- From researching the different certificates that films can have, it is clear that a lot of them are unsuitable for a horror film as they would mean that people of a too young age would be able to view them and they would be too frightening for them. The certificates that would be unsuitable (PG, U, 12) are below; PG - Parental Guidance, would enable people of any age to view our film, which would be a very bad decision, as a parent may take their 7 year old to view our trailer, without them realising what our trailer may entale. U - Universal, would also be unsuitable as Universal means that there is nothing unsuitable for children, which in our trailer, there probably will be, so we do not want children to watch it. The Certificate 12 would also be unsuitable as by rating it as a 12, our target audience of 15-24 would probably not watch it as they would assume it is not very scary due to it being such a low age rating. Also some parts would probably be too scary for a 12 year old.
- When you view a horror film the certificate is generally higher than these ones, as the content of the films is completely different. If you watch a film with any of the above certificates, it would probably not scare you very much, as that is not what the aim of the film is. Horror films are generally aimed at an older audience because of the terror it may cause.
- The two certificates above would be more suited for our film, as we are aiming to do a horror film, and by having either of the other 3, the target audience wouldn't be a high enough age, so not many people would want to view it, as it would be too scary for them. 15- is a good certificate to have, as many 15 year olds go to the cinema nowadays, and the 15 certificate allows you to include murder and blood. Although 18 is a good certificate for a very scary horror film, we do not want to limit the audience members ages that much, as we may get less people viewing it compared to if it was a 15.
Conclusion
- In conclusion, I think the certificate we will most likely use for our film will be a 15, as people of this age are more likely to watch horror films, and it would reach a wider audience as people may believe an 18 will be too scary for them. Also if we were to do an 18, less people would be able to watch it as it would be a too high age rating for them, but with a 15, anyone from the age of 15 upwards are able to watch it, so we would get a wider audience with this lower certificate. Also the main ages of people who view a horror film are 15-24, so we would be fitting into this group of people with our trailer.
Dream Works Pictures -
This institution is a very well known and popular film brand. A lot of films produced are animated and aimed more for children though, so using this as our institution in a horror film may create the wrong idea of the effect we want our trailer to have. This logo is very widely associated with 'Shrek' which is obviously not a horror film, so by putting this logo, we may be attracting the wrong audience for our horror trailer. Some of the films that have been produced include:
- Shrek
- Meet The Parents
- She's The Man
- The Ring
Although 'The Ring' is a horror film, the other three are comedies/romcoms. As the majority of the films produced by this logo are comedies, it would not be suitable for our horror trailer.
Paramount Pictures -
This logo is another well known brand, that is very popular and famous. This may be a good logo for our film as from the start, it would be recognisable. The films produced by this company generally do well in the box office, so by having this logo, an audience member would probably expect our trailer to be of that standard and be encouraged to go and watch it. Some of the horror films they have produced include:
- Friday the 13th, Gross: $64,997,188 (USA) (19 April 2009)
- Paranormal Activity, Gross: $193,355,800 (Worldwide) (21 January 2010)
- Sleepy Hollow, Gross: $206,071,502 (Worldwide)
From looking and these films and their gross in America and Worldwide, Paramount may be a top choice for our final institution choice.
Ghost House Pictures -
Ghost House Pictures is a very horror based institution. This is made apparant by the skull in the picture above. Ghost House Pictures have produced films such as:
- 30 Days of Night
- Drag Me To Hell
- The Grudge
- Boogeyman 2
If you continue down the list of films they have made, it is clear that they are widely associated with the horror genre as most of their films are not suitable for young children and are horrors. Most of the films they make are widely successful in making people jump due to the different editing and camera shots. Looking at the film 'The Grudge' the way it is made is very effective, as no other film has had the idea of having a girl with her hair over her face, who is really pale making a loud croaking sound. Although GHP would be a good institution, we did use it last year for our film, so this year we would want to use a new logo.
Warner Bros Pictures
From researching this film institution, I do not think we will use it, as they have not produced many horror films, and are mainly associated with every other genre including action, sci-fi and adventure. Also a lot of their films are aimed at a younger audience, and most people's assumptions when they see this logo is that it is going to be a light hearted film. Some of the films they have produced are:
- The Harry Potter series
- The Exorcist
- The Matrix series
- Star Wars
From looking at these films, it is clear that the genre of films this company produce would not be suitable for our trailer. When I look at this logo, I also think of Bugs Bunny, so if we were to use this, people may think our film is a joke.
Overall from the research we have done of these film institutions, I think the company we will probably use would be 'Paramount Pictures' as they have produced more horror films than the majority of the other institutions. 'Paramount Pictures' will be a good institution to use because they are widely popular and well recognised. By using them, hopefully there will be high expectations of our trailer.
