This is my mood board, I have included the images that interest me from horror films and the horror genre. I like the ECU of the eyes and expressions of fear on the faces of girls. I also think that the bloodbath works well and creates a goood look for a horror film. The woodland/forest would be a good setting for a horror film. I included candles because I think they have a spooky feel.
Friday, 13 November 2009
Mood board
This is my mood board, I have included the images that interest me from horror films and the horror genre. I like the ECU of the eyes and expressions of fear on the faces of girls. I also think that the bloodbath works well and creates a goood look for a horror film. The woodland/forest would be a good setting for a horror film. I included candles because I think they have a spooky feel.
Friday, 6 November 2009
UK film distribution 2009/2010
The task of the distributor is to identify and deliver to the largest possible audience.
Distribution companies are highly competitive businesses, launching and sustaining films on the market, usually starting from scratch and reaching it's full potential.
Planning a release
Here is a video of Stuart Williams talking about how distributors approach a film release.
Every film has its own distribution plan, the biggest decisions the has to make are when and how to release the film to give it the best chance.
The distributor will plan the budget for marketing, but the goal is to return all costs plus a profit. But audiences have many other leisure choices that they many not want to go to the cinema, meaning that launching a film is expensive and risky.
Focus on the audience
Having a good understanding of your target audience, things like, age group, gender and certain lifestyles and social networks, helps make the decision on how and where to market a film. Obviously films vary, some may appeal to people with certain interests. The key is to stick to the target audience but the distributors job is to attract the largest audience possible.
Cinema goers are most frequently teenagers, students and young adults, with more than half being 15-24 year olds.
Market research may be produced due to to an audiences reaction at pre-release test screenings. At the test screenings the audience are asked to fill out questionnaires to help the distributor in what to expect from and audience.
Some films may become 'sleeper' hits, where they are played for longer and generate more returns than expected.
Other factors which distributors have to take into account with their release plans are:
Competition - which other distributors are going to release at the same time, and especially those with a similar target audience.
Star power - are there any big names? What were there last films and how were they perceived?
Release Date - is it for a school holiday or season? Or a special event such as halloween or Christmas?
Will it meet the media reviews?
Is the audience already interested, due to stars, the makers or based on a book?
Budgeting the release
As soon as it is possible, the distributor views the finished film and the release plan is confirmed. The budget may be itemised as below
Distribution companies are highly competitive businesses, launching and sustaining films on the market, usually starting from scratch and reaching it's full potential.
Planning a release
Here is a video of Stuart Williams talking about how distributors approach a film release.
Every film has its own distribution plan, the biggest decisions the has to make are when and how to release the film to give it the best chance.
The distributor will plan the budget for marketing, but the goal is to return all costs plus a profit. But audiences have many other leisure choices that they many not want to go to the cinema, meaning that launching a film is expensive and risky.
Focus on the audience
Having a good understanding of your target audience, things like, age group, gender and certain lifestyles and social networks, helps make the decision on how and where to market a film. Obviously films vary, some may appeal to people with certain interests. The key is to stick to the target audience but the distributors job is to attract the largest audience possible.
Cinema goers are most frequently teenagers, students and young adults, with more than half being 15-24 year olds.
Market research may be produced due to to an audiences reaction at pre-release test screenings. At the test screenings the audience are asked to fill out questionnaires to help the distributor in what to expect from and audience.
Some films may become 'sleeper' hits, where they are played for longer and generate more returns than expected.
Other factors which distributors have to take into account with their release plans are:
Competition - which other distributors are going to release at the same time, and especially those with a similar target audience.
Star power - are there any big names? What were there last films and how were they perceived?
Release Date - is it for a school holiday or season? Or a special event such as halloween or Christmas?
Will it meet the media reviews?
Is the audience already interested, due to stars, the makers or based on a book?
