sas

sas, a photo by DeaveDump on Flickr.

click for flickr analysis

empire

empire, a photo by DeaveDump on Flickr.

click for flickr analysis

Gender representation in horror films

In horror films, gender is represented both progressively and conservatively. For example final girls are often used to provide identification with female characters – for whatever reason this may be for. There are four areas by which gender representation can be analysed in visual media. These are visibility (or how many woman/men there are on screen), roles (domestic/familial/sexual/consumer), gaze and narrative issues.

In Halloween (1978) there are an equal number of male and female characters, showing progressive representation as the ‘typical’ male: female ratio onscreen was shown to be 2:1 in an earlier study. The females in the film take up most of the roles in the film; Lynda and Annie are defined primarily by their sexual role through their activities (we see them undressing and having sex) and their familial roles, such as is shown through their relationships with their family members (for example, as the sheriff’s daughter). They are also shown in the domestic environment, washing up and cleaning etc. None of the women are shown to be buying anything at all, so the consumer role is redundant in the film. As for the ‘gaze’ of the film, or the way cinematography is used to portray them, they are shown both objectively and subjectively. The minor female characters are shown in a more objective way than Laurie, the final girl, is. In other words, though minor characters are objectified, the film offers a principal point of identification with a female. She is not shown in a sexual way, either through mise-en-scene or the way she is filmed. She is androgynous. By this, I mean her name, Laurie, can be a male or female name, she looks fairly masculine and isn’t the typical ‘ditsy’ female character. Through this we can determine that the gaze or identification in the movie is both progressive (in the way that we, the audience, identify with Laurie: a female character and final girl) and conservative (because of the camerawork used to sexualise the minor female characters in scenes such as when they are undressing). The narrative issues of the film, or in the case of horror, which/how many female characters are killed and why, is conservative. Firstly more female characters die than male characters, and all three females and one of the two male characters die for sexual reasons, or so it would appear.

Because of this, it seems the females have been put into their sexual roles for the purpose of their deaths, suggesting a conservative way of representing these female characters in the film. Overall, the use of a final girl who we identify with and her representation in the film makes this film fairly progressive but has an equal number of conservative representations.

The Shining (1980) seems to portray females conservatively rather than progressively, although an interesting scene might betray this suggestion. First, the visibility of women in the film is clearly conservative; there are twice as many men on screen than women, so follows the ‘typical’ ratio found from an earlier study. Although many of the characters counted are minor characters, the most insignificant of these minor characters are female (the receptionist and Grady’s daughters etc.) compared to Grady and the barman. The only significant female characters are Wendy and the woman in the bathroom. Wendy takes on her domestic and familial roles definitively – these are the only things we see her doing. She is represented as a weak, submissive and passive housewife and doesn’t have much character other than what we see through her relationships to her family members. We see her take on a slightly ‘responsible’ role at some points in the film, for example checking the electricity and taking care of the hotel which, while it is supposed to be Jack’s job, is still a domestic role. The woman in the bathroom is represented solely in her sexual role; long takes and reaction shots of Jack are used to identify with him while he objectifies her as a sex object. The interesting thing about this scene, however, is that the scene suddenly turns and changes her into a corpse, completely changing the mood of the scene and taking away her role as a sex object. It might be argued, however, that at this point she is still objectified, but as an object of disgust rather than one of sexual intent. The way the male gaze of Jack is used in this scene is completely different to that used of Wendy, who isn’t objectified at all and is characterized unlike the woman in the bathroom. The narrative of The Shining is interesting in that the final girls gets away but looking at the deaths in the story of the film, there are an equal number of male and female deaths, so looks like the film is progressive in this way – where more female characters in horrors usually die. There are, however, more male characters in the film which means that a higher proportion of female characters die than male characters, so is conservative once again. Overall this film is conservative in representation of female characters, from the number of female characters in the film to their roles and narrative purpose.

