Poster and Magazine Cover

Our Teaser Trailer

How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Youtube - researching existing teaser trailers, looking at the different horror conventions used in each teaser we found. For example low lighting, fast paced music, all the conventions that we needed to include in our own horror trailer.
Freesound.org - slow and fast paced music used in our trailer.
Freeplaymusic.com - for music and sounds in trailer
Garageband - making the hissing sound for the ending of our trailer.
Photoshop - making poster and magazine cover, using many different effects Photoshop has to offer to create a horrific effect.
Blogger - for blogging our work, much more convenient than the traditional pen to paper essay, easy to add extra text where needed.
Tripod - for a steady camera.
Video camera - for filming.
Digital camera - taking still photographs for poster and magazine cover.
Final cut - for putting our trailer together, adding music and various effects.
Mac - we wouldn't have got far without it


Final Cut Pro was very complicated when we first used it. It took a few times of use and being taught different techniques to get the hang of the different things you can do. I did quite enjoy using it after a while, it was very easy to change the clips to add different effects that we wanted, for example fades and making daylight clips look like night time for an eerie feel.
Finding a good soundtrack for our trailer was quite difficult, we had to look through many different ones before we found what we wanted. We needed a slow yet eerie track in the beginning, yet a face paced, still scary, track for the fast cuts towards the end.

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

When people in the age group of 15-25 (the target audience for the movie) were interviewed and asked what they thought of our horror trailer, these were the responses:

Good points:
The beginning scene in the toilets were age appropriate, setting the scene in college toilets made it seem very ordinary and everyday, as if nothing could go wrong. Our inter-titles grabbed the viewers' attention and looked professional. Good soundtrack it was quiet and calm in the beginning when nothing bad was happening, but when the action kicked in the music became faster paced and tense. The shot of Bloody Mary coming down the stairs at the end reminded someone of a scene from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, which they thought worked well. How Bloody Mary dissapeared in the scene with the swinging light worked well because it was quite scary and well edited. Close ups of the taps with blood on them and how all the taps were turned on at once. Turning a normal college environment into a horrific scene.

Bad Points:
In the beginning when the two girls are standing at the mirror, when the friend says "see I told you nothing would happen" it is quite difficult to hear because the audio is quite bad quality. The music also fades too quickly at the end, should carry on until the hissing sound of Bloody Mary has ended. The shot of the two girls running seems quite bad quality, as if it is too bright and should be darker to appear more horrific. Cuts should also be faster paced to the music, the music is quite fast but there is not enough action to match it. The outside shots don't fit in very well with the storyline. The action should continue to be shot inside because that was where they were in the beginning, instead of confusing the audience, wondering why they outside and what has happened.

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

Our trailer and my magazine cover and poster do work together as part of an advertising campaign. Stills from our trailer reflect the types of images in the magazine cover and the poster. The photograph used for the magazine cover is an image from a scene in our trailer anyway, to give the audience a taste for the movie.
The usual horror conventions are in both our trailer and ancilliary texts. Very low lit lighting to connote the fear of the unknown, we can't see what is lurking in the darkness, the villain could appear at any second or already be there watching the victims.
Typical mise en scene of horror, ordinary school/college location in the beginning so that the audience feels a sense of ease because nothing bad should happen in such a normal area. In our trailer, saying Bloody Mary three times doesn't appear to work and the friends walk off. Just because it is a horror movie, the audience can tell something bad is going to happen. The friend saying "see I told you nothing would happen" appears to be famous last words, because after these words are spoken, bad things start to happen. It seems like the worst things are happening to the friend that said nothing was going to happen, she gets possessed and becomes the evil Bloody Mary who tries to kill her best friend and various others.
Obviously for my magazine cover the main feature is Bloody Mary which is the biggest anticipated movie. The photograph used for the cover doesn't look as scary as the photo for my poster, however because it is so dark and the villain is only a dark figure at the top of the stairs it appears to be quite terrifying. The fact that Bloody Mary is positioned at the top of the stairs makes her look in charge and evil, making the audience, who is placed in the eyes of the victim, feeling small and helpless.

