Research: Teaser Trailers

“A teaser trailer or preview is an advertisement for a feature film that will be later shown in a cinema setting. The term “trailer” comes from their having originally been shown at the end of a feature film screening. This method did not last long, because people tended to leave the cinema after the films ended, but the name has stuck. Trailers are now shown before the film.

Film companies use teaser trailers as a way to promote their film to get it noticed. The trailers can vary in many ways, some being most successful as they use mysterious footage from the film itself which makes the audience immediately intrigued.

The trailers can vary in time depending on when it is being shown they can be anywhere from 30 seconds to around 2 minutes. The 30 second trailers are generally shown in between programmes on the TV these allow many different types on audiences to see the trailer and if they are interested seek out the full length trailer. Other longer trailers are often show in cinemas but only the trailers of the same genre and age certificates are shown.

For this coursework we have been instructed to make a trailer and the genre we have chosen is horror, the sub genre being psychological. We want the trailer to be short and snappy showing the scary and most interesting parts but not to many to give away the whole story line, but interesting enough to make the audience intrigued and want to find out more.

Research: Film Directors

Horror Film Directors

 

James Wan

 

James Wan  is an Australian film producer, screenwriter and film director. He is widely known for directing the horror film "Saw". Wan has also directed Dead Silence, Death Sentence (2007), Insidious (2010), Insidious: Chapter 2, and The Conjuring (2013).

 

 

Insidious (2010):

Wan directed the horror film Insidious, which premiered at the 2010 Toronto International Film Festival as part of the "Midnight Madness" programme and was sold to Sony Pictures Worldwide for a seven-figure sum within four hours of the premiere's conclusion. The film began its American theatrical release in the first weekend of April 2011 and achieved third place at the box office, with an estimated 13.5 million in ticket sales.

 

 

The Conjuring (2013):

 

The Conjuring, centred on the real life characters of Ed and Lorraine Warren, a married couple that were investigators of paranormal events. The film focuses on the couple's most famous case in which they investigated a witch's curse on a Rhode Island family farm. In his second collaboration with the pair, Patrick Wilson featured in the film, and he and actress Vera Farmiga played paranormal investigators Ed and Lorraine Warren. Filming commenced in North Carolina, United States,in late February 2012, and New Line Cinema, together with Warner Bros. Pictures, had initially slated the film for a release on 25 January 2013. A test screening of the film occurred in October 2012 at the New York Comic Con event, where it screened in the IGN Theater, and the audience feedback was overwhelmingly positive. At that stage, Wan had several more weeks before the film was completed. The film was released in July 2013.

 

 

 

Wan produced "Demonic", a Dimension Films horror movie that is scheduled for a December 2014 release, alongside Lee Clay. Wan conceived of the idea for the film, which is directed by Will Canon and features Maria Bello in the lead acting role. Max La Bella penned the script. Wan was also a producer on "Annabelle", a spin-off of The Conjuring that also served as a prequel to the film.

Research: Social Media

Social Media 

Social media has made some massive changes to the film industry and entertainment experience. Global conversations take place on social media about new film releases and people are open to share their views with the rest of the world. However social networking is now not just limited to home movie watching. A poll has found that an overwhelming majority of 18-34 year olds believe using social networks such as Facebook and Twitter while watching a movie at the cinema would actually enhance their experience. Nearly half would be interested in going to cinemas that allowed texting and web surfing. 

http://www.briansolis.com/2012/05/music-film-tv-how-social-media-changed-the-entertainment-experience/

Online Promotion

Social media is also changing the ways films are promoted, for example it is now a lot easier for independent film companies to reach a mass, global audience through using social networking sites to advertise. From creating viral alternate reality campaigns to using social networks to build awareness, the film industry is busy leveraging social media to connect with fans and promote its products. One of the best examples of using this strategy was for Paramount's "Paranormal Activity". The film, which was made for less than $15,000 went on to gross more than $150 million at the box office. Paramount extensively used Facebook to promote the film.

 

A lot of new horror films now use the hashtag and their film name featured in the trailers. This shows that a lot now have fan based twitter pages to recieve the audience's attention. As social networking is becoming imperative in people's everyday lives this is a great way of reaching a mass audience. A staggering 72% of social media users post online comments about films they see, according­ to one poll. The survey, conducted by the consulting firm Penn Schoen & Berland and The Hollywood Reporter, also found that a third of social media users had seen a movie in a cinema­ because of something they had read on a social network. Half of 18- to 24-year-olds in his poll said multitasking while using social networking sites adds to their experience of watching a movie in the cinema.

