Conventions of a horror

Trailer
Characters:

The characters included in the trailer are the most significant and represent the stereotypical struggle of good against evil. The murderer is portrayed as the evil killer whereas the victims are normal/innocent people who are good. Conventionally, a woman is the victim as they are stereotyped as the weaker sex, but in my horror trailer, the main character/victim is male. Stereotypically, men don't scare as easy as women so i challenged these conventions by having a man who can get scared.
Mise-en-scene and props:
Mise-en-scene is French for "placing on stage"; it is what is included in the scene visually. Mise-en-scene has to fit in with the genre. For example, cartoon bunnies usually aren't in horror genres. However, some makers risk this and make it scary. Such as, clowns are inverted from happiness to scariness. Also, in the film 'Insidious' there is 'happy' music played when there is a spirit, there are melodic undertones to make it seem creepy. Blood is commonly used in horror films to display the violent and/or gory element to the film. Dark and isolated locations are also common, and irregular, dull lighting defines the use of shadows and gives a mysterious tone.
Narrative:
Narrative is essential in any film. Film makers and producers worry and are criticised for having the same storyline and plot over and over again. Script writers are increasingly finding it difficult to come up with a new, exciting and unique story. Most horrors involve a killing or torture from the villain, and a victim (usually a damsel in distress). However, these roles are opposed in my film because I want certain aspects to challenge conventions.
Sound:
Diegetic sounds are used to present realism, which makes tensions rise. For example, in paranormal Activity, doors bang and people scream. There is hardly, if any, diegetic music/sound in this film. This makes it very authentic and gives the impression that the story is true.

 

Poster:

Conventionally, many horror film posters have a dark background to represent unhappiness and evil. Red writing is sometimes used to stand out and to represent danger and blood. They also use the main characters or even one person in the poster.

The idea for my poster will be the title of the film at the top in symbolic and interesting font. Underneath, will be the main character looking horrified in the foreground to the left, in the right background will be a dark figure. This challenges conventions because normally, victims are small in size to represent their vulnerability. I used the villain as the smaller character so you don’t see their face so it’s mysterious. The poster will be horizontal like most posters.

Webpage:
The webpage of a horror film follow the colour schemes etc as the poster. It is a vertical and interactive option for the viewer, and lets them see a further insight into the film. Like the poster, a dark background is crucial to determine the mood of the page.It uses the same picture as the poster, with the same fonts as the title. It includes extra information such as reviews, release dates, filming facts and behind-the-scene pictures.
Here is a recent example of a film website in the horror genre:
http://discoverthecabininthewoods.com/

This video is proof of my research. I found this very helpful as he talks about the most obvious and used conventions of a horror genre. A typical convention is the use of a weapon that the villain/antagonist uses. I may want to avoid this convention so that the villain seems more mentally powerful.

Questionnaire

In order to define my target audience, I have made an online questionnaire using Google Documents. To help me with quatitive and qualitive data, I used this website http://www.asiamarketresearch.com/columns/market5.htm. My questionnaire successfully contains qualitative data (open questions) and quantitative (closed questions).
I may also post the questionnaire on a social networking site such as Facebook so it gathers more views and data.
Please complete my questionnaire!

Horror title ideas

Here are some ideas that I have put forward for a title:

- See no evil (cannot use this as it is already a film! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0437179/)

- Watch your back

- Who's behind you?

- Your time is up

- The trial

- Unseen

- The watching
- Perdition

I have also taken a look at this article from http://thewritingplace.wordpress.com/2009/05/12/how-to-choose-a-good-title-for-your-story/ on advice on how to choose a good title, as seen below:

By looking at this article, I am going to be conventional and choose a title containing 3 words. I have come up with... 'Son of Perdition'. Perdition means a state of eternal punishment and damnation into which a sinful and unpenitent person passes after death. 'Unpenitent' means having no remorse, so to relate to my trailer, when the boy looses his dog he's not all that bothered (which isn't really realistic?!). Son of perdition is a phrase that appears in the New Testament in the Gospel of John 17:12 and in the Second Epistle to the Thessalonians 2:3. In addition to the Christian faith, my main character has a tattoo of a cross on his arm.