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Dawn of the dead screenshot uses a shaky cam to make it look like we are running after or with them. The quality is blurry and slightly distorted making us feel uneasy.
Friday the 13th screenshot showing a close up of the lights turning off, similar to the close up of the lights in our trailer which show them turning on.
Another screenshot from Friday the 13th, a close up of the 'monster's feet walking to his victim. Similar to the shot we used but it is of the victim running away from Bloody Mary.
Texas Chainsaw Massacre low angled shot of the villian throwing someone down the stairs, similar to our low angled shot also of the villian in our trailer.
Mirrors screenshot similar to ours because they are both showing the changes in the victim that can only be seen in the mirror, not in real life.
Another screenshot from Friday the 13th showing a close up of the victim hiding from the villain, both dark with only a bit of natural light so we can see the fear on their face. This also makes us identify with the victim and feel scared for them but also like we are hiding with them because the camera is on their level. The other screenshot below it shows a super close up of one facial feature, ours showing the victim in their normal everyday life, the Friday 13th screenshot showing when the villian attacks and the fear begins.
My Bloody Valentine screenshot showing the silhouette of the villian about to attack. In our trailer it looks as if we are looking from the point of view of the victim who has been injured and is about to be attacked by Bloody Mary. My Bloody Valentine screenshot is more clear about what is about to happen because we can see the villian and the victim in the shot.
In all of the horror screenshots, from out trailer and real movie trailers, the typical horror conventions are in place. Mise en scene is low lit when the villain is about to attack the victim, making the audience scared because we are unable to see where the villain is coming from. The still from our trailer against the still from Dawn of the Dead shows the monster running after the victims, or the camera in the view of another victim running away with them. The scene is distorted and the camera is shaky, making the audience uncomfortable and either scared for the victims because the monster is right behind them, or scared because we are also running from the villain.
In our teaser trailer we decided to reveal the villain, but our villain (Bloody Mary) appeared to be the main protagonist's friend, possibly possessed by Bloody Mary in some scenes. Originally we just had the same actor playing the friend and Bloody Mary because we wanted the audience to wonder why the same person was the friend and the villain, was it because she was possessed by Bloody Mary? Eventually we thought it became unclear when we saw the final trailer ourselves and it just looked like we couldn't find anybody else other than the friend character to play Bloody Mary. During our class viewing of our trailer, someone commented on how they thought it was interesting that Bloody Mary was also played by the friend, as if she had been possessed, which was exactly what we wanted.
The music we used kept up with the pace of the action in our trailer, for example the music sped up and got louder towards the end when there were quicker cuts of action happening. The intertitles flashed up more often towards the end as well when Bloody Mary was seen, making sure that the audience was still engaged with what was going on in the trailer, but also being more aware of the Bloody Mary legend.

Storyboards

Mercy is having bad luck, very strange bad luck...
She crosses the road and a car suddenly appears, screeching to a halt just before hitting her. The face of the driver is rotting, yellow eyes glowing and mouth smiling.
Mercy is convinced there is someone after her so decides to tell her mother everything, including the yellow eyed monsters she sees everytime she is nearly killed. It sounds crazy but she is scared for her safety. Her mother thinks she is insane, since when do demons exist?
She makes an appointment for Mercy to see a shrink. Mercy goes along with it even though she knows she isn't crazy.
Shrink gets possessed by a demon, attacks Mercy. She fights back to defend herself and ends up knocking him unconcious by accident. Incredible strength overcame her. Police are called, Mercy taken away to insane asylum.
While Mercy is in the asylum she is attacked by a demon who ends up stabbing her. (demons wanted Mercy in the asylum so no one could protect her, afterall she is a mental patient, who is going to believe a demon is trying to kill her?)
Mercy doesn't know it yet but angels are protecting her and have stopped her from dying when the demons tried to kill her. However they needed her to die to get her out of the asylum. A funeral is held for Mercy but her mother is told by the angels that she will will come back to life.
Mercy and her mum drive out of town, (other people are unaware Mercy is alive), to start a new life. A gang have found out about Mercy's abilities.
Mercy has a fight ahead of her as the Demons and a gang are out to kill her...

