Thursday, 14 November 2013
difference between a trailer and a teaser trailer
A teaser trailer is a variation of a film trailer. Its purpose is to tease the audience and get them interested in the film and capture their attention, which makes them excited to see the film. Teaser trailers are normally shorter than standard trailer ranging from 30 seconds to 1:30. A teaser trailer has a sense of mystery behind them and doesn't let the audience know the plot of the narrative, but just gives them a little insight to get them interested.
horror movie, mood board
These are images that I collected together into a mood board to give in idea about typical things props and characters used in horror films to influence my trailer. The images used also are images props and pictures used from films that all influence my ideas for my own trailer to get a collection of influential photos.
Wednesday, 30 October 2013
movie magazine, front cover analysis 2
This is a magazine cover from ‘Total Film’ which follows the
typical codes and conventions of magazines by using a masthead, sell lines, sky
line and bar code to sell and promote the magazine to catch the audience’s eye.
This magazine and the theme of it has been well thought out and planned to make
it all in keeping with each other, making for a very appealing magazine cover.
The colour scheme of this cover is quite bright with the white, yellow, purple,
burgundy, brown and orange these clashing colours make for an eye catching
cover, but they have been used subtle and in small doses so they don’t over
power the magazine and complement each other. Using these colours fits in with
the theme of the magazine and the photo and it is featuring the ‘Alice in
wonderland’ film and focuses on ‘The Mad Hatter’ character which is a weird
wonderful film and so is this character so this colour scheme enforces this,
making it very eye catching which is what this character and the film is,
creating a theme. There a few different fonts on this cover but they are all
quite similar creating a smart, neater look. But it’s been changed up a bit by
changing the colours and sizes of the fonts to show importance. The creating
and editing process of this magazine looks quite complicated as the background
is behind and the subject is part of this background and the masthead is on top
of this background but under the subject and the sell lines are on top of
everything creating a 3D look making it look very professional which appeals
more to the audience. The photo used on this cover follows the conventions of a
magazine cover as it’s used as a background and it’s a medium shot of a subject
featuring in the magazine in the centre of the magazine. This photo shows the
mad hatter from Alice in wonderland in his costume with his make up on holding
a rabbit which adds to the weird but wonderful theme of this magazine which
fits in with the theme of the feel, making it all in keeping and link together.
Also by the way the photo, background, writing and masthead has been used makes
it looks like the subject is jumping out creating a focal point, he is also
looking directly at the camera creating a personal feel, catching the
audience’s eye. Few sell lines have been used on this cover to out more focus
on the image, colour scheme and theme but the sell lines have been used well to
give the audience enough information on a front cover and by changing fonts,
sizes and colours makes it look neater and less busy and messy showing the
thought behind it which has been well executed.
Thursday, 17 October 2013
movie magazine, front cover analysis 1
This
magazine cover from ‘Empire’ follows all the codes and conventions of a
magazine cover using a masthead, sell lines, barcode, sky line and extra
information to catch the audiences eye and pull them in, all being in its
typical place on magazine covers, following the conventions. This magazine
cover is well thought out and planned with the image and look of the whole
thing, all in keeping with each other. The colour scheme of this magazine cover
is very bright and clashing with the green, purple, red, white, black and dark
grey making it very contrasting and eye catching. But by using these colours in
keeps with the theme of the magazine, this being batman and focusing more of
the joker a character from the film and all of these colours represent this
character as they are the colours he wears, so this is a very appealing
magazine cover to the target audience of this magazine as they will know why
about the colour scheme. Creating and editing this process is quite complicated
as the background is behind everything and the subject is part if this
background and the masthead is on top of the background but under the subject
and the sell lines are on top of everything which creates a 3D look to the
magazine, it also makes it look very professional, as it looks like a lot of
time and effort has been put into the making of it. There are also a lot of
different fonts on this magazine cover, at least 5 different ones nearly a
different font for each section of writing, adding to the busyness of the magazine
and clashes and adds contrast to it, but this also fits in with the theme of it
linking everything together to create a wild, crazy look which will also appeal
to the target audience. Few sell lines have been used on this magazine cover as
too many would over power the cover with all the colours and fonts and sizes
going on it would be slightly too much but enough information is given out
through this magazine cover to intrigue the audience to buy it. The photo plays
a big part in this magazine cover as the subject jumps out on the page being in
front of the background and masthead and behind the sell lines, and the subject
is looking directly at the camera which adds a personal feel to the magazine
making the audience feel like he is looking at them, again tempting them to buy
it.
