Horror Trailer

Trailers that have had an influence on our ideas

The Ward (2010)

The Ward trailer inspired our ideas as the story is set in a mental asylum and involves someone or something trying to kill some of the characters. We based other parts of our trailer on the ward for example the intertitles are similar to the ones we have created, simple and short to grab people’s attention.

The Blair Witch Project (1999)

The way The Blair Witch Project is filmed is different from most horror films as it is filmed on a handheld camera. This is where we got the inspiration to film our horror story handheld. It is a different way of filming and we thought it would coincide with the narrative we have created.

The Cabin in the Woods (2012)

After we had decided on a narrative for our horror film we chose to have base our characters on similar characters in The Cabin in the Woods. As our storyline was similar to The Cabin in the Woods where teenagers stay at abandoned cabin. Our storyline is based on teenagers who go to an abandoned mental hospital.

Shot List

Our group's individual ideas of a new horror movie

An individual idea that I came up with for a new horror movie was a slasher movie. The killer goes around picking off individual victims and in the end just leaves one person left. I suggest my idea to the group and we then voted out of the ideas that had been suggested. Also an idea was to record the film handheld, as a group we all agreed this was a good idea. Another idea suggested in our group was to do a zomcom which is a zombie comedy. However, we all decided that in order to make the film/trailer really good and funny would be difficult. We all voted on the suggested ideas and ended up with the idea of a group of teenagers investigating an old mental hospital, where a ‘villain’ takes the teenagers one by one.

Evalution Question 2: How effective is the combination of my main product and ancillary texts?

The role of a film distributor is that either a group of people or an individual who are responsible for the marketing of a film. The film distributor has to advertise the film, make it more appealing to the public and to make it more successful. The film distributor also sets a release date for the film and decides how the film will be available to the public via DVD, tv, download etc. They will create a campaign to advertise and promote the film. The film distributor will either specifically advertise to the target audience or advertise to all audiences to try and entice the public to see the film, which would create overall success for the film.

There are various different advertising and promotional techniques and platforms film distributors can advertise on. These are outdoor adverts; billboards and banners on buses, tv and cinema adverts, web adverts etc. In order to attract the target audience film distributors, need to choose the right platforms to advertise on so they can reach their target audience. The marketing differs depending on the potential audience of the film for example, if the target audience is teenagers it would make sense to advertise mainly on social media Twitter, Facebook, YouTube etc. and perhaps advertising on the side of buses as teenagers tend to get buses to school/college, choosing to advertise on the tv during day time would be wasted as most teenagers are at school and college so this would be wasted advertising. By advertising on a variety of platforms it would be more likely that the advertisement would reach the target audience.

Audience research is therefore important because the film distributor(s) need to know about and understand their audiences as the marketing will differ depending on the demographic and size of the audience. For our horror trailer we would advertise it at the cinema for films age restricted 15 as our horror film is a 15. We would also not advertise on tv before 9 as most children will be watching tv and our horror trailer would not be appropriate for them.

Depending on the target audience and the research that the film distributor has have found out depends on how the film will be presented. For example, the two film posters Zootopia and Kung fu panda 3 are designed to target children. Both film posters are bright and colourful with the main characters at the front of the poster with a happy or odd expression on their face. The characters are on the front of the poster because children can usually recognise them and can relate to the main characters. However, the horror film posters are both dark and fearful for the target audience. The main characters are not given away as there is only one character on the front of the film poster as to not give too much away. Not a lot of action is happening compare to the films aimed at children in order to not give the narrative away.

Film distributors create a marketing plan that can begin up to a year before the film is actually released. This is so they can ‘tease’ and ‘temp’ the audience by releasing short 10 second trailers and poster to make the audience excited for the trailer release and then make them excited for the actually release of the film. On the run up to the release date for the film the more advertisement there is. This is to make sure the audience know when it is and to get them to go see it. If the release day is further away the audience are more likely to forget and the same is if there isn’t enough advertisement closer to the release date, then the audience won’t know enough or anything about the film to go and see it.