Budgeting the release
As soon as it is possible, the distributor views the finished film and the release plan is confirmed. The budget may be itemised as below
Film marketing and publicity
Marketing is creating a visible awareness and engaging interest to possible viewers. They all try to entice the same audience, however large or small the marketing budget is, audiences much be reached and persuaded that it is a must see film.
The distributors campaigns are generally effective as most cinema goers know which films they want to see before setting off to the cinema.
When constructing a campiagn, must aim to reach their target audience in a cost effectively way. When planning how to get a variety of audiences to see a film they try to use a number of different medias to promote the film, such as:
~Posters - The main image on the poster often contains the stars, theme/genre, credits and tagline to entice the audience. With so many different posters promoting a range of films, the team must create a poster that stands out, so that it catches the audiences eye.
Many months before the release of the film a teaser poster is released to introduce the film, other display materials for cinema foyers are made, such a cardboard standees, banners, window clings and mini posters.
~Trailers - Distributors have alot of visual content to work with when they create the campaign, including long and short clips. The trailer is probably the single most cost effective marketing technique used, as it is played on the big screens to capture the audiences that are already active cinema goers. Before the full trailer is released there may be a teaser trailer, that gives glimpses of the best bits with in the film and only lasts for around 30-90 seconds.
~ Online & Mobile - The interent also play an important role, with many film fans online and searching the new releases and up coming films. Most film have and official website, as you can see below.
The internet help start to build an awareness of a new film. Even before photography has started and at the very early stages of filming, teaser images are released online. As filming continues, there may be a gradual increase of footage posted to keep the interest of the audience.
~ Media Advertising - Tv advertising is the largest cost for reaching a mass audience, but films with top stars need the heavyweight advertiusing to support the wide releases.
Still Images from the Teaser Trailers
These are some of the still from the teaser trailers that I chose. All of them have horror aspects, such as close ups and dark backgrounds, creating the conventions of the genre horror.
Wednesday, 4 November 2009
Horror Idea - Dead End
A family are travelling home from picking up their daughter from University. They live in a small remote countryside village; a road is closed due to unknown reasons that took place in the forest which the road takes you past. However, ignoring all the signs on the road and not listening to the warnings on the car radio they take the road. When they arrive at the woodland area, they find helpless survivors on the road using a flash light to flag people down. When they see this survivor they immediately get out of the car to help, when they do so they are surrounded by a group of zombie like creatures. When they try to leave, they discover they are locked out of the car and can’t get away, so run into the woodland. Then the zombie killers find them, hunting them down to their bloody death!
Break Teaser Trailer
This film caught my eye, as a low budget film written and directed by Matthias Olof Eich. It doesn't appear to be your everyday horror.
The beginning of this film indicated that the genre is a chick flick, a group of girls going away for a caming trip, taking photos and swimming in a lake. So on first inpressions you would associate this teaser trailer with horror.
At just over half way of the trailer the gore and violence begins with one of the girl taking a photograph, but then being shot in the eye with a bow and arrow. There is a repetition of the woman taking pictures throughout the trailer. In the background there is screaming from the other girls and the violence become brutal.
The title of the film appears at the end of the trailer. I like the way in which it has been designed it appears out of focus and blood drips down it. This works really well with the style of the film, with it being out of focus to start with it is like the beginning of the film where we are unsure of the genre of the film but with a clear indication that it is a horror when the blood drips of the text.
Production values of the movie are at the beginning of the clip, 'Praetoria Productions'. Thismovie is a low budget film so there are no big stars.
The music within the trailer is complementary to the action taken palce in the trailer. As it starts off with the girls having a laugh and some fun the music is very bubbly and up beat. But when the mood changes, so does the music, like the sounds of a heart beating. However, it does stop after the first bit of the violence so that you hear the screaming and terror of the girls.
The beginning of this film indicated that the genre is a chick flick, a group of girls going away for a caming trip, taking photos and swimming in a lake. So on first inpressions you would associate this teaser trailer with horror.