insidious chapter 2 poster analysis
This poster for insidious chapter 2 is one of the main
posters used to advertise this film. This poster uses the typical codes and
conventions of a horror film poster such as the colours, which are red, black
and white. Black represents darkness or no hope and death, the red also
represents death, it also represents evil and blood, and the white complements
the other colours and adds brighter and eye catching tones in the poster, it
also suggests hope and light this gets the horror audience interested in this
film as they can see from the poster that it is a horror film. The poster also
touches up on the family orientated plot as it shows a young family on the
poster which is the mum and two young boys. This also goes along the codes and
conventions of a horror film as a lot of them include a family where something
strange happens to them this again gets the audience of horror films interested
in this film, it also touches on a family audience a little bit. The facial and
body expressions and props in this poster also show it to be a horror film as
it shows shock mixed with dear on the mothers face, and also a sense of fear in
the two little boys’ presence as one is turned around not looking and the other
has a scared look on his face. The mother also has her arm around the two boys
protecting them also sending out a feeling that it is a horror film. She is
also holding a hammer in the other hand which is shown very clearly suggesting
that she needs to protect herself and her children from something. The codes
and conventions have been mixed up in this poster to make it more remember able,
this is because the title is put on its side and it goes down the side of the poster, as a propose to going
straight across the top of the poster. The information about the film is along
the top of the poster which also goes against the typical codes and conventions
of a poster as it is usually across the bottom of the poster.

These are all additional simple posters to distribute the film to get it known. Which also follow the codes and conventions of a typical horror film, with the red white and black colour scheme and the dark gloomy backgrounds, which also represents which film it is referring to so the audience get a familiar connection to the film. One of these posters refer back to the previous film to link them together and get the audience familiar with the film and to get them interested in the new one, as they are reminding them what happened in the old one to excite them about what might happen in the new one. The images in used in all of these posters are images that are from the film which gives the audience a bit of information but it doesn't let off too much which gets the audience interested and excited about the new film.
Wednesday, 16 October 2013
the conjuring poster analysis
These
are the two main posters for the horror film the conjuring which both present
the film to be a typical horror film.

This poster represents this film to be a horror film by the
setting and the props used in it such as the old dead tree, all the misty land,
the loop rope on the tree and the large house in the bushes in the background.
The image shows the tree in the foreground with the rope hanging from it and in
the shadow on the floor is the shadow of a figure hanging from the rope but
this figure isn’t shown in the actual photo showing the presence of the person
still roams this land, and in the shadow this figure is wearing a dress
suggesting that it is a female. The tree that this woman has been hung from is
shown to tower over the house in the background showing that it is all linked
together and that maybe the presence that still roams the land still haunts the
house too. The placing of the writing
follows the codes and conventions of a typical horror poster as the name of the
director is along the top; the title is placed at the top of the page in the
middle and all the information is at the bottom left of the page, also the
image is used as the background of the page which follows the typical codes and
conventions of a horror poster.
This poster is very easy to recognise as s horror poster as
it follows all the codes and conventions of a horror poster as it is very dark
and shadowed off and uses a lot of dark colours making it noticeable as a
horror film. The image used also represents the poster to be based on a horror
film as it shows a rocking chair with a woman sat in it with her back to the
camera which is unusual for posters but she is holding a doll in her hand which
is looking at the camera creating an image that fits in with a picture used for
a horror poster. The shadows in the poster contrasting with the few light bits
in the image adding depth and contrast to the poster drawing the audiences eye
in. This poster also follows the codes of a typical horror film with the
writing and information that’s on the poster as it shows the director along the
top of the poster and the information about the film along the bottom with the
title above this, all the writing is in white which contrasts with the
background which grabs the audience’s attention and makes the name of the film
more remember able and it also adds contrast to the poster.