The film Eden Lake (2008), a much more modern horror, still has elements of both conservative and progressive views. There are many more men than women in the film; there is almost a 1:4 ratio of onscreen women: men. The main character and final girl in the film, Jenny, is represented as a working woman (although she does have a ‘caring’ job), who wants to marry her boyfriend Steve but isn’t represented either sexually (although you could say so to some extent) or in a consumer role. In this way the film has a both progressive and conservative way of portraying females. The other ‘main’ female character is fairly androgynous in that she is the only female in a group of male characters and is aggressive to strangers, but reverts back to a ‘typical’ woman’s role (submissive and obedient) when in her group. Throughout the film we have a point of identification with Jenny, rather than objectification of her, no long takes of parts of her body are used and she isn’t represented as a sex object through mise-en-scene. There is a point-of-view shot of her through binoculars during the film that seems like it is objectifying her, but the shot emphasises her discomfort at being glared at rather than her sexuality. In this way, through this shot, we identify with her yet again. Slightly more men are killed in the film than women are, but with the total number of men and women, it seems that the narrative is conservative with a higher percentage of women dying than men. Eden Lake is more conservative in representation of gender than the two prior films, but aspects such as the boyish girl from the group of boys and the gaze and cinematography used makes some elements progressive.

Overall, these horror films seem to take both sides of representation and show both sides equally. I think, however, compared to other genres of film horror is progressive in the way it represents women by using final girls as a point of identification to their roles in the films.

Original photos for my ancillary texts

Planning for our trailer shoot - storyboard and shot list

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

Click to view analysis of image.

























new tech a photo by DeaveDump on Flickr.

During the process of creating our trailer, the development was spread over three main areas:

• Planning and research
• Construction
• and Evaluation

Planning and research mainly took the form of investigative study into horror conventions and target audience research. The majority of this stage was done in class and studying theories such as those presented in Men, Women and Chainsaws. Research done using new media technologies, however, was mainly conducted using browsing software, questionnaire designers like surveymonkey.com and analysis of horror trailers found on youtube.com using Blogger to present it in a way that is aesthetically attractive. Using these technologies was very efficient and enabled me to find information easily and then collate it into a single document where my analysis can directly relate to what I am analysing.

The construction of the trailer was done using technologies that I had little or no experience using. This included using a camera and Final Cut Pro. The construction part of the project was therefor a steep learning curve for me. Using Final Cut Pro was a necessity for making the trailer look professional and presentable and, as an industry-standard software, was good to start using. It allowed us to edit our shots together fairly easily after getting used to it, and also allowed us to change the light filters, tempo of the trailer and add intertitles and music. As the group developed their skills in using the software, we began thinking of new ideas for our trailer, such as the narrative structure of the trailer and short sequences like the running sequence. Using it was sometimes difficult and took lots of time to get things right like the simultaneous stomp and 'impact' noise. It was all necessary, however, to create a product that may somewhat resemble a real horror trailer.

Finally, Blogger and Flickr were the two media technologies used to evaluate my work. Blogger has allowed me to show the entirety of my work in one place which also applies to the evaluative work. This enabled me to show how development of the product occured, and my thoughts of it next to the product, allowing for easy reading and comparison. Flickr was a very useful tool in this stage as it allowed me to collate my ideas and show it visually using images, rather than typing large chunks of text. Using Web 2.0 is a completely different process to writing down your evaluations. Examples can be used and analysis can be done in more depth than simply writing it down. That is probably the largest advantage to using these new media technologies. There may be some risk, however, of being distracted by presentation and layout rather than the process of actually evaluating the work, which isn't as likely when using pen and paper.

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

Braeden Forest trailer

Click to view annotations of the images. 



















 I will also mention and discuss other horror/trailer conventions here:

• Cinematography
• Eyes of evil (bottom right)
• Music and SFX (top right)

Cinematography

Horror films are known for their use of disorientating camera angles, close shot distances and in some cases, full use of hand-held, POV shooting. We have tried to use these methods to imitate what a real horror film would be filmed like. As we shot our footage in point-of-view, setting up shots with canted angles and extreme close ups was difficult to do. A few examples of shots that show these however are the foot-stamp and the long running scene. The foot-stamp shot was one that we really planned on how it would look, so achieving the canted angle was a goal complete. The only examples of any kind of extreme close-up is of the protagonist Jake as he's crying. This is reminiscent of Blair Witch Project, so it was our aim to have it filmed this way. We only identify with Jake as he is the one either holding the camera or being filmed mostly, so empathise with him. The running scenes were also horror-like in the way that we don't see who the character is or what they are running from and there is lots of motion blur, adding to the sense of panic.

