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

Audience Research (Independent)

Before creating my horror film trailer, I complied some information about peoples preferences of horror films in order to create a trailer that would be enjoyed by its audience. While planning the trailer, I wanted to make it different to the current theme of horror movies, which are mainly orientated around gore and sadistic violence. However we wanted to create a trailer that would actually influence the audience, and to do this we decided to use the idea of subliminal messages. The overall response from our targeted audience when compiling information was a positive one with regards to the possibility of a psychological horror film. Most of the audience suggesting that the gore type films were becoming slightly outdated and over-used and a different type of horror film would be interesting to see.

Here is a picture of the questionnaire we gave to our target audience, in total we handed out 20 questionnaires in order to get a large selection of results therefore we were able to make good decisions about the film based on the responses. ---

Although we changed our idea for our trailer along the process of producing it, we still kept the same ideas that the film was going to be of the psychological nature instead of gore, however instead of subliminal messaging we were going to  use the idea of the main character going insane. The film would still  be disturbing without using blood and violence, however we thought the idea would be more realistic and feesable to an audience.

Overall, collecting the audience research from the questionnaire results helped greatly when deciding the type of horror film we wanted to produce. Although we previously had an idea of what kind of trailer we were going to make, the results from the questionnaire suggested we should go ahead with the psychological idea and that differentiating the film from the current market would prove to be a good decision.

Kieran Browne

General Audience Research

When studying horror films, the question is always asked "Why would anyone enjoy watching a repulsive gore fest, with nothing but blood and violence?" It seems ridiculous to believe that anyone would actually want to watch the process of characters being murdered and brutally massacred for their own enjoyment. However studies have shown that people go to watch horror movies for the adrenaline rush, and that people like the feeling of being frightened. There is a definite excitement which looms around horror films which simply cannot be mirrored by any other genre of film. Although other genres can provoke certain reactions, such as laughter and tears, no other genre can actually have a person completely gripped with fear. This is what makes horror films so enjoyable.

Studies have shown that the male audience is one that mostly enjoys the horror genre, and in particular, single males, this may be because a couple would rather see, for example, a romantic comedy than a horror movie.  Not ruling out the female audience however, who still do attend  horror films, but not in the same mass as males. The most interested age range in the horror genre being 17-30 year olds. 

In comparison to other genres of films, the horror genre is reasonably unpopular, with only 2/10 people going to watch a film of the horror genre at the cinema, there seems to be a shrinking market for, arguably the most emotion provoking genre of film available. The highest grossing horror film of all time being The Exorcist (1973), which reached a massive $441,071,011, however in recent times horror films have struggled to make anywhere near as much money as The Exorcist, with Van Helsing grossing $300,257,475, its the most successful horror film since the millennium. 

Overall, I think there will always be a place for the horror genre in cinema due to the un-paralleled thrill experienced while watching a horror film, which simply cannot be matched by a film of another genre. Although data suggests horror films are becoming less popular with todays audiences, there are still some thrill seeking horror fans who will never fail to watch the latest slasher or psychological horror movie. 

Kieran Browne  

Entertainment Magazine Cover Analysis

Empire Film Magazine Analysis

Fangoria Magazine Cover Analysis

Role Of The Production Company

A film production company are the people who are in charge of the complete production of a new film. From organising a set for a scene or hiring the personel required for that scene, the production company plays a crucial role.
Firstly a story for a film is  thought of and a brief summary of the plot is handed to the production company, these can range from 1-2 pages to 5+ pages. If the production company likes the idea for the film, funding becomes available, this is the first role of the production company. From now on, the producer and overall  production company will remain involved until the end of the production process, until it is finally distributed to cinemas.

This is the logo for Hammer, a legendary producer of horror films. 

