Analysis of my horror trailer

The trailer begins with a establishing shot of the college in which the main characters attend, the building looks old and haunted which allows the audience to subliminally and subconsciously identify that the trailer is a supernatural horror trailer, this could be viewed by the long shot of the college in a low angle to suggest that the college is the main focus of the trailer. The trailer then fuzzes into a medium shot of the main character Sam in the college corridors holding a hand-held camera which connotes that the trailer is likely to have some hand-held shots incorporated into the trailer. The non-diegetic sound in the background indicates that the the trailer is still in equilibrium as the music is slow and mellow. This is also supported by the characters smiling and laughing throughout which is s stereotypical representation of teenagers who are represented as upbeat and vibrant.

The trailer then illustrates Mitchell and Ava hold a blackberry which suggest that they are up to date and modern, however, the blackberry contains a message from Sam telling the girls to meet up later because Sam has a surprise. the girls then walk of past students by the lockers holding bocks which again allows the audience to establish the location of the trailer (long Shot). The next seen sees Sam and Mitchell walking and laughing filmed in a high angle of them walking up the stairs, this could suggest that they are vulnerable although they are laughing, at this stage the music gradually picks up pace. The next seen illustrates Jared and Ava in a long shot, Ava is sitting on Jared lap whilst they flirt this could imply that they have a love connection. In the background the audience can clearly see the alcohol which could suggest that the teenagers are immoral and are up to no good. Jared And Ava are joined by Sam and Mitchell who seem to partake in the alcohol consumption suggesting impurity.

The next seen sees Ava blowing out a candle in a medium shot which could be symbolic to the futuristic events which is likely to occur, this is complemented by the music which has become louder. The teenagers are the filmed in a transitional long/medium shot of them partaking in the Ouija board game which Sam had brought in, as the this game is associated with darkness the trailers became darker so that the candles could stand out adding flames to the spooky feel as the candles flickered consistently. This is complemented by the tone card "keeps you on the age of your seat" which suggests that something bad is likely to happen prompting a change of mood.

The Ouija board scene is followed by the toilet scene in which the immoral character Ava is smoking which again highlights her impurity. This is follwed by the moment of disequilibrium by Todorov when the toilet door slams and the taps start running without being turned on, the fear in Ava's face can be depicted through the close up and extreme close up shots used to illustrate her emotions, she is then assumed to be killed off by the evil spirit which supports Carol Clovers ideology that the immoral girl always dies first.

The next seen is a chase seen in which Jared, Ava's boyfriend falls whilst running down the stairs from the evil spirits oppressive hand this is illustrated in a long shot which then progresses to a high angle of Jared being filmed in a vulnerable position as he tries to escape. This is then supplemented by Sam and Mitchell running down the strairs trying to escape which is filmed in a unsteady handheld shot at a canted angle to demonstrate tension and fear.

We then see Jared running down the stairs and trying to get into a class room, he opens the door and closes it upon entry as he barracades the door with his body to block the spirit from entering and capturing his soul (medium shot). The Final scene is of the final girl (Carol Clover) Sam who is running in a hand-held shot which clearly illustrates her fright and her emotions, she then drops the camera and she runs into the distance but she has not been found sense.

Analysis of Magazines

Key Features (on my poster)

Final Poster

Poster

Posters are marketing strategies used by production companies such as the Warner bros top raise awareness and keep people cognisant of newly released films, which as a result increases the circulation of a movie resulting in a production company attracting increased revenue. Moreover, in relation to my general production the creation of a poster was an obligation as it allowed me to use another form of advertising, in contrast to the internet. A significant distinction between my magazine and poster is the use of colour, magazines during my research seems to be colourful, but my poster was directly linked to my trailer which is associated with evil, so I decided to use black and white by changing the contrast on Photoshop to generate a strong bond between my main trailer and poster; the grey suggests to the audience that the trailer is associated with darkness and isolation which is a connotation of black and moreover a paradigm of horror.

In contrast, to my magazine in which the masthead is conventionally at the top of the page, the main heading in this text is placed in the middle of the page in bold, black and white writing, to make it bold and as a result outstanding, moreover this idea was gained from my style model Scream in which the posters heading is allocated in the middle, which is complemented by the splash line placed at the top of the page stating `someone has taken their love of scary movies one step too far. Solving this mystery is going to be murder’.

The image in the text is a copy of the image on my magazine front cover; this is because I wanted my target audience to experience an element of continuity, additionally I believe that the more times that you see an image, the more the image becomes familiar which supports the theory of desensitisation, I used this technique to prey on the mind of the reader, which would encourage them to visit the cinema. The image of Sam a vulnerable character who is also the final girl theory by carol clover, as the image of Sam is in a medium shot it was essential that I didn’t place any texts over her eyes as her eyes depict her emotions, granting the audience to relate to the poster, the candles under her face represents hope, which implicitly could be a struggle between good and evil.

Another convention that I noticed from my research of horror posters is the credits which is usually placed on the bottom of the poster to illustrate the process of production, this can be seen as a marketing tool for big movies such as Avatar, as the production team includes renowned celebrities such as David Cameron which would attract a larger audience. As I used scream’s poster, as my style model, I decided to implement the producers under the main heading, which was also used in the poster for `kick ass’. Furthermore, the smaller writing is of the cast such as the main producer the editor and costumes.