A recent advertising campaign that was effective was Batman vs Superman. The film is based on the comic book series so it attracts comic book fans as its main audience. As many actors have played batman and superman over the years there was a lot of talk about who was going to play them. Batman vs Superman is the starting film for releasing sequels and spin offs so DC, who produced batman vs Superman had to choose actors who would be able to film future releases. The promotion for the run up to the film was the teaser trailers, cast release, the full length trailer and the soundtrack. The posters and the trailers all unified and formed a theme throughout so that the audience knew what poster or trailer were advertising as they related to the comic books and film. These promotions showed both super heroes against each other so the big question that left the audience wanting more was why were they against each other? The films budget was $250 million and on the first weekend of its release its gross domestic product (GDP) was just over $170.1 million alone. Batman vs Supermen was sponsored by Turkish Airlines they advertised the film on their own adverts. This was another key part of the advertising campaign and has helped the film become such a success so quickly even though the critics views we very negative the film was and still continues to be a success.

There has to be a unified identity for the film which carries on throughout all of the advertising products. For us that means the horror trailer has to consist of the same colour theme and images as the magazine cover and poster. This is so that all of the products together create a recognisable identity straight away. Throughout my poster, magazine cover and trailer I have tried to carry on using the same colour theme, texts and similar images so the audience can relate to the identity of the film whilst still making them appear fearful, scary and enticing.

What is a trailer?

What is a trailer from chloeabel9

Evaluation Question 4: How did you use new media technologies in the construction and research, planning and evaluation stages?

Risk Assessment for the film shoot

Sketch for magazine covr

Sketch fo my film poster

Evalution Question 3: What have you learnt from your audience feedback?

Evalution Question 1: In what ways does my media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?

Poster

Magazine Cover

Synopsis - Our group chosen idea for our horror movie

The chosen synopsis for our horror trailer was the same idea we had from the beginning, paranormal activity as our genre for the trailer. We then decided that our trailer would be based around a group of teenagers, who decide to go and check out an abandoned mental hospital. After being at the hospital for a while the they begin to notice paranormal activity there within the hospital; such as slamming doors, objects being thrown and shadows moving behind them etc. We have decided to include the actual 'antagonist' within the trailer to show the audience some insight into our horror film. The antagonist begins to interfere with the group of teenagers until it seizes all of the them. As we have chosen a mental hospital as our filming location we decided that the antagonist would have been a former patient of the hospital hence the name 'Patient 16'. Overall as a group we decided to go with the idea as the feedback from our questionnaire was fairly positive of our idea.

Recces

After deciding what type of horror trailer we wanted to make, as a group we needed to pick suitable locations to film our trailer. One of the group members already knew of a location, Little Plumstead Mental Hospital so we decided to check out the location. We looked at the location on Google Maps and researched the location and found a lot of blogs and photos of the place. After assessing the location we decided that Little Plumstead Mental Hospital was the best location for our horror trailer. However if we eventually decided that the location was unsuitable for any reason we had other locations that could be used instead.

Storyboards

Storyboard

Questionnaire Results

Questionnaire results from chloeabel9

Representation of Women in relation to ‘House of Wax’ (2005) and ‘Halloween’ (1978)

Props and Costume List

Here is a list of props that we will need when we go and film our trailer. These props will help create a horrifying horror trailer that will scary, thrill and make the audience want more. When we go and film we need to be wearing typical teenager clothing i.e. hats, coats, scarfs, jumpers, boots etc. This will help our trailer appear more professional if we are wearing the appropriate clothing.

• Black cloak
• Anonymous mask (if possible)
• x2 Cameras
• x7 Torches
• x4 Rucksacks
• Fish wire
• Lighter
• Candles
• Tripod
• Duck Tape

Shaun of the Dead Analysis

Trailers are advertisements that are insights into future films that are going to be released. They are designed to promote and entice the audience to want to go and see the film. The trailer I’m analysing is Shaun of the Dead and because this film is one of the first of it’s sub genre (a zomcom, which is a zombie comedy) the audience will not know what to expect.

