Film Poster Analysis #1

This is the official poster for the movie ‘Silent Hill’ which belongs to the supernatural/psychological sub-genre. I think it is a great poster to analyse as its layout and content follows the traditional codes and conventions of supernatural horrors. It may not be particularly scary but I feel it intrigues the audience to find out more about ‘Silent Hill’.

The main image is unconventional within the supernatural sub-genre because most posters use a medium or a medium-long shot whereas this image shows an extreme long shot. This could be done to present the woman in the image (presumably the protagonist) as completely alone, and so she has no one there to help her; this provokes fear within the audience. The environment around her is completely isolated; all the audience can see is an open ended road. Isolated locations are a typical convention for the horror genre and are quite a popular technique in scaring the target audience. The welcome sign overpowers the image and the phrase upon it seems ironic to the audience as ‘welcome’ is meant to make the audience feel safe and excited but instead it is meant with a sinister undertone further frightening the audience. The font is serif which creates a formal look, this could be because the title is placed on a welcome sign which traditionally are made to look appealing for newcomers; this is ironic as the sign looks far from welcoming. The image is extremely simple and does not give away too much of the narrative, this is an excellent technique to activate the target audience’s curiosity and so conversations will begin amongst the target audience about the movie, further pushing its promotion. The lighting also breaks conventions as usually posters use profile or back lighting to create terror or emphasise the character on the poster however in this poster the light is emanating from behind the sign that welcomes visitors to ‘Silent Hill’. This makes the audience feel uneasy as it is if what lies behind the sign and in ‘Silent Hill’ is unknown, eerie and ghost-like. As an extreme long shot is used and because the character is walking away from the camera, we are unable to see her face and facial expressions, this adds to the ambiguity element of the poster. Her costume seems to be an outdoor coat of a pale, beige colour which almost blends the character into the background, this can represent how she is about to be enveloped into the dangerous world in which she is entering. Also the pallid colour could mirror the lifeless and drained face of someone when they are frightened. An interesting effect used in the poster is the mist that takes up the majority of the frame. Similarly to the lighting, the mist creates a ghost-like and sickly atmosphere for the target audience and makes them wonder is they are seeing the image in its true light. Mist connotes unfamiliarity and ambiguity and so implying that there is something to hide and perhaps that all will become clear once the movie has been viewed.

‘Silent Hill’ is the name of the movie and so the title of the poster. The audience are able to draw several meanings from the title of the poster; the big welcome sign show the audience that ‘Silent Hill’ is the name of a town/ city but also  ‘silent’ could represent that people in that town are keeping quiet or hiding a secret and so this is why they are ‘silent’. This links back to the lighting and mist which also indicate that there is something to be revealed. The words themselves are the largest piece of text on the poster and an unusual typeface has been used as the letters look like they have been distorted; just like life in the movie is distorted and unclear. They appear to be dripping like wet paint, which could symbolise blood dripping or the draining of a human soul. The colour black is used to emphasise these images and represents something quite sinister. Also it contrasts with the light background making it eye-catching for the target audience. The serif font on the sign, being traditional, also suggests that the sign is old and that the town, therefore, has a history. With horrors, this could suggest an ancient curse or paranormal happenings. 'Hill' does not sound particularly scary but it could indicate the idea of the protagonist having to overcome something big that is about to loom over her or the idea of not knowing what it coming (when you mount a hill, you don’t know what sits on the other side). Furthermore the title is positioned near bottom of the page so that it does not steal focus from the main image as the image is going to play the biggest part in luring the target audience into watching the movie.

The tagline ‘ We've been expecting you’ successfully anchors the main image by reinforcing the idea that the character is walking into a new town. This makes the target audience think that the antagonist has something frightening planned once she enters ‘Silent Hill’; sending a chill down the audience’s spine. The tagline also disturbs the audience and satisfies their thrill-seeking needs whist simultaneously stirring their curiosity as it cunningly teases the target audience. It is placed just above the title as it will have affect on the audience that the title itself. Similarly to the lighting, the tagline is in a ghost-like white colour. The poster is successful in using innocent colours and portraying them in a negative way. This is a typical convention for supernatural horrors; it leaves the audience thinking that the antagonist has the power to turn anything into evil.

