Location scouting

Risk Assessment

There are obviously quite a few risks involved when it comes to filming so I am going to ensure that I stick to the risk assessment in order to keep myself safe as well as the actors involved in the production of my horror movie trailer. Not many of these risks apply to my filming but part of the trailer will be filmed in the forest so I have made sure that everyone participating in the trailer has each others number so we can contact each other in the case of an emergency. In a forest, we also had to be mindful of our surroundings as there are a few trip hazards, but we made sure that everyone was aware of their environment before filming.

Shooting Schedule

This is the basic plan I have made for when I want to get filming achieved and I have set numerous dates where I can film each scene, If there are any complications I may decide to change dates around, but having a plan will really benefit my final production as I will have a set idea as to how I can achieve my final goal.

Horror movie posters

In order to produce a horror movie poster I did some research as to what works the most effectively, gathering a selection of what I would like to replicate when it comes to my own. A common theme is the choice of colours used in each poster, with red, white, grey and black occurring in almost every poster I looked at. This really does summarize the general atmosphere of the film, with red giving the obvious connotation of blood and danger, the darker more faded colours emphasizing the bleak nature of the film. Using this in my own trailer will automatically adhere to the conventions of a horror film and when people look at the poster they will be able to tell what the genre is so that my target group will show an interest. 

When I get round to making the trailer I want to ensure that there isn't too much information on the front of it as this can make the poster too crowded and having the main object of focus in the very center of the poster is a simple yet effective choice.

Brief Order Of Scenes In The Trailer

• Production company logo is visible 
• Opening Shot: The forest setting is introduced for a couple of seconds to show how isolated the area is, this fades out after a couple of seconds. Dramatic Music will begin here, very quietly in the background.
• The second opening shot: We are now closer to where the trailer takes place, a wide angle shot of the school and some diegetic sounds of a school bell and students chattering, the dramatic music is still playing at this point.
• The main character is walking along a corridor clutching some books tightly, the music has stopped as we see some figures approaching behind her, shoving the books roughly from her hands and insulting her. At the start of this shot, the music has stopped playing and there is only diegetic sound.
• We watch the three bully typed characters walking off from a different angle, leaving the main character to collect her books from the ground. The scene fades out.
•  Some sponsors will appear on the screen, with the text that I have selected.
• A group of teenagers are gathered around a table, drinking and having a party, they notice that two of their friends are missing. 
• There is a scene where the main character is pouring gasoline over a field, and a brief filming of the fire that has been lit. Since this film is rated for an audience of 15, there will not be any direct violence it will just be hinted at. 
• We now see the main character speed walking through the forest, a knife glinting in her hand with blood rolling down the blade.

Twitter account

I have a social media site that I will be using to provide updates for my trailer, social media is one of the largest forms of distribution:
https://twitter.com/caligulasaquar4

Location, Props and Mise en Scene

Location
The narrative of my film follows a young teenager that is at high school, so location wise I will be using some shots from school corridors. One of the first scenes will take place in a school environment but for these sections of filming I will not need to use any props such as fake blood or weapons. This scene will be there to introduce the character's back story and give the audience an insight as to what she has to go through on a day to day basis. Lighting is a big problem that I had to consider when I was deciding on which locations to film as it is the winter season and any time after 4pm is too dark for my trailer. Thankfully the school has enough lighting in its new block to allow me to do my filming after school hours so I will be doing this then. For these scenes there won't be any props so I can film at any time without causing much of a disruption.

I will also be using scenes from the forest which location wise is perfect as the woods are very local to me, but lighting may be an issue as I want it to be light enough to portray daytime. If I film my trailer too late after school hours then it will almost be pitch black, which will not be what I had in mind, and too dark to be considered safe. The woods will be an ideal location for my trailer to be set as it follows the conventions of a typical psychological horror film, giving the audience the impression of solitude as woods are very isolated locations away from housing areas and technology.
One other issue with this particular location is that there are a lot of dog walkers that pass by quite frequently and I do not want to obstruct the path so I'm going to be filming this away from the main path, there are quite a few perfect areas for this where I won't cause confusion or upset anyone.