Eyes of evil

Shots of eyes are abundant in horror films, and are often shown in horror trailers. The saying "eyes are windows into the soul" is a good quote when thinking of the audience's fear and unease of eyes. When eyes are showed for scary effect in horrors they are usually deformed/changed in some way or looking directly at the camera (or a combination of the two). Eyes that are changed connotes a changed person. Black or red eyes are often the colour used for these changed eyes - both connoting blood and death, so reflects the monster/person's personality. There is an innate fear of change that we express when something looks grotesquely different from the norm. When eyes look directly at the audience through the screen the diegesis is broken and the audience feels like they are being watched. This technique was used in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning trailer, and with the frames-within-frames composition of the shot, we feel uncomfortable being looked at in that way.



See 1:23 mins for this shot.

Music and SFX

Sounds are often used in film to highten the effect the visuals have on the audience. Trailers often have the most unique, inventive ways if creating tension within the scenes of trailers, and this is largely due to the sound used. Music is used in horror in a way that allows the viewer to relax and very gradually build tension. This is usually done with a melancholic sound being played on strings - very low in the mix, which builds up to become louder, faster paced and often has a single note being drawn out for a long period of time (like the screeching sound in our trailer). Sound effects on the other hand are usually put in during important moments of sudden shock, like the foot stomping or the eye opening in our trailer. The sound used is often just a loud impact or crashing sound, very high in the mix, followed by silence - a mixture very useful for creating tension then letting the audience hear their own heartbeat.

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

Real trailers

Click to view annotations of the images. 




















There are several conventions of horrors and trailers I will address here. These are:

• The role of police/military (top right)
• Intertitles (top middle)
• The threat at home (middle right)

The role of police/military

Forces with some authority, such as these groups, are often used in horror to provide a higher sense of threat. This presence of 'peacekeepers' can either be directly addressed or subtly hinted to. They almost ALWAYS provide very little or no help at all to the individuals in danger, and are sometimes first seen after having failed to solve a case. This blundering of those who are supposed to serve and protect those in danger causes unease in the audience, as they are placed in the shoes of someone who has less power than that. It creates a sense of isolation and desertion, and they learn that they cannot count on someone else to help them. They are typically seen/addressed at the start of films/trailers for this reason.

Intertitles

Intertitles are very common in film trailers, and are probably most abundant in horror trailers of all genres. This is because extra information is sometimes needed to set the context of the film, and so draw in the audience. For example, the film Blair Witch Project opens the trailer with intertitles, setting up the story and telling the audience that it is real footage. This sets up the scene with an interesting plot and sets the context so the audience knows what to expect. We were inspired by this film so we naturally used a similar method of opening the trailer. The audience is drawn in to the aspect that it is real; whether or not the audience actually believes that it is real footage is another matter. Horrors are usually ways in which we can experience terror without actually being at risk, but if we think that these series of events actually occured, the barrier is broken - which leads me to my next point.

The threat at home

Zombie films are scary partly because it shows our friends and family turning into relentless killing machines. When the audience subconsciously feels that a threat could come from their own home, a greater feeling of terror is felt. Relationships are often set up in zombie films to exploit this fact, and shows that love doesn't stop death unlike many conventional action/romance films. In our trailer we have showed one of the friends (or two if the audience notices) have become this killing machine, so sets up this close proximity to danger with the feeling of being stranded and lost in a forest.

Braeden Forest teaser trailer

Braeden Forest film poster

Braeden Forest 'EPIC' film magazine cover

What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

To get an idea of what people thought worked well in our group's trailer, we asked for a positive and negative opinion on the horror and trailer conventional aspects of the product. The target audience for our product are both male and female from the ages 15-25. This made asking our peers in class an appropriate choice for finding out how well the horror conventions were adhered to or challenged and how well our product works as a piece of advertising.