The trailer starts off with the first inter-title of the trailer of the Universal logo appearing this informs the audience what company produced the film. The first few short clips are of Shaun’s typical daily routine however the shots are quick and zoom in to everything he does from spreading jam on toast to brushing his teeth. Half way through these shots a voice over talks to the audience saying “Do you ever feel like modern life is not for you?” The voice over continues throughout the first half of the trailer. This makes the audience think about their own daily routine and how standard and boring it is. The trailer then shows some short shots of a supermarket and Shaun’s typical day at work. With the voice over saying “Do you do the same dead end job everyday?” This question is allowing the audience to respond and relate to the main character. By the audience being able to relate to the main character it is more likely that they will go and see the film. Establishing a bond between the audience and character means that they will begin to root for the character and want them to succeed. This will create a bases fan base that will entice them to see the film and even buy it on DVD.  Some shots are shown of the main character having flowers and then a female character holding those flowers. We would assume that the female is the main character’s girlfriend who would play a big part in the film. The voice over continues to say “Is your love life dying on it’s feet?” the dialogue it relating to the audience and fitting with the clips in the trailer.

The trailer shows how much of a bore the main character’s life is, an equilibrium which is leading up to an event that causes problems that need to be solved in order to create a new equilibrium. The voice over then asks the audience “Have you ever felt that you are turning into a zombie?”. These questions all appeal to the audience as they entice them on want is going to possibly happen in this boring life. The voice over also gives away the villain/virus when asking the audience if they feel like a zombie. Where a clips shows someone banging on the door who appears to be a zombie by the way they are behaving.

The first inter-title appears with ‘In a time’ with lots of clips of a new reporter and the zombies roaming around. The next inter-title appears with ‘of crisis’ the trailer is trying to give information across in short snappy phrases to make the audience want more. The trailer then continues to show short bursts of more action packed, dangerous clips.

Another inter-title appears with ‘A hero must rise’ followed by lots of different angled clips of zombies in the road and up against windows etc. Voice over is featured which is the news reporter warning people to avoid all physical contact from the zombies and the news reporter is shown throughout the short bursts of clips. This will make the audience aware that it is a dangerous situation and that the main characters could die and therefore need to be careful. The next shot is of the main character and his friend who again we assume would feature in the film sitting on the sofa. Then the inter-title appears says ‘From his sofa’ again the sentences are being continued throughout the trailer and are short and snappy so the audience will remember them. By using ‘From his sofa’ it is appealing to the main character whose life is a bore and is making a comical joke out of it.

The next clips after is a close up shot of the two characters sitting on the sofa and they look up to see a zombie in their lounge which they then get up of the sofa ironically and away from the sofa. The main character then starts to voice over the few clips saying “So what’s the plan?” then a few clips of the two main characters facing zombies whilst then saying to “bash them in the head.” This gives away to the audience the solution to killing the zombies again another feature which is not conventional in a horror trailer. However, this trailer does not follow conventional horror trailers or films as they then reveal what they are going to be doing by “going to Liz’s” and the reason behind it. Various jokes are made such as they take a picture together with a zombie the rest of the sequence is then filled with action packed shots so this will appeal to an audience who also like action films.

The next inter-title ‘This year’ telling the audience when the film will be out and make sure they know so they can go and see the film. It is then followed by some more shots of Shaun seeing a naked zombie which he is clearly embarrassed about, another comical part within the trailer to appeal to the audience. Another inter-title appears with ‘Fear’ and followed by more short action shots of jumping running and driving in a car. Yet another inter-title appears with ‘Has a new enemy’ which again flashes up quickly to make the audience more enticed and grab their attention. A couple more inter-titles appear with ‘And courage’ shortly followed by ‘Has a new name’ In between these inter-title are fast short shots of the main character and his friends battling for their lives, with rock music to show the dramatic scenes. Comically after the inter-title ‘Has a new name’ the main character’s name, Shaun is shouted very loudly through a door machine to a flat. When he looks around at the zombies you can see the adrenaline which is making him determined to make sure him and his friends live. The title of a film then appears ‘Shaun of the dead’ which is made up of the main character and the fact that mostly everyone around them is dead.  