Part of the trailer will be filmed in my own house which really helps to create an equilibrium towards the start of the trailer as it shows what everyday is like without the disruption of what is to come later on in the trailer. For this location I don't need to ask for permission so it is easy for me to access with a minimal amount of hassle. There are also no timing limits on this part of the trailer because I can choose to film in this location at any time with lighting not being as big of a deal as where I am planning to film is away from windows, I can use artificial light.

Props
My horror trailer is based on a real life environment and what my main character will realistically be able to get hold of so there will not be any extreme props such as axes or chainsaws. Instead, I will be using props such as fake blood, knives and  a plastic gasoline container for the fire scene which will add a sense of realism as these are all common things found in everyday life. At first I was considering using items such as fake guns but not a lot of people have access to them and they are not something commonly used in horror trailers as they don't build up any fear in the same way that a knife or more sadistic weapon would. Plus, it is rare to find anyone who owns a gun in an English countryside setting unless they use it for hunting or sport.

Mise en Scene
When I was considering what the main character should wear in my trailer I used a few horror films as an influence. Orphan and Carrie are the closest horror films that came to mind when considering the costume of the cast so I decided that I would play on stereotypes and have a big divide in the school environment. Teenagers are often portrayed in stereotypical ways even if this may not stay true to their actual behaviour in society so I wanted the bully typed characters to wear a more casual equivalent of what a "Jock" would wear in a typical American high school. The arch rival of this popular stereotype is the "non conformist" who does not agree with the beliefs of the "Jock" and often wears a Gothic themed outfit, so I will be giving the main character a Gothic dress code such as:

• Creeper/Platform shoes
• Choker necklace
• A dark wig with a fringe
• Patterned tights

Storyboard

Survey Results

After gathering the results from my survey I found out a few key things that helped influence the direction of my movie trailer, one main factor being the audience of my questionnaire. All of the respondents were at a secondary school age so that is why I have chosen to base it upon that target group. Conventionally, horror films based on this age group feature a main protagonist that is relatively young as it is usually somebody they can relate to, so I have chosen to use a young female actress for my main role to suit this. Younger groups also seem to be drawn to blood and gore, so for my trailer there will be two scenes of death, a typical horror movie trailer will not reveal all the deaths that will happen in the movie as they need to leave enough for the viewer to be satisfied by, but to still be curious as to what happens in the film. 80% of the people who answered the survey said that they preferred when not a lot of the plot was revealed to them, this type of trailer proving to make the movie seem underwhelming. Horror films also tend to use lighting to create emotion which is something that the respondents of my survey valued as an important aspect of a trailer, this heavily influenced my decision making as it is something that viewers find important in order to create a successful horror movie trailer. Low key lighting completely changes the atmosphere of a trailer, it alerts the viewer of the genre and gives the impression that it is not going to be light hearted. The movie "Se7en" used a lot of low key lighting in the trailer which gave a very effective result, instantly setting the dismal mood of the thriller and helping the audience to identify the genre of the movie.

As for the setting of the trailer, 50% of respondents said that they would like it to be set in a domestic setting, with 25% saying that they would like it to be set in an isolated area. Luckily, living in the countryside allows me to infuse both of these ideas as I have access to woodland area but also residential areas that would bring in the domestic side of the results. A domestic setting is perfect for my trailer as it gives a touch of realism and makes it easy for me to display an equilibrium, a functioning society where everything is running smoothly and nothing is disrupting the peace of the setting. Domestic settings also work in the way that we can relate to them more, which is why a lot of modern horror films are set in a modern society as this is often the most unsettling for the viewer.
Due to this I have decided I will be filming my trailer around my housing area and parts of our local forest, they are easy for me to access and I can do part of the filming in the school as the storyline follows a teenage girl in secondary school.

Trailer Analysis

After reviewing each of the three trailers I have found lots of features that I want to replicate in my own trailer.  Se7en gave me an idea of the sort of lighting that I would like to replicate in my own trailer. The use of low-key lighting throughout the entire trailer set a dark tone to the film without even revealing a lot of the plot itself. In this trailer, they used a lot of dark blue/green tones which gave the audience a sense of foreshadowing, I feel like when it comes to my own trailer I will be able to use filters over the top of my filming so that it replicates the same kind of lighting in Se7ven, working to my advantage so that the people watching my trailer will automatically know what genre I am trying to convey, and to show that the equilibrium of the setting has been disturbed.

