Shot List

Props, Costumes and Characters Appearance

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Ellie (aged 11)

Martha (aged 9)

Tess (aged 7)

I have these children dressed in colours which consist of greys, blacks and browns as I thought bright colours would not relate to the horror genre and distract from the theme of my film trailer. I also wanted them to wear these colours as they seem dull and help add to the disturbing atmosphere. I have also painted their faces white with grey eye shadow around the eyes to exaggerate the more ghostly appearance. I think this is effective due to children being stereotypically known as active, overjoyed and enthusiastic about life. Where as in my trailer they appear miserable, depressing and lifeless which subverts the stereotype of children. This is the reason why I have chosen to include children in the beginning part of my trailer. I have also used young children at this stage due to nursery rhymes being associated with and iconic of children. I have chosen to use three girls as it shows a range of ages of young children. These girls are sisters so the target audience can relate to remind them of their younger relatives.

I received my inspiration for the appearance of my 

characters after researching in to several films which had a ghostly theme. I found characters such as 'Beetlejuice' and 'The Grudge' which were the kind of ghostly look I wanted to achieve.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094721/
(IMDB - Beetlejuice)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0391198/
(IMDB - The Grudge)

location

These photographs are the images of my chosen location of where I am going to film my teaser trailer. The area is a very small forest and I have decided to film here as I believe it will help emphasise the interrogating and sinister atmosphere I wish to create. Forests are often an iconic location used in the horror genre as they help to enunciate the idea of isolation, and I also think autumn or winter would be the most effective season as leaves are starting to fall off the trees to kind of represent death. So I believe this helps add to the atmosphere. I would also like to look at different coloured filters to see how it changes the mood. At the moment I would like to use either a blue or a grey filter as I think this will enhance the mysterious atmosphere, as my main key element in my trailers is all about the atmosphere.

Target Audience

My target audience is 15 - 24 year olds as this is the popular age bracket for this particular product, and also one of the characters shown in the teaser trailer is of similar age, which therefore means the audience can relate to them more easily. When deciding what age certificate to give my film I looked at the BBFC's website to research the requirement guidelines for all age categories. I found that certificate 15 would be most suitable as my film would contain:

• 'Frequent strong language'
• 'Strong violence'
• 'Strong threat'

These are all shown in the guidelines for certificate 15 taken from the BBFC's website shown below.

http://www.pbbfc.co.uk/guides_15.asp

Story Board Plan and Trailer Inspiration

For my teaser trailer I was inspired by a television advert promoting a ride at Alton Towers. The advert (shown below) contains a menacing atmosphere which includes a lot of low key lighting and a powerful soundtrack which helps accentuate the frightening atmosphere. It also looks as if a blue/grey filter has been used over the top which adds to the atmosphere. The advert constitutes a lot of close ups and extreme close ups to become more dramatic. The trailer concentrates on a young ghost girl which cuts to show very short snippets of the ride and then back to the girl. She is singing the famous nursery rhyme of 'If you go down to the woods today.' This fits together as the location is set in an abandoned forest. These are the key reasons for my inspiration. I have created a storyboard (shown above) where I have used similar techniques as the trailer. For example I would like to use to use the popular nursery rhyme 'Ring O Ring Of Roses' although I would like to use three girls instead of one as it is well known that you dance in a circle and by using one person, wouldn't connect with the song and theme. I am going to use three younger girls than the girl in this advert to emphasise that children are supposed to be innocent, however these girls are the opposite of cute, angelic girls. I would like to dress them in white or 

The Last Exorcism Teaser Trailer Analysis

• The first shot shows us a man in a suit. Suits are an icon of power, so the audience is immediately aware that the man shown is superior. The shot also appears as if a hand held camera has been used, creating a more realistic feel.
• We then view a fade to black to a mid shot of the same man driving. However, the audience is unaware of the place he is heading to. This follows the convention of with holding information, to maintain the audiences observation.
• Another fade to black is followed by a crude, isolated wooden house. Which, again proceeds the convention of a deserted building which helps portray a sinister and uncomfortable atmosphere.
• On the next fade to black, the audience understand that the character in the beige suit is actually a reverend (Reverend Cotton Marcus) This starts to flesh out a little more information. Although, we are still unaware of his purpose throughout the film. Again, fulfilling the convention of keeping the audience engaged. To continue with engaging the audience, we then discover that the reverend has 'performed over 50 exorcisms.'
• 12 seconds in to the trailer, the audience witness a young girl, who's involvement in the film is unexplained as the shot fades to black and reads 'This will be his last'
• The next character to be introduced we know is the girls father as the dialogue from the film says 'Reverend. I need you to do an exorcism for the soul of my daughter' This shows that someone must be possessed by an evil spirit. So the audience understand that the film is a horror. We also can infer this because the shots are quite dark and mysterious, and this is one of the major conventions used in horror films. (An example of this convention, is when we see an extreme long shot of a silhouette of what we assume is the girl we saw previously. This shot consist of low key lighting)
• When the audience observes a close up of the girl when she is 'normal,' we get to view how the girls personality contrasts to become possessed, showing that something is wrong.
• The non diegetic dialogue says 'You've got nothing to be nervous about' which makes the audience feel relaxed. However, that is immediately altered when we see a close up of the girl look as if she has broken her neck, which is accompanied by non diegetic sound which emphasises that the girl isn't safe, which creates hype and keeps the audience hooked which is a convention.
• It also cuts to black and a terrifying non diegetic scream scares the audience to build up the dark atmosphere.
• When we read 'From producer Eli Roth' and 'Producers of Dawn of the Dead' these are also small pieces of information which help sell the film as people who like Dawn of the Dead or are fans of Eli Roth then this would also encourage the audience to view the film. this is a major convention of trailers. another convention that this trailer follows is the showing of the release date and title of the film as we need to remember the title so we can look out for when its at the cinema and also we need to know when it will be released to go and see it.
• We also see the girl breaking parts of her body and and moving in unusual ways. This is to reiterate the fact she is not in control of her body which accentuates the fear some people have. The convention of a horror film is that the plot plays on the audiences vulnerability and from this trailer this can happen without the audience physically being in this situation. The trailer also fits the convention of previewing their most scariest bits, encouraging people to see the film.
• Again, the teaser also fits the convention of using low key lighting, creating a dark atmosphere and  after hearing loud music, the music then goes very quite to enunciate the horror when the loud music begins again.
• What is interesting about the trailer is the text that reads 'If you believe in god, you must believe in the devil' and persuades you to turn to religious ways to solve the situation.
• Finally, towards the end of the trailer montage editing is used which includes lots of sharp shots to engage the audience and create pulse raising effects to promote the film. 

