Ideas for Sound!

I love the use of non-diegetic sound in a trailer and so it is important to me to find the right soundtrack for my own trailer however I have to keep in mind that my trailer will be presented in a found footage format and so to keep the events realistic there cannot be a constant soundtrack. At the moment I am thinking to use a soundtrack at the beginning of the trailer to establish the mood and sub-genre and maybe at the end during the fast montage of images.

Below are some videos with soundtracks that I find extremely successful and would like to incorporate something similar into my own work. 

'THE WOMAN IN BLACK'

 I love the way the soundtrack is composed by the props and also how the soundtrack resembles a child’s nursery rhyme. It is so simple yet effect.

'MAKE UP TUTORIAL'

This is a video which inspired me for make-up but also for a soundtrack as running alongside the video is a melancholic melody which could be used in the beginning of my trailer to foreshadow the later sinister events. 

Another option which I am considering is to have a deep, ominous tone which plays in the background. It will not over power the scene and the audience will subconsciously hear it and so will know be able to identify the tone of the trailer. This can be heard in the ‘grave encounters trailer’.

'GRAVE ENCOUNTERS'

Ideas for Lighting

Whilst carrying out my target audience research I learnt that many of the members of my target audience think that lighting is an important part of the trailer and so below are types of lighting which I would like to include in my own horror trailer:

• ·         Profile lighting: this is when half the object/person is covered in shadows and the other half is open to the light. I like this lighting as it presents objects/people in an evil light which will be useful when trying to portray my antagonist.

• ·         Back lighting: this is when the light source is behind the object/person and similarly to profile lighting it gives a sinister look.

 

• ·         Artificial lighting may be needed when the location is too dark, or if I cannot achieve the lighting which I need naturally.

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•       Natural lighting will be used for any shots which have been filmed outside. For this lighting I will make sure to film at certain times in the day to achieve the look that I want.

 

• ·         Low key lighting: this lighting gives a contrast between light and dark and has the ability to make a location, for example a bedroom, quite uneasy and tense.

As well as using light, I also want to use darkness as this can have as big of an effect as the different types of lighting. 

Costume & Make-up Ideas

Costume

When trying to decide costumes for my characters I looked at existing films in the supernatural sub-genre to see if a pattern could be found. 

It seems that the protagonist, both male and female, seem to dress in a simple and relaxed fashion. Below are some pictures of the female protagonist from the movie 'The Uninvited'...

The protagonist is the female who appears on the left hand side of the frame. When looking at the first picture we can see she wears a simple floral blouse. A blouse is extremely feminine as it is lies on a woman with an elegant flow. Furthermore the floral design and pink tone emphasises the characters femininity and innocence. In the second picture we see the protagonist wearing a vest top, which again is very casual and even though she is revealing a little more flesh she does not look promiscuous to maintain an innocent representation. Th reason behind these simple outfits is to keep the character as realistic as possible so that the audience can imagine themselves in their places. This realism allows the audience to enter the world of the movie and so the threats become much more terrifying.  

Below is the male protagonist from the movie 'Sinister'...

When we look at his costume we can see that he too is wearing a simple t-shirt with a cardigan to add a sense style. These practical outfits help the characters get on with their day to day jobs which again makes the character much more realistic for the target audience. 

My Costume Ideas

The Mother:

During the trailer the mother’s outfits will not differ greatly. Her look will be casual as she is a mum who has a lot of activities to carry out during the course of the day. Also she doesn't follow a particular fashion style. She enjoys looking good but takes her comfort into consideration. Below are some images of the costumes which she would wear. 

Cardigans are a major part of her daily wear. I am aiming to achieve a look of ‘normality’ so that my audience can image themselves in her place and also most girls have cardigans in their wardrobes! The cardigans also connote the idea of warmth and comfort; this can be seen as ironic as they crave these factors in their lives. 

Blue jeans are the ultimate fashion item which does not go out of style. The mother will wear jeans with all of her costumes because of their ability to almost match any top.

 

Her shoes will be a little more stylish due to the fact that she has a love for shoes, just like every woman!

