"The Ring poster analysis"

This poster is fairly simplistic, yet highly effective. The title "The Ring" creates an ominous undertone as it is vague but conveys horror. This is then enhanced further by the distorted font giving it an unnatural feel. The white colour of the font against the black background serves as a contrast. The title tells the audience what the film is about to an extent but sparse background makes them focus particularly on the title and image creating a sense of tension. The picture has an ominous feel as it is faded and distorted. This represents the horror genre. In terms of colour, the black and white used represents death, horror and the unknown. From the poster however, there is no clue to the plot of the movie keeping the audience intrigued. There are no actors names displayed showing that the story line is clearly more critical than the actors involved. This also gives it a sureal feel, as the audience are not familiar with the actors previous work therefore cannot judge them. The tagline "Before you die" simply gives the poster a dark feel and a terrifying message. This causes the audience to feel alarmed and intrigued, therefore making them want to see the movie to answer the questions hat this poster poses. The main thing about the simplicity of the poster is that it doesnt give too much away, grabbing the attention of the target audience.

Analysis of existing horror movie posters

In addition to constructing a magazine, we have also had to construct a film poster for our movie. In order to do this successfully I have researched and analysed some existing movie posters within the horror genre, as well as identifying their conventions and considering which ones I could apply to my own poster. Firstly, I analysed the poster for the 2008 film "The eye" (Dir: David Moreau).
It is clear on first glance of this poster that it is advertising a horror film. The colours are dark and shadowed, and the disturbing image gives it a feeling of the unknown. Disturbing images are something that i have found to be very common within the horror genre. They shock, alarm or disgust the audience which is what makes the genre as a whole so succesful. The eye itself is shown in low lighting, which gives it a sinister feel. It looks as though this person could be hiding. The hand shown gives it a more disturbing feel, and poses several questions for the target audience that they want to answer by seeing the film. The poster itself is fairly simplistic, therefore leaves the audience clueless. An eye is one of the most iconic images within the horror genre and therefore can mean different things. It could mean that someone is watching someone or being watched themselves, or it could mean that someone is seeing things (this relates to the idea of our own film). In terms of text, this poster is extremely limited. The only visible text is the name of the film and the name of th actress "Jessica alba." By having her name shown in large red text, the interest of the audience is increase as they may well be familiar with Jessica Alba as she is such a well known actress. The fact that her name is shown in red, a colour associated with blood and anger, denotes the idea that she may be a villain in this film. The font used is Sans Serif which gives the poster a modern feel, denoting that it is set in the modern day. There are also some technical codes shown in the poster that create subliminal messages. The lighting around the eye is dark but becomes light when it reaches the name. This is not only to make an eye catching contrast of hues, but to convey the idea that the person is dark on the inside (the darkness on the eye) but may appear normal on the outside (the lightness shown beneath the eye). The eye itself also shows a scared expresion as the pupil is somewhat dilated, this reveals a bit more about the plot. It could also convey the idea of awareness of what is happening.

Final initial idea- Magazine.

We put together all of the feedback that we collected from the research below, and we have now constructed an initial idea for our magazine, as shown here.

Layouts

These are three of the layout designs we showed to our target audience in the research process for our magazine. The most popular layout proved to be layout number one. We asked our target audience the reasons for this choice and they said that they liked the idea of having the main image as the background, and that seeing something like this would be most likely to grab their attention. They liked the conventional elements however also liked our own individuality by having the font in the top left corner rather than in the middle of the page, as used in most horror magazines.

Fonts

These are the fonts that we showed to our target audience during the research process in constructing our magazine. The most popular font proved to be font number three, the third font down from the top. We asked our target audience their reasons for this choice and they seemed to think that this font looked most conventional of the horror genre therefore it was most effective. We then asked the same audience their preferred colour for the font. The choices were black, red, blue, grey or green. The majority of people chose red. They said that it reminded them of blood which fits in with the conventions of horror.

Magazine research

After we had researched existing magazines, we took several of their ideas into consideration when constructing our own initial idea. We did a survey in a local WH smith in order to speak to people interested in magazines. We presented them with several different layouts and names and asked which one they preferred. The names we came up with were; Asylum, Freak show, Slaughterhouse and Filmfest. The majority of people decided that Asylum was the best name, and it seemed to not only reflect our genre but also our film. Asylum reflects the idea of not only a horrific situation but also the mental entrappment our protagonist experiences. Shown above are some of the visual aids we showed to our taret audience (15+)

Filming schedule

We devised a schedule for our filming, so that the whole process would run smoothly and effectively. We had to consider actors, locations and times in doing this.