POSTERS

- The appeal of the film used as the main image, this could be the stars, genre or a tagline.

- Months before the release of a film there will be a teaser poster to announce the arrival of a film.

- Banners, window clings and mini posters are also provided to advertise a movie in cinemas.

TRAILERS

- Teaser trailers are shown a long time before a film is released, these are about 30-90 seconds long.

- Full trailers are shown shortly before the film release which shows a lot more of the film to make the audience want to see more.

- Exhibitors select trailers which are similar to the film that is about to be shown, to be played before it starts.

- Some trailers are shown at the beginning of DVD's that relate to the movie.

- Trailers are also seen online on official movie websites or youtube.

ONLINE

- The internet is the perfect place to advertise new releases, some films have thier own official website which features trailers, behind the scenes footage etc.

- Teaser images of films may be released which captures the audiences interest.

SCREENINGS/PREVIEW SCREENINGS

- Screenings are held for critics to write reviews on a movie before it is open to the public.

- For example the movie Paranormal Activity is shown as the scariest movie of all time because the audience reaction is filmed during a screening of the movie.

MERCHANDISING

- Clothing, soundtracks, games, books, calenders, screen savers, ringtones etc are created as a way to promote a movie.

FESTIVALS

- Distributors may meet with agents, producers, studios when looking to get a product.

- Films can be shown before release on a platform.

A small staff with specialist roles are supervised by a film distributor's managing director, these are:

- Marketing - expected to justify their ideas to other collegues.

- Publicity - this person should be able to remain calm even under pressure so experience as a journalist or press officer is handy.

- Sales - have the ability to get on with a variety of customers and good negotiation skills.

- Technical - have knowledge of digital formats, 3D and IMAX presentation. Films have to be presented to the public in the best quality possible.

- Acquisitions and legal

- Finance and accounting

- Administration - paying suppliers, ordering and checking film prints, trailers and posters and be able to have materials delivered at the right place at the right time.

My mood board shows my idea for a supernatural type horror. Some of the characters have strange coloured eyes such as white and yellow, which is supposed to be the colour of a demon's eyes.

I have also put an image of a ghost in there just to show that the supernatural theme doesn't just revolve around demons, but also ghosts and other things that don't exist in real life.

Here are also our storyboards, where we began to try to work out how these visual ideas from my moodboard and the others could go into our trailer.

When asked 'what appeals you to a horror film?' most people answered storyline. This means that it will be important to us to create a horror movie with a storyline that is going to hook viewers in rather than just concentrating on the gore and effects used.

Not many horror movies are watched by people per month, it could be because horror is becoming quite predictable or they are too focused on gore rather than having a good storyline.

