Villain Costume research

 
• We have chosen these items of clothing for our villian as they are all dark and mysterious and they hide most of an individual body. We want our villian to stand out so by putting him in dark clothing and a mask he is not fitting the 'norm'.
 
• We have chosen the first image because the audience woudlnt normally see someone walking around with a mask on and ripped clothing. This would show them alienated from society. Also a mask covers all facial features so the identity of our killer would be kept secret at all times which would enable him to have a distant relationship with our victim from afar. We think that this mask is unusual as it had strange markings around the facial features on the face. This will make the audience find our villian disturbing as they will not be able to relate to him so will therefore not know what he is thinking or be able to agree with his actions.
 
• The second two images show what our villian will be wearing in our film. These items of clothing are quite unique as they look old and tatty.

Font Research

• This font in this film poster is bright red against a black background, so stands out and catches the eye. The use of red and black is effective as red connotates blood and black connotates death. The font used has a slightly 'dirty' look in some parts, which makes it look more frightening as the black hair in the background could be swallowing it up. The font is all in capitals which makes it easy to read and stand out. 

• The font in this poster is again in capitals, making it stand out against the dark background. The writing is a kind of yellow/white colour, which makes it clear and easy to red, compared to if it was a dark colour. The font used is a very basic font, but it has been made scarier by the use of blacking out some parts of the letters.



• The font in this poster is very clear compared to the other two. The white against the black/red is very noticeable, and the writing is clear and easy to read as it is bright white, and bold in capitals. The writing in this poster is not very scary in my opinion, so our trailer will probably be using a scarier looking font, to fit in with the mood we want our trailer to create.

 

 

•  I personally really like this font, as it has almost drops coming off of the writing, which could symbolise the blood that has been shed. The writing is in capitals so it catches your eye, and the way it is not all on a straight line, but instead up and down, makes it look as if someone has quickly written it, with what could have been lipstick or something on a mirror. The way parts of the lettering is bold, and the other parts are thin, I think is very effective because it looks as if it could have been written in blood, which would also explain the drops coming off of the lettering. If we were to use this font we would not use the handprints, and we may choose to put the lettering in red instead of black.

• I like this font as it is all clear in capitals, but also has drops coming off it like blood. It is slightly similar to the font above, but different in the respect that it is thin, not bold, and it all on the same line. This font may be good for our trailer as it is scary looking, but is not as 'in your face' as the one above. 

•  This font is not as clear as the other ones I have been looking at. The idea I get from this font, is that the film/trailer attached to it would be supernatural as the letters slightly look like a ghostly outline. Although the lettering is dark and interesting, I don't feel it would suit our trailer as it isn't as clear as other fonts.



• Compared to the other fonts I have been looking at, this font is very normal. The font looks disjointed and unusual, which could suggest a child has written it, which could suggest the villain is a child or has a personality disorder that makes him appear as younger. Some aspects to this font are scary, for example how it is written, but compared to the other fonts I don't think it is scary enough to be in a horror trailer.

http://www.1001fonts.com/horror-fonts.html?page=1&items=10

Victim Costume research

• In our trailer, we intend to put our victim in really feminine, light coloured clothing as light clothes make someone look a lot more vulnerable due to the things associated with different colours of clothing. For example white is associated with purity, and black is associated with death, so someone who is wearing white would be seen as a lot easier of a target. We want her to be wearing just jeans and a vest top as then it is obvious that she is just lounging around at home, and not going out or anything, which supports the idea that she will be home alone. Initially we wanted a girl with very blonde hair who we could percieve as not the wisest of people to be in our trailer, to conform to the stereotypical victims in horror films/trailers, but we want to subvert that stereotype by having a girl who thinks about her actions slightly more, but still has a troublesome time.

Masks

We want our villain's identity in our trailer to be hidden. From researching films such as 'Friday the 13th' 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' 'Scream' and 'Nightmare on Elm Street' the identity of the villain is mostly kept a secret via the use of a mask or some kind of facial disfigurement, i.e. a burn. Using a mask to hide who the villain is, is effective as you do not get to become familiar with the villain or see any 'good side' to them as the mask covers everything that could show remorse or regret.