Towards the end of the trailer, we see the mother in a more distressed state however this will not affect her costume and will mainly involve the use of make-up and hair. When she is experience the turmoil, her hair will be messy and unkept to show that at this point in her life she is too stressed to worry about these minor issues. Furthermore I intend to use make-up to make her skin appear aged when she is distressed to show that she is not coping and experiencing a lack of sleep. This effect will be done by using foundation to create wrinkles and eye shadow to create bags under her eyes.

The child:

The daughter is twelve years old and I intend to make her look as girly and innocent as possible so the audience fear for her well-being. White dresses and floral patterns are cute and will truly capture the innocence of the child.

Below are some images of my final outfit for the child in my narrative. I aimed to make her look as innocent as possible so that her later possession becomes emphasised.

Hair and Make-up

I hope to achieve a realistic portrayal within my trailer as I find this heightens the audiences fear. As I have actors who are the actual age of my characters, the need for heavy make-up is minimal and so will only be used to cover blemishes. The mother’s make-up will include more, such as mascara, eye liner and blusher as these are daily products which the majority of woman would wear.

The daughter’s make-up will be slightly more complicated. At the beginning of the trailer foundation/blusher will be used to create a warm glow however as the narrative unravels, I am going to use the make-up to make her look pale and tired so the audience can see that she is being tormented. Below are some YouTube tutorials on how to achieve a 'possessed' look...

I thought the eye make-up in this tutorial is extremely effective especially in black and white. 

This video inspired me on how to create pale skin and messy hair, it looks creepily realistic!

The video above teaches a easy and quick way to create scratches. After viewing several supernatural horrors a pattern occurs that the antagonist's target always ends up with scratches and bruises on their bodies and so i hope to recreate this make-up on the daughter's back to show that she is being targeted.

The Antagonist:
The antagonist for my trailer is unseen however we do see the antagonist's soul in the child's body and this will be shown through the use of make-up...

Film Trailer Analysis #3

'Paranormal Activity 3'

When I was searching for the trailer for ‘paranormal activity 3’, I came across a lot of variations. I chose to analyse this teaser trailer as I found it gave an excellent portrayal of the movie. Let us begin by discussing the narrative of the trailer...

The trailer opens using an effect which makes the screen look like static which is sometimes received when watching home videos on a VCR player. This immediately allows the audience to gather that the movie is filmed in a ‘found footage’ style and that the movie may not set in present times. We then see two small girls, Katie and Christie, who are happily playing in their garden. All of a sudden the audience are shown a clip of Katie from the first 'Paranormal Activity' movie; her face is close to the camera and her expression is sinister, almost as if she is not 'normal'. The audience are then taken back to the past where Christie shyly hides from the camera making the audience warm to her innocence; this opening has set up the equilibrium. However soon after the audience see a disturbing clip from ‘paranormal activity 2’. For the members of the audience who have seen the previous movies, they will recognise the clips and be surprised as to why they are in this movie trailer and so are intrigued to find out what happens next. This is similar to the members of audience who may have not seen the previous movies as they will wander what these images signify. We are then taken back into time and see the two girls laughing and playing again, but the happiness is short lived. The narrative moves back into present times and we hear the two sisters as older woman discussing their childhood and certain disturbing incidents which occurred in it; the audience now know that these women are the two little girls as they are holding a childhood picture and this is why the flashbacks from the previous movies occurred. This conversation is broken by the laughter of a little girl and the scene goes back in time showing Christie playing with her mother; this scene lasts for a brief moment of time which could symbolise the characters brief happiness. The editing begins to slightly speed and the audience see a variety of shots of the women as adults and they explain what their childhood problem was and how it ‘thrives on fear’. Nearing the end of the trailer we see the two women back in their childhood and trying to play the game Bloody Mary, the screen goes black and so the audience are expecting something frightening to occur. Katie then screams out in an attempt to frighten her sister and ultimately the audience. As the audience have been falsely frightened they assume that nothing scary will occur again, leaving them unprepared when they see a dark figure standing in the bathroom as the girls leave.