At the very bottom of the poster, in a small typeface is the production information, it is placed there because it is of no significance to the audience and so therefore should not take away any attention from the main image.; placing the institutional information is another traditional convention for horror posters. Horror movies usually use unknown actors and normally do not expose the names of the actors they do use, on the poster so the actors can remain unknown; this means the protagonist could represent anyone.

White, grey, and beige are the main colours which dominate the poster. They all re-enforce the sub-genre of the film as they look ghost-like, lifeless and drained and also create a dull, dim and death-like mood.

All these techniques combined have made a successful film poster which can lure in the target audience with the main image and also provide just the right information about the narrative. The title, image and tagline successfully anchor each other making the poster clear to understand. 

Film Magazine Overview

Film magazines successfully satisfy their target audience needs by not only providing them information on new upcoming films but also past films. However it is not only movies which feature within the magazine, interviews with the biggest actors and directors are also a favourite to read within the magazine. Currently there aren’t many film magazines in the UK but the most popular film magazine is ‘Empire’ and in second place is ‘Total Film.’ The target audience who read film magazines are mostly males who are hard-core film fans. To attract the male target audience, the front covers are usually heavily image based with little text as studies show men are more responsive to visuals.

Each magazine has a different set of conventions depending on their genre type. Film magazines follow the basic conventions of magazines, for example, the masthead dominating the top area of the poster, sell lines framing the main image, a main image, puffs, straplines and mode of address for effect. However there are some conventions which are inverted such as, the shots of the main will vary from a close up, medium shot and long shot and there could be a single model or a group. This will allow the magazine to keep originality and obtain a fresh and different look.  

Looking at the sample of eight film magazine front covers, it can be said that each of the magazines have a masthead which is placed at the top of the front cover. These mastheads are the largest text on the page as it is their trademark. The colour of the masthead depends on the magazine, for example ‘empire’ has a red masthead; this is a male associating primary colour which is eye catching, and ‘total film’ has a white masthead. However the masthead can change style/ colour to fit in with a specific movie theme, this is the shown in the ‘total film’ batman edition. Both magazine mastheads are bold, in upper case and in display font to represent the target audience’s personality as they too are strong, bold and dominant males furthermore the font is simple and readable. As the target audience are mostly males, the movie genres which are promoted are only action, sci-fi, thriller and fantasy. The masthead reflects the theme of theme of the movie. 

Another common feature which is shared is the main sell line; it is the second biggest piece of text which is usually placed on the bottom. This is due to the fact that in the western world people read from left to right and so the left hand third is where the human eyes naturally goes first. However film magazines tend to break this convention and place the main cell line at the bottom centre, this allows it to stand out which is important as the main sell line can be the deciding factor in whether the audience wants to by the magazine and it will anchor the main image.

The main image colours and graphics change depending on the featuring film. For example an action movie would have big graphics and dark, deep and rich colours; this is shown in ‘the total film’ Constantine edition which uses elaborate graphics of fire to indicate to the target audience the genre of the movie. However in the ‘total film’ Valkyrie edition, dark colours contrast with the bright blue and subtle graphics are used to show the audience that even though the film contains action it has a serious undertone. Even though each front cover will break conventions with the main image, the maximum amount of colours used for a front cover is up to three. The colours can also reflect the theme of the film or the characters featured such as the black sell lines in the 'Batman' edition. Three of the images, 'Hellboy', 'Sherlock Holmes', and 'Iron Man' are composed from a medium shot, which allows the audience to see the powerful expressions on their faces. Whilst the rest of the examples are composed of long and extreme long shots. This could perhaps be that they are actions movies and so the long shot allows the audience to see the activity and iconography in the background which then allows the audience to identify the genre. To draw in audiences, these film magazines use big-named stars as their unique selling point. By having someone famous on the front cover, the magazine will draw in their intended target audience and will also draw in the fans of that particular star. 