Although the use of social media can be very beneficial to film producers it can cause problems. For example the recently released horror film "The Purge: Anarchy" has fuelled online cause for concern. First Coast News received multiple messages in social media in August from concerned viewers asking about an ominous photo floating around social media sites. The graphic image titled 'The Purge' reads "Get Your Squad Ready" and gives a date of midnight on August 31st. An image of a creepy smiling man along with smaller images of a knife and a gun are also seen in the graphic. The post has popped up in cities like Louisville, Jacksonville and Detroit. Threats of a "Louisville Purge" even caused the postponement of at least one high school football game. The image is of a character from "The Purge", a 2013 American horror thriller film where people have a 12-hour period when all crimes become legal. The Purge was also the theme for last year's Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios. Below is the image that circulated social media sites which was later to be found as a "fun thing" with no intention to harm anyone.

                                                

Research: Target Audience

Target Audience

Any form of media that is presented to the public whether it be magazine, music or film should have a target audience to aim for. This makes it easier for institutions to target a certain group of people based on their interests as it would be impossible to make the media suitable for everyone.The horror film target audience is usually in the age group between 15-30. I think the gender of the horror film target audience would predominantly be males. I think teen males would be more likely to watch a horror film as the stereotype of males being the more dominant figure and ‘harder to scare’ gender, whereas females are supposedly easier to scare and quite vulnerable. I think the secondary audience for this film would be couples as the male can have the role of 'protecting' the female whilst viewing the film. The target age group is supported by the BBFC classification groups of certificate 15 and 18, this applies to most horror films. To get an idea of the suitable target audience for our film trailer we have created questionnaire's and we have analysed the results. The results from this will influence the choices we make when creating our trailer. We are going to carry out a focus group which will include us showing trailers from the psychological horror sub-genre to give us a precise idea of what the audience will want to see.

BBFC: Age Certificates

The British Board of Film Classification is an independent, non-governmental body which has classified cinema films since it was set up in 1912 and videos/ DVDs since the Video Recordings Act was passed in 1984. The BBFC have seven different categories to classify films, these include:

The U symbol stands for Universal. A U film should be suitable for audiences aged four years and over. However, it is impossible to predict what might upset a particular child, especially at this lower end of the category range.

PG stands for Parental Guidance. This means a film is suitable for general viewing, but some scenes may be unsuitable for young children. A PG film should not unsettle a child aged around eight or older. Parents should consider whether the content may upset younger, or more sensitive, children.

Films classified 12A and video works classified 12 contain material that is not generally suitable for children aged under 12. No one younger than 12 may see a 12A film in a cinema unless accompanied by an adult. Adults planning to take a child under 12 to view a 12A film should consider whether the film is suitable for that child.

Difference between 12 and 12A:
The 12A requires an adult to accompany any child under 12 seeing a 12A film at the cinema. This is enforced by cinema staff and a cinema may lose its license if adult accompaniment is not enforced for children under 12 admitted to a 12A film.

No-one under 15 is allowed to see a 15 film at the cinema or buy/rent a 15 rated video. 15 rated works are not suitable for children under 15 years of age.

Films rated 18 are for adults. No-one under 18 is allowed to see an 18 film at the cinema or buy / rent an 18 rated video. No 18 rated works are suitable for children.

The R18 category is a special and legally-restricted classification primarily for explicit works of consenting sex or strong fetish material involving adults. Films may only be shown to adults in specially licensed cinemas, and video works may be supplied to adults only in licensed sex shops. R18 videos may not be supplied by mail order.

Research: Film Production Companies

Dimension Films

Dimension Films is a major American film production and distribution studio formerly owned by The Walt Disney Studios and now owned by The Weinstein Company. The studio's movie franchises include the later Halloween films, Children of the Corn, Scream, Spy Kids and Scary Movie.



 Blumhouse Productions

Blumhouse productions is founded by Jason Blum and is a multi-media production company, the films are mainly based on horror films but also focuses on other genres. Blumhosue has produced the highly profitable, Paranormal Activity, The Purge, Insidious, and Sinister.

Ghost House Pictures

 

Robert Tapert and is friend Sam Raimi became founders of Ghost House Pictures. Although Ghost House Pictures is not as profitable as BulmHouse Productions it is still a multi-media producing company.  However he does not only focus on the horror films and focuses on other genres. He has only produced a hand full of horror films, such as The Evil Dead, The Evil Dead II and The Possession.

First Born Films

 

First Born Films is an independent film production company founded in 2006 by Carey Born and Darren Heath. They produce drama, comedy and documentary films. It has only produced only 4 films Love For Sale, Shadow Man, Compartment and The Curious Brain In The Museum.

Independent

Independent is also an independent film production company. It specialises in the development, financing, production and distribution of independent feature films. It has produced many films of all different genres such as The Sea, Boxing Day and Mr Nice. All being quite popular and successful as they have attended and won many awards.

Film 4

Film4 Productions is a British film production company owned by Channel Four Television Corporation. The company has been responsible for backing a large number of films made in the United Kingdom. It has produced many successful films such as Attack The Block, 12 Years a Slave and The Lovely Bones.

