Research that had an impact on our idea Genre After studying the conventions of horror, we knew we wanted to have an interesting subgenre to make our trailer interesting and different so we had better knowledge for our plot idea. We have researched a total of three existing horror trailers which have inspired our ideas and developments. We have looked at 'The Resident', 'Halloween' and finally 'Taken'. All of these trailers have had an impact in their own way. We have decided to create a trailer which has a sense of Psychological Horror which will be influenced by our villain’s beliefs as his character will be emotionally unstable due to his past which will lead him to have an obsession with the police as he can't let his past go which will be a mystery for the audience as they will never truly understand his insanity.
Narrative We have studied a narrative suggested by Tzvetan Todorov who looked at the ‘Classical Hollywood Narrative’ Theory. This creates the basis and a chronological story which the audience can follow, the ‘Classical Hollywood Narrative’ consists of stages throughout the film. The first stage in a typical narrative is an equilibrium which suggests a state in which opposing forces or influences are balanced, a disequilibrium then occurs which is a lack of stability due to an event which has disrupted the initial equilibrium, recognition then occurs as the characters in the film try to make things right by creating a new equilibrium which occurs at the very end of the film. However, not all films or genres follow this theory. For example, for our synopsis for our trailer the ending is our main protagonist in hospital who is also our ‘final girl’ symbolising she hasn’t died which follows the ‘final girl’ theory. However, the last scene is of the stalker doing what he does best and targets his next victim by taking pictures. Therefore, a new equilibrium hasn’t happened in our synopsis as we know he is out there and he’s going to strike again which is a similar ending to the 'The Crazies'. This ending also links to the film ‘Halloween’ which is one of the trailers we are going to look at and a film we watched in class. The final girl Laurie survives however the ending scene is a shot of the streets with Michael Myers breathing added over the scene which represents he is still alive and ready to attack again which again doesn’t follow the ‘Classical Hollywood Narrative’.
Representation The representation of our characters is important when considering our plot and target audience. After learning about the 'final girl theory' by Carol Clover, we have decided to use this particular character in our trailer. We have been inspired by this theory and influenced
by 'The cabin into the woods' which represents this character and gave the film a new feel as this character role is unusual for the horror genre. In order to configure our main character we need knowledge of this theory and understanding of the conventions. Therefore, our main protagonist will represent the 'final girl' with many traits such as androgynous features, an interest in her studies, a sense of style which isn't typically represented in horrors such as jeans and loose clothing especially on girls. A crucial trait for a final girl is a unisex name which automatically separates her from the 'typical' dumb blonde character in the horror genre. Another key convention to consider is her ability and strength to fight back against the villain which not only challenges stereotypes but builds a strong image for females.
Audiences and Institutions Our last piece of research was distribution and how they create hype for their film using a variety of media platforms. The way in which a film is promoted has a big impact on the box office, for example, when Daniel Radcliffe stared in 'The Women In Black' the film was promoted across a wide media platform as not only was this Daniel's first film other than the Harry Potter films but this successfully attracted and targeted the fans of the Harry Potter franchise. Looking at different ways of advertisement is an important factor to take into consideration when targeting a wider audience. For example, typically a horror film will advertise their trailers and posters on TV and through social media as their primary audience uses main stream technology which will have a positive effect on box office sales. To attract a larger audience the distributor will promote the film on the radio, in magazines, newspapers and through an official website. Distributors tend to spend their money releasing a teaser poster and trailer months in advance of the release date to hype the public. This research is helpful when producing our own posters and gives us knowledge of our primary audience which is based at the younger generation around fifteen years of age due to the main protagonist who is seventeen which is a rateable age for this specific targeted audience so they will be able to connect on a different level and be aware of vulnerability which this age range can be exposed to.
Media Language Media languages have helped our knowledge of creating and visualising an idea for our trailer which will include the important conventions to produce a successful horror trailer. Using a variety of shots and cinematography will help keep our trailer interesting and exciting using shots such as; the Tracking Shot, Point Of View, Close Up, Over The Shoulder, Long Shot etc. This will help create an intricate view for the trailer creating a momentum build up with a wide range of shots and sound which will be added. Editing is crucial as this will help transform the shots with effects, help us make an order with our scenes and have many other features such as added text fading in and out which is a common convention in horror trailers along with sound bridges which effectively helps to understand dialogue over the dramatic non-diegetic music which will build up in certain scenes of excitement to give a
key insight to the synopsis without giving too much away. Sound will be kept to the minimum such as ambient, diegetic, sound bridge, sound mixing and non-diegetic. This is to create tension and upbringing of the trailer throughout the duration creating key movement scenes throughout the trailer to keep the audience engaged. Added sounds such as a door closing will be effective and create tension although the sound will be diegetic, this will keep the audience off their toes to create the imitation of the stalker.