Another common feature which can be spotted is that all of the examples have a very small amount of sell lines. This could relate back to the fact that men respond more to visuals and so the front covers tend have a large image to text ratio. The sell lines will be promoting other films or interviews with people from the movie world.

It is interesting to see that four of the examples have a puff for promotion. They usually advertise a juicy interview or interesting article and so lure in the audience to buy the magazine. Another promotional technique is a strapline and six of the examples above use this to advertise the other movies which will feature in the magazine or to state how good the issue is.

Finally it is evident from these posters that the date, price and website are often place close to each other and are placed at the top of the page, near the masthead. This information is not majorly important to the readers but it is something that they need to know and so placed by the masthead as it ensures that it will be seen.

The barcodes are always placed at the bottom of the page and usually in a corner. It should not draw attention from the main image and sell lines as it is insignificant for the readers. 

Film Poster Overview

The reasoning behind a film poster is to promote a film by drawing in the target audience and they do this using specific iconography to help establish which genre and sub-genre the film belongs to. Film posters, in general, have certain codes and conventions that they follow. These include a title, usually the name of the movie, which is the largest text in the frame, a main image which will inform the target audience about something important in the narrative and which will be the most significant piece of the poster and then a tagline to anchor the image. I have chosen these eight posters, within the supernatural sub-genre, to carry out an over-view of their shared features. By doing so it will allow me to identify the repeated patterns and so therefore help me understand the codes and conventions specific for supernatural horror movie posters. By using horrific images and other symbolic reference associated with the horror genre it will appeal to the correct target audience.

One feature which is fairly obvious is that all of these poster have the main female character as the main image. It can be assumed, that these posters are trying to imply that the narrative for the films focus on the female protagonist and her journey through the movie, in which she tries to defeat the evil spirit which is disrupting her equilibrium. The use of a female in a terrifying situation and experience extreme levels of terror is a lot more realistic than seeing a man panicking hysterically. 

Another common feature all these posters share is that the main female character in the image is being possessed/tormented by a demon or spirit. In‘The Last Exorcism’ poster we see a female character who is clearly possessed by an evil spirit as she is levitating and her limbs are bending in a way not possible for a human being; this is typical supernatural iconography  Similarly in ‘The Devil Inside’ poster, the mise-en-scene shows a women with a cross cut in her lip, which suggest to the target audience that she is also under the possession of a spirit. It can also be said that the main female character is made to look disturbed and frightening to satisfy the audience’s horror-seeking needs and to start up their curiosity so that they go to watch the movie. This type of supernatural iconography will help audience identify the genre of the movie.

As mentioned earlier the title is the most important piece of text on the poster and it is interesting that six out of the eight posters have titles which have been distorted in some way. This perhaps could indicate the presence of a supernatural being or mirror the disturbance that the protagonist will encounter. For example ‘The possession’ title looks as if it has been scratched violently, therefore matching the violent main image. A tagline is also important on a film poster and four of the eight shown include this. The tagline is used to promote the narrative of the film but to also provide anchorage for the image. The tagline on ‘The Others’ poster states ‘sooner or later they will find you’ which fits in with image of the protagonist, standing in the dark and looking as if she is hiding from someone/something. 

The colour schemes of the posters also seem to be similar. Black is a colour which connotates, the unknown, death, evil and mystery, these are all the things supernatural movies represent too and so this is why six of the eight posters predominately use the colour black. ‘the grudge’ poster uses a close up image of the antagonist and black is used to contrast with her red eye. The black background emphasise the piercing glare so that the audience get sucked into the poster; it allows them to feel as if the character is staring straight into them. Similarly to the colour black, mist is another method use to symbolise the unknown and danger and this is shown in two of the posters. ‘the exorcism of Emily rose’ shows the protagonist looking some what lost amongst the mist suggesting that in the narrative she ‘loses’ her way because of the possession. Whereas in ‘ silent hill’ the protagonist is walking towards ‘silent hill’ and mist surrounds her to show the audience that ‘silent hill’ is dangerous and the character ahead does now know what lies ahead. Another popular colour is red; red has obvious connotation of blood, danger and evil. In ‘the grudge’ red is used to represent blood in the characters eye. Eye is the window to the soul and so the tainted eye could represent a tainted soul. Similiary to ‘the grudge’ ‘sinister’ also uses red to display blood however in this case, the audiences sees the blood dripping from the touch of a young girl alongside a damaged wall, and the blood goes on to form a disturbing image of something ‘sinister’ and evil. 

