A2 Media Horror Campaign: 2015

Wednesday, 16 December 2015

My individual trailer rough cut

Monday, 30 November 2015

Location recce and risk assessment

Friday, 23 October 2015

The media production that I am going to write about is the theatrical horror trailer ‘Carrie’. The genre of the trailer is horror which has been established using Graeme Burton’s theory. His theory states films from a particular genre will contain all the recognisable key conventions that have been continuously repeated to create a formula for the particular genre. In the trailer ‘Carrie’ recognisable elements such as the protagonists, stock characters, stock situations, icons, background, and themes have all been used to establish that the genre of the trailer is a horror. Although it is a horror trailer, it falls under one of the 9 subgenres of horror which each have different conventions which differentiate them from one another- in this case the sub-genre is supernatural/psychological horror. In this trailer stock situations such as religious prayer, levitation and possession are all seen in this trailer; for example an extreme close up of Carrie’s mother’s feet is framed which shows that she is levitating. These are all key elements seen in most supernatural horrors and will therefore establish the genre of the film to its target audience. Body transformation, in this case puberty is also seen which will appeal to a teenage audience and also establish the genre of the film. The stock characters include the jocks, teenage girls who are more superficial than Carrie and engage in sexual activity and drugs, for example Sue Snell and her boyfriend are shot kissing in the trailer which already identifies her stock character as one of the girls who engages in sexual activity and is therefore going to be punished; these are all conventions which will make the genre of the trailer immediately recognisable as a supernatural horror. However this trailer also subverts the conventional elements of a classic supernatural horror trailer. According to Christian Metz, film genres go through different stages and develop through time; the experimental stage, where conventions are first introduced to an audience before they have been fully established, the classic stage where the conventions have been repeated various times and has now been made into a formula that is recognisable to the audience, the revisionist stage where some of the conventions of the genre are challenged and finally the parody stage and finally the post-modern stage where the genre is used in a parodic fashion. In this trailer classical elements have been used such as the final girl, however the classical attributes have been revised, for example, conventionally the final girl is a girl with masculine qualities who does not partake in sexual activities or drugs. In this trailer however, the final girl is very feminine, this can be interpreted through her appearance, she has long blonde hair and blue eyes; as well as this she has a boyfriend and takes part in sexual activity, she also becomes pregnant. This completely subverts the classic features of a final girl and could be conveying a social message which is empowering females and subverting Laura Mulvey’s theory that women in film are only defined as man or ‘not man’. In addition the protagonist is a young teenage girl who is around the age of puberty, she is isolated and different from the other girls in the sense that she does not go to party, have sex or take drugs; this is usually the attributes of the final girl but in this case, the young girl becomes to the threat which takes a revisionist approach to supernatural horrors. According to Metz, genres have to go through these different stages in order for the audience to stay entertained and not get bored, this links with Steve Neal’s theory that pleasure is derived from repetition and difference, he argues that there would be no pleasure without difference which makes revisionists elements essential in the making of an exciting horror trailer. This trailer also follows classical conventions of the role of a female in supernatural films, Carrie is a young woman who possess telekinetic powers; this theme of possession links to puberty and has sexual connotations suggesting that teenage girls having sex is wrong.

Question 1B: Narrative

Narrative refers to the way the story is told in the film using different devices. Todorov came up with a narrative theory; he states that every trailer is made up of an equilibrium which is the state of normality, dis-equilibrium which is when normality has been disrupted, and the resolution when the state of normality is re-introduced, which suggests that the narrative to all horror films is going to be told in a similar way.This is clearly demonstrated in my chosen trailer; at the beginning of the trailer, an establishing shot of a normal looking house is framed which reflects the normal everyday lives of the average person. The equilibrium is further established in a wide angle shot of a normal school and a two person shot of Carrie and her mum which suggests that they have a normal mother-daughter relationship. Later in the trailer, the disequilibrium is introduced, this is shown through quick cuts between Carrie and the door she is locked behind, a close up shot of the door is framed and a crack appears in the door which is when Carries telekinetic powers are introduced and the state of normality is disrupted. In the trailer, we do not see the resolution as the viewers will be persuaded to watch the movie as they will be intrigued to see how the story plays out.

Horror genre research

Film crits

Thursday, 22 October 2015

Trailers

What is a trailer?

Giving advance publicity to a (film, broadcast or proposal) by releasing extracts or selected details. Originally, trailers were shown at the end of a feature film screening however this didn’t last long as the audience often left as soon as the film ended therefore trailers are now shown at the beginning of feature film screenings/DVD’s or they are released separately online. They show exciting elements of the film however they do not give too much away or show the ending to avoid ruining the overall plot. Most trailers tend to be less than 2 minutes and 30 seconds (maximum time allowed by the MPAA), this is just enough time to show the audience a brief summary of the film and capture their attention. Most trailers are made up of a three part structure:
Part 1: A beginning that introduces the story-line to the audience
Part 2: Drives the story further and usually ends with a climax
Part 3: Is usually a visual montage of powerful and emotional moments from the film often featuring a strong, recognisable piece of music and key actors and actresses.
A voice over will often be used to give a brief, necessary explanation to what is happening.

What is the purpose of a film trailer?
The overall purpose of a film trailer is to make the audience want to watch the film, which is why trailers feature the most exciting points of the film without giving too much away. Trailers also make it obvious who the target audience is (e.g. sci fi fans, rom com fans etc.) and is tailored to capture their target audience’s attention.

Codes and conventions of a film trailer:
1. Within the first part of the trailer, the film production company’s logo will be shown. The production company’s reputation can benefit the film trailer, for example if people have seen and enjoyed a Warner Bros Picture’s film then they may see the logo on a new trailer and decide to watch it because they enjoyed the last film they created. It also gives the audience an idea of the type of film being produced, for example if the film is produced by Warner Bros, the audience will expect a family friendly, superhero related film.
2. The title of the film is in every trailer so you know which film it is that you want to watch. It usually placed at the end of the trailer so that the audience will remember the name. The font, colouring and the background of the title is usually bold and recognizable and has synergy with the posters and magazine cover of the film. The title is also a clue to the genre of the film; for example horror films such as The Ring will usually look more dark and gothic because of their use of black, grey and white and ominous font whereas comedy films such as Kick Ass will usually have a bright background and bubbly font.
3. Any film released in the UK is awarded an age certification by the BBFC (British Board of Film Classification). The age rating is shown at the end of the trailer and provides a guideline for the target audience of the film and also the suitability for certain ages. For example if the film is rated ‘U’ it suggests that the film is family friendly and suitable for people of all ages. If the film is rated ‘18’ it suggests that the film has content such high levels of violence, scenes of a sexual nature and bad language. This means that the film will not be suitable for a younger audience and they will not allowed to watch the film in a cinema or buy the film over the counter without ID.
4. An important convention films is character introduction, it is important that the main characters are highlighted in the trailer in order to appeal to the target audience. For example if the main protagonist is a young teenage girl, the target audience will be young teenage girls as they will be able to relate to the main character.
5. Finally, one of the most important features of a trailer is the music and sound effects, they establish the genre, add drama and control the pace of the film, sound counts for 50% of the effect that horror films have on the audience. Sounds and music can include diegetic and non-diegetic sound and music as well as dialogue and external voice overs.

With the research I have done about trailers and their conventions, I can now include this information in the making of my own trailer and create a trailer that will appeal to my target audience and include all the conventions such as fonts and sounds of my chosen genre.

Timeline of a horror trailer

Here I have researched the structure of a horror trailer by analysing what is shown at different points of the trailer. Using this research will give me knowledge on how to structure my trailer in a way that will attract the audience.