Although all three trailers used a lot of fast paced camera angles, I feel like Poltergeist used this the most efficiently as they started off the trailer in a normal housing estate, with a family moving into their new home. I would like to replicate this tranquil atmosphere at the very start of my trailer so that the audience are lulled into a false sense of security, then I will make each scene darker and darker until I can hint at the murders that will be in the film. This worked particularly well in poltergeist as there is a large contrast between good and evil, people are just trying to live their day to day lives but the evil spirit being will not allow them to live peacefully.

The ring gave me a good idea as to how I can edit my videos together, I like the idea of not having everything in a chronological order as this is a very confusing device and the audience are left not able to fill in all of the gaps in the plot. My target audience research also proved that the majority of people do not like horror movie trailers where too much is revealed to the audience as they like a lot of the plot to be left to their imagination. With a psychological horror there is almost always a dramatic plot twist as well so if everything was put in the trailer, there would be no reason to watch the movie as you would know most of what was to come anyway.

Poltergeist Trailer Analysis (2015 Remake)

Se7en Trailer Analysis

Se7en Trailer analysis

The first thing we can take away from the trailer is that it is 2 minutes and 17 seconds long, following conventions as it is less than five minutes and does not give us enough time to have too much of the plot revealed to us. Trailers like this are generally more effective as it leaves a lot to the imagination and when we watch the movie we don’t know what to expect and are still surprised by features that are not shown in the movie itself. It is just enough time to summarise what the movie is about and give us a general feel as to what challenges the protagonists will have to overcome.

 When the trailer begins, the first shot is of the Production Company’s logo which happens to be “New Line Cinema” in this case. This particular production company is notorious for using big Hollywood film stars and producing a lot of successful films over the years, often being big hits with the box office. This gives an impression that the movie is going to be well made as famous Hollywood actors are starring in it, and a big production company such as “New Line Cinema” has decided to back the film. A big production company would not support films if they did not believe that it would be successful, they only pick ones that they think will appeal to people and make high profits so this leads us to the conclusion that the film is going to be well worth our time and we are more likely to watch it in a cinema. Film production logos are usually always within the first part of the trailer as it is a big influence of what makes us go out and watch a movie. The production company's reputation will hugely benefit the film trailer if it has a good reputation, for example if people have watched and enjoyed a film produced by the same company they may link it to other films they have watched by them. It also creates a basic idea of what film the trailer is showing us, for example if you were to see a Disney logo coming up at the start of a trailer, you would know that they have a reputation for family friendly films, and that their budget is large enough to make something to a very high quality.

Genre

The genre for the film is given away throughout the trailer as each different type of genre follows codes and conventions. For a thriller, which is what this particular movie is, there is often a fast paced action scenes, weapons, scenes of a violent nature and dark and mysterious settings. Through the trailer alone we can see lots of examples of this, with most of the action taking place in a dismal city environment. The low levels of lighting and colour in each shot sets the tone very efficiently as we associate it with a gloomy atmosphere, knowing instantly that it is not going to be a light hearted film as these types of things create a sense of danger. As for violence, we are not shown anything explicit in the trailer but are given hints about the murders and how each murder that has been carried out follows the pattern of the seven deadly sins.  Automatically the viewer will have their own preferences when it comes to movies as everyone has genres that they would be more inclined to enjoy, this trailer will allow the viewer to quickly come to a conclusion as to whether this would be something appealing to them as the conventions are obvious.

Narrative and characters

Se7en is about two detectives that are investigating and hunting a serial killer who bases his killings off of the seven deadly sins, using the flaws of the world to justify himself in this area. We are told about how the first killing is completed, which gluttony is where we get to know the extent of the violence of this film and how psychopathic the killer is. Conventionally, it is very obvious to tell that they are the main protagonists of the film as they are both trying to restore an equilibrium which is a common aspiration of a protagonist, they want to protect their cause in the name of justice. They also show aspects of bravery as they are not afraid to stand up for themselves, as is shown when Morgan Freeman’s character goes against the ideas of the other detectives in the workplace.