All of the eight posters present institutional information that is placed at the bottom of the poster, so it does not distract the audience’s attention from the main image. Along with the institutional information, the posters also have texts such as ‘based on a true story’ and ‘from the makers of paranormal activity and insidious’ to draw in the audience. The idea of the movie being based on a true story will amplify the fear within them as it makes the whole experience more realistic; they will start to feel that the same thing will happen to them. All of these text are often in a basic, simple sans-serif font so that they are easy to read.

All of these poster are successful in frightening their audiences. They do so with simple text and a dominant main image which will open up the audience’s curiosity and so they will go to watch the movie. 

Trailer Overview

Below are the 8 film trailers which I have chosen to compare to find conventions that they all follow.

'SINISTER'

'WOMAN IN BLACK'

'THE GRUDGE'

'THE DEVIL INSIDE'

'THE LAST EXORCISM'

'THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE'

'THE POSSESSION'

'PARANORMAL ACTIVITY 3'

Film trailers are extremely important features in the marketing campaign for movies. They are usually shown in the cinema before the movie is played, but also they are played on television, on DVD’s and are regularly searched on ‘www.youtube.co.uk’. Film companies have taken advantage of this viral take over and so produce trailers in hope that video sharing websites such as ‘YouTube’ will promote them further. Trailers are usually a short, condensed version of the film and go to the extremes of the genre to display an exciting and captivating narrative, for example, in a horror trailer they would show all the ‘best bits’ of the movie to ensure that the target audience are lured into watching the movie and so they feel obliged into watching the movie after being teased by the trailer. Along with the narrative, trailers also reveal the exciting stars featuring in the movie and information on the production team. However the shots are not shown in chronological order and so the scare factor is still predominant when watching the movie.

The film trailers we see today have been developed over many years; originally film trailers only consisted of short clips which featured parts of the move with a narrative running alongside. There may have also been a soundtrack, straps and a cast run. The trailer below is for the movie ‘Casablanca’ and is an example for this structure. 

'CASABLANCA'

In the 60’s films began changing due to the more liberal and free age of cultural, this meant that the films needed a new type of promotion to  keep up with the times; Andrew J. Kuehn was responsible for this change within film trailers in 1964. Kuehn created the company Kaleidoscope which is responsible for producing trailers for some of the biggest movies, for example ‘ET’ by Steven Spielberg. Kuehn stated himself that ‘a trailer has but one goal: to draw audiences out of their houses and into a theatre; to do that you have to set up a sense of urgency. In the process of arriving at that forced pace, we advanced the style of editing. We really pushed the envelope in terms of what audiences would accept’.

'E.T'

There are two main formats for film trailers; the first is called a teaser trailer which is used to pique the selected target audience’s interest. Teasers are released well before the expected release date of the film so that they can build anticipation and curiosity amongst the target audience. Usually a teaser trailer will last between 30-60 seconds and will include rough footage from the film, as the movie itself has not been completed. In some cases a teaser trailer may contain footage which is not in the actual movie due to editing of the movie closer to the release date.  The second format of a trailer is the theatrical trailer. These are normally shown in the cinemas a few months before the movie is due to be released and they are sometimes slightly shortened so they can appear on television. Also they are much longer ranging between 3-4 minutes.