Research: Conventions of the Horror Film Genre

Iconography:

Similar symbolic images repeatedly occur throughout the horror film genre. This is done to ensure the audience can recognise the genre and understand what they can expect to get from watching these types of films. The images are used help construct the theme and type of horror film that is being created. The type of iconography that we can expect to see in horror films are things such as weapons, killers, particular tag lines, dark lighting and colour, spooky titles, masks, religious/cult icons and costume.

Setting:

Generally horror films are set in isolated or abandoned areas and more often than not set at night time when it's dark. Although this can be applied to most horror films some are set in different sorts of places at any time of day giving an even more sinister feel.  The earliest horror films had a more Gothic style however a lot of modern day films are set on newer housing estates possibly to make the audience feel more aligned with the characters making the story line seem much more real and therefore more frightening. In a lot of horror films big houses are the location because it symbolises the victims having no escape. As big houses have a lot of rooms it increases the scariness as anything could pop out from anywhere making the audience jump. An example of a film like this is "The Strangers". The other locations included in horror films are places such as forests, countrysides, houses, cabins, graveyards, hospital/asylum, haunted houses, abandoned houses and hostels etc. These sorts of places often include a sinister and dark past. For example in the film 'Sinister' the house to new homeowners (a family of four) was previously owned by a family who were murdered as part of a series of cult events. 

Camera, Editing and Sound:

A lot of the camera angles used in the horror films are designed to make everything look ten times more frightening.  The use of the handheld camera can create more realism in the horror films and create more tension, The handheld camera is used in the film 'Paranormal Activity'. The high and low angles of the camera can show different points of view showing things at a scarier looking angle creating fear and terror in the viewer. Over the shoulder shots of the characters can position the audience in the shoes of the character again enhancing the fear felt by the viewer. Close up shots of the characters faces can show their emotion helping the audience empathise with how the character is feeling and also predicting what to expect next from the film.
The use of fast and jump cuts can disorientate the audience making them more anxious of what is to come next positioning them on the edges of their seats. As the editing slows down the anxiety creeps up on the audience as they know that soon something is going to make them jump out of their skin. Sounds are very important in horror films and are key to making a film trailer genuinely scary. Sounds such as footsteps and pounding heart beats create tension whereas loud noises are there to make the audience jump. The diegetic sounds in horror films are often enhanced to sound louder and more dramatic adding to the suspense. In horror films including families and children, nursery rhyme music is used which is unnatural for this genre making it more creepy and mysterious. An example of this is in Insidious two with the nursery rhyme "row the boat" and song "tip toe through the tulips". Film makers rely on disturbing sounds to make the audience feel the suspense.

Types of editing:

• Continuity Editing- This is the predominant style of film and production editing in the post production of film making in narrative films.The purpose of continuity editing is to smooth over the essential discontinuity of the editing process and to establish a logical coherence between shots.

• Jump Cuts- An abrupt transition from one scene to another.

• Eye line Match- An eyeline match is a film editing technique associated with the continuity editing system. It is based on the idea that the audience wants to see what the character on-screen is seeing.

• Juxtaposition-  When two things are being seen or placed close together to have a contrasting effect.

• Parallel Editing (cross-cutting)- This is the technique of alternating two or more scenes that often occur simultaneously but in different locations.

• Match on action- A technique where the editor cuts from one shot to another view that matches the first shot's action

Characterisation:

The most stereotypical characters included in horror films are:

• The main protagonist, the victim or hero of the film 
• The Villain, often a monster, serial killer or demon
• Group of teenagers 
• The "non-believer"
• Lovers
• Paranormal investigators (in films such as Insidious)
• Authority Figures, usually quite useless or turn out to be a villain themselves
• Blond "girl next door" cliche

Sub Genre: Psychological Horror

Psychological horror is a sub genre of horror film genres which relies on the characters' fears and emotional instability to build the tension. Psychological horror aims to create discomfort in the viewer by exposing common or universal psychological and emotional vulnerabilities and fears. Plot twists are often used as a device. In these films tension is built through atmosphere, eerie sounds and exploitation of the viewer's and the character's personal psychological fears. Examples of psychological horror films include Sinister, The Black Swan, The Butterfly Effect and The Strangers.

 "Annabelle" Horror Film

The "Annabelle" director explains how to make a terrifying horror movie in 5 steps.
This autumn's scariest horror movie villain isn't a serial killer or a monster risen from the dead. It's a porcelain doll named Annabelle. The demonic kids' toy had a supporting part in 2013's "The Conjuring," but "Annabelle," the film's prequel, now shows just how terrifying and dangerous dolls can be. Leonetti (director) explained that he wants the audience to feel like they're physically fixed in the film and have no way out. An inanimate object of a doll is used as they're just plain scary. Most dolls are mirroring a human figure but they're missing one thing which is emotion. Leonetti described them as shells. It's a natural psychological and justifiable vehicle for demons to take it over.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/03/annabelle-director_n_5924376.html