Tuesday November 9th-
All indoor scenes
Location- Film at Katie's house
Cast needed: Katie (filming) Hannah (Filming) Josh (Filming and acting) Steph (Acting) Mus (Acting) Dan banner (Acting)
Time: 4:30-6:30

Wednesday November 10th- Chemistry lab and Half outdoor scenes
Location 1- Chemistry lab at school
Cast needed- Katie and Hannah (Filming) Josh(Filming and acting) Steph (Acting) Dan banner and Matt Boucher (Acting as extras)
Location 2- Cheshunt park
Cast needed- Katie and Hannah (Filming) Josh (Filming and acting) Steph (Acting) Dan banner (technical equipment and lighting) Michael grayston (Transport)
Time 5:30-6:30 (darkness is needed)

Tuesday November 16th- Final outdoor scenes
Location- st marys church
Cast needed- Katie and Hannah (Filming) Josh (acting and filming) Steph (acting)
Time: 5:30-6:30 (darkness is needed)

Reshoots TBC

Storyboard

Alteration: As shown here, we decided to have a boy tripping up our introvert boy rather than sticking to our original plan of having our female protagonist do it. We decided that it would be better to have her be the one to spill the beaker of acid, this is because it can be seen as an accident so that the audience sympathize with her and see that although she feels guilty, she has not purposely done any harm to the young introvert boy. By having the audience sympathize with the protagonist, we have stuck to the conventions of most horror films.

Magazine research

We felt that in order to increase the success of our own magazine cover, it would be necessary to research and analyze existing ones on the market today. We felt that Fangoria magazine was particularly influential as it is so successful. We considered its different aspects and thought about how we could modify these and apply them to our own. What we were immediately struck with was the familiar red font that is used repeatedly throughout the horror genre. The name Fangoria also reflects its genre, as fangs is something you would typically find within several horror films. We felt that this concept was interesting and took it into consideration. The layout is the same on every magazine, with the title across the top, bar down the left side and the main image taking the majority of the space. The simplicity of this proved to be quite effective, and we may take this into consideration when constructing our own magazine front cover. We also looked at Empire magazine, one of the most popular movie magazines around today. Like Fangoria, the font is eye catching and bold. It is also written across the top of the magazine. The central image also takes up most of the space and acts as the background. It also dictates the theme of the magazine, and the colour scheme matches the image. For example when the colour green is used for the central image, the font and text on the page will also be green or something contrasting to green like white to attract and sustain the readers attention. In conclusion the main image being shown at a large scale is what attracts the reader most. They thrive on shocking or gruesome images that they may see in the trailer. This is something we will take into consideration when constructing our own magazine, and also could apply to our film poster.

Audience feedback

In order to improve the overall success of our trailer, we showed our storyboard to roughly twenty people from our target audience at various different places. Firstly we asked year 12's and 13's in the mac rooms what they thought of our storyboard as we felt that not only they are the correct target audience for our movie but they also have an interest in the media as they study the subject. We also went to Cineworld cinemas in Enfield, after a showing of the new horror film "Let me in", so we knew that we would be dealing with fans of the horror genre. We had a variety of results. The majority of people agreed that it would be a good plot line and something that they would be interested in watching it, however some felt that it was somewhat difficult to follow. Some of the people we asked had some comments to make about the location of our filming, however they felt that it would be more effective to have our protagonist locking herself in the bathroom rather than crying in the kitchen, as this would heighten the sense of chaos and entrapment.

Conventions of horror films

Horror films are made generally to: frighten, panic, cause alarm, invoke hidden fears, captivate audience, often conclude in a shocking finale. For different types of people, horror films can deal with different fears such as alienation, death, identity and the unknown.
There is always a lead character or protagonist, who often comes out as the survivor.
The killer/monster/villain often has a trademark such as how he kills victims or the weapons he uses. For example in the "Saw" films, the killers trademark is to trick his victims into killing themselves. In nightmare on elmstreet, victims are killed through their dreams.
The characters fall prey to an evil force that is trying to victimise them in some way.
Sometimes the killer/villain wants to corrupt its victims by making them do something evil, for example: the shining.
There is often a fight between good and evil.