At just over half way of the trailer the gore and violence begins with one of the girl taking a photograph, but then being shot in the eye with a bow and arrow. There is a repetition of the woman taking pictures throughout the trailer. In the background there is screaming from the other girls and the violence become brutal.
The title of the film appears at the end of the trailer. I like the way in which it has been designed it appears out of focus and blood drips down it. This works really well with the style of the film, with it being out of focus to start with it is like the beginning of the film where we are unsure of the genre of the film but with a clear indication that it is a horror when the blood drips of the text.
Production values of the movie are at the beginning of the clip, 'Praetoria Productions'. Thismovie is a low budget film so there are no big stars.
The music within the trailer is complementary to the action taken palce in the trailer. As it starts off with the girls having a laugh and some fun the music is very bubbly and up beat. But when the mood changes, so does the music, like the sounds of a heart beating. However, it does stop after the first bit of the violence so that you hear the screaming and terror of the girls.
Tuesday, 3 November 2009
House Of Fears Teaser Trailer
From this trailer we can see that a group of friends enter a house that they are clearly not meant to be going in, and is obviously haunted. The genre is very clear from the beginning if this trailer with low key lighting and the text that introduces the trailer.
The name of the film is once again at the end, I think they put it at the end to entice you to watch the whole trailer just to find out what the name of the film is.
Production values are at the beginning, but there are no clues to stars or the director of the film.
The trailer does include aspects of the film that captures the target audience but it also includes the textual clauses making the audience stay entice in the trailer wanting the read it.
Friday, 23 October 2009
Horror Teaser Trailer, 28 days later (2002)
I liked this teaser trailer and the parts I think really stand out are the when it counts the days and shows a small clip of what actually happens without giving too much away, between each of the clips it is dark giving the feel of suspense and creating the atmosphere of a horror.
Director: Danny Boyle
Distributed: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Released: 2002
The trailer indicates the genre of the film as it is jumpy camera movements and dark, low key lighting. You first know that it is a horror film when the lights on the 'Fox Searchlight' go out and introduces, 'The First Day'.
The name of the film is given at the end of the trailer and other productions values include the it saying 'From the creators of Trainspoting and the Beach'
This trailer only has small clips that have been taken from the film itself, but I think that it is enough information to know what the film is about and to show the genre of the film. These aspects of the film should interest the target audience.
The music within the trailer is like a warning siren to start with and then continues with people breathing heavy, loud banging and smashing. At the end the music is very soft, either to indicate everything is okay and that everyone has been killed, so there is no sounds.
In the trailer there is no Voice Over, just wirtten text, flashing on the screen to introduce the days leading up to the 28th day and what is going to happen. I think thisis effective as it is only a small amount of text and just give a clue to what is going to happen. Such as 'On the first day.... EXPOSURE', 'Day 3.... Infection' and so on until the last sentence says 'The days are numbered' which really give the audience idea something terrible is going to happe in this film.
Director: Danny Boyle
Distributed: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Released: 2002
The trailer indicates the genre of the film as it is jumpy camera movements and dark, low key lighting. You first know that it is a horror film when the lights on the 'Fox Searchlight' go out and introduces, 'The First Day'.
The name of the film is given at the end of the trailer and other productions values include the it saying 'From the creators of Trainspoting and the Beach'
This trailer only has small clips that have been taken from the film itself, but I think that it is enough information to know what the film is about and to show the genre of the film. These aspects of the film should interest the target audience.
The music within the trailer is like a warning siren to start with and then continues with people breathing heavy, loud banging and smashing. At the end the music is very soft, either to indicate everything is okay and that everyone has been killed, so there is no sounds.
In the trailer there is no Voice Over, just wirtten text, flashing on the screen to introduce the days leading up to the 28th day and what is going to happen. I think thisis effective as it is only a small amount of text and just give a clue to what is going to happen. Such as 'On the first day.... EXPOSURE', 'Day 3.... Infection' and so on until the last sentence says 'The days are numbered' which really give the audience idea something terrible is going to happe in this film.