The settings of many horror movies are small communities that look ordinary but that are hiding secrets. Other times there is one house that is isolated from civilisation, an old abandoned house which a family moves into and experiences paranormal activity.
In some movies a small community of houses are built on an ancient Indian burial ground.
Most of the houses are large with lots of different levels such as an attic and a basement for secrets and something horrific to be hiding. Houses with lots of rooms and large areas are used so that there are many places for the victims to run and hide from whatever it is that is after them.
For psychological horror movies it is based around religion, heaven vs. hell (angels and demons) located around a church or also in hospitals where people have died and their spirit wanders the earth.
The camerawork is very expressive as strange angles are used to make the audience feel uncomfortable while watching. There are many point of view shots used to let us feel like we are identifying with the victim and we feel the fear that they do, as if the audience and the victim are in the same situation. However when the point of view shot is from the monster, going after the victim this puts us in an uncomfortable situation where we are made to feel tense and wanting the victim to get to safety or are stalking the victim, especially when we are watching them from behind and they are unaware. Or it makes a normal everyday scene feel very eerie and tense because we are then made aware that there is actually something watching the victim.
Extreme close ups are also used so the audience can identify with the fear that the victim is feeling, also we then cannot see where the threat is because it is out of the frame making it more terrifying since their location is then unknown. ECU’s of the monster initiate terror because it is an invasion of personal space but also a shot of the weapon that they are holding adds to the terror because there is an extra danger involved.
Jumpy editing from long shots to close ups are unsettling as the audience thinks that something is about to happen even if there may not be any sign of threat at that time.
The lighting used for horror movies are not usually natural, lighting from below to make things appear more terrifying than they may be in normal daylight. Light which shines from the bottom may be signifying hell or fire which is mainly used to show the bad character in a film. For example in the trailer for The Haunting In Connecticut when the spirit is about to attack the person’s face is lit up by candlelight so that we can see the “monster’s” shadows more clearly, even though in real life when we are sleeping there is usually no light at all.
Most of the props in the scene are something religious such as crucifixes, or bladed weapons, blood, masks, signs of supernatural behaviour such as moving objects.
In a typical supernatural horror a family with children move into a house with a bad past that is not known to the family when they move in. Strange things happen but they start off small at first so some go unnoticed by all of the family apart from one member who is seen as crazy if they try to communicate what they have experienced to the other family members. Eventually something dramatic happens which catches the family’s attention and they realise there is something supernatural happening. By this time it has usually gotten out of hand and a family member, usually the teenage son/daughter, is near death. Religion is usually involved, symbols, crucifixes are in the scene and a priest may be involved to perform an exorcism even though doing this rarely solves the problem. (‘The Exorcism of Emily Rose’)
In gorier horrors like the ‘slasher’ movies there is quite a different storyline. Most of the time the main characters live in a normal village, usually a small hamlet or housing estate in which everything seems perfect, everybody seems to know each other and is the desired place to live. However there is always a hidden past or secret which is waiting to appear. There may be one person who lives there that nobody knows and is never seen who usually turns out to be the villain. The houses are quite large so that when the villain attacks there are lots of places for the victim to run and hide. The villain usually carries a weapon of some sort such as an axe, a knife or uses anything they can find in the home of the victim at the time of attack. Usually people who are sexually active in the movie are the ones who are killed, as if there is some kind of religious message ‘no sex before marriage’ because the virgin is the one that usually lives and becomes the ‘final girl’ like in ‘Halloween’. Most of the time something bad has happened to the killer in their childhood which makes them become psychotic, ‘the return of the repressed’. Bad memories that they have tried to forget about (repress) have returned because something has recently happened which sparks off this memory and they seek revenge.
There are always similar character types in every horror movie: the main protagonist who is usually the victim in the beginning becomes a hero towards the end of the movie. In ‘Halloween’ there is the final girl who is the only one out of her friends who survives. Typically she is the virginal, boyish one who is never looked at in a sexual way, whereas her friends were all seen having sex so they were punished for this. However in ‘The final destination’ the hero and the main character is a teenage boy who saves the day by warning everybody about what is going to happen because he can see the future. The twist to that movie is that they cannot get away from cheating death and all die in the end anyway, so no one was the hero after all. This is quite a rare example of horror movie because in most others there is a ‘happy ending’ where everything becomes resolved and the main character survives. The police never seem to be able to do their job properly because they are slow at acting if something happens. ‘Disturbia’, even though it is a thriller not so much a horror, it is a perfect example of when policemen make a scene so tense just because they can’t be bothered to do their job. A policeman is sitting in his car eating a burger when he is called out to take care of a 911 call. However he doesn’t think it is important and takes a lot longer to get to the scene than he should have. By this time the murderer is going after the main character to kill him. The audience is left shouting at the screen about how stupid this policeman is, especially since in this example he gets murdered by the villain.

PARANORMAL ACTIVITY

- To prove how scary it is they film the audiences reaction to the movie when a screening is held.