Representation

One of the most obvious forms of representation in the trailer is with age, we trust the judgement of Morgan freeman’s character much more as he is older and with more training than the new detective who is played by Brad Pitt. This plays on the stereotype that young people are not as professional in the workplace and are much more inexperienced than their older colleagues as the younger detective is being mentored by the older. We see more of this in the film where the younger detective is not taken seriously at all at first but later manages to regain himself later on in the film.

The Ring - Trailer analysis

The ring trailer analysis (2002)

Narrative

After watching the trailer, it is noted that it does not appear to be in the same order as the film chronologically. This is due to how a lot of elements of the trailer are mixed, giving you some key features of the film but in a distorted manner, which is conventional in the terms of a psychological horror film. When scenes are mixed and chopped up in a trailer, it is more likely to confuse the audience so that they are left unaware of the correct narrative and wanting to fill in the gaps of what isn’t shown to them. Psychological horror films often have quite a complicated back story, or a twist that you do not expect so by making the narrative confusing to the viewer, you are still leaving a lot to imagination. If this is presented successfully like it is in this particular trailer, it will only touch upon their curiosity and leave them with a lot that they still want to find out. This is something that I would quite like to replicate when it comes to my own horror movie trailer

After the age certificate has been presented the trailer starts off with a woman discussing the idea about a tape that can kill you if you watch it. This remark is there to introduce the focal point of the trailer as it foreshadows what is to come later on in the plot. A lot of other horror film trailers do this themselves, add a catchphrase or quote that will help us to build up the plot of the story and what danger awaits the protagonists. 

Genre
A lot of elements of the trailer give away that it is a supernatural horror, a conventional horror movie trailer will have lots of fast paced camera shots which are there to create a level of tension. The ring trailer seems to have a lot of this and since the narrative isn't in a chronological order, it is very unsettling to watch. Mise en scene also gives a lot about the genre away as the girl that climbs out of the well is dressed in a very tattered old white dress and her black hair is covering her entire face. We can't see much of her skin but from what is visible it is obvious that she is corpse like, with the skin of her arms rotting. Gore is very conventional in a horror trailer as it is exactly what the target audience is looking for, it gives the trailer a grotesque scare factor which will be unsettling for the audience to watch. Another prominent feature of the trailer is how there is a crackling TV screen cut 

between a lot of the scenes in the trailer. The connotations of a TV with no signal are that the location is somewhere desolate and far away from the rest of society and that there is no way of contacting anyone. This is a conventional technique used in a lot of horror movie trailers as it hints at the futility of the protagonists.

Unlike a lot of horror films, "The ring" is rated as PG 13, which is quite a young audience considering some of the themes this movie touches upon. Horror films appeal to the younger audience as they have a scare factor to them and quick paced action which captures the attention of younger people. When I make my own trailer I am thinking of not directly showing any violence in the trailer but instead hinting at it so I can appeal to my target age group.

Representation

In the trailer there are not many obvious stereotypes but it does seem to play on the innocence of children. Towards the start of the trailer we see a boy sat in front of the TV screen, watching the evil being creeping out of the well. A lot of horror trailers use the innocence of young children to contrast the evil that is being portrayed in the movie and it helps to create an uneasy atmosphere, the child cannot defend themselves in the same way that an adult can so it makes the audience tense. If a 

creature will not even take pity on a small defenceless child then this just proves the extent of their ruthlessness and how not even the innocent, good hearted characters are spared from the villain.

As well as the representation of children being a symbol of innocence, there is also a young mother looking after the child which follows on with the stereotype that mothers have a more paternal instinct and are more likely to look after children than a man. She is the first one to leap in to save the child, with no signs of a male partner around.

Narrative Of My Movie Trailer ( may be subject to change )

Main characters

• Protagonist - "?" -The protagonist of my horror movie trailer is not conventional in the sense that she also happens to be the murderer of the victims that die in the movie. Carrie is one horror film where this is also the case, and I have used small influences from this although most ideas have been taken from other movies. Although this character is not a stereotypical protagonist the audience will still be manipulated into liking her at first, before her crimes are committed.
• Antagonists-  In my horror film there will not be one specific antagonist but an entire group which are the students in the secondary school that are cruel towards the protagonist "?" 