We have taken these conventions into consideration and plan to create a trailer using some of then, but putting our own unique twist on our trailer.

Initial ideas for own trailer

In developing ideas for our own trailer we have had to consider ways in which we could use camera angles, editing, mise en scene, sound effects, music, special effects and dialogue.

Camera angles:
Camera angles are very important in filming our trailer because they are useful in denoting things about our movie. For example, we've decided to use a high angle shot on the victims to show their vulnerability in the situation. We plan to use this shot when our victim is crying in the corner conveying her helplessness and inferiority in the situation. We will also use this type of shot at several other points during our trailer. in contrast to this, we've decided to use a low angle tilt shot for the villain to show their superiority in the situation, conveying a sense of power. We've decided to use close-ups at several points in our trailer, mainly to show the actors expression but also to convey a sense of claustrophobia and disorientation. We plan to use tracking shots to speed up the pace of the trailer when our victim is running, as well as over the shoulder shots to show conversation between characters.

Editing:
We will be using a variety of cuts during our trailer to denote different things. There will sometimes be fairly long sections of dialogue between cuts, for example when the dialogue is important and a vital part of the story is being told. This also gives our audience a chance to establish who characters are. We will also use a series of short cuts as the flashes of scenes get faster and shorter to quicken the pace of the trailer and heighten the suspense. The use of fading the screen to black as though it is being condensed will be used to convey an eerie feel, as well as contrasting between the previous several fast scenes. We are aiming to use this to denote that there is no way out for our victim.

Mise en scene:
We plan to use mise en scene to really denote the helplessness of the victims situation. Following the conventions of horror, we will have our villain dressed in dark clothes to denote the darkness associated with his character. We will film most of our trailer at night, again to give the eerie, dark feel to it (again conventional of any horror trailer). We plan to use iconography such as blood to conform to horror conventions aswell as the scarred face of the boy due to his severe burns.

Sound effects and music:
The music we will use will have an orchestral feel to it, however we felt it would be easier to create our own music using glockenspiels to be able to mould it exactly to our own preferences. The music will sound dark and ominous conventional of most horror films to denote the darkness of the situation. In terms of sound effects we plan to be fairly stereotypical to familiarise our audience somewhat with the fact that it is infact a trailer of the horror genre. We will use loud crashes, bangs and screams for this purpose.

Setting:
As our trailer will be filmed at nightime, this will show the isolation of the victim. The location will also show this, as we will shoot in dark, secluded empty streets and other secluded places. The interior of the house of the victim will remain dark again to show the victims imprisonment. This can be seen as symbolic in showing the mental imprisonment of the victim as she is being imprisoned by the hallucinations of the past. We will also use a therapists office to show that our victim is mentally unstable.

Dialogue:
We will have a limited amount of dialogue to let the action speak for itself. We won't use narration because we don't want to give too much away, however we will have the dialogue of the actors as they speak to show small snippets of the action that goes on in the movie and to give our audience a vague idea of the story.

Focused analysis- Location and mise en scene

One of the most important aspects of a good horror movie is to create a sense of fear and dread without any hope of someone coming to the rescue or having our main characters somehow escape the horrible fate that has been bestowed upon them. Typically horror films are usually set in a dark isolated place, set apart from the rest of society. A good example would be Cube (1997) where seven complete strangers wake up in a maze that consists of several square rooms, the victims are completeley isolated from society.
For our trailer, we will show that the protagonist has been isolated from the rest of society by moving so far away from home,but when she returns she is again isolated as she hasn't been there in years and no longer has anyone to turn to. She is also isolated in the manifestations of her mind.

In terms of time, horror films are often set at night time to create a dark feel and the idea that anything could happen. We will follow this convention for our own horror film.

For mise en scene, there is often repeated iconography throughout horror films for example an eye, a cross or repeated images of blood. In terms of clothing, the outfits worn by the protagonst often begins normal, but by the end is typically covered in blood or dirt after the journey they have embarked on. The monster/villain/killer will often wear dark clothes that hide his or her identity for example a large coat and hat, or a mask.