- There is information at the bottom of the screen which tells us why they are showing the audience and also states the name of the movie. Because the actual movie itself doesn't look that scary in the teaser, the audience reaction enhances the fact that this is supposed to be one of teh scariest movies of all time.

- Very low lighting is used because they set up a camera to capture what is happening at night time so it is scarier when we see the supernatural happenings. Movie critics mention how the audience felt after the movie was over to make us want to watch the movie to find out what is so scary about it.

SAW IV

- We don't see any clear footage from the actual movie so it is still a mystery to us about what is actually in the movie. Since there has been 5 other saw movies, a short teaser trailer works because we already know what the movie is about but there are just different 'lessons' that are learnt.

- The thumping music starts just before we see any footage of the trailer which already makes us fear what we are going to see because the music itself is quite horrific. The sounds of people from the movie panicking, screaming and shouting almost get drowned out by the music. The sounds of people are heard between the inter-titles as the camera moves through different rooms.

- The inter-titles are very short and simple to create impact, so there is not much for us to read and we still get what they mean. It's as if the trailer is saying "you've seen the others, you know what this is about."

THE FOURTH KIND

- It is unusual that actress Milla Jovovich tells the viewer who she is and the character she will be playing. She also warns the veiwer that what we are about to see is extremely disturbing making us already feel uneasy.

- Inter-titles telling us that this movie is based on actual case studies is quite disturbing because we can't tell ourselves that it is only a movie, because people have actually experienced what is shown in the movie.

- The music is quite quiet behind the voices of the actors but gets louder as we see the inter-titles and leading up to the scarier parts of the trailer.

Propp's character roles:
Villian - Jack Torrence + Delbert Grady
Donor - Dick Hallorann
Helper - Tony and Dick Hallorann
Princess/sought for person - Danny Torrence
Princess's Father - (Mother) Wendy Torrence
Dispatcher - Stuart Ullman
Hero/Victim - Danny and Wendy Torrence
False Hero - Jack Torrence

Preparation
Jack leaves home for interview at Overlook Hotel.
The cook (Dick Hallorann) tells Danny not to go in room 237.

Complication
Jack fails at writing his book, becomes lonely and starts to go crazy.


Transference
Wendy thinks Jack has hurt Danny after he came out of room 237.

Struggle
Wendy hits Jack with a bat to defend herself otherwise he will kill her.

Return
Wendy and Danny use the snow vehicle as an escape after getting away from Jack.

Recognition
After Wendy and Danny escape Jack is left to freeze to death in the maze.

If something traumatic happens to somebody, it is so horrible that they try to push it to the back of their minds as a way to forget it. They make think that this painful experience in their lives has been forgotten forever, but the subconcious will never forget. For example, someone who has been abused in the past may try and forget this has happened and move on with their lives.
However, something will eventually happen that will trigger of this memory. For example, if someone who has been abused in the past encounters a similiar situation, memories of the first time they were abused will come flooding back. As well as the painful experience of the abuse they have just encountered, they have to deal with the memories also.
This can lead to self destructive and anti social behaviour because all the feelings have been repressed over a long period of time. The person doesn't know how to deal with these feelings that they have been trying to ignore, which can also lead to depression.

This interests me because:

- fast paced in parts of trailer, imitates beating of the heart because it is so scary.

- low lighting effects, mysterious, something horrible is going to happen.

- voice over of narrator and characters explain story more, creating tense atmosphere.
The genre of this movie is shown through the use of many different conventions:
-The lighting is very low to make the veiwer feel uneasy and be scared of what is lurking in the shadows.
-Short, quick paced clips of the villian with the weapon and victims screaming and running away. Music speeds up while this is happening.
-The name of this movie is shown once at the end of the trailer so that we are wondering what it is while we are watching it. It is unknown until the end.
-The names of the actors aren't shown because they are quite unknown and haven't appeared in high profile movies before. The name of the director is also unknown. You don't see much special effects being used, however in the actual movie there are a lot of special effects used to show gore.