There are four stages of production while producing a film, the first being Development- when the funding is made available to the company, people are chosen for the jobs needed such as an editing team, marketing experts etc. The next stage in production is the Pre-Production stage- this consists of the production company bringing together the key members of the team for example, the Production Manager, Line Producer and the Heads of Department. This is when the ideas for the film are being drawn up and potential shots and mini-scripts are thought of.
The next stage of production is the actual Production part of the film making process- In this stage the producers are responsible for the day to day tasks undertaken by the company and the general process in which the film is constructed takes place at this stage. For example the production team will oversee filming and approve any amendments to scripts and budgets etc.
The final stage of the film making process which is overseen by the production company is the Post Production stage- This is where the film is edited together and tidied up. This is the final stage in the process so at this point the film needs to be ready to go to cinema. Soundtracks will be added and the production company markets and distributes the film to cinemas all over the country.
An example of marketing a film would be having trailers of the film on television. This is often an effective way of marketing a film or television programme as viewers get a 'sneak preview' of what to expect in the film. There are other ways of promoting films and other media, one of which would be the method of billboard advertising, simply having large posters and bilboards placed strategically to attract the companys audience. All the marketing and advertising is overseen by the production company therefore they have a very important role to play in the success of the film.

Overall, the production company is the crucial element of a film. Without it there would be no film, they oversee every detail of the production process, from coming up with the idea for the film, until the actual distribution process and sending the film to cinemas to be watched world over.

Kieran Browne

History Of Horror Character

The horror character I have chosen for this task is Charles Lee Ray (Chucky) from the films Chucky- Childs play. There have been 5 Chuckie- Childs play films made, with another, The Curse Of Chucky to be released in 2013.

The Chucky films are based on a child's doll which becomes possessed by Charles Lee (Chucky) Ray who is a voodoo practitioner. In the first Chucky film in 1988, he is shot and wounded, and hides out in a toy store. He finds a "Good Guy doll" and possesses it with his own soul.


The character of Chucky itself is very disturbing and in 1988 was one of the first at the time to take an inanimate object such as a child's doll and humanise it, making into one of the most well known horror characters of all time. To look at, Chucky is very scary and its easy to understand why the Chucky chain has been so successful. I think the reason why the films have done so well is because its the thought that something as simple as a "Good Guy" children's toy could become possessed and do such horrible things such as murder and mutilation, is a very poignant one and one that horror audiences have loved to watch every time a new Chucky film has been released.

The pictures above indicate the development of the character, Chucky, and the way his appearance has changed since 'Childs Play' in 1988 and 'The Curse Of Chucky' in 2013. As you can see from the two images, there has been a massive emphasis in recent times, that the main way to make Chucky scary is his appearance  for example the scars and cuts on his head and his repulsive bleeding eye. However in comparison to the image from 1988, there are less immediately scary things about the original character in the sense that he only has one slight scar on his face but other than that, he looks quite normal. The things that make him scary in the films are what he actually does to people rather than what he looks like. I think this is a good example of horror films in general and the way they have developed because there has been a huge serge in he gore side of horror movies recently and there have only been a handful of horror films that haven't been slasher and torture porn movies (such as the SAW films) over the last decade. Ones that could be said to be more psychological horror movies would be the Paranormal Activity films and The Blare Witch Project.

Here the trailer  of the 1988 Chucky film Childs Play, although the film and animation is much more basic and original than the newer Chucky films, there are still classic horror techniques used such as tense and suspenseful music and long takes.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=imYvOgyU9oo

Here is the trailer from the 2004 film, The Seed Of Chucky.http://www.youtube.com/watch? as you can see, the animation of the horror character Chucky is much improved and although the character appears much more sadistic and immediately scary, the same values and character portrayal are apparent in comparison to the original 1988 Chucky film.

Overall, the character of Chucky is an iconic horror character due to the way he is completely different from any other, there is no other horror character based on something as simple as a child's doll, yet never fails to frighten any of its audience. The development of the character has been important in the was he has been modernised and adapted to peoples current tastes and this is why I think Chucky is one of the most successful and scary horror characters of his time.

Kieran Browne

Blare Witch Project Film Analysis

Here is a link to the Blair Witch Project trailer- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D51QgOHrCj0

The Blair Witch Project is an American psychological horror film which was was released in 1999, directed and written by Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez, and produced by Robin Cowie and Gregg Hale. The film stars Heather Donahue, Michael C. Williams and Joshua Leonard, all playing themselves and the film was distributed by Artisan Entertainment.