 
• The first mask is from Friday the 13th, the second from Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the third from Nightmare on Elm Street and the 4th from Scream. The first mask is effective as the whole identity is hidden from the audience, and the bullet kind of holes make it look like the person wearing it is invincible. Also the huge black holes for the eyes add to the horror factor as it is obvious that the eyes behind the mask will not be friendly. The second mask is also effective as it looks very worn and frightening as there is stitching on his forehead which makes it seem like it has gone through a lot and still survived. The mask also covers a lot of the face and neck, so the person wearing it is even more hidden than someone who just wears a mask like the first picture.
 
• The third picture of a villain with a facial disfigurement, which is a burn, is frightening because his skin is scaly, and there are holes in his face where the burn has effected a wider scale. Also by him having a burnt face it shows he has been through something horrendous and survived it, so he is more invincible than a normal villain, and he would probably be harder to kill. Also it suggests a reason for him to be a killer, so it makes more sense to the audience as to why he would have so much anger that he feels he needs to kill someone. The third mask is a very well known one, and is scary as it covers a lot of the face and neck. The mask is effective as the identity of the killer is completely a secret, as it would be a lot more difficult to remove that mask, than the first one. The facial expression on the mask almost looks depressed, so it can create an idea that the person killing people is upset about something which is causing them to kill. 
 

Possible shots

Film Treatment

Wolf Creek trailer

The shots in this trailer start off very simple with some close up's to introduce the different characters and their facial expressions. As the trailer progresses some shots become very interesting, especially at 0:12 seconds in which is a mid shot with a hole in what looks like a blanket, which shows a car driving towards it. There is then a long shot as the car drives away into the distance. Following on from this there is a close up of one man's face, but the effect on the camera is that of a video camera, so he is recording himself. This is interesting as it gives a different perspective to the audience watching the trailer as not everything is being filmed by someone else. There is also a shot from inside the car they are travelling in, which shows a close up of a sign saying 'Wolf Creek Crater.' This is effective as we see the same perspective as the characters who are about to go through this nightmare. There is then a close up shot of a car with it's bonnet up which suggests that their car has broken down, so they are now stranded in the middle of nowhere.

There are some intertitles through this film, for example 'it was the journey of a lifetime' which gives the idea that something really exciting and good happens, which is completely wrong as this is a horror trailer. 'But in the middle of nowhere' is the next intertitle we see, which suggests that they are going to end up somewhere, that their screams for help will not be heard, so the result is that they will be doomed. 'The last thing they expected' 'was company' this tells us that they are not alone, and this person could be either good or bad. 'Based on true events' makes us frightened as this film actually happened to someone, and sometimes that makes a horror film 100x more scary.

The pace of this trailer is quite slow, so that we are introduced to characters and settings, and so that tension is slowly building. When the bad guy is introduced the scene pace increases so that we do not fully understand everything that is happening, and we are on the edge of our seats trying to figure out everything that happens.  

Mood board for our film

1. This first picture is of our main character, a vulnerable teenage girl, who has been left alone in her house for the weekend. We have chosen to use an actress with blonde hair as we feel that it makes her look more naïve and sensitive.
2. This picture is of the villain in our film who is wearing a Halloween mask which will cover his identity. This means that the audience will be more scared as they will be unsure of who the villain is and it means that we can have a hidden twist in our film.
3. The next picture is of our location for the first half of our film. This house is very big and surrounded by trees, this suggests to the audience that it is deserted and in the middle of nowhere which means the vulnerable teenage girl has nowhere safe to run forcing her into the dark woods.
4. One of the first props that we will use in the film is a house phone which the teenage girl will phone her boyfriend from and the strange and scary events will strange to happen. She will also use this phone to call the police which will cut out half way through her conversation showing that she has no contact to the outside world
5. These are the clothes that our victim may wear. The top and trousers are quite pale and pastel colours which will make her look even more innocent and unsure of what is happening to her. They are also clothes which are believable for a young woman to wear which will make the audience relate to the character and think that it could happen to anybody
6. We might have our villain wearing black leather gloves which will hide his identity even more and also hide any finger prints he may leave. We think that these make the villain a more frightening character as it makes him look unusual and mysterious
7. These woods will be near the girls house which she will run to when she gets scared. In the dark this location is very scary as there is so many hiding places and she can get lost. They are also a good location because they are deserted and in the middle of nowhere
8. These clothes are for our villain as we think that they are quite unusual and strange. This will make him appear to be out of society and mean that no one in the audience can relate to him. The big coat coves his whole body which again hides his identity
9. We are going to use headlights as one of our props as they light up a whole are but keep the person behind them in the dark so that they can not be seen. This will make the audience not know who the villain is which will be a scary twist at the end of our film

Trailer ideas

Questionnaire

Questionnaire (horror market research)

 

Please circle relevantly.