Thursday, 10 October 2013
mama poster analysis
This poster represents this film to be a horror film as it
has all the codes and conventions of a typical horror film with the dark
colours such as black and brown with the gloomy background. It also represents
this in the characters shown on the poster as it shows the supposed ‘demon’ in
the film in the foreground but doesn’t let out too much information as it doesn’t
show its face. This ‘demon’ is wearing old, shabby, dirty clothing which is a
dress which suggests it’s a female it also has moths flying around her which
shows that there is something strange about her. The unusually long arm of this
‘demon’ is shown and is shown to be really skinny, emphasising the bones and
veins which adds a grotesque feel to the poster. This ‘demon’ is shown in the
dark and is quite shadowed off suggesting that it she is evil and is in touch
with her dark side which also represents this poster to be about a horror film.
There is also a little girl in the poster who is hiding behind this ‘demon’
which suggests that she trusts her and looks to her for comfort and protection,
it also shows that she is vulnerable to become close with the ‘demon’. The little
girl is shown in the light in the poster which contrasts with the shadowed off
part on the other side of the poster covering the ‘demon’ which suggests that
she is pure and innocent, again following the codes and conventions of a
typical horror poster. The title and information shown on the poster also
follows the codes and conventions of a horror film, as it has the presenter at
the top and the release date at the bottom, but unusually has the title nearly
at the bottom of the poster is bold white writing to stand out and make the
name remember able. The font and size of the writing also represents a horror
film as the font is quite bold and eye catching and fits in with the genre of
the film. And the size of the fonts are used appropriately as the title is the
biggest font on the poster automatically making it the focal point in the
writing suggesting it’s the most important and then the release date is the
second largest font making it the next importance as it informs the audience
when they can watch the film and then the presenter is the last bit of text which
shows its least important but it’s at the top of the poster which catches the
audiences eye straight away. The title and slogan for the film fits in well
with the poster and the photo on the poster as it shows the little girl hiding
behind and being protected by the ‘demon’ suggesting the title links to this
image getting the audience automatically interested as it is an usual and
unhealthy relationship. This will also get usual horror fans interested in this
film as it is unusual for the children to develop a close bond with the thing
that scares them in the film, as children are usually scared easily and this
shows something different in the film creating a different kind of horror film
to draw in the target audience.
Thursday, 3 October 2013
insidious chapter 2 trailer analysis
Insidious chapter 2
Insidious-
Directed by- James Wan
Produced by- Jason Blum and Oren Peli
Written by-Leigh Whannell
Starring- Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, Ty
Simpkins and Barbara Hershey
Release date- September 13th 2013
Genre- horror
Distributed by- film district
Editing by- Kirk Morri
Plot-
The Lambert
family are happily reunited after Josh went into the Further to get his son
Dalton back. However, the paranormal events continue to occur, which become
more and more terrifying. When the family begins to notice strange behavior
from the father, they start to wonder; is it really Josh that came back? Or had
something followed him from the Further.
The trailer
for this horror opens with the institution logo being film district immediately
catching the audience’s eye as this is a huge company and have distributed lot
a of film so the audience are able to connect to the film straight away. Also
most of the audience will have heard of this institution before and will know
of and seen some of films they’ve took part in before therefore grabbing their
attention from previous successful films, therefore this would catch the
audience’s attention and get them interested as they will want to see if the
film lives up to its expectations and if it stands with the quality of the rest
of this institutions films. The second shot also says ‘from the makers of
Paranormal Activity and Saw’ automatically catching the audience’s eye and
highlighted the target audience because as horror fans most of them will have
seen these films and will see that they are made by the same people, so this
will tempt them to watch it, from the previous success of the other films.