Focused analysis- characters

There are different types of character in horror films, however the same type of characters are used repeatedly within the genre.

The monster/killer/villain is often enshrouded in darkness and we rarely see its face. It is mostly a single entity and tends to be pictured in the background if at all as if to be lingering over it's victims. They often have a trademark way or tool of killing i.e a claw, knife or hook.
Examples:
Freddy Krueger (Nightmare on elm street), Hannibal lecter (Hannibal lecter), Samara (The ring), Leatherface (Texas chainsaw massacre)


The victim: The victims are often displayed in different colours than the text and monster to show innocence or neutrality. The lead character or protagonis that is often the sole survivor (another regularly used convention of the horror genre)
Examples: Alexandra coyle (Nightmare on elm street), Rachel (The ring), Kate Coleman (The orphan)


The protagonist: The protagonist is often very naive, vulnerable attractive and usually young. Most horror films are a journey for the protagonist, and usually results in them growing in confidence and becoming a more strong willed character, usually ending up as the survivor.


Characters in our film:
Our protagonist is a young female who is stereotypically naive and vulnerable. When first faced with the obstacle of her situation, she is scared and paranoid. However as the story progresses she becomes a stronger character and becomes alot braver. This relates to the stereotypical conventions of character within the horror genre.

Focused analysis- sounds and music

Most people will agree that orchestral music is the most characteristic type of horror film music, the reason being that it is so incredibly versatile. However,the main reason is that powerful orchestral music simply works very well when there is a need to convey emotions and set a certain mood. Most orchestral music has a dark ominous tone which is perfectly fitting for horror movies, although sometimes the music can be more upbeat which creates a disturbing contrast between music and events. Orchestral music is frequently used in horror trailers, and typically uses a crescendo to fasten the pace of the action. It is usually high pitched and has an eerie sound. With this in mind, we will choose appropriate music for our horror trailer.

Nightmare on Elm Street trailer analysis

Sound: The first 15 seconds of the trailer show the sound of heavy breathing, which gives the trailer a sense of panic and suspense. There is a loud crash just as the action sets in, this is stereotypical of horror film. There is also very fast paced music and the sound of a car. This gives the trailer an action-packed feel. The dialogue heightens the sense of panic as the central actors shout their words rather than speaking them. Also, one character is adressed as "krueger", this means that the audience can immediatley identify him as the victim. As the captions appear on screen there is a series of short, sharp beats in time with them which heightens the suspense. The dialogue suggests what the plot is about. The singing of the children is unconventional because usually this would be something innocent, however as it has an echo effect it sounds distorted and sinister. There is a regular beat in time with the childrens singing that sounds like footsteps, this gives the impression that something bad is coming. Inbetween the singing there is the sound of screams and loud crashes and bangs. This all comes to a silence before the child sings the line "never sleep again", as this is the most important line, relating to the plot. Afterwards there is a series of short sharp screeching noises that can be see as reflecting a heart beat, this shows the panic of the central characters. There is then a series of screams before it goes into silence as the title appears on the screen, this is very conventional of horror films. It then ends with dialogue of the villain which is quite a lasting effect.

Editing: The editing is fairly normal in this trailer. It involves the conventional start with slow shots fading into one another creating an eerie feel, but then goes into a series of short ones to convey a sense of panic. The interesting this is that the editing varies. One minute there will be a slow, short shot, and then it will immediatley go into a fast one which suprises the audience. The editing is often in time with the music which makes it more easy to comprehend and highly effective.

Mise en scene: Conventional of horror film, the beginning starts in a dark secluded place. It is set at night time. This fits in with the plot of the film in that all the action happens while the central characters are asleep. The protagonists are shown to be dressed in light colours, as opposed to the villain who is dressed in black and appears to have blades for a hand. This immediatley makes the audience aware of who the characters are. The idea of having children present in the trailer juxtaposes their innocence with the harsh realities of what happens to the victims. The disturbing images shown are stereotypical of horror. There is a woman syringing herself, and the villains arm appearing in the shot at several times to frighten the audience. The expression on the characters faces also gives alot away about their reactions to the events that occur in the film.