What is your gender?

1.   Female    11111

2.   Male        11111

How old are you?

1.   15-24       111111111

2.   25-34       1

3.   35-44

4.   45+

How many times do you watch a horror trailer a month?

1.   0       11

2.   1-5    111111

3.   6-10   11

4.   11-15

What scene aspects of a trailer do you find vital when viewing?

1.   Fast paced scenes    1111

2.   Quiet, tension building scenes  11

3.   Dark, mysterious scenes  1111

4.   Normal average paced scenes with a twist 

What is your favourite type of trailer?

1.   Horror   1111

2.   Romance 11

3.   Comedy 111

4.   Action  1

What appearance of the villain affects you the most?

1.   Face in full show 1

2.   Masks on the face  1111

3.   Burns on the face  11

4.   Face in full shadow 111

What would you say is your favourite horror genre?

1.   Slasher  111

2.   Supernatural  11

3.   Torture

4.   Real Life  11111

What is your favourite horror trailer?

…………………………………………………. 

Paranormal Activity   111

Cabin in The Woods  1 

Saw  1

Scream 3  1

The Grudge  1

The Strangers  111

 

Do you enjoy watching the trailers before a film at the cinema?

1.   Yes  11111

2.   No   11111 

Do you think music plays an important part in a horror trailer?

1.   Yes 1111111111

2.   No

Do horror trailers affect you?

1.   Yes  1111111111

2.   No

Possible location 6

This could be a possible location for our trailer as the woods are very dark and scary, this means that the villian could be hinding in the bushes waiting to attack the victim. Although this would be a good location it is on a busy road which means there would be lots of traffic noise and it wouldnt be very secluded.

Possible location 5

This location might be a good location because its right by the sea which means our victim could be chased into the sea and therefore be trapped with no way out. This could cause some very painful and disturbing deaths. The location looks quite dull and run down which could make the audience uneasy and tense as they watch the victim run across the jetty. The boats in the foreground could be frightening for the audience as the villain could also have people lurking in the boats waiting to grab her. 

This location is good as it is very deserted and isolated. There are also no streetlights present so in the dark it would be hard to see where the edges are so she would easily be able to fall into the ocean.  

Possible location 4

This location may be a good place to have our trailer as there is a deserted looking house at the end of a long road, and on the left there is a big field showing that it is in the middle of nowhere. This could be a good location as if someone was in the girl's house, she may be forced to run into the field, which looks as if it goes on for miles, and in the darkness she would not be visible to people who could help her. Also the further into the field she goes, the less chance there would be of someone finding her.

The fence could suggest that the girl would be closed into the field and trapped, so this location could keep our audience involved in our trailer to see what happens when she is forced into this field.

The horizon line shows that the field leads to the back of beyond, and in the dark, there would no way out, and our girl would probably get lost; therefore she would be more vulnerable to whoever was chasing her, especially if they knew the area. 

Possible location 3

We may use the first image of the house as the main location for our trailer, as there is a long pathway towards it and it is partly hidden by a tree. The trees in the top hand corner of the picture is a big characteristic of horror films as the villian could hide behind them or the wind blowing the trees could distract the attention of the victim and cause her to miss what the villian is doing. 
The second image of the shed is another location we may use as it is really full which means that the villian could be hiding in there and watching the victim from a far. The shed also looks like a characteristic of a horror film as it appears to be deserted and run down.
The last two pictures may be used in our film as its an unusal camera angle which shows the reflection of the house in a scary and uncomfortable position. We think that this would be interesting for the audience as it probably hasnt been used before. One idea that we could use is someone all iin black walking towards the reflection so that the audience can see them but the victim looking into the shed can't. This would be disturbing and frightening for the audience as they would feel that something was bound to happen to the victim and there would be nothing they could do about it. 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre - Horror film trailer