Plot Summary For Movie Trailer

At the start of the trailer we are introduced to the school environment in which the main character "?" , attends as a year 11 student. "?" We are soon given evidence that she is struggling with fitting in, her dress sense has a gothic nature to it and this is one of the reasons she is a binary opposite to her antagonists. After a brief introduction of the school setting and a flash of the forest around the area, we see her walking down a crowded corridor, with an obvious look of discomfort on her face as she clutches her books close to her chest. Although this has obvious negative implications, the lighting will remain to be of a normal brightness so as to not alert the viewer of what is to come further along in the trailer. A few of her peers wander up behind her and suddenly jostle the books out of her hands, sneering at her and using slurs to intentionally mock her. Once they wander past we see her crouching to reach the books. The scene slowly fades out into the perspective of the peers that just mocked her as we see them laughing together.  In a conventional horror/mystery- hybrid movie trailer a lot of the scenes are mixed together in order to confuse the audience, so after this section has happened there will be a continuous video edited in throughout scenes of "?" adjusting a noose and hanging it up from a tree although her face wont be shown in these scenes so we are not aware of who is doing it until later on in the trailer. After this the trailer continues at the scene of a bonfire, where there are lots of noises of laughter and groups of people talking among themselves. "?" is currently shining around in the darkness with a torch whilst dragging a suspicious looking bag with the victim of one of the people that mocked her earlier on, she throws it onto the fire and does not raise suspicion due to it being a fifth of November celebration. The scene quickly changes to a teenage party where they are all gathered round a table playing a drinking game, although one of the characters does point out that their friend is missing, which the viewer will understand to be the person "?" has just murdered.----

Moodboard

Timeline

Having a timeline gives me a perspective of what I still have left to do and how much time I have to complete my work for each deadline.

What is your favorite horror film? Why?

What is the most effective part of a horror movie trailer? Why?

What is your favorite sub-genre of horror?

In your opinion, where is the best location for a horror trailer to be set?

Horror Movie Questionnaire

Create your own user feedback survey

Letter of permission

Purpose Of A Movie Trailer

A trailer is a preview of a featured film that is coming up in the future, distributed to us through the use of cinema. Originally when cinema just began, these trailers were showed at the very end of a screening which is what gave them the name, but the industry noticed that viewers tended to walk away whilst this was happening so they introduced the idea of showing these in screen advertisements before the film itself began. The purpose itself of a movie trailer is to promote and advertise a film before it is released, this works very effectively as they are much better at catching our attention than a poster, they give us a small taste of what is to come with highlights of the scenes, which provide a brief summary that hopefully will appeal to the target audience. Moving images are far more likely to hold the attention of the viewer, especially with a movie trailer as the scenes change so quickly that if we are not paying attention we will miss valuable aspects of it.

Introduction to the codes and conventions of film

The History Of The Movie Trailer

Distribution Of Movie Trailers

Genre Theory

Intertextuality

The term Intertextuality refers to the way of creating references that link to any kind of media text via another form media text. This idea was put forward by a woman called Julia Kristeva who argued that "any text is the absorption and transformation of another". Every media text uses references to image, film, culture, web, content, e.c.t, meaning that it follows by this rule as the fundamentals that make the piece of media are relating to references in society in one way or another. Our very understanding of the media text is heavily influenced by this as we are more likely to enjoy something that we understand the references from.

Here are a few examples of intertextuality:

Shrek

Shrek is a classic example of intertexuality as most of the references in it are of other forms of media, the use of reoccurring Disney character spoofs are just one example as they have all been taken from popular children's fairy tales, which nearly all of us are aware of and give us a sense of reminiscence.

Kill Bill/ Game of death

Another popular example of Intertexuality is in the first volume of Kill bill as the movie itself is packed full of references, including probably the most well known one where Uma Thurman wears the same yellow tracksuit that Bruce Lee does in Game of death.

Arthur

Narrative Theories In Film

Vladimir Propp

• Character Types

Claude Levi-Strauss

• Binary Opposition 

Roland Barthe

• Five Codes 

1. Enigma
2. Action
3. Semantic
4. Symbolic
5. Cultural 

Tzvetan Todorov

• Equilibrium 
• Disruption of Equilibrium
• Recorded Equilibrium 

Chris Volger

• The "12 stages" of a heros journey