Paranormal activity trailer analysis

Sound: The trailer begins with a deep, echo-like sound. It reflects the idea that something bad is about to happen. This is going on as the audience are seen queueing up to see the movie, it implies perhaps that they are victims for having to witness the film. The sound is very similar to thunder, conveying metaphorically that a "storm" is coming. While the dialogue is going on, this sound continues. There is a sudden loud crashing sound in time with a shrill scream which is supposadly from the audience. There are series of very conventional sounds such as screeching, deep instruments and unknown noises. The "sound" of silence is even more sinister, as it contrasts with the loud, tense sounds from before. This heightens the suspense. Again, this crescendos into a loud bang at the same time as the door slams and the audience scream at this sight. There is another series of conventional sounds, some of which sound like a mobile phone being cut off a if the victims are in complete isolation. The dialogue gives away some of the story, and shows the conversation between the central couple aswell as the professional help they recieve (psychologist). As the credits come on screen, there is a flickering sound as if the television is about to switch itself off- denoting the idea of paranormal activity.


Editing: At the start of the trailer the editing appears to be fairly normal. It shows regular length cuts of the audience coming into the cinema to watch the film. When the film has begun, the editing becomes more obvious. Each shot slowly fades into another giving it an eerie feel. The editing becomes particularly clever as it alternates between shots of the audience and shots of the actual film that they are watching. This shows both the action on screen and the audience reaction. It gives the film a sense of reality. A caption describing how scary the film is as a quote by critics fades slowly on to the screen, again sustaining that eerie feel. The editing in this trailer much like other trailers becomes increasingly faster and fits in time with the sounds that can be heard. More captions then fade onto the screen. The shots seem to flicker before they fade onto the screen conveying a sense of disorientation.


Mise en scene: This trailer is particularly clever in that it conveys a sense of realism. It begins by showing the audience queing up to see the film, so that the audience watching the trailer can share the reaction of the audience watching the film at the time. The on- screen captions make the audience aware that this was the first audience that viewed the film and "this is what they saw". The alternation between the action on screen and the audiences reaction is particularly clever as it shows their reaction and sustains the idea of reality. The audience are shown in a green light that looks like they are in night vision, which gives the trailer a dark feel and makes it immediatley conventional of the horror genre. The action on screen shows a sense of equilibrium. It is clear that the film has been produced to look like a hand-held camera has captured all the action, and this an interesting idea. Throughout the trailer, at several times the audiences reactions are shown. This is particularly importan because you can see the horror in their faces. This shows how scary the film really is and will therefore increase its success.

Amityville horror trailer analysis

Sound:
The trailer begins with the non digetic sound of gunshots. This establishes a threatening and dark atmosphere. As the screen is black at this moment, the audience are left in curiosity. As the editing becomes quick, there is a sound of razors on violins prompting a numerous amount of cuts. When the police officer begins to narrate the action, the non-diegetic sound of a low pitch instrument accompanies the diegetic sound casting and continuing the overall ominous tone. We are then presented with a home video of the family moving into their new house, and the sound of active film reels sets the time period. The video however is not happy because the sound of childrens laughter has been distorted giving it an eerie and disturbing feel. The final part of the trailer is characterized by a mix of digetic and non digetic sounds. For example the sound of screaming is mixed with the sound of amplifying violins.

Editing:
The editing is mainly quick. There is alot of information being transmitted in the opening sequence such as close ups of headlines on newspapers. The use of quick cuts quickens the pace of the trailer, and is usually closely in time with flashes of lightning. By this the threat is intensified. Throughout the trailer the text fades onto the screen, almost like it is condensing. This is very effective in giving the trailer and dark and eerie tone.

Mise en scene:
The beginning of the trailer shows alot of black and white, giving the trailer an old and dark feel. In the faster part of the trailer there is a frequent use of pathetic fallacy. It appears that the weather is being used to reflect. In the home video the weather appears to be calm and sunny, representing equililbrium, followed by harsher weather representing the threatening situation. We also see a variety of disturbing images for example a dead man in a bath, which is used to keep the audience intrigued and on the edge of their seats. The recurring image of blood red is used throughout the trailer. Most importantly, at the end where we see two windows of the house dyed blood red.

Structure:
The trailer is structured in three parts, the first part introduces the house, the second introduces the characters, and the third combines both creating a horrfic outcome.

Grid of 9- Saw

grid of 9

Grid of 9- The orphan

grid of 9