Saturday, 10 October 2009
Gender in Horror films
Do the Characters in the horror films we have watched reinforce or challenge dominant assumptions about gender?
Visibilty
Halloween:
. roughly equal numbers but more women in central roles
. significant age difference between genders
. This reinforces the assumptions of gender
The Shining:
. twice as many men (ratio 2:1)
. age - men are older in general.... the one older women is horrific because of her age
. age has very different connotations for male and female
. This reinforces the assumptions of gender
Roles
Halloween:
. Domestic - Laurie and Annie babysit, but the also appear in a non domestic scene such as at school
. Sexual - Linda, Annie and Judith are all presented in a sex role
. Consumer - there were no consumer roles
. Maritial/Feminial - Annie is presented as the daughter of the cop, and Mike Myers is defined through his family
. This reinforces the assumptions of gender
The Shining:
. Domestic - Wendy is the only housewife, she does the cooking and cleaning an is shown to be very caring. Wendy is seen to have two roles,she takes on the roles of a male as well as the female roles
. Sexual - the bathtub ghost woman is the only sexual role
. Consumer - there were no consumer roles
. Maritial/Feminial - Wendy is the only one defined through familial relationships with males.
. This reinforces the assumptions of gender
Gazer
Halloween:
. Judith - object, point of view, sexualised woman, frequent repititions throughout the film (subjective camerawork sustained POV through the monsters eyes) but other POV's present, the boy and more importantly LAURIE. Lauire is not objectified/sexualised by the camera, she is identified (the subject) with most the film.
The Shining:
. Bath lady is a clear example of the 'male gaze' camerawork
. wendy, like Laurie is object by the camera, adopting a male gaze. In fact she is identified with, for most of the film, as the main protagonist
Both films start with male perspective then move to female perspective
Visibilty
Halloween:
. roughly equal numbers but more women in central roles
. significant age difference between genders
. This reinforces the assumptions of gender
The Shining:
. twice as many men (ratio 2:1)
. age - men are older in general.... the one older women is horrific because of her age
. age has very different connotations for male and female
. This reinforces the assumptions of gender
Roles
Halloween:
. Domestic - Laurie and Annie babysit, but the also appear in a non domestic scene such as at school
. Sexual - Linda, Annie and Judith are all presented in a sex role
. Consumer - there were no consumer roles
. Maritial/Feminial - Annie is presented as the daughter of the cop, and Mike Myers is defined through his family
. This reinforces the assumptions of gender
The Shining:
. Domestic - Wendy is the only housewife, she does the cooking and cleaning an is shown to be very caring. Wendy is seen to have two roles,she takes on the roles of a male as well as the female roles
. Sexual - the bathtub ghost woman is the only sexual role
. Consumer - there were no consumer roles
. Maritial/Feminial - Wendy is the only one defined through familial relationships with males.
. This reinforces the assumptions of gender
Gazer
Halloween:
. Judith - object, point of view, sexualised woman, frequent repititions throughout the film (subjective camerawork sustained POV through the monsters eyes) but other POV's present, the boy and more importantly LAURIE. Lauire is not objectified/sexualised by the camera, she is identified (the subject) with most the film.
The Shining:
. Bath lady is a clear example of the 'male gaze' camerawork
. wendy, like Laurie is object by the camera, adopting a male gaze. In fact she is identified with, for most of the film, as the main protagonist
Both films start with male perspective then move to female perspective
Tuesday, 6 October 2009
The Shining and Propp's narrative theory
Hero - Danny/Wendy/Hallorann (Cook)
Villain - Jack
Helper - Tony
Donor - Hallorann (Cook)
Propp's narrative theory said 'one character may fulfil more than one role.'
His theory does not quite fit the plot of the film, The Shining. The places where it fits are at the beginning, in the preparation section when the Torrance family move to the hotel and they are warned of room 237 by the cook. Apart form this the ending contains very little relevants to the Propp theory.