The feedback we received from classmates were mainly positive including praise on our soundtrack and cinematography whilst some negative comments were based around the brightness of the shots and a scene or two where the documentary diegetic seems broken (the part where the protagonist looks round to see the hand appear through the tree).

Through our audience feedback we found that lots of people thought that the music that starts to build up halfway through the trailer worked very effectively. As the droning, screeching sound becomes higher in the mix and higher pitched, the shots become shorter and so the tension builds up to a sudden stop after several images flash up. This building up and crashing stop of tension works well and leads up to the sudden shock of the hand coming through the tree. The heartbeats in the fade-downs during the running sequence was said to be very effective by the audience. Our Blair Witch-like point-of-view camerawork was commended by most people because of its realistic, documentary aesthetic, so creates a familiar diegesis like that found in the Blair Witch Project. This received a negative comment from one person, however, who said that it was too reminiscent of its inspiration - particularly the close-up of the film's upset protagonist.

Several set pieces of our trailer were praised by classmates who said that the combination of the visual and audio created a real sense of terror and suspense. One of these was the shot of the shoe stomping down in front of the camera. The way the shot leads on from 'there will be consequences' on the intertitle prior, and the camera drops worked well as a link. The high-in-the-mix sound effect when the shoe hits the floor was commended and gave it a more shocking effect. Another shot that people said worked well was the eye-opening scene. The audience again said that the sound effect worked well with the editing done to make the eye open suddenly with the 'Bad TV' effect. They also said that the way the music that starts at the beginning suddenly stops when the eye opens was very effective.


The pacing of the trailer was another area pointed out by our audience; they said that the pace worked very well as it starts slowly and builds speed towards the end. The intertitles were set at appropriate points in the trailer and added to the feeling of suspense already being built through the trailer. The shots were also shown chronologically, so aids in building the narrative and flow of the trailer that builds towards the crashing end.

As a result of the negative feedback we received about the light levels of the shots in our trailer, we graded each shot and set a slightly blue tint to them to create the feeling that it is night time. We increased the effect of the gradient as the trailer progresses, to connote the teenagers' descent into darkness. Negative feedback about the police tape and ending shot also caused us to edit them slightly. According to the audience, these two scenes appeared staged, so broke the diegesis of the trailer, so we cut them shorter to give them more impact and reduce the 'staged' look. A final minor complaint about the narrative of the film shown through the trailer - or lack of it - was taken into consideration but dispelled due to the feeling of eeriness and mystery about the film we tried to portray. The official trailer of 'Blair Witch Project', our main inspiration for Braeden Forest revealed even less about the narrative than ours, so we decided to keep the narrative aspect of our trailer as it was.


Feedback from our target audience revealed that they were teased by the trailer and they said that they would probably watch the film after watching our trailer. Enough of the narrative was hinted at in the trailer to keep them interesting but not too much was shown to make watching the film pointless - although I think that showing too much of the narrative in a point-of-view film such as ours would be difficult to do.

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

 In the film industry a distributor has a role that involves appealing to as many people as it possibly can using the most efficient and cost-effective methods available. Therefor a marketing campaign is needed. The three main areas of a marketing campaign are:

• Advertising
• Publicity
• and Promotion

 Two of the products I have designed: the teaser trailer for 'Braeden Forest' and the film poster for it both come under the advertising section. A distributor would have direct control over these two products in the film industry, allowing them to dictate how and where they are presented, what they look like and for who they are for. Firstly, the target audience needed to be established to be able to produce products that most effectively appeal to that group of people. Research into the audience of horror films has revealed that most of the audience for horror are people aged from about 15-25 from both genders. Another area needing to be researched was horror and trailer conventions and how they work and how well they work. Sticking to generic conventions of these two systems, we were able to design a trailer appropriate for our audience, as well as a film poster that somewhat resembles a generic horror film poster.

The magazine that promotes our film 'Braeden Forest' would not be under the control of a distributor, as it comes under the publicity area of marketing. Despite this point, I created a film magazine cover that complies with generic film magazine conventions and provides publicity for our film as the main feature on the cover. As I would normally leave this to the media companies that own that brand of magazine, I would hand them a promotional package containing stills from the film, concept sketches and some detailed information on the production, for example, that they could use to publicize the film.