Horror trailer conventions
- Scary music
- Fast paced scenes
- Screaming
- Running

Texas Chainsaw Massacre





There are some credits/intertitles throughout this trailer to explain part of the film as it is following on from the previous one. For example 'In 1974, a legend, was born' all in capitals on a black screen, in order to ensure the audience are reading it and taking in what it says. Further into the trailer it says 'This January' then 'it happened before.' 'This January' makes sure the audience know when it is out, so when to look out for it, and 'it happened before' reminds audience members of the previous 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' so if they haven't seen it before, they have an opportunity too. Following on from 'it happened before' is 'it's happening again' which is frightening to see as it is in bold white writing on a black background. The use of many intertitles shows a kind of story, which gives a clue to the audience as to what they will be seeing and what the film will involve. Without the intertitles it may not be clear enough to the audience as to what is happening and the relevance of it all.

During this trailer there is a fair bit of dialogue talking about the house and the person who owned it, in order to give the audience an idea to why they are there in the first place and who the big house belongs too. After the intitle 'in 1974' the mood of the trailer changes due to the music and shots we are seeing. The dialogue after that is just of the girls screaming as they are hunted down by this sedistic killer.

The genre of this film is horror, as it involves lots of killing and screaming/running. As soon as we see the chainsaw and deserted house we realise that the film will be scary, and that many people are going to die.

The music at the beginning of the trailer is quite slow and deep, with a man singing along with it. After the last line of 'God help the beast in me' the music turns very dark and spooky, with the sound of someone starting a motorbike followed by a bang of a drum and a noise that sounds like some sort of creature. The music is very sinister and dark, and a sound of a chainsaw then appears. All throughout the trailer the music is made as creepy as possible until the sound of the chainsaw stops and just footsteps can be heard. A series of boom sounds that are reflective of gun shots can be heard, and almost the sound of helicopters etc make the sounds effective and busy.

The pace during this trailer is quite slow at first, the shots aren't amazingly quick, but still fairly quick. After most scenes they fade to black to keep certain areas a mystery to the audience. After the first intertitle the shots speed up a bit so that we can not fully make out what is happening in some shots, so that they are scary as they are unknown. After 'This January' we can see quite a rapid increase in pace, and as 'It happened before' fades away, the scenes are very fast paced so that we see quite a lot but do not know the order or relevance of it, so that we, the audience members are encouraged to go and see it to see how it all fits in.

The shot types/camera angles in this trailer vary. From the beginning they are quite basic long shots and mid shots, so that we understand who the main characters are and the location etc. The shot through the old, black spike gates give us the impression that where they are going to stay is spooky, and by the gates they are either trying to keep something out, or trying to keep something in, due to how high they are. As more important things happen, the shots change to close up's, which are for example, of the spooky old painting and the record player which is playing creepy music. We then see a close up of someone washing their hands in an old, rusty basin, but what they are washing off is unknown. It could be blood or dirt, which makes the audience question why he has such dirty hands, why his basin and room looks so dingy and dirty, and who is he and what relevance he has. As the close up's continue we see a box with something inside it, his mouth, and his fingers. We see many body parts of his except a full shot of his face and body, which keeps him as a mysterious character. Towards the end we see a high angle shot of someone wandering through the woods on their own which makes the audience think they are going to die and continue to watch it to find out what happens. There are many close up's of the chainsaw to help to explain the meaning of the name, and what relevance the name has.

For this film to be successful, the age rating should be 15 upwards, but due to the scenes shown I think an 18 may be more appropriate. As this film has not yet come out it does not have an age rating, so most likely it would probably be an 18. The issue with it being an 18 is a lot of younger people may not be able to see it, so the film company would miss out on the 15-24 year old's who would not be able to see it due to it's high rating. The reason it would probably be an 18 is due to all the gore and violence involved.

The unique selling point of this film could be that it is a remake of the old film from 1974 which was hugely successful, so the audience will want to see what has changed, and be encouraged to go and see the new film as the old one was so brilliant.

There is not really a voiceover to this film as what the characters are saying is so important, that any voiceover would distract you from listening to them. Also the music plays a very important role so the producers do not want any distraction from the audience focusing completely on the trailer and the scenes being shown.