Looking at the narrative we can see the trailer has a conventional narrative structure. The world of the movie begins happy and peaceful; this is the equilibrium. The narrative then goes on to unravel the problem and finally at the end of the trailer we see the disruption. This structure follows the beginning stages of Todorov's narrative theory; trailers do not show the resolution and new equilibrium to ensure that they do not give too much away and keep the audience wanting more. Scenes of Katie and Christie as children, who are jovial and full of purity, are placed in between scenes where we see the woman as adults and talking about their problem, to break up tension. As the audience begin to feel scared and expect something frightening, they see a happy image which builds up further more anticipation for the next frightening scene. The paranormal activity movies go back in time and so this movie explores the women’s childhoods. By showing clips from the previous movies the audience can make links and piece together both narratives, this is of course if they have seen the previous movies. If they have not seen the previous movies, the trailer may be a bit unclear at first but then soon after when the woman begin discussing their problem all will become clear.

Sound

Sound, both diegetic and non-diegetic, helps to emphasise the fear trying to be created in the scene. Below is the dialogue for the trailer:

Dad: “Alright here we go.”

“Hey ladies”

Katie (child): “Hi!”

Dad: “Hey. Oh it’s Katie.”

“Woohoohoo”

“Katie. Wave hi to the camera Katie.”

“Hey Christie, wanna’ say hi?”

“Come on give us a wave here Christie”

Christie (adult): “whatever happened to us when we were little, I don’t remember anything”

Katie (adult): “Whatever it was, it thrived on fear”

“The more we paid attention to it, the worse it got”

Katie (child): “Alright I think it’s on. Remember the rules?”

Christie (child): “Yes. Say bloody Mary three times.”

Katie (child): “Okay. Let’s turn off the lights.”

Katie & Christie (children): “Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary.”

Christie (child): “I’m scared”

Katie (child): “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAH”

Christie (child): “AAAH”

“KATIE!”

“Stop”

Katie (child): “I’m sorry”

Christie (child): “it’s not funny”

The dialogue above helps emphasise the mood in each scene of the trailer. At the beginning the dialogue seems to be quite jovial. The father is pleasantly playing with his children and we can see their happiness by his expression of joy; “Woohoohoo”. The dialogue then moves on to when the girls grow up and the audience become aware of something which happened to them when they were “little”. At this point the audience do not know exactly what/who the antagonist is and this becomes clear in the next speech when Katie says “whatever it is”. This signals that the antagonist is not human and so the audience begin to suspect something supernatural; this is a good indicator for the sub-genre of the movie. The conversation as adults ends with this terrifying statement “the more we paid attention to it the worse it got” and the next scene has gone back in time to when the children are playing a spiritual joke, and so the scene becomes ironic. This will also make the audience frightened to watch the trailer as they will think the more they watch the more likely they are that these events will happen to them. We then hear the girls beginning to chant “Bloody Mary” three times quite slowly. During this time the audience prepare themselves for a shocking moment however nothing happens. Then all of a sudden Katie lets out a blaring scream, which causes the audience to jump, but soon after they hear the laughter of the children and the audience becomes relieved as they think it’s all over. As the audience are relaxed and unprepared, this is the moment where the audience then actually see something truly frightening. As the girls leave the bathroom there is a shadowy, dark figure which stands in the corner. This image is unexpected and so causes the audience to intake a sharp breathe instead or jumping. 

Sound effects:

In this trailer there is no music or soundtrack which runs along in the background. This could be because the movie is shown as ‘found footage’ and so to make the events seem realistic no music is played over the dialogue. To replace the music there seems to be a continuous use of the tape reel sound effect. This sound effect first appears at 0:07 just before the footage begins. This sound effect sounds aged and so the audience can guess that the narrative is not set in present times. Throughout the trailer this sound continuously appears when a scene is changing; each time it is unexpected and so slightly frightens the audience but also reminds them of the ‘found footage’ theme.

Moving on to 0:31, the audience begin to hear the sweet sound of children’s laughter, however these is a deep, ominous contrapuntel tone which plays alongside, killing the happiness in the scene. Furthermore as the laughter goes it begins to slow in pace and lower in tone, to give an echoing effect. This provides the audience with a sense of foreboding. This laughter is used again at 0:43 to create the same effect.