The teaser trailer we produced plays on several conventional areas of horror to appeal and 'tease' its target audience. As a point-of-view film, several aspects are more important that others and have to be highlighted in the trailer to have an appropriate effect on our audience. Firstly, the character development toward the end of the trailer is important as things like special effects and beautiful vistas cannot play much of a part in the trailer. Playing on the fact that it is supposed to have been filmed using a hand-held camera - characters directly engage with the camera and close-ups of their faces can be used to engage with them and identify with them. The film Blair Witch Project was a large inspiration for our film, so the scene with the film's protagonist crying in front of the camera is used as a kind of homage to this. Although you get an idea of who the main protagonist is, and who the 'main' antagonist is, the other characters aren't explored as much and not too much is revealed about them.

From our teaser trailer, you can see that some common conventions of the horror genre have been subverted. For example, we have no 'final girl' which I think is important to raise the 'realistic' element of our film - whoever survives survives and the female in the film has just as much a chance to survive as the males.


As a promotional package, my products use synergy to bolster their effectiveness. The trailer as a standalone product works well to raise awareness and draw the attention of a viewer. With the poster, a clear sense of what the film is trying to show is apparent and work well in unison. The trailer has an ‘amateur footage’ aesthetic as well as the static that gives it the feeling of being mysterious, lost footage. I have used this as a basis for my poster. I originally planned a more artistic ’28 Days Later’ styled poster using a silhouette of the film’s protagonist, Jake, surrounded by or walking through tree branches that spread like ink across the poster. After designing the title and tag line, I found a screenshot from the trailer of a dark landscape of some tree silhouettes that worked well with the white background. The darkened silhouette of Jake with the interference/static-like effect worked well as a conventional but stylistic horror poster and also related to the static effects of the trailer. This cross-media referencing worked well to produce products that work synergistically.

The magazine cover I designed is for a fake magazine ‘Epic’ but uses conventions from existing magazines. I used a template of an ‘Empire’ magazine to build around but modified it to create a familiar but unique look. As our film is a point-of-view, Blair Witch style film, I decided that a photo of the two screenwriters off-set (probably taken at a studio at the company) was the most suitable image to use whereas an image used for a conventional horror may use a still from the film or an image from a promotional pack. 'Braeden Forest' is the main film featured on the cover, which also helps provide publicity for the film, more-so than if it was just a featurette. As an ancillary text that would also promote the film I think it works well alongside the trailer and the poster.

Analysis of real horror film posters

This film poster of The Ring is very simple but effective. It consists of only a white circular outline or a 'ring' with what looks like the title of the film written on top of it, in the same white colour. The 'ring' isn't just a straightfoward circular white line, but looks more like light seeping from behind the darkness, in a ring-shaped band of light. This obviously connotes the name of the film and is relevant to the content of the film. The image also has white static-like lines like on an old television layered over it, giving it a more eery feel and is also associatd with the film. The tagline 'Before you die you see' is in white at the top of the poster, away from the main image but connected to 'the ring' text. The billing block is at the very bottom, also in white, and is hardly noticeable, so doesn't detract from the overall feel the main image gives the poster.




















I like the 28 Days Later poster because of its simplicity and artisticness. It has a colour scheme of black and white over a red background - red and black connoting the horror elements like blood and death while the white helps really bring out the information on the poster. It is done to look like it has been done with stencils or graffiti - or as though it was done in a rush/panic. A list of words associated with the zombie apocalypse are listen towards the top of the poster - giving it an official-looking quality and lets the audience know what the film is generally about.

Synopsis for my horror film idea

Samantha, the daughter of a psycho-analyst, is a normal woman and after finishing university has begun working with her father. As she delves deeper into people's problems she starts having nightmares about it, which gradually gets worse and start wearing away at her mind. Exhausted, she trips at work and hits her head so is sent to hospital. After waking in hospital she falls asleep again and returns to work after a day there.

After a week of restless nights, Samantha can never concentrate and at first feels something strange about the workplace, as if something is 'off'. This feeling gets stronger as the veils between her nightmares and reality thin until she can hardly tell the difference between the two. At first she was scared to go to sleep, but now she's also scared to wake up. She loses track of what is real and what isn't.