The film is one of the first psychological-documentary style films of its time, and its said that it set the benchmark for sililar films such as the Paranormal Activity films. Unlike most horror films, The Blair Witch Project is not based around graphic violence or 'torture porn' style films of its time, like SAW for example, The Blair Witch Project is in fact much more intelligent and thought provoking than the gore theme, and arguably much scarier.
Although the film is of documentary style and is much different from other high-budget, large production films, it still loosely follows Todorov's narrative structure. At the beginning of the film, the trio are at thier house and are quite looking forward to the journey they are about to go on, they are definitely calm and this is definitely the equilibrium stage of the film. The next part of Todorov's structure would be the problem stage. This arises when they get to the woods and actually become lost. Feuds begin to influence the peace within the group and there is no longer the calm atmosphere which was apparent at the beginning of the film. When the problems begin, the male characters blame Heather for losing the map, and therefore why they are lost "you lost it, admit that first" "I know were not lost" she is in denial at this stage and wants to remain the leader of the group, which goes against normal convention as Heather is actually female. Eventually however the team eventually recognise that they are in fact lost and are in potential danger. This is the recognition stage of the film when the characters realise they are in trouble and are in a a quite dangerous situation. How ever much the trio dont want to admit to the trouble they have got themselves into, they certainly cant help it and they do eventually move onto try to fix the situation they are in. Although they are very helpless and very lost, they attempt to find thier way out of the woods. This is where the film starts to climax and intensify. The sounds they keep hearing in the woods become more loud and impactful and they encounter the voodoo like dolls and piles of rocks more frequently.  Until this point, the film mainly follows Todorovs structure. However, the final stage of the structure is when the film becomes different from the structure. Usually there would be a final equilibrium in most films, where everything goes back to calm, howvever in The Blair Witch Project there is an entirely different ending. While trying to escape the woods and The Blair Witch, the trio discover an abandoned house, and in the house, many hand prints and scary objects. This is when the film really intensifies and climaxes, and it doesnt actually calm until Michael, Heather and Josh are all killed by the Blair Witch. This opposes with most horror films when the protagonsits are safe by the end, for example Let The Right One In. So although the film mainly follows the structure, the final stage is not followed, which in my opinion differentiates it from other films and this makes it so brilliant.

I think the audience would find this particular film very scary due to the use of hand held cameras and the way the film is made to look like real life, and with normal people. The audience would be imagining themselves in the situation and they would be able to do this because of the way the film is very realistic and it shows how easy it is to get into one of these awful situations. The audience will side with the protagonists and will be putting themselves in their situations throughout the entire film.

The things that make this film a horror are different from the usual film of the horror genre. In normal horror films, you would expect to see blood, gore, monsters, demons and generally quite scary things, however in The Blair Witch Project the viewer never actually sees anything, however its the way the film is made and the way the actors show their fear is what makes the film so scary. The horror from the film comes psychologically rather than an obvious scary demon or thing, this is what makes the film so different from others. 

The film definitely moves the horror genre forward because at the time their hadn't been any similar films made in the sense that the film and whats scary about it is all psychological. The Blair Witch Project has been said to have been the influence of many similar films for example the Paranormal Activity films because they are predominantly hand held cameras and documentary style. Therefore the film has definitely influenced the horror genre and has moved it forward greatly. 

There are 3 main characters in the film and it would be difficult to apply Vladamir Propp's theory about character roles. He suggested there should be; the villain  the hero, the donor, the helper, the father, the princess, the dispatcher  and finally the false hero. In this film however the only character you can say fits to this theory would be The Blair Witch, the villain. However none of the 3 protagonists fit the other roles as eventually they're all killed therefore none could be the hero. You could argue that Helen may be the false hero as she tries to take the lead however. 

There is binary opposition in the film, in this case it would be good and evil, with the 3 protagonists as the good characters and The Blair Witch as the evil character. And there is also opposition in the sense of whats reality and whats not reality in the film. As it advances, the 3 become more and more scared by everything and they become more disorientated. This means the film builds in intensity and therefore fear increases. 

In conclusion, although The Blair Witch Project is very different to the quintessential horror movie, it is still very scary and has become an example to other horror producers, such as Steven Schneider and Jason Blum who produced Paranormal Activity. The film is very effective and well written, which is why its been voted as one of the best horror films of all time.

