Horror Film Research

Researching other horror films helps me to understand how they present these films in just 2-3 minutes telling the narrative of the film, yet not giving too much away. These are a few examples of the films that i liked the most that also relate to my horror trailer.

'Long Time Dead'
(January 2002) Genre-Horror/thriller.

This film is about a group of British students who enbark on summoning spirits on a Ouija board after a night of clubbing. But someone breaks the link before they have finished and now a demon is trapped in their world and the only way to banish it, is for all the people who summoned it to die.
I was really interested in this film as it has all the aspects I was looking for in my trailer. e.g. The film is about British students, the film involves the supernatural world and spirits. It also involves the teenagers partying which is something I wanted in our trailer.



'Tormented'
(May 2009) Genre- comedy/horror.


The head girl Justine gives a speech on the funeral of the teenage school mate Darren Mullet that has just commited suicide but she does not recall who he was. Then she is invited by Alexis to date him in the celebration party in the house of his friend Bradley. Sooner Justine discovers that Darren had a crush on her and was bullied by Bradley and his friends including Alexis. When each one of Bradley's friends is found dead, they discover that Darren has returned from beyond to revenge the humiliations he was submitted.

'The Texas Chainsaw Masacre'
Genre- horror/thriller


Driving through the backwoods of Texas, five youths pick up a traumatized hitchhiker, who shoots herself in their van. Shaken by the suicide, the group seeks help from the locals, but their situation becomes even more surreal when they knock on the door of a remote homestead. It's quickly apparent the residents are a family of inbred psychopaths, and the unlucky youths suddenly find themselves running for their lives. In hot pursuit is a disfigured, chainsaw-wielding cannibal known as Leatherface.


Trailer analysis

-the trailer begins with setting the scene in a positive way- the lighting is bright and happy, the setting is a nice location-a desert area on a hot day, the music is calm and peaceful. The people in the van are laughing happily, they are shown to be in love. All of these effects show the scene as being positive and happy.
-In this beginning part, we are shown a road sign of the location they have just driven into-this gives a subtle clue/answer to the trailer helping us understand more.
-Slowly the atmosphere begins to change and the horror begins to reveal itself.

Preparation/Plans for Filming Horror/Thriller Trailer

Mind map of our film trailer:

• Set in England, in the cellar of an old, georgian house-the setting of the cellar is very English/medieval looking.


• Don't see creature/monster-we wanted the film to seem realistic and not comic. So hiding the creature will heighten the suspense; and the audience are left to use their imagination.


• Main stream cinema style-The filming is realistic and easy to watch, un-like a hand held camera the audience don't realise they are watching through a camera but feel like they are part of the narrative.
  
• Adolescent characters- the reason for the characters being young/teenagers is that we thought this would interest our target audience who are around the same age. Most horror films star teenagers in, simply because the audience can relate and identify with these characters.
• Adolescent behaviour- in many horror films and trailers, there are always scenes/clips of the teenagers 'partying' or behaving badly. I think this is a really good theme to have in a horror film as it is interesting to watch, attracts our target audience and shows a good contrast between the characters having fun and when the horror begins.

A2 Media studies Production Portfolio

For the A2 practical coursework, students must create a detailed brief from 10 different options.
My chosen option was:

- A promotion package for a new film, to include a teaser trailer, together with two of the following three options:

• a website homepage for the film;


• a film magazine front cover, featuring the film;


• a poster for the film.

Group

I am working in a pair with Tilda. We have chosen to make the trailer, magazine front cover and a poster. We decided to choose a film production as our AS task last year was to produce still a print production-a music magazine. We wanted a change so we could show our full skills in all media aspects. As for the magazine front cover we can use our experience from last year and produce a really suitable front cover for this horror trailer.

Genre

The genre of our trailer is going to be horror/thriller. The reason for choosing horror/thriller is because we're particuarly interested in this genre. I also believe that this genre is aimed mainly at our age group-teens/young adults. So because of this we know what people our age like and what excites them. I personally have watched many horror/thriller films since I was very young and think as a pair we can really grasp the conventions needed in our trailer. These things consist of:

-Suspense and excitement

-Urban or suburban setting

-The narrative revolves around the investigation of a puzzle

-There is a rational rather than a supernatural explanation of the puzzle

-Violence is centural