Through the madness she befriends a nurse. She seems to be the only real thing and real friend left, after killing her other friends out of fear. She can't find a way out of the situation. After several weeks with this strange nurse as her only friend she finds herself more comfortable with the situation she's in. But after finding herself sitting across a table with the nurse, she notices something strange with the nurse. The nurse seems to start having a conversation between herself and an imaginary person. The lights go out we return to the real world with Samantha's father, who we see watching over his daughter now, as he has done through the film. There is a continuous high pitched 'beep' and it is found that the daughter has been in a coma and died.

Our horror film synopsis

Our horror film is going to be lost footage filmed by a group of teenagers who go camping. One of them is bitten and infected and the others need to escape from him and whatever bit him. There is no real plot other than escaping from the 'monster' and the characters' true emotions are revealed as they face death. May be symbolic of society's social fears as well as fears of being changed.

The role of a distributor

The distribution plan

Making profit from a film is very difficult. This is why distributors are needed: to plan how to most cost effectively advertise, publicise and promote the film to the largest audience possible. Distributors often watch the film or an early version of the film and then decide when and how the film is released. They consider how much it may earn with low/medium/high estimates and then prepare a budget for its release.

The distributor needs to have a detailed understanding of the target audience. Demographic and psychographics need to be recognised and the film can be publicized accordingly. Demographics examined may be age groups and gender while lifestyles and values are a couple of psychographic values that might be looked at. Using this information they can advertise to their audience using the most effective means (social networks and internet videos for example). Particularly effective advertising schemes can help a film 'break out' and 'cross over'.

Another thing to bear in mind is that the film industry is competitive. Distributors need to consider when other films aimed at a similar target audience, or other large, hyped up films are to be released, as they could overshadow their own film. It could even be a film likely to overshadow other films released at the same time - or it may be an event or specialised film, aimed for a more niche or discrete audience. Star power also plays a part in whether or not the film will sell, although the distributors need to be careful about whether or not the stars are 'present' and popular enough to sell the film on their names alone. Commercial and critical success of the stars' recent films needs to be considered. If it is a sequel or franchise entry, success of the previous film(s) and what made made them successful or not need to be considered, as well as what makes the newest entry stand out. Awards and buzz/hype can also be considered when scheduling release.

After considering everything, a comprehensive budget is drawn to cover both the launch and sustaining of the film post-release.

There are three general areas of work for a distributor in the film industry:

• Advertising
• Publicity
• Promotion

When advertising a film, distributors do their best to convince the audience that their film is a must-see film. They have lots of competition, moreso now than ever before, so audiences must be reached in more compelling, efficient ways. Distributors try to reach as much of their target audience as frequently but cost-effectively as possible, which ranges from audience to audience. For example, elder audiences might respond best to newspaper or television, while younger audiences will respond best to internet advertisements.

A poster is usually designed to stand out against competing posters, highlighting what makes the film appealing. Film posters may be created by the studio or sales agent or be adapted for local use. A teaser poster is often exhibited many months before release to let audiences know the film is coming and to whet their appetites.

Trailers are made using a selection of audio-visual clips from the film and are one of the most effective advertising methods of film. The audio-visial content is usually provided by the films' producers themselves, so the distributors have something to work with. Trailers generally appeal to audiences by showing glimpes of the best parts of the film without revealing too much of it - and trailers are often made before production has been completed. Distributors fund the duplication of trailers often circulating around 3000 copies to cinemas. Trailers are often played at the start of DVDs and online now as these mediums are becoming more popular and the job of the distributor is to appeal to the largest audience possible.

My horror mood board

My moodboard for our horror film displays some ideas and atmospheric details of what I think our film should look/feel like. As a film similar to a zombie film I have taken some images of stills from zombie horror films and used them in this moodboard to show what I think the antagonist(s) should look like. Other areas I have explored in this moodboard are innate fears and the feeling of the inevitability of death. Common fears such as the dark and heights could be used in our film to play on the minds of the audience, and as a point-of-view film the experience would be even more terrifying. The small image on the right-side and the middle of the moodboard is a shot of a man falling from a tower during 9/11. This shot is eerily creepy as we know that the man will die - and we are seeing it just before it happens. I think a shot like this would be effective in a point-of-view film as it would imitate the same kind of look and may provoke a similar response.