Wednesday, 2 October 2013
the conjuring trailer analysis
The conjuring-
Directed
by- James Wan
Produced by- Tony DeRosa-Grund, Peter Safran and Rob
Cowan
Written by-Chad Hayes and Carey Hayes
Starring- Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga, Ron Livingston
and Lili Taylor
Release date- 19th July 2013
Genre- horror
Distributed by- Warner bros.
Editing by- Kirk M. Morri
Plot-
A demonic entity lays claim to family living in a secluded
farmhouse, prompting them to seek the aid of two renowned paranormal
researchers in this tale of possession inspired by actual events. The story
gets underway as paranormal researchers Ed and Lorraine Warren evaluate a
mysterious doll discovered by a trio of young roommates in 1968. Believing
their house to be haunted by the wayward spirit of a deceased young girl, they
give the girl permission to inhabit the doll, and soon their lives become a
waking nightmare. Informed by Ed and Lorraine that they have fallen victim to an
inhuman spirit seeking a human host, the roommates entrust the doll to the
Warrens, who place it in their personal museum for safekeeping. Flash forward
three years to Harrisville, RI, where the Perron family have just moved into
their country dream home -- an 18th century farmhouse that offers plenty of
space for parents Carolyn and Roger, as well as their five daughters Andrea,
Nancy, Christine, Cindy, and April. It seems like the ideal place to raise a
family until a series of unsettling events leave the Perron family convinced
they are not alone. Terrified, Carolyn reaches out to the Warrens for help, and
learns that a demonic entity has attached itself to her family, and has no
intentions of letting them go. Meanwhile, the deeper the Warrens delve into the
farmhouse's history, the clearer it becomes that this spirit has a murderous
agenda, and that no one will be safe until it is driven back into darkness.
This is one of the first shots in the trailer showing the
institution logo, this being ‘warner bros pictures’. This automatically gets the audience’s
attention as this is a very well known, worldwide institution and most if not
all the people in the audience will know who they are and films they dove
recently. This will tempt the audience to watch the film from the known
institution as they will be aware of their success and their many successful
films in the past, straight away giving a good impression about the film and
good expectations for it.
This is a shot early on in the trailer which shows the
setting in the house from the film, this gets the audience involved with the
film and lets them see the setting and surroundings in the film. This hall way
is very large suggesting it’s a big house which is typical for a horror film.
It is also very dark and gloomy suggesting an evil presence and giving out the
feeling of a horror film.
This shot about a third way through the trailer shows a clip
of writing which is typical for horror films to show a few clips of writing to
help explain more about the film to the audience without giving away too much.
This gets the audience interested and keeps them watching the trailer waiting
for the writing to come up for them to understand it, so by doing this keeps
the audiences eye on the trailer. This writing says ‘BASED ON A TRUE STORY’
which automatically gets the audience’s attention as it’s a horror based on a
true story which makes the film a lot scarier and interesting. The writing is
also in capital letters to stand out more and to also show the importance of
this clip and the statement given.
This clip which is just under half way through the trailer
shows the stairs in the house, showing the family photos falling off the wall
and falling down the stairs suggesting the presence of something bad. The clip
is also quite colourless and dark again suggesting bad things and evil. It is
quite typical in horror films that families and family photos are targeted, so
this clip fits in well with the genre.
This clip has text on it that says ‘from the director of saw
and insidious’ which automatically gets the audience’s interest as these films
are from the same genre as this trailer and the majority of the audience will
be interested in this genre so they would have heard and seen these successful
films. So this would get them interested in this film from the standards and
success of these two films. This clip also lets on a bit about the theme of the
film and what it’s going to be about as you get hints from films that were made
by this director but it doesn’t let too much off, getting the audience
interested. Also the font and style of
writing in this clip is in keeping and is the same as the rest of the fonts in
the trailer, also the font and clip fits on with the genre with the dark black
background suggesting evil and the white bold writing on top in keeping with
the rest of the trailer.