Unlike horror trailers this trailer does not finish with a jump scare at the end of it. It actually finished with a comical scene between the two main characters and a zombie, who singing back to them. Then the last inter-title appears saying ‘Coming soon’ the music at this point is rather friendly, light compared to other horror films, putting the audience at easy. Ending the trailer with a comical clip rather than a jump scare reminds the audience that it isn’t just an action/horror movie but is also a comedy. This will then appeal to a wider audience who may not like horrors but would see a zombie comedy.

The film has to appear scary, action packed and comical which will appeal to a wider audience then if the film was just aimed at horror fans. Therefore, this film is a hybrid genre which involves zombies and comedy, making the audience want the character to survive and make them laugh along the way. Shaun of the Dead was one of the first hybrid genres to appeal to a mass audience which is why the film was such a success. Other films have been created from being inspired by Shaun of the Dead such as Hot Fuzz, World’s End, Zombieland. As well as recently Warm Bodies which is a zombie film and a romantic film as well combining genres is becoming more and more popular which is why they are such a success.

Scream 4 Trailer Analysis

Trailers are made to entice and intrigue the audience into wanting to go and see the film. They are made up for shots and scenes from the film to portray the film in a different order so the full narrative is not revealed but leaves the audience wanting more. Scream 4 is a part of the scream franchise and typically follows the structure that all the other scream films use, beginning with a phone call, a starting murder, lots of other death action shots and end with a jump scare.

The trailer first begins with an inter-title which opens the trailer with ‘In The Beginning’ referring either to the other Scream films implying that this film will somehow relate in someway or another to the previous scream films. The opening inter-title begins with the phone ringing just like it did in the first scream trailer the phone continues ringing and the music then starts playing. A clip appears zoomed in on what looks like the original phone that is ringing, another inter-title appears with ‘One Call Started It All’ referring to the original scream film that was released in 1996. Then dialogue begins with a voice over of the man who calls the victim and asks them “What’s your favourite scary movie?”. Having these first couple of clips and the voice over quickly reminds the audience of the original films and that this film will somehow relate to the other scream films. This also targets not only new people who may not have seen any of the scream franchise but also the original fan base who followed and watched the scream films. A short clips shows the killer in the scream mask running at the camera then the screen goes black and another inter-title comes up with ‘Dimension Films’.

The trailer then begins with an equilibrium where a guy with a camera is asking people their favourite scary movie and talks about it being the anniversary. There is music playing and dialogue within the scene another shot appears with the main girls in their bedrooms on the phone saying “What’s your favourite scary movie?” in creepy voices whilst laughing. This is implying they are taking the micky out of the original man who said it. Another inter-title appears with ‘Now A New Generation’ the music begins to get louder with the sheriff of the town saying “One generations tragedy is the next one’s joke.” Implying that this generation at present is making jokes out of the killings that happened previously. The guy with the camera continues to appear throughout the trailer which must also mean he is a main character in the film.  When asking students “What’s your favourite scary movie?” they all take it as a joke and reply with a stupid response. Proving that they don’t take the anniversary serious enough and do not seem to care.

The music dramatically changes and becomes creepy, the equilibrium is about to change due to the arrival of one o the original victim comes back to her home town. Another inter-title appears with ‘Is About To Meet implying that the new generation is going to suffer because of this. This gets the audience more focused and entices them to want to see what is going t happen within the film. The trailer shows a new report reporting in the story of one of the original victim coming back on the anniversary week of the killings. An inter-title appears with ‘A Ghost From The Past’ the camera shows a couple of shots of Sidney on the phone talking to the original voice basically stating that now she is back she has to watch the events unfold before her. The trailer then goes on to show two of the girls who are main characters answering the phone which they both think it’s a joke but eventually the killer comes to get them. It shows various short shots and clips of the girls, the killer and the girls being corned by the killer.