Comparing teaser trailers to theatrical trailers

Teaser trailers are trailers generally shown far ahead of a film's release date to build up hype about the film and may not even show its title. Theatrical or promotional trailers are shown to, as the name suggests, promote the film a little before the film's release and these are the trailers we usually see on T.V.

These are some typical differences between the two:

• Teaser trailers are shorter than theatrical trailers
• Teaser trailers may show scenes not included in the final cut
• A theatrical trailer almost ALWAYS shows the film's title (a '007' film may not need to show a title for example)
• A teaser trailer may not show the film's title to build hype and discussion about the film
• Teaser trailers may include audience interviews after early screenings

Horror trailer analyses

Silent Hill



This theatrical trailer for Silent Hill follows typical trailer and horror conventions.

The trailer shows the central narrative enigma of the film, and some scenes of what happens because of it, without revealing the resolution or main plot points as. Identification with the female character, as well as screen time is used to introduce to us the protagonist of the film. It uses intertitles such as 'Mysteries without answers' and 'Secrets without explanation' - also following the traditional 'rhythm' of intertitles - repetition of words and word structure/pace. Frequent rapid cutting is used and generally becomes faster as the trailer progresses, as does the music so as to build up the suspense and tension accompanied by the scary images and shots used in the trailer. Rapid fade-downs and fade-ups are used, primarily in scenes where the character in the scene is using a candle, giving the impression that the candle may flicker out and leave her in the dark, so is used for tension. The trailer ends with the name of the film 'Silent Hill' and the release date with the narrator giving the information as an audio medium.

The trailer uses lots of conventions typical to the horror genre. A lead up, set in what looks like a sunny field, as well as an introduction to a problem, is used to set up the enigma. After this point in the trailer, we can see the strong images definitive of the horror genre like bloody hands, as well as quick glimpses of monsters, often using the depth of frame to create suspense. The protagonist is a female - another typical convention of horror, and the setting is misty and dark, and shots used to show her isolation are often used.

Doom



The trailer for Doom, as it is a hybrid action/horror film has crossovers of action and horror conventions in its trailer, but generally follows trailer conventions as a whole. The film doesn't introduce us to a protagonist, but introduces us to the squad and so cuts between them during the trailer. The setting is established as well as a hint as to what the backstory of the plot might be very early on. The cutting is rapid almost from the start, so might be because of the action crossover, but works with the trailer because of the 'scary' shots used from the word go. Intertitles are used again, following the grammatical structure 'Around every corner', 'Behind every door' etc. The title of the film, 'DOOM', in the respective font from the game, is revealed at the end, as well as the release date and a tagline 'No one gets out alive'.

As a horror trailer, it shows lots of shots of dark areas and flashlights to create a sense of suspense, like something could be revealed at any moment. Quick cuts to people being grabbed and figures dropping into the screen behind characters are also used to create anticipation. The characters are a squad of soldiers and the setting is on Mars, due partly to the sci-fi/action hybridity and partly because it tries to remain loyal to the game it is based on.

Predator



This trailer uses clever methods of highlighting the genre and production value of the film it is promoting. For example, shots used of just a part of the monster's anatomy are used, so we get a sense of how dangerous it is (by showing, for example, the claws) but what it is remains a mystery. The monster's point of view is also often used, using the classic thermal vision camera, as we get closer to the 'friendly' characters, so we feel an urgency for them to move out of the way and see the monster. The production value of the film are shown through lots of thermal shots, and some shots of the 'invisibility' effect. The main star's name is highlighted 'Arnold Schwarzenegger' so lots of shots are used to promote the film via his image. Moments of suspense and conflict/fighting are shown to build hype about the film, aided by the fast cuts and fast-paced music. The name of the film 'Predator' is shown at the end of the trailer with 'Schwarzenegger' above it, adding star value to the title. The release date is also shown, with a voice-over with the tagline 'The hunt begins'.