Paranormal Activity 4

The genre of this trailer is supernatural horror. This is made obvious to us through the flicking lights, and dark shadows cast over people. The lighting in this trailer is generally quite dark which is common in horror films, as in darkness not everything can be seen, so the thought of something lurking in the shadows is frightening to the viewers of the trailer. Supernatural horrors involve spirits and demons, so the flicking lights are common to this theme as lights do not really turn off themselves or flick unless something is happening to them. In supernaturals there are also a lot of 'did I just see that?' moments, which is relevant to this film as when shadowed people appear throughout the trailer, we wonder if we actually did just see them.

The target audience for this film would most likely be 15-24 as there is nothing too gory or scary for a younger audience, but it is still jumpy, so would still captivate an older audience. The use of a young female teenager also makes the film relevant to teens as they can relate to her and understand what she is going through. I think this film could appeal to males and females, as it is scary, so boys would like it, but it is not gory, so girls could enjoy it too.

The pace in this trailer is quite fast at the beginning, where we see a family and their kids. The scenes move quickly so we only see glimpses, and may suggest that they are not an important focus. Since this film is the 4th in a sequel, some scenes from the past films are shown but very quickly, in order to find a common ground with their previous audience members, and to remind the audience of what happened in the past films, so that the trailer makes more sense.

The music at the beginning is quite dark and creepy, with the occasional drum beat. There are loud bangs when important, scary parts happen, but when it follows onto the new characters being introduced, the music stops. The sound of a camera breaking up can be heard, but the music stops all together when a character is talking. When the young girl's camera starts to break up and go fuzzy, the music becomes scary again, which suggests something bad is going to happen to her as she is vulnerable and no one is there to help her.

The shot types in this trailer tend to be close UPS to start with so that we can establish characters and who they are. There are some high angle shots to show rooms with people in and long shots to show the difference of rooms. There is also some over the shoulder shots, so that we are able to establish which character is talking to who, and the relationship between them. Most of the shot's are close ups as the girl is holding her laptop with the camera most of the time, except for when she looks out the window and a little boy is standing there, which is shown in a high angle shot. This makes him look small and scary as a cliche of horror films is the evil children.

There are quite a lot of intertitles in this trailer, to help to establish the story behind it. These include 'In 2006' 'They disappeared' 'which gives us a bit of background information about the characters and what happened to cause all the problems that are going to occur. This October' informs us of when it is going to come to our screens, so that people can be prepared to go and watch it, and keep their diary free and 'All the activity' 'Has led to this' frightens the audience and makes them inquisitive as to what is going to happen, to make it scarier than the other 3.

There is quite a lot of dialogue in this trailer, as the young blonde girl tells her family and friends about the weird things that are happening. This is effective as it tells us, the audience, a bit about the film and what is happening to her family since this little boy has come along. Without the dialogue in this trailer, it probably would not make sense as it would just be a lot of random scenes thrown together.

There isn't a voice over in this trailer as the girl tells us everything there is to know. With a voice over too much of the film would be given away, causing the scare appeal to be lower.

Friday the 13th - Horror trailer

In this trailer there are not many interitles, except numbers counting up from 1-13 which fits in with the name 'Friday the 13th.' As each number comes up something bad happens to each of the characters involved. By having nearly no intertitles, there is room for more scenes to encourage audience members to watch the film. Although the trailer shows a lot of scenes, it does not give too much about the film away as the killer is only shown once or twice and where he has come from is unknown.

The genre of this film is horror, as it involves a group of people going to a deserted lake house where some sort of evil human being called Jason is lurking waiting to have his revenge for reasons unknown. There is a lot of screaming, murder and blood which fits in with the cliches of the horror genre.

The target audience for this film would most likely be 18 upwards as it is quite gory and scary, and probably involves strong language. Also people of a younger audience may find it too scary to watch and may not be appropriate for them.

The unique selling point of this film could be that it is from the directors of 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' which was quite a successful film and many people applauded it on it's scare factor. As it is from directors who succeeded with a different film, the audience may be encouraged to watch it as they expect it to be just as good. The element of the 'Jason' person, where he has comes from and why he is doing what he is doing, could also be a unique selling point and he is not explored much and is sinister and mysterious so we want to know more about him.