Kieran Browne

Let the right one in Film Analysis

Here is the trailer for the horror film Let The Right One In- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ICp4g9p_rgo

The film is set in Stockholm in the early 1980's. The film is of the horror genre and the type of horror would be vampires. The film was directed by Tomas Alfredson and was produced by Carl Molinder and John Nordling. The film stars Kare Hedebrant (Oskar) Lina Leandersson (Eli) and Per Ragnar (Eli's father) and the film was distributed by Sandrew Metronome.

The film Let The Right One In begins with the main character Oskar, hes a young Swedish boy being bullied at school, however he leads a reasonably normal life. Until one night when hes outside stabbing a tree, imagining he's avenging his bullies, when a girl of his age appears behind him, Eli. Although she tells Oskar they cannot be friends, they eventually form a close bond and become good friends.
As the film advances and the friendship grows, it becomes apparent that Eli is not a normal girl however. She doesnt attend school and only appears in the evenings, and she is in fact a vampire. She lives with her father in the flat adjacent to Oskar and then communicate via morse code.
Eli makes her father go out and kill, in order for her to drink the victims blood, however theres one incident when the father is disturbed and cannot successfully collect the blood, leading to Eli killing a drunken man and drinking his blood. At this point in the film the audience realises the Eli is a vampire and the the protagonist, Oskar could potentially be in danger.
The film in a sense follows Todorov's theory which is that in every film there this an equilibrium, which is then disrupted, there is then recognition of this disruption, an attempt to fix the problem and finally a new equilibrium. Let The Right One in follows this theory in my opinion because there is a clear equilibrium at the beginning of the film when everything is calm, where Oskar is going about his every day life as he normally would. Although he is not necessarily happy, there is nothing unusual about his life at the present time. However there is an event which alters this clam, which would be the introduction of Eli into his life. The initial introduction doesnt pose a problem, as if she was a normal girl, there would be no problem with them becoming friends. However the real problem comes from the discovery that Eli is actually a vampire and the danger that this puts the pair in. There is also a stage of recognition in the film where Oskar says "are you a vampire?" and Eli responds "would you like me anyway?" and they decide to "go steady" (become a couple).  At this point Oskar is aware that Eli is in fact a vampire but remains friends and tries to help her anyway.
There is also an attempt to fix the event in the film, and in this case it would be when Eli moves away, she knows she is in danger and needs to move away from the situation. There is a mini equilibrium here for a period of time after Eli leaves, however there is an event when Oskar is trapped in the swimming pool with his bullies and they try to make him hold his breath for 3 minutes. At this point there is a commotion above the water when you see the bullies head sink under water, followed by the arm that was holding Oskar under. There are 3 mutilated bodies when the camera shows whats going on above the water when Eli pulls Oskar out, with one more cowering bully sitting on a bench. The final equilibrium being when Oskar and Eli are on the train and Eli is in the box to keep her from the light, Oskar is sending her a message in Morse code. This is the final equilibrium in the movie therefore the film does follow Todorov's structure.
Although Eli is a character who kills and drinks the blood of reasonably innocent people, the audience will side with her and Oskar and automatically want to see them succeed. The end of the film will please them as they now know they are safe and they will be together. Even though you could argue what Eli does is evil, she is still and important character and on who is liked by the audience due to her positive involvement with Oskar.
The film is clearly of the horror genre and this is shown mainly by Eli murdering and sucking the blood from people. This is often quite graphic and gory, however not gory enough to be described as a slasher film. Its not only the way that Eli kills people that makes Let The Right One In a horror film however. There are also the classic horror techniques such as quick clips and shock tactics such as when Eli jumps off the bridge onto the drunken man, the audience wouldnt be expecting this, therefore it would suprise and scare them.
In the sense of the type of horror film this is, vampire, it very much goes against the normal genre. One way it does this is that when you normally think of a vampire, you would think of a tall dark haired male with a cloak and fangs. However in this film the actual vampire is a 12 year old girl, and doesnt actually look evil in the slightest. So in this sense, the film goes against social convention. The film doesnt really fit in  with the current films of its time because in 2008 the main theme for horror films were gore films such as SAW or documentary style films such as PARANORMAL ACTIVITY or THE BLARE WITCH PROJECT, and it would be difficult to argue that the fil has moved the horror genre forward as there have been no notable similar vampire films since Let The Right One In was made. It is still a brilliant and very important film however.
The characters in the film dont entirely agree with Vladamir Propp's theory however, as he said there will always be the; villian(s), the hero, the donor, the helper who aids the hero, the princess, her father- who rewards the hero, the dispatcher and the false hero. In this film however it is difficult to identify many of these characters. There are the clear villians, the bullies, however to call Oskar a hero would be a bit over exaggerated in my opinion, I think if there was a hero it would be Eli and Oskar would be her helper. Other than those characters however, its difficult to establish any other certain roles.
There is clear binary opposition in the film, however this seems to be quite reversed. The audience would normally assume the killer in the horror movie would be the evil side. However in this film its the opposite, Eli, who is actually the killer, is seen as a protagonist in the film and that she is on the 'good' side, and those who are trying to stop her are the 'evil' side. So this is binary opposition as there are two clear sides in the movie however the good and evil are actually twisted.
In conclusion, Let The Right One In is a fantastic horror film which includes many elements to analyse. Its been voted as one of the films of the decade, mainly because how it is differentiated from other standard horror. At the time it was very different from the current theme in horror and this is the reason the film stood out so well from other films at the time.