The next inter-title ‘From Master Of Suspense Wes Craven’ tells the audience who is directing the film. Wes Craven also directed A Nightmare on Elm Street and the original Scream movie. This implies that the film will be just as good as the first because the directed knowns how to capture and portray the killer from the first film. By having Wes Craven direct Scream 4 this also will attract the fan base of his to go and see the film as well as the fan base for the Scream franchise as well. The next clip is of the sheriff being made aware that everything that has happened is available online so there is nothing that the public don’t know. Then there is another scene where the killer is show with the mask on and is about to kill another victim who we have not seen before meaning that she could most likely to be another main character in the film. There is a brief shot of “What’s your favourite scary movie?” painted on a door what looks like is blood from a victim.

The original survivor then discovers that the killer is killing people after the original movie ‘Stab’ which is then shown a shot of the film ‘Stab’ in the cinema. The music then stops and the girl in the middle of the clips says “It’s time for someone new to die” this could be meant literally or as in the social way ‘die a social death’ either way the line leaves the audience hanging with the phrase question why she said that. The music then changes and becomes more darkening and a quick shot of someone screaming whilst the killer is in front of her.

Another inter-title appears with ‘Someone Is Re-Inventing The Game’ implying the killer is changing ‘the game’ this will make the audience want to see the film because they want to know what and how the killer is changing the game from last time. The next few clips are of the people who were asking “What’s your favourite scary movie?” at the beginning of the trailer explaining that the rules have changed such as innocent virgins can die just as well as the not so innocent girls who have had sex. One of the guys also says ‘the unexpected is the new cliché’ meaning that everybody could be killed and no one survives which is not a convention in horror narratives as someone always survives and is normally the innocent virgin girl. The next clip is of the main blonde girl making a point that comes across as a joke, this could be seen as dark humour which may attract other people how have that sense of humour.

The next inter-title appears with ‘Someone Is Re-Creating The Terror’ this is to tell the audience that the killer is re-creating the terror that happened all those years ago. The voice over then goes on to explain the ‘new rules of the game’ that the killer films the deaths from a video camera somewhere in the room. The clip then shows on of the women finding the camera and the killer appearing behind her. These clips are left on a cliff hanger making the audience wonder is the woman was murdered or not. The camera changes to the two guys at the beginning on the trailer then explaining that not to involve the guy who has been filming people answering the question “What’s your favourite scary movie?”.

The last inter-title comes up with ‘Someone Is Re-Writing The Rules’ this is then followed by more up-beat music and fast shots and clips. The guys appear again saying they can’t kill Sidney, who was the survivor in the original scream movie but then the girl states that they can because she is ‘expendable’ this means that not only is there a different killer but they can kill anyone. So the audience who would of rooted for Sidney to not be killed in the first one would be rooting for her again and therefore this would attract more people to go and see the film. Also if Sidney is the ideal person to kill they guy says she’ll be ‘third act main cast blood bath’ a lot of clips of Sidney on the phone and running from the killer.

The clips begin to get faster and shorter with the police trying to catch the killer and the victims on the phone to the killer having to answer questions which is also different from the other screams as they are being tested on their knowledge of horror films. If answered wrong they supposedly die. These clips are implying lots of action within the film and lots of violence with the music getting louder and quicker as well. This will make the audience want to see the film because the trailer shows that it will be an action packed film.

The music then stop and the scene slows down with two police officers in the police car where one says “Be right back” then “I know you’re not suppose to say that”. The music starts again louder and the scene changes to crowd of people screaming, then a body dropping from a roof onto a car and then all the girl main characters appear individually screaming in very quick shots. Then ‘Scream 4’ appears in white bold text on a black background. This will entice the audience and possibly put fear into the audience and make them want to see the film.

The last part of a horror trailer tends to be a jump scare and in this trailer particularly is a dark humour jump scare. The one of the police men is pretending to be dead and makes the other police man jump. Ironically the killer then jumps out from the shrubbery and goes to stab the police man who jumped then the scene cuts to the release date of the film appearing ‘4.15.11’.