Even though this is also an action film, the moments of horror are apparent in the scenes in the trailer. Screaming victims of the monster are shown, and with the combination of thermal camera use and 'invisibility', we know the monster can see us but cannot be seen. The strength of the monster is displayed, as well as its stature, so we know that the creature has a large presence and is seemingly unstoppable, and makes the audience want to know how the film will turn out.

Narrative theory and The Shining

Vladimir Propp - this theory is based on character types. The theory fits well to an extent, although more thinking than in classic Hollywood narrative is required because of the switching of roles, which is where the problem lies. For example, Jack may be a 'Hero' at the beginning of the film, but ends up being the 'Villain'. Wendy and Danny might both fulfil the 'Princess' role at different times as well as the 'Helper' role etc.


This theory isn't hugely useful in analysing The Shining as it doesn't tell us much about the story and narrative. It does, however, lead us to analysing 'minor' characters more closely for their narrative functions - Halloran for example might seem unimportant. When looking at his function, however, he plays both the 'Donor' and the 'Helper' roles, even providing Wendy and Danny their means of escape.


Todorov - this theory is based on narrative structure derived from story telling in old cultural myths and stories. It tries to apply the unifying underlying structure to films. It can be used loosely as a description of the narrative of The Shining. The sequence of events that underpin Todorov's theory can only really be applied to this film if you take them out of order. The problem lies in The Shining's strange plot - for example there isn't one event that changes or disrupts the equilibrium. The character types are also used in this theory, making it difficult to analyse this film because of the switching round and haziness of character roles.


This theory isn't very useful because it only really tells us that the story has a 'beginning', 'middle' and an 'end' - and goes into detail about each of the intermediary stages which often don't apply to films now.


Levi Strauss - this theory looks at binary opposition - for example Good/Evil and Known/Unknown. This theory is useful in analysing any film because of the themes you can exmplore using it. In The Shining the main oppositions could be:


Love/Hate
Known/Unknown
Sanity/Insanity
Socialism/Isolation


Looking at these themes in The Shining can help us understand why things happen - for example isolation leads to insanity.


Bordwell and Thompson - narrative is "a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occuring in time and space" according to these theorists. This can help analysing The Shining by thinking of what event causes the narrative to take shape, what happens because of this event and what brings and end to it. For example, Jack getting the job at the hotel causes the events thereafter to unfold e.g. Jack losing his sanity, Halloran coming to the house and dying and Wendy and Danny escaping using his snowcat while Jack dies.


Using this theory we can see certain characters' importance in the narrative and see links between events in the narrative.

Freud's "return of the repressed"

The term 'return of the repressed' was coined by Sigmund Freud. The return of the repressed is the process whereby repressed elements, preserved in the unconscious, tend to reappear, in consciousness or in behavior, in the shape of secondary and more or less unrecognizable "derivatives of the unconscious."

In other words, underlying or 'repressed' emotions and behavior may emerge and show on the surface, in subtle or perhaps even significant ways.

This is a base for many horror films, which most likely started with the novel Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde written in 1886 by Robert Louis Stevenson. Some films that use the same idea of something evil hidden within, only to emerge, are Halloween (1978) and An American Werewolf in London (1981) as well as most slasher films.

Ju-on: The Grudge movie trailer

I chose this trailer because of the editing style used and the camera shots used within the clips of the movie in the trailer.

During the trailer, lots of fade downs and fast cuts are used - typical of tense horror movie moments. The fade downs into black are probably to indicate the travelling into darkness of each of the characters while the fast cuts can signify tension and the feeling that something may happen at any instant. Almost all of the shots have quick cuts except for one longer take of the woman in bed, and a shot at a further distance to show the two 'evil' characters standing over her in her bed - probably as it is one of the more scary moments of the movie.

I was interested in the shots used for the montage for the trailer. They seemed to be alot more revealing about the antagonists and show alot more of the 'scary' scenes from the movie than most. The shots sometimes 'warp' like old television images, and might be used to scare the audience, at home, watching the trailer on their televisions. The shot of the woman in her bed, as in above, is interesting as it shows us a kind of intimacy with the creatures and you don't have any idea what will happen to her afterwards.