and the final shot the audience would see. The sound in the clip added to the shot as the sound climaxed just as the character leant over my shoulder. The effect of this was typical of the horror genre and is a classic convention of horror trailers used to give a final scare to the audience, so in this sense, the trailer followed horror convention. Sound is very important in any film trailer as it plays on another of the audiences senses, and without the use of sound in our trailer, it would not have been as effective and scary.

A convention of horror films which we closely followed was the location where the filming took place. We all decided that the location had to be one which would simply only ever feature in a horror film, therefore we decided to film the trailer at an abandoned churchyard. As you can see from the image below, the location is perfect for a film of the horror genre, forming an atmosphere of its own due to the instant association with death when thinking about a graveyard, adding to the creepiness of the trailer.

 This form is very similar to other horror movies as the location where something happens has to be scary itself in order to make sure the audience is aware of the horror in the film. For example, a comedy film would never be filmed at a graveyard and a horror film would never be filmed during the day in a busy city.

One convention which our trailer did not follow is the actual type of horror film which the trailer was based around. The current theme for popular horror films is those based around blood, violence and gore. However, we did not want to conform to the usual trend and we actually wanted to make a unique horror film based around effecting the audience psychologically and indirectly instead of the usual gore-fest films which scare the audience because of the blood and gore, but only for a certain amount of time. Instead, we wanted to create a trailer which would make the audience think about the trailer for a long time, and so it would play on their mind, like films such as Paranormal Activity, which has been very successful. The film contained subliminal messages, hence the name subliminal, as we could not think of a film that has done this before. We wanted to differentiate our film from others on the market and steer clear of the usual film conventions and I believe we successfully did this.

The next comparison to draw between our trailer and a professionally made one would be the use of camera techniques and shots in order to set a mood and influence the audience. Professional production companies have the ability and technology to create extravagant shots and scenes, using hi-tech cameras, cranes and other tools, however we did not have this sort of equipment at our disposal, therefore the shots themselves are fairly simple as they are all made to look hand-held, which is a common form in horror films. However one convention we have followed is that we have used a wide range of angles and shots while filming the trailer, in order to disorientate the audience and therefore establish and re-enforce the idea that the film is a horror.

The final comparison with professional horror films I will discuss is the use of the Antagonist in the trailer. Although he does play a large part in the trailer, because all the fear is actually based around his mystery, he is very rarely shown, only twice, and in both of these shots, he looks particularly menacing. We deliberately wanted to only briefly show the antagonist because we wanted the audience to be intrigues by him, therefore would want to watch the entire film.

Overall, I was pleased with the way our horror trailer compared to those made by professionals as we only had few resources and very little in terms of hi-tech equipment. In order to make the trailer more conventional and follow the forms of professional trailers, we would have to shoot much more complicated shots from elaborate angles.

Kieran Browne

Props And Costume List

While planning the filming of our horror trailer, we concluded that we needed to make sure the audience was aware that the scenario could happen to anyone. To do this we decided that the actors needed to look as normal as possible for people their age, therefore we decided the two boys would wear normal casual clothing. Therefore it would seem as if the boys were just casually driving around on the day of which the event happened. Kieran wore a causal black Adidas t shirt, blue jeans and black shoes. And Louis wore a black t shirt and black jeans also. With grey trainers. As you can see from the picture below, this is the normal clothing for someone of a teenage age, fortifying the idea of teenage normality.

 We needed to use teenage characters in the trailer as the film was aimed at 15-30 year olds, so they would instantly be able to identify with the characters of the same age group. As you can see from the image below, all the characters are of the same teenage age range which we thought was very important in the trailer.

   

One prop we used for the filming however was a mask for the evil character. The mask is essentially a burlap sack, and although the idea isn't initially scary, as you can see from the image below
it adds greatly to the horror effect, especially when we were filming in the dark. The evil character also wore completely black plain clothing to add to the mystery of the character.

 There's also a sense of fear by the way the character lurks in the trees in the trailer, so the audience can only see the face of the character.  As you can see from the image, the mask is made from a burlap sack, meaning only the eyes can be seen, this adds fear to the characters appearance and instantly establishes he is the antagonist.

Another prop we used was a piece of paper with a picture of Kieran's face attached to it, this is used to build the atmosphere and the fear for Louis.

Another character we used in the trailer was Isaac Reeder, who played the antagonist, he wore the burlap mask, we decided he would be an appropriate character to use as the evil character, due to his physique and imposing stature, as shown in the image below. The characters height was particularly useful for the final shot, when the antagonist suddenly appears out of the darkness and towers over Kieran from behind.