The Ward Trailer Analysis

Trailers are designed and created to advertise and promote new and up coming films. Trailers are made up of clips from the film to entice the target audience and leave them wanting more.
The trailer starts with the main character running through the woods to a builds which she then set on fire, this is an event that will grab the viewers from the beginning. The opening scene has a mixture of dialogue which introduces the central character. The voice over is of a man asking “What’s the first thing you remember?” and a girl’s voice (who we assume is the one who is running through the woods) replying “fire”. This dialogue talks about the ‘enigma’ an event which occurred that created the path the main character is on. The dialogue leaves us wanting to find out about the event such where, why, how etc. The soundtrack begins when the inter-titles appear at the beginning of the trailer. Most horror trailers follow convention and use short shots to catch the audiences attention rather than just continuous film footage which would become boring after a period.

After the inter-titles the trailer begins with more short shots but are more slow paced then the ones at the beginning, along with the music that started playing when the inter-titles began. These scenes show what roughly the narrative is going to be about without giving too much of it away. The clips show the location of the story where the majority, if not all of the film will be based in a mental institute. The trailer continues with more calm clips from the mental institute with dialogue within the scenes. The scenes then slow down onto the shower scene with a voice over warning the main character. Having a shower scene implies that the film is following the typical conventions of a horror film with the main character in the shower appearing vulnerable and powerless. Another inter-title appears displaying the direct, John Carpenter who has directed the Halloween franchise as well as lots of other horror films. After the single inter-title the music begins to speed up as well as the clips becoming more shorter then before, which will entice the audience to keep watching. The trailer reveals that there is a ‘ghost’ within the mental institute. Another inter-title cuts up the clips stating ‘Director of Halloween’ this is so that the audience can associate the director to another film he directed. This will widen the target audience from not just John Carpenter followers but also Halloween follows.

The trailer continues to pick up pace with the music becoming louder and more fast paced as well as the clips from the film becoming short and fast showing the character trying to escape the ‘ghost’ as well as the staff who are trying to control the patients. Various inter-titles appear with the phrases ‘This January’, ‘Experience Terror’ and ‘From The Master’ meaning John Carpenter who clearly has a big influence within the film. The clips continue with lots of running, screaming, violence and fast moving shots showing the audience the torture and terror that features in the film.
The final inter-title appears after all the short dramatic clips have finished slowing the trailer down with ‘John Carpenter’s The Ward’. This appears towards the end of the trailer to make sure the audience remember the name of the film and can associate it with the director of the film. The last clip of the film after the inter-title is from the shower scene again where the main character is grabbed round her neck by the ‘ghost’. Having this short scene as the last part of the trailer leaves the audience wanting more and as a last jump scare. At the end the of the trailer the billing block appears leaving the audience wanting more and want to see the film in the cinema.

What I have learnt

Location Report - Little Plumbstead Hospital

Mood Board - Advertising and Promotion

The main target audience for our horror trailer is between the ages of 15-24 who would enjoy watching paranormal films such as The Conjuring and Paranormal Activity. As the fan base for paranormal horror is increasingly growing since the release of the paranormal franchise. The majority of the target audience would be horror fans who like and enjoy watching horror films. Social networking sites such as YouTube, Facebook and Twitter would be ideal sites to influence and persuade people to go and watch the trailer and then hopefully the film in the cinema. As social networking is one of the most influential revenue streams for advertising which is why it would help us entice our target audience.

Mood Board - Influences

We have had many influences for our horror trailer many that are shown in the pictures below. Films such as The Blair Witch Project and The Visit which both use handheld shots throughout the whole film capturing their experience from their point of view. These films are where we got the idea of filming our film most from handheld shots. Our idea is based on a patient who was in a mental asylum and is now haunting it, the idea is also similar to John Carpenters The Ward which takes place in an mental institute. The paranormal idea of the film was taken from Paranormal Activity and The Conjuring which both feature on the mood board below.