Kieran Browne

Mama trailer analysis

Here is a link to the 'Mama' horror trailer- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2nwknMmvdc

There is a clear indication that the film is of the horror genre at the beginning of the trailer, due to the nervous feeling when the man walks into the apparently abandoned house. His facial expression suggests fear and therefore there will be something scary in the house. Confirmed by the appearance of the ferel looking children, who themselves look very scary and actually quite powerful due to the way they are above the man looking down on him. The shots at the beginning of the trailer are all slow and dissolve into one another, this is a classic horror technique used by many producers to lure the viewer into the trailer and to gradually build the intensity of the trailer. 

The trailer explains how the two girls had been found and had no parents for five years. This instantly makes the viewer side with the children and sympathize for them. The adults in the trailer are trying to care for and get the children back to having a normal life however there is a common theme that they are being haunted my something called "Mama". The repetition of the word Mama itself is quite important in the trailer as it shows there is a connection between the children and the thing thats haunting the "family", which eventually turns out to be the mother of the children in the trailer.   

The speed of the trailer gradually increases along with the intensity and how scary it becomes. As "Mama" becomes more haunting and scary they trailer quickens. Another important element of the trailer is the music which accompanies it, at the beginning of the trailer, the music is quieter and slower however as the intensity increases, the speed of the music increases and becomes more apparent and loud, this is to build the atmosphere in the trailer and indicates important parts of it. For example when the music builds up at 2.01 and climaxes at 2.05, then suddenly stops, it makes that moment very sinister and frightening. It also allows for the dialogue "Mama stop you promised" which asks questions in the readers mind, such as; What is Mama doing? Why is she doing it? who to? and it suggests she has done this before. Which adds to the horrorific feeling of the overall trailer. This is followed by a quick shot of a scared man with some sort of demonic figure leaning over him, which is very scary for the audience. 

Throughout the trailer there is little information given to the audience about Mama, there are however clues about her existance like how the girls draw pictures of the wall, some of which are quite disturbing and it looks like a man being possessed in the way he is bent over backwards. There are also clips in the trailer showing this, like the woman in the kitchen and a figure of a man under the bridge. This is scary as it shows that Mama puts others in danger and people are made vunerable because of her presence. 

There is a voiceover in the trailer which tells the viewer some information, like how the girls were in the wilderness alone for 5 years and there are also short title sequences giving information about the film. These are quite scary as they are made to look like a blank wall with a growing black substance attached to it, they are very dark and look quite sadistic, meaning even when there is a break in the clips of the trailer, the horror element is still present which is important. 

Finally, one important part of the trailer is the actual name of the film "MAMA", which is shown right at the end of the film, this is another typical horror technique used by horror producers to leave the audience with the name of the film stuck in their head. The name of the film is followed by the words "A MOTHERS LOVE IS FOREVER" which is very scary as it suggests Mama will haunt whoever is with her daughters forever and there is no escape from here. 

Overall the trailer is very effective as it leaves the audience with questions in there mind, the main one being, will the family be able to escape MAMA and how will they do it? The speed and intensity of the trailer is very important as it raises the horror elements and makes the overall trailer very shocking and scary.

Kieran Browne