Initial Ideas

The Trailer
I have been looking at a few trailers to get inspiration, and I have decided that I would like to make a horror teaser trailer, just like The Woman in Black:

Unfortunately, Daniel Radcliffe won't be starring in my film.












The Website
Similar layouts that could be used:
http://practicalmagic.warnerbros.com/
http://www.saw6movie.co.uk/
http://harrypotter.warnerbros.com/harrypotterandthedeathlyhallows/mainsite/index.html

The Poster
"Today's posters often feature photographs of the main actors. Prior to the 1990s, illustrations instead of photos were far more common. The text on movie posters usually contains the film title in large lettering and often the names of the main actors. It may also include a tag line, the name of the director, names of characters, the release date, etc."  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Film_poster
60 extremely creative movie posters- http://www.1stwebdesigner.com/inspiration/extremely-creative-movie-posters/
Material and sizes of the poster on a billboard - http://www.dimensionsguide.com/billboard-dimensions/

Target Audience
Like any other mainstream horror films, my target audience are both males and females between ages 15-30. The main character in my film is 18, which fits my target audience range; so many people may be able to relate to the character's personality.   UKtribes.com is a website that shows the stereotypes of teenagers.

How the products will relate/support each other
A trailer, website and poster are all visual; therefore they will include the same dark/dull colours to match the mood, and the same logo of the title of the film. The website will include the trailer and a spread-out version of the poster.

Potential routes for exhibition and distribution
Trailer: shown in cinema and television advertisements
Website: advertised on social networking sites, on the poster, radio, film magazines
Poster: presented on bus stops, buses, billboards, outside cinemas, newspapers, magazines, packaging, flyers

Skill-sets necessary for production including your own strengths and need for training
- Knowledge of location (woods, abandoned warehouse)
- Experience of filming and editing
- Knowledge of camera equipment and camera angles/shots

Time-management

Most mainstream trailers last approximately 2 minutes. The time making the trailer will depend on acting and camera performance. One night will not be enough to capture all shots needed for the trailer. An estimated 2-3 nights will cover all shots needed. Editing will be the most time-consuming and will take up to a week. 

History of the film trailer

Teaser trailer: A short trailer used to advertise an upcoming film.

Film trailers have become increasingly popular searches on online video sharing sites such as ‘Youtube’, and film companies are taking advantage of this by creating many trailers and other campaigns in an attempt to go viral.

The first promotional trailer was a promotional reel for a musical, produced by Nils Granlund. Granlund also created the first trailer for a film in 1914, which was produced for a Charlie Chaplin film.
Up until the late 1950’s film trailers were made by National Screen Service which was contracted by the film companies to create the trailers for upcoming films and the company lasted until the 80’s.
The early trailers consisted of short clips showing the key features of the film alongside narration, a big score soundtrack and screens with text and a cast run. An example of this type of trailer is the one for Casablanca.
Andrew J. Kuehn was a very influential trailer producer. He changed the way trailers were made in his 1964 trailer for ‘Night of the Iguana’ which is when he created the company Kaleidoscope Films.

Like films, trailers have a beginning, a problem, and then a solution. This shows the audience what the films are about, however it has been argued that this format reveals the whole story in the trailer. Some people suggest that all the best bits are put into the trailer to make the film appeal, but the rest of the feature leaves a lot to be desired. A recent example of this is in the trailer for the new romantic comedy film ‘Life As We Know It’. The format for my trailer will include an intro, a problem but then I will not show a solution as I don't want to give the plot away.

The Brief

From the 13 set briefs to chose from, I have chosen number 2 as I feel I've more experience with this than the others. The brief I have chosen is:
A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:
- A website homepage for the film;
- A film magazine front cover, featuring the film;
- A poster for the film.


The options I have chosen are highlighted.