The final sound effect used is a dark, ominous tone which is played to build anticipation. We usually hear this sound when a strap is on the screen. The sinister tone of the music makes the audience feel that the next scene after the strap will be something scary and so they begin to anticipate the worst.

Stabs:

The first two stabs appear at 0:19 and at 0:27. These are the moments when the extracts from ‘paranormal activity 1 &2’ are shown to contrast with their happy childhood. The stabs are used to heighten the fear felt by the viewers when watching these clips. Between 0:46 and 0:52 the audience hear frequent stabs which are used every time the scene is changed, this is because the audience are watching the fast montage of images and so the stabs emphasise the images and cause the audience’s heart rate to rise dramatically. Finally at 1.24 the last stab occurs, just after the shadowy figure appears. The stab is the last thing the audience hear, it is has a deep tone and the sound lingers for a few seconds,  which perhaps represent how the antagonist lingers around its prey and so making the audience feel as if they are in danger. 

Mise-en-scene

Costume/hair/make-up:

The trailer begins in the year 1988 and the audience are able to see this through the costume and make-up of the characters. In the image below we see Katie and Christie as children and they are wearing pretty, delicate dresses and skirts which symbolise feminism and innocence. The colours are bright and stand out, which was a popular fashion style for the 80’s; these bright colours also symbolise their energetic, youthful souls which the demon is trying to take. Kristie has a side pony tail which was another fashion statement of the 80’s and was the sort of hairstyle used by fashion icons like Madonna. The target audience would have been growing up in the 80's and so would pick up on these styles almost creating a nostalgic feeling in the beginning of the trailer which will later emphasise the frightening scenes. Katie’s make-up is very minimal and she looks as if she is not wearing any, however Christie’s make-up makes her appear very pale and this symbolises the torment which she later receives from the supernatural being. From the pale skin the audience can immediately note that Christie is the character which will experience the haunting. 

 As the trailer movies into the future, so does the costume/hair/make-up. Below is an image from the trailer of the two girls as adults. As we can see their hair styles are more relevant, with Christie carrying a stylish bob and Katie choosing for the classic long straight hair look. Also their costumes have changed from bright, neon colours to more simpler and subtle tones. These tones make the characters look older and mature but also at the same time make them keep innocence within them. This will allow the audience to feel sympathetic towards them and they adopt the typical ‘damsel in distress’ stereotype. These changes in hair and costume allow the audience to gather that the movie is set in present times. Both women have make-up showing they take pride in their appearance, however their make-up is natural and represents what women would wear on a daily bases. This allows the characters to become realistic and so the audience can image themselves in their positions.

 Colour:

In the scenes which feature the women as children, the clips appear to have an orange tinge. This orange tint gives the scenes a warm glow and emphasises the enjoyment of the children. Furthermore the warmth of the orange colour allows the audience to feel safe momentarily. These scenes contrast with the scenes where the children are adults as they have a bluish tint. The colour blue is said to connote mysteries and as the women discuss their childhood they are trying to understand the mysterious events which took place. The blue tint makes the audience feel uneasy and aware that something is not quite right in the world of the movie.

Lighting:

When we see the characters as children at the beginning of the trailer, natural lighting is used as they scene takes place outside and so gives the trailer a realistic portrayal. If we look towards the end of the trailer we see the two characters in the bathroom and the lights are switched off. Having a phobia of the dark would be quite popular amongst the audience as it is a common phobia, so as they are not able to see anything they begin to panic. The only light visible in this scene is the red recording light which features on the camera. This draws the audience attention and so they begin to wait for something bad to happen. 

Afterwards the spotlight from a torch illuminates Katie’s face, giving her a menacing glow and portraying her as a ‘false threat’. The spotlight then moves to Christie briefly and the audience’s eyes frantically search the frame to search for this light as to them the light represents hope and escape from this terrifying moment.

Next the sisters open the door which allows light from another room shine through from the left hand side of the frame. The girls are walking into the light which emphasises the goodness, purity and innocence within them; for now they have escaped evil. On the right hand side of the frame the light reveals a shaded figure which lurks in the shadows and so instantly revealing its dangerous nature. 