This clip is nearing the end of the trailer and shows the
name of the film ‘the conjuring’. This clip fits in with the rest of the
trailer and the genre of the trailer with the black background suggesting evil
and darkness and then the huge bold yellow lettering with the title. The font
of the writing fits in with the writing in the rest of the trailer and works well
for the title of this film as it is very bold and sharp making the title
remember able. It’s also made remember able by making the lettering yellow
rather than white as it stands out and adds a glow to the title which is
unusual.
Monday, 30 September 2013
mama trailer analysis
Directed
by- Andy Muschietti
Produced by- J. Miles Dale and
Bárbara Muschietti
Bárbara Muschietti
Starring- Jessica Chastain, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Megan charpentier, Isabelle Nelisse and Daniel Kash.
Release date- 18th January 2013
Genre- horror
Distributed by- Universal Pictures
Editing by- Michelle Conroi
Plot-
A loving couple learn that their two adopted nieces have
brought a dark secret into their home in this foreboding domestic thriller from
executive producer Guillermo del Toro, and director Andy Muschietti. Victoria and Lilly were just little girls when their father
murdered their mother. In the aftermath of that tragedy, both girls disappeared
without a trace. Desperate, their Uncle Lucas and his girlfriend Annabel
searched everywhere for the missing girls. Five years later, Victoria and Lilly
are both found living in a derelict cabin deep in the woods. Incredibly,
they've managed to survive on their own, though years of isolation have left
them both in a feral state, and unable to communicate. Without hesitation,
Lucas and Annabel welcome the two frightened girls into their home, and work hard
to make them feel comfortable. But when a series of ominous events lead Lucas
and Annabel to suspect that Victoria and Lilly share ties to an evil beyond
human comprehension, the couple must discern whether the two young girls are
merely dealing with the emotional aftershocks of a life-altering tragedy, or
have attracted a force that could destroy their family all over again.
This is the opening shot for the teaser trailer ‘mama’ which
shows the ‘universal’ logo, which automatically catches the audiences eye, as
this is a worldwide, well known institution
which has been involved in distributing millions of films. This logo
will get a varied and wide range of the audience interested in the film
including the target audience being horror fans as all types of audience will
be familiar with this conglomerate and with a wide range of their already
successful films therefore drawing the audience in. As this is at the beginning
of the trailer automatically gets the audience’s attention getting them hooked
throughout the trailer. This shot lasts less than a couple of seconds and fades
in and out of the trailer to aware the audience of the institution distributing
this film and to keep the audience interested by not making this shot last
long, the fading affect is added to make this shot smoothly move through the
trailer connecting the trailer together.
The trailer then goes on to show shots from the film to
catch the audience’s attention without letting them know the whole story so the
plot isn’t given away, confusing them a little about the story line provoking
them to watch the film. This shot from the trailer is at the beginning which
shows a quite old, dark wooden cabin/lodge in the woods which looks abandoned;
this automatically disturbs the peace of the trailer and puts the audience on
edge getting their attention in the first few shots of the trailer. This shot
will also connect with the fans of this genre as they will recognise a dark
abandoned cabin in the woods and know it is a bad sign. This is an over the
shoulder shot, which shows the audience what the subject’s can see, and shows
that the subject’s are in this area.
The trailer then moves onto some writing showing who the
film is presented by. The unusual, unique and quirky background in this shot
catches the audience’s eye as it connects with the genre of the film and
informs the audience about the film giving them some background information
about it. The blackness spreading in the middle of the page already indicates
darkness, death, connecting with the horror genre of the film. The font of the
writing also helps with this as it is very clear and bold but connects with the
rest of the shot creating an overall chilly but interesting feel to it.
This is a shot which is also at the start of the trailer is
a close up of two of the main characters in this film, but the look of this
shot gives false hope to the audience that this is the ‘evil presence’ or the
‘monster’ in the film adding a focal point. In actual fact this figure is the
two sisters in the film who have been missing and have grown up to become
feral. As the children are extremely filthy, skinny and unrecognisable in this
shot, it shows neglect and gives out the thought of them being the predator in
the film. In the shot the older sister is crouching over the younger one as we
see the younger ones head peering out, this shows that the older sister is
protecting the younger one suggesting they’re alone have brought themselves up.