The narrative in this trailer is a group of people go to a deserted lake house in 'Camp Crystal Lake' where a mysterious person called Jason lives. A girl goes missing and as her brother desperately tries to find her an old woman informs him that no one ever goes missing, they die. As this Jason character enters our screens, he begins to kill many people, and the trailer then ends saying 'His name was Jason, and today is his birthday.' The trailer gives us a sort of storyline, but also stays mysterious so we want to see the film to find out everything there is to know.

At the beginning of this trailer there is a high angle shot of a lake to establish the setting. There is then a low angle shot of a 4x4 driving through a forest by that same lake which shows that this location is of importance. We then see mid shots of all the characters to establish them and who they are, and that they are important. We also see their relationships with each other. Further into the trailer there is a long shot of a girl water skiing across the lake which shows how vulnerable she is as she is in a big open space where anything could get her. As she falls off the ski the shot changes to a close up where we see her frightened look as she spots something lurking in the trees. There is then a close up of loads of 'missing' posters with a girls face on them in a pile with a shoe stepping on them. As the trailer continue there is an extreme close up of a girl screaming which makes us wonder what she has to scream about and where she is. There is then loads of close ups of the different characters faces, which show the fright they are feeling, which suggests they are in a very dangerous place with no way of escaping. As one of the characters moves a curtain back, we see a mid shot of 'Jason' standing behind her which is incredibly quick but frightening, as he is wearing some sort of mask to cover his facial expressions. Towards the end of the trailer, when numbers start to appear, Jason starts to kill people in many different ways. Most of the shots are mid shots or long shots in order to fill everything he is doing into the shot, so there is nothing we miss out on.

The pace of this trailer is quite slow at first, so that we familiarise ourselves with the characters, their relationships and who they are. As the 'baddy' starts being shown the scenes speed up so we do not 100% know what he looks like or is he is a human or monster. This is effective as we are encouraged to keep on watching the trailer in the hope of seeing more of him and what he is planning on doing to these people. When the trailer gets to the number scenes, the trailer speeds up dramatically so that we do not capture every single thing that is happening, but do get to see that loads of people get attacked. We even see a police officer and people we have not seen before be victims, so we are encouraged to watch the film to find out who they are and where they came from. The fast cuts and short takes increase tension and overload our senses as there is so much happening at once.

In this trailer there is happy music at the beginning where they move into the cabin, but as the girl falls off the ski, the music becomes very dark and scary, and sounds like a drum beat. There is then a sort of sound effect that would generally be made when someone dies on a heart rate monitor, which could suggest that people are going to die as it is a horror film. After the old lady says 'she ain't missing, she's dead' there is a loud drum beat coupled with a scream, this tells us that the murders are beginning to take place, and the scream could be from the missing girl. In this trailer there is plenty of sound effects like a heart beat and breathing etc. which follows on to what sounds like a person laughing in the background. There is not a common music throughout except towards the end which is dramatic and tense, which helps create the atmosphere that is wanted throughout the trailer.  

There is quite a lot of dialogue throughout so that we hear conversations between the characters. It also enables us to find out why they are going to this deserted 'camp crystal lake' and their relationships with each other. The use of dialogue adds more tension to the trailer as we are given some information about what happens to people when they stay at 'Camp Crystal Lake.' 'People go missing around here, they gon' for good' this is effective as it encourages us to watch the full trailer and the film to see how the people go missing, and where they may possibly end up when they go missing. If there wasn't dialogue in this trailer it may be difficult to understand, and the message may not be put across properly so the trailer would not be as frightening as it is when dialogue is included.

At the beginning of the trailer we hear an old woman say 'Did you know a young boy drowned here? He was my son, and today is his birthday.' The effect of having this voice over is it sounds creepy and distant, and informs us on some information as to who the killer might be, and why he may still be residing around this lake. By telling us he drowned there, it intrigues the audience as it creates mystery surrounding the character of Jason and whether or not he is the killer, or simply a victim in it all. It also makes us wonder, 'if he is the killer, how did he manage to survive drowning without anyone knowing.' At the end of this trailer, the same creepy distant voice appears informing us 'his name was Jason, and today is his birthday.' This makes us question why he comes out on his birthday to kill, and what relevance there is to killing on his birthday.