Facial expressions/body language/positioning of characters within the frame:

Whilst watching the trailer it is interesting to note that Katie and Christie always appear on the screen together. They are, of course sisters and so have a close bond which this positioning emphasise but also it shows that no matter what experiences they go through, this demon/spirit will not tear them apart and that they will try and fight it together. When looking at the depth of field, it seems that Katie seems to be positioned closer to the camera and this could highlight her significance in the narrative.

Setting and props:

In both of the time periods, the trailer is set in a house, as this is a conventional location for supernatural horrors. The movie was released in 2011 and we now live in an era where the audience is afraid of the threats within the home, as this is the one place they are meant to feel safe. Many props are used in this trailer to help emphasise the time periods and to also emphasise the meaning of a scene. At 0:29 we see a long two shot of the girls playing in their garden. This long shot allows the audience to see all the toys the characters which act as props. These toys portray the girls to be having a typical childhood. They do not seem unusual and so haven’t done anything to provoke this demon activity, the audience will notice this and then begin to worry that this random haunting could happen to them. The next prop which appears in the trailer is a damaged picture; this prop is significant as the audience can recognise that this is an image of Christie who we saw earlier in the trailer and so this helps the audience recognise that the trailer has now moved into present times. 

There is another prop which is extremely important to the narrative which is the camera itself. We do not see it until the end of the trailer but we are aware of its presence as we know that the film is portrayed in a found footage format. Over the years many people around the world report mysterious sightings in home videos and images and so this is a realistic technique to portray a supernatural antagonist.

Use of camera:

The first interesting shots we see occur at 0:17. As mentioned earlier this clip was taken from paranormal activity 1 and it shows Katie crawling towards the camera. The shot begins as a medium shot and as she moves closer, it ends with an extreme close-up of her eyes. During this extreme close-up the audience can see that she looks possessed and so they ponder what they are going to learn about her childhood and what caused her to end up in this why and so they will go to the cinema to find out the full narrative. 

Towards the end of the trailer the camera shows a two medium shot of Katie and Christie. This shot is created by the reflection from a mirror; mirrors show a reflected view and can symbolise an an alternate world where evil could lurk. This will cause the audience to expect something frightening to occur. 

Editing:

As the movie and trailer is presented in a found footage format, the editing from one scene to another is done with a special effect. As the clip changes , for a brief moment the audience see static and hear white noise, which constantly happened on old video recorders. This brings a sense of authenticity to the trailer. At 0:29 the editing slows down and we see the clip of the children playing in slow motion. This elongates the time for the clip and so the audience's fear and anticipation builds up. The clip then fades into a dead black out and then the first strap appears. The audience can gather that by the scene fading symbolises the happiness fading away from the girls lives which gives the trailer a sense of poignancy. Fades are used continuously throughout the trailer as they create a sense of mystery and they also help symbolise the movement of time to the audience.

Straps:

Straps are an important element within a trailer as they help the audience piece the narrative together. Below are the straps which feature in this trailer:

“This October”

“Discover”

“The secret”

“Behind the activity”

“Paranormal Activity 3”

The use of straps is minimal to ensure that not too much information is given away. The 2^nd, 3^rd, and 4^th strap inform the audience that in this movie they will finally find out why demons are after these women and the whole franchise will make sense to them and so therefore will encourage the audience to go to the cinema to watch the movie so they can reveal ‘the secret’. The first strap informs the audience when the movie is going to be released as after the trailer the audience are going to want to know when they are able to watch it. The final strap reveals the movie title name, for the people who have seen the previous movies, this is an insignificant feature and this strap benefits the part of the audience who have not seen the previous movies.

Representation:

The trailer solely focuses on the representation of woman at different ages. The representation of the children is conventional, as they appear as ‘normal’, happy and angelic. This is similar to the representation of older woman, as in this trailer we see them being controlled by the antagonist and so the audience see them as helpless and as mentioned earlier they adopt the ‘damsel in distress’ stereotype.

Conclusion:

This trailer leaves lots of cliff hangers throughout the trailer and mixes narratives from the previous movies which will leave the audience with lots of unanswered questions and so they will go to the cinema to watch the movie