Overall, the props we used in the trailer were very low-key and casual, in order to make sure the audience was aware that the situation could happen to anyone and there was nothing out of the ordinary before the event happened. This adds to the fear in the trailer and makes sure the viewer is aware that the boys are just normal teenagers and the situation could happen to anyone, making the trailer scarier.
The props used were important as they instantly allow the audience to see what type of character the person in the film is and what role they will play. For example, the casual clothing which the boys wear suggest they are very normal and protagonists, on the other hand, the mask which the antagonist wears, instantly shows the character needs to conceal his identity for some reason because he is doing something wrong, therefore he is the antagonist..

Kieran Browne

Filming Schedule

Filmimg Schedule For Our Horror Trailer

The timing of our filming was crucial when making our horror trailer. In order to show the difference between the safety of the characters, we had to film in light conditions, therefore we filmed at 11-3 during the day, we had to be very precise when we were filming as we started filming of Feburary 14th, so the light would fade very quickly, meaning we could no longer film.

On the other hand, when we needed to film the scary parts of the trailer, we would use the darkness to our advantage, in order to create fear and a perfect horror atmosphere in the trailer. We had a very clear timing structure when filming the trailer, due to the changes in the atmosphere in the trailer, for example, at the beginning of the trailer there is an equilibrium, where everything is calm. This part of the film had to be shot in the daylight. Therefore there would be no initial fear at the beginning of the trailer, leaving the opportunity for the trailer to increase pace, fear and intensity. These shots were filmed in the house we used for the trailer, owned by Isaac Reeder, one of the group members.
The second part of the filming took place between the hours of 11AM and 3PM in order to make sure the lighting was perfect for the current atmosphere in the trailer.

The second parts of the filming took place in my car. This was an important part of the trailer as it showed the transition between the calm part of the trailer and when the atmosphere was normal, the equilibrium, compared to when the enemy features and the trailer becomes much more intense. This part of the trailer was filmed between 4PM and 7PM in order to show the transition between calmness and the horrific part of the trailer. The light in the trailer was very important because darkness naturally connotes fear, so we could use the darkness to our advantage in order to make sure the horror atmosphere was apparent.

Finally, the third part of the filming took place at the abandoned ruins, where the horror element really became very intense. There were scary shots of the enemy in the trailer and the shots were filmed in very dark conditions. This allowed us to use light and shadows to our advantage. For example in the final shot, when the antagonist in the trailer appears over my, (Kieran Browne's) shoulder. This was a very effective shot which really ended the trailer with a lot of impact. If we han not have planned to film this shot at this particular time with these lighting conditions, the final shot would not have been as effective.

Overall, the filming schedule was crucial when planning the trailer as because without it, we would have struggled to film the trailer at the appropriate time of day. For example the equibibrium had to be filmed during daylight and the more scary parts of the trailer were filmed in spooky, dusk conditions, The timings were very precise and I think they benefited us greatly when filming the horror trailer.


Kieran Browne

Shot List

Here is a picture of the shot list we made before we started filming our horror trailer. Although we did use the shot list in order to make sure our filming process was organised, we changed a few shots and added more in order to make the film better. In total there are around 50 shots on the shot list, we used around 100 in the actual film trailer.

Kieran Browne

Full Film Idea

When I was in the process of in the process of deciding which type of horror film we wanted to create, there was a strong feeling amongst all three of the group members that we wanted to create a trailer which was different to the current theme of horror- gore and blood. We decided instead that we wanted to make a psychological horror trailer which played with the readers mind, and influenced them in a much more indirect way, rather than the immediate horror effect which a slasher or gore horror film would.

The story begins with two friends in a car, driving through country roads, seemingly happy and they're just looking for something to do. There is a clear bond between the pair, shown by the way they are laughing and chatting in an informal way. The pair eventually end their journey when they pull up on the side of the road and see a mysterious figure running through the woods. Intrugued, the pair decide to investigate and follow the character, to be led into an abandoned church. Although the place is very quiet and somewhat peaceful, there is a definite sense of fear amongst the characters (Kieran Browne and Louis Casely). As the light begins to fade over the abandoned ruins, the intensity increases and the atmosphere becomes very tense. While the boys are looking around the ruins, they become separated, unable to find each other, until Louis sees the figure standing in a gap in the ruin walls, as he escapes and runs from the scene, his friend Kieran screams his name while trying to search, but to no avail. Kieran is then "caught" by the un-identified figure, due to the burlap sack which covers his head, leading Louis to think his friend has been killed.