What we have learnt through Propp -
we are forced to think that a text is just put together with characters in it but the characters are the functions of the text.
Villain - Jack
Helper - Tony
Donor - Hallorann (Cook)
Propp's narrative theory said 'one character may fulfil more than one role.'
His theory does not quite fit the plot of the film, The Shining. The places where it fits are at the beginning, in the preparation section when the Torrance family move to the hotel and they are warned of room 237 by the cook. Apart form this the ending contains very little relevants to the Propp theory.
What we have learnt through Propp -
we are forced to think that a text is just put together with characters in it but the characters are the functions of the text.
Friday, 18 September 2009
The Return of the Repressed.
When a memory of a event, that has been blocked out or even been able to recall because it was either painful or traumatic, is triggered by particular smells or tastes, often many years later.
I think that it is related to the horror genre as some people have bad experiences, at the start of a film (sometimes as a flash back) and later in the film it is triggered and the have bad experiences again.
I think that it is related to the horror genre as some people have bad experiences, at the start of a film (sometimes as a flash back) and later in the film it is triggered and the have bad experiences again.
Wednesday, 16 September 2009
This is the horror movie trailer for Seed.
I chose this film as I think that the is rather gruesome, this is due to the decaying bodies at the beginning and the deaths that you see. The lighting within the trailer is very low key to create shadows and so that you know the genre is horror.
Also the short textual descriptions entice you into the trailer and want you to watch it to find out what is going to happen and how each death occured.
I have watched this film before but thought it was very sickening with the amount of guts and gore. I am not a massive fan of horror movies but some I do like to watch.
The trailer indicates the genre of the movie when the first clip shows a room with low key lighting and a television that isn't working. The next few clips show skeletons faces with maggots crawling in and around it. There are also news paper clipings and reports on deaths and incidents that have happened. In between clips there are fade downs and ups. The whole of the trailer is set in low key.
The name of the movie is given at the end, it appears after a women is moaning in pain and then with a loud boom, the title 'SEED' appears. As if to show something bad happens to the woman, even killed.
In this trailer there seems to be no sign of production values, only the name of the film appears at the very end.
Aspects of the film that are picked out, include all the gore and terrifying parts of the film. Such as the guy being electricuted, bodies in the bath covered in blood and a man asking 'What do you want' repeatedly to the unknown. I think this would attract the target audience, because of the gore and guts you see within the film and the music in the background.
The music within the trailers, keeps you interested and make you feel like you want to know more about the film. It begins quiet and builds up rather like a crescendo.
I chose this film as I think that the is rather gruesome, this is due to the decaying bodies at the beginning and the deaths that you see. The lighting within the trailer is very low key to create shadows and so that you know the genre is horror.
Also the short textual descriptions entice you into the trailer and want you to watch it to find out what is going to happen and how each death occured.
I have watched this film before but thought it was very sickening with the amount of guts and gore. I am not a massive fan of horror movies but some I do like to watch.
The trailer indicates the genre of the movie when the first clip shows a room with low key lighting and a television that isn't working. The next few clips show skeletons faces with maggots crawling in and around it. There are also news paper clipings and reports on deaths and incidents that have happened. In between clips there are fade downs and ups. The whole of the trailer is set in low key.
The name of the movie is given at the end, it appears after a women is moaning in pain and then with a loud boom, the title 'SEED' appears. As if to show something bad happens to the woman, even killed.
In this trailer there seems to be no sign of production values, only the name of the film appears at the very end.
Aspects of the film that are picked out, include all the gore and terrifying parts of the film. Such as the guy being electricuted, bodies in the bath covered in blood and a man asking 'What do you want' repeatedly to the unknown. I think this would attract the target audience, because of the gore and guts you see within the film and the music in the background.
The music within the trailers, keeps you interested and make you feel like you want to know more about the film. It begins quiet and builds up rather like a crescendo.
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