Horror posters conventionally have a age rating, as a means if regulating, who can digest a movie. Consequently, I embarked upon this technique and gave my horror trailer an age rating of 15 after deliberating with the BBFC; the 15 age rating is not due to the violence but the psychological effect that it may have on children, as the fear of the evil spirit could result in them copying scenes such as the case of Jamie Bulger. Furthermore, my poster hass used Warner Brothers, Lionsgate and Dolby Digital logos to give the poster more authority and allow the audience to find out the production company for future references.

I also embedded taglines for example `the highly acclaimed new supernatural movie straight from hell’, to create suspense and as a consequence, encourage them to watch the trailer and enticed to watch the movie. Finally, I also implemented the website address so that the viewer could gain information such as the viewing times, how much etc. Generally, the ancillary task was significant to a substantial extent, as a advertising tool for the main product.

My Magazine Front Cover

Front Cover

Constructing the front cover of my magazine was a familiar task, as my AS studies required the production of a music magazine which was also produced on the Apple Macs, consequently based on my previous knowledge  of conventions of a magazine, the manufacturing was much more proficient, as the ancillary task, was a mere development of my previous studies.

It was important that my masthead was bold and eye catching as during my investigations and observations of Empire magazines, their headings were usually clear, therefore I embarked upon this technique by using a large font size coloured in red, I decided to use the colour red to green or blue because it is bright primary colour. Conversely, the colour red can also be associated with blood which is a typical paradigm of a slasher sub genre. However, as our trailer is based on the sub genre of the supernatural, the colour red depicts danger which is a parable for the events which occur in the actual trailer, to make the masthead even more outstanding I implemented a white border around the heading to increase its visibility and additionally create a house style.

Mastheads are usually supplemented with subheadings, which in my magazine is placed on the top of the masthead stating `meet the new action A-list!’ this is a paradigm of a magazine and has a function of revealing some of the main content of a magazine. Another feature of a magazine is the barcode which gives the magazine a degree of power and authority. A barcode is frequently complemented with a price tag which is located in the heading costing £3.90; this principle was based on my findings in my research, revealing that Empire magazines allocated its price tag in the letter `M’ as a house style, which is also supplemented with the website address under the masthead as a marketing tool.

An image in a magazine cover is to substantial degree important, as a method of the audience being able to form a relationship between the audience and magazine front cover; hence magazines conventionally use renowned superstars to appear on their front cover to attract their target audience. For instance, a harry potter film would use Daniel Radcliffe as he is the main character in the film but to further grant the audience the ability to identify with the movie. As a result, I felt it was imperative to implement the main character in my trailer which is `Sam’ to form a relationship between the main product and my magazine. The character on my magazine has a large composition on the overall magazine, as she is framed in a medium shot allowing her to express emotions and relate directly to the audience, this can be seen in the magazine as the character looks sad and vulnerable because our trailer is based on fear and danger which is associated with the devil. The Sam is also holding a candle under her face representing the Ouija Board scene in our trailer, the light shining on her face could represent hope. In relation to the layout of my magazine, the main text is situated away from Sam’s eyes because her plank stare is supposed to be creepy and give the audience the feeling of being watched.

Sam’s costume in the trailer was also used in the magazine to form a correlation between my main product and my ancillary task. For instance, if Sam’s costume in the trailer is dark and rugged, it wouldn’t be logic to put images of her dressed formally because it would form a negative correlation but also puzzle the audience, as a result using the same costume in the trailer for my magazine brought about elements of continuity. Sam’s shirt is a convention as stereotypically teenagers seem to be fashionable suggesting that Sam cares about her outer appearance which supports Robin Lakoffs theory of gender representation. However, Sam’s hair is messy which could contradict this theory but her hair style was intentionally implemented to convey the period of disequilibrium by Todorov in which she would have been running about, making her hair messy. 

Magazines follow specific colour schemes which conventionally carry implicit meanings for instance, durind my research I noticed that a vast majority of magazines have around 3-4 different colours on their magazine front covers which varies depending on their target audience. Likewise, I used red, white, yellow grey and black in my magazine as a fundamental technique to make the magazine outstanding, which would draw the attention of the reader.

Images and Mastheads are significant to a magazine but that does not undermine the role in which written text has on the overall look and interpretation of a magazine. The most important piece of text in my magazine is the heading of my trailer `the summoning’ which is coloured in grey to give a misty feel but to also to create a distinction between the main of Sam and the heading. Besides, the heading acts like a splash line promoting my trailer and hence adding my main product. I have also used a variety of pre-modification such as `massive and biggest’, these superlatives makes the magazine seem the best and therefore draws the attention and creates an indirect relationship. Most magazines front covers use Standard English and avoid using slang or potential taboo words although this may vary depending on the audience. In my magazine I wanted to challenge this convention as my audience is teens, the use of dysphemism such as `bloody hell’ highlighted in white and yellow, would not attract a negative response as teenagers stereotypically use non-standard forms of English. Additionally, I used a range of exclamative sentences such as `45 new movies you need to know about right now!’ as a method of interacting with the vibrant personality of my audience, hence the colour yellow suggests happiness representing their personality.

Moreover, a significant amount of magazines use taglines to give the reader an insight into the content of the magazine, which as a result indirectly persuades them to read on, as my magazine represents a real life product, I have embarked upon the use of taglines such as `Scream8: Wes Craven spills on sequel!’ as a magazine consumer myself, and having digested a substantial amount of Empire magazines I knew that taglines are important to suffice a media product.

Style Model Posters (research)



Ancillary texts

Tone Card

Final Draft

This is the final trailer for "the summoning".It took us a very long time to produce this end product. After considerable thought, we decided to change the order of particualr shots, add in excess tone cards (both transparent and clearly visible ones) and adjusted the speed of particular shots.