The overall facial expressions and body language shows that these children
aren’t behaving in a natural healthy way as they sit and stand on all fours;
this makes them seem feral as they animal behavioural instincts. The darkness
in this shot also sends out a bad presence and lets the audience know that
something is not right in the beginning of the trailer, provoking them to
continue watching.
This shot is about a quarter through the trailer showing a
court room in use, automatically showing that there is conflict and something
is wrong in the trailer. This adds more of a story to the trailer letting the
audience in on a little bit to help them to understand a little what is going
on and giving them some background information. This shot gets the audience interested
in the film and lets them get to know more about the characters, helping them
to be able to connect to the film.
This
shot is about a third through the trailer and shows the two sisters getting out
of a car and walking towards their new home. This shot shows that the children
are scared and are unaware of their surroundings as they are very slow and
cautious, and also the younger one is hiding behind her older sister showing
that she seeks comfort in her and feels protected by her. This shows the close
bond between the sisters as they are stood so close and are touching, it also
shows the trauma they’ve has as they look very nervous and cautious about their
surroundings, the way they are hanging their heads down and walking slowly also
shows their nervousness and shyness, suggesting to the audience that these are
disturbed girls who are not used to these ordinary surroundings. The brightness
and neatness in this shot suggests a new start and makes a difference from the
other dark, depressing shots shown previously in the trailer suggesting to the
audience that these girls lives are going to get better and they’re going to
get help.
This
next shot near the middle of the trailer shows children’s drawings on the wall and
this one drawing has been zoomed in on which shows this one catches the
characters eye more than the others suggesting to the audience that there is
something unusual and strange about this drawing, suggesting there’s something
wrong. By the fact the children are drawing on the walls shows their typical
nature and shows there inner child, showing normality but also shows their mischievous
side and the fact they don’t live with rules or tidiness. Also this particular
drawing shows a woman bending down in a strange deformed way, which worries the
character as they are focusing in on this one drawing and suggesting there’s
something wrong with this drawing and more so there is something wrong with the
children, this automatically puts the audience on edge.
This
shot is quite a long shot a little past half way through the trailer, it shows
the oldest sister sat on a chair and a man talking to her opposite which
suggests that she is having therapy or is being talked to about something
serious, this shows the audience that something is not right and that the
sisters still aren’t adapting to normal life or are still attached to their
childhood cabin. The expression and body language of the girl shows that she is
scared, nervous and closed up and she hangs her head, making no eye contact and
holds her hands close to herself showing she isn’t confident with this
conversation and shows that she is still disturbed. The facial expressions and
body language of the male shows that he is trying to have a serious conversation
with the girl and looks as though it is a therapy session this gets the
audience even more interested. The darkness and shadows in the room also
suggests something bad, and that something isn’t right giving more background
information and adding more storyline to the trailer also grabbing the
audience’s full attention.
This
is a close up shot towards the end of the trailer showing a dark mark spreading
on the wall and something seeping out of it, this could suggest to the audience
that ‘the evil’ is spreading in the house and that the children have brought
this with them, which gets them on edge as horror fans know that this is when
the time draws near that ‘the evil presence’ is going to make its move. This shot
is generally very dark and shadowed off which also suggests that something evil
is coming into the house. Also the centre of this shot where the growth is
spreading is lighter than the rest of the shot adding full attention on this
growth telling the audience that this is an important bit in the trailer and
this sort of puddle on the wall has something to do with the scariness of the
trailer.
This is one of the last shots in the trailer showing the
name of the film in this case being ‘mama’ which again uses the same big, bold
writing to connect the writing and the trailer together, and again the
background in this shot is of the same concept, with the black spreading in the middle of the page, which looks like
the shot where the growth is spreading on the wall showing the evil coming into
the house, this connects the trailer together and connects the writing with
shots out of the film. This shot is placed near the very end of the trailer so
that the shots and storyline of the trailer catch’s the audience’s eye and
keeps them interested and makes them wait for the name of the film so they can
research it and find out about the film so they can watch it.
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