As the film continues, Louis starts to see Kieran's name everywhere he goes, thoughts of his death, and weather it was his fault plague him, eventually taking over his entire life. Negatively effecting his social life to the point which he could actually be considered mentally insane. The twist in the movie comes when Louis decides to visit the place where Kieran was supposedly killed by the demon, only to find out that he wasn't actually killed, but in an attempt to kill who he thinks is the killer. he actually kills Kieran, as Kieran wasn't actually dead in the first place, in-turn becoming the killer himself. This part of the film is not shown in the trailer, to allow for the audience to be surprised when they actually go and see the film in the cinema.

The film mainly follows Todorov's theory about structure. With a clear equilibrium at the beginning, with the two friends in the car, followed by the problem, the recognition, the fixing the problem stages, however the twist in our film means there is simply no second equilibrium. Due to Louis being killed at the end of the film, the film ends in sadness, which is reasonably uncommon in film, but more common in horror film. This is done to play on the audiences mind, for example if the film ended and everything was okay, the element of fear would disappear from the film. However as there is no calm, or death of the evil character, the audience would leave the cinema thinking "what if that happened to me?" Which is exactly what horror producers want because it keeps viewers talking about their films and it keeps them coming back for more.

The key characters in the trailer are the two boys, and the masked demon. They are very different but all important in their own ways. The two boys are very normal, wearing everyday clothing, being at one end of the scale, wheras our classic horror villain was at the other end, being very ab-normal and an actual psychopath. The trailer gives an insight into the characters they are likely to see in the film and there is instantly a feeling that they should side with the two boys when they watch the actual film.

There are also definite examples of Binary Opposition in our horror trailer also. With the main example being the characters in the trailer. The two boys being very normal, with no outrageous or noticeable unique qualities differentiating them from others of their age group. Opposing this however is the obvious evil character in the trailer. He is in fact very abnormal and clearly not an average human like the boys. We thought it was important to show the opposition of characters as there is then a clear divide between good and evil. The other example of Binary Opposition is a less obvious one, in the weather and the times used when filming. When we were filming the equilibrium stage of the trailer, we wanted to show calm and normality, so filmed in sunny, bright conditions. However opposing this, we filmed in darkened, dusky condition when we wanted to add an air of horror and creepiness to the trailer. Opposing the initial bright conditions. This was important to the trailer as we needed to show that the film would become scary and the perfect way to do this was by the dark conditions and use of fabricated lighting. Covering both ends of the binary scale.

Overall, the group was very pleased with the final outcome of the film trailer. Although we altered parts of the plan and didn't fully stick to our initial idea, I think the changes we made improved the trailer. We used very good locations in order to give off the horror feeling and the characters in the trailer were very convincing. Finally, I am very pleased with the trailer however if I was to change anything, it would be the ]
lighting in some of the shots in order to maintain continuity.

Kieran Browne

Mood Board For Subliminal Horror Trailer

Here is my mood board for my 'Subliminal' horror trailer. As you can see, the mood board suggests the film will be of the horror genre due to the disturbing images, such as those in the bottom left and bottom right. The psychological aspect of the film is also apparent due to the images of the spirals and the film theatre. 

Kieran Browne

Recce Report

During the construction of the film trailer, we decided that we would need to show the main character in their natural environment. Therefore we used one of the group members house to portray the normal life of a person our age. The pictures below show the house we used for the filming of our trailer.

As you can see, the house is in no way different from any other therefore the audience would get the impression the insanity and disturbing things could happen to anyone, adding to the horror effect of the trailer.

We also needed to travel to our locations when we went filming, therefore we would need a mode of transport. We travelled to our location in my car, in which we also filmed some of our trailer. This was to show the journey from normality (the equilibrium) to the location where the problem happened, coincidentally beginning the horror story. The picture below shows the car, as you can see, it's a normal car for someone our age (17-18) fortifying the idea that the story is happening to normal teenagers.

Finally, when we arrived at our location we instantly knew it would be the perfect place to film a horror trailer. The derelict church was instantly creepy and the graves scattered around the church added to the horror atmosphere. The way the church as falling apart, with no roof and some walls missing gave the impression it was very old and therefore possibly haunted. Also the spire on the church was an important element as it was always dark, regardless of the time of day, allowing us to film scary shots of the evil character in the trailer. As you can see below, the church is old and very isolated, therefore the audience would instantly feel fear for the characters in the trailer. The picture below perfectly shows the church and the audience would easily be able to feel the atmosphere of the location.

Kieran Browne