Dawn of the Dead Teaser Trailer Analysis

Dawn of the Dead follow the convention of trailers, across all genres, where the begin with slow paced editing and calm music which then crescendos and ends with montage editing of fast action shots and impacting music. This is the reason I have chosen this trailer as I am considering using this convention and technique.

• We first view an establishing shot which indicates that the film is set in an empty shopping mall. However, it is not the stereotypical shopping centre which is very pact and full of people, but the complete opposite. derelict and silent. The lights make the area bright which subverts conventions of horror. The shot appears to consist of greens, which could mean that it could have a green filter.

• We see people playing basketball, drinking coffee and trying on shoes and clothes which are 'normal' daily activity's. This contrasts against horror scenes. 

• The shots are very slow paced and the music feels very dreamy. It makes you feel as if some action is about to occur. It is not until 33 seconds in to the teaser that the atmosphere changes and the fast editing infiltrates. This is a convention of horror films, where they begin quite sluggish, and then contrasts to accelerate in montage editing. 

• The montage editing displays news programes of the action happening. we cannot receive full details on what is happening, but we hear short, snappy words which follows the convention of with holding information. We hear 'Do not leave your home' which implies that everyone is unsafe.

• The montage editing then slows down and cuts to a long shot which shows 8 people, who look unhappy. we then see close ups of 3 of their faces to see their reactions (reaction shot) as we listen to a man on the television's, then they cut out.

• After that, the establishing shot that we saw at the beginning is shown form a different angle. However, this time the lights go out. Lighting is one of the key conventions in horror. Darkness makes us feel uncomfortable as we loose one of our senses. Without our sight, we immediately feel vulnerable as we cannot control what is around us. Torches are iconic of horror, as it creates an unnerving atmosphere, as our sight is still weakened. But things that jump out seem more nail biting. 

• We see someone get attacked, so we assume that a killer is on the loose. murder is a popular topic in horrors, so this fulfills the convention.

• Now that the teaser is coming towards the end, the shots gradually begin to get faster again, and the shots reproduce in to montage editing which is accompanied by action packed music. We see a lot of pain and violence which is stereotypical of the horror genre.

• The last shot parades the title 'Dawn of the Dead', encouraging people to remember the film and want to see it when it is released. Despite this, it only reads 'Coming Soon' when usually it shows a date so the audience know when they can look out for the films release.

The Shining Teaser Trailer Analysis

The shining

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I have analysed The Shining as it shows examples of how low key lighting is used in horror and has helped me develop my skills to understand and spot fulfilled conventions and help me think of ideas for my own trailer. There are also establishing shots in the trailer which follow the convention of locations. For example, there are mountains and large mansions in the middle of nowhere to emphasise the atmosphere of isolation. I am going to film in a forest as forests are a stereotypical place of creepy, isolated and atmospheric locations. I will take some photographs of my location and will post them soon before I start my filming.

Horror Moodboard

I chose this selection of images (taken form google, Sixth Sense and Alton Towers Thirteen advert)  because there are some similar effects and conventions that I would like to use. For example, I want to set the location in a forest which looks dark and isolated. I like how the images of the forests in black and white and also with a blue filter highlight the sinister atmosphere. I also want to use close ups of people's faces and facial expressions, like the eye shown on the left. These help embolden the fear we receive from characters which make the audience imagine being in their position and how terrifying it would be. I also wish to use the convention of low key lighting as after looking at conventions of horror and looking at a variety trailers, they all consist of darkness, which adds to the tense mood. I would also like to see if I could use a filter over the top when I experiment with editing as it creates a more sinister atmosphere. My key element for my trailer is all about atmosphere. As long as I create a mysterious atmosphere in both imagery and with several other conventions (such as additional sound effects) then I believe my trailer will be very effective.

Codes and Conventions of Horror Films

Codes and Conventions of Horror

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As I am fully set on creating a horror film I have decided to look at the conventions as I need to be fully aware of what it takes to produce and effective and successful product. I will then look at some trailers and analyse them to see what type of shots are usually used to create certain effects and what kind of atmosphere's are created.