Looking at the eight examples above they all seem to have similar format. They all have a beginning where the protagonists life is shown to be tranquil and almost ‘too good to be true’; this is known as the equilibrium. This equilibrium is then followed by the problem. The audience begin to see some sort of disruption in the characters life, here the editing for images and sound decreases and there is often a narrator or ‘straps’ to explain the narrative to the audience. At this point the editing speeds greatly and we see a montage of fast images displaying the character in great danger and thoroughly building up the audience’s anticipation. This fast editing continues until the end of the trailer and then end abruptly leaving the audience awed and in some cases further frightening them with a ‘sting’. This structure follows the beginning stages of Todorov's narrative theory, however trailers do not show the last stage which is the reinstatement of the equilibrium, to achieve the perfect balance of revealing the narrative, whilst at the same time maintaining intrigue. Lets look at 'The Last Exorcism' trailer; the trailer begins with the protagonist, Reverend Cotton Marcus, happily about to retire after he carries out his 'last exorcism'. As the trailer progress we begin to see our disruption at the point 0:55. For the duration of the trailer the audience witnesses Reverend Cotton Marcus trying to find a resolve but at 2:00 the audience are left with one final demonic image of possession and the trailer ends on a cliff hanger and so urging the audience to go and see the complete movie. 

Another way the trailers try to portray the narrative is by using straps. From the eight examples above, all the trailers apart from ‘The women in black’, ‘the devil inside’ and ‘The Possession’ use straps. Straps are captions which are placed in between the footage in a trailer and help inform the audience of the plot. They often appear on a black or white screen and the font is usually the same as the font which appears on the poster to create a symbiotic link. The information which appears on the straps could be a review for example in 'The women in black' the first strap tells the audience that it is 'the most chilling ghost story of our time' and so they begin to feel excited and anticipate the narrative of the movie. A strap can also be used to intrigue the audience, for example in 'The Possession' trailer, the first strap is 'based on a true story'. The idea that the events in the movie have already happened will frighten the audience because they begin to believe that it may happen again, making the viewing experience of the trailer more realistic. Usually straps appear within a few seconds of each other slowly revealing enticing information. However when looking at 'The Devil Inside' trailer, the use of straps are used differently. The trailer begins with a strap displaying the transcript of a conversation, The strap helps the audience understand the narrative however the layout is unconventional; it heightens the fear created as they can hear the problem but not see it.

Whilst looking at the trailers, I spotted that trailers which portray films that are not in a found footage format tend to have a voice-over to enable the audience to understand what is happening in the movie. The voice-over is normally the voice of the protagonist who is saying their thoughts out loud, similar to a soliloquy; the voice is dramatic and slow. The trailers which use the found footage format, such as ‘The last exorcism’, use dialogue from the movie to help the audience follow the plot. The voice-over/dialogue, in some cases, is accompanied by the movies soundtrack or non-diegetic music which is usually ominous and dark. This can be heard in ‘The possession’, ‘the women in black’, ‘sinister’, ‘the grudge’, and ‘the exorcism of Emily rose’ and ‘paranormal activity 3’ trailers. The music helps set the mood of the narrative and creates excitement.

Found footage format trailers tend to use camera differently than ordinary trailers. For example, when looking at  'the sinister'  and 'The grudge' trailers, we can see that the the beginning there are lots of long shots and establishing shot to help set the setting for the trailer. As the narrative develops, the camera begins to use lots of close ups so the audience can see the fear on the characters faces. Match on actions also become popular towards the end of the trailers so that the audience can witness the disruption from all angles. Whereas 'Paranormal Activity 3' which is filmed in the found footage format, begins with a medium two close up, and continues to use close ups throughout the trailer. As the narrative unveils the audience can see the protagonist places the camera on a tripod and the camera pans around the room. This limits the variety of shots the camera can do however it is a great way to build tension as every time the camera pans from one side of the room to the other, the audience expect to see something frightening. 

 both open with long shots and establishing shots of the setting for the narrative, whereas the 'Paranormal Activity 3' trailer opens with a medium two shot as it is in the found footage format. When exploring further into the trailers, there is a clear difference in the use of the camera. The camera in the 'Paranormal Activity 3' trailer, is not on a tripod and so therefore the movements such as the pans are not as smooth and so making the audience feel as if they are there in the scene. 

The lighting and sound are combined to help portray the genre to the audience. Sharp bursts of sounds which are used to surprise and frighten the audience are called stabs. They appear throughout the trailer and are often accompanied by a frightening image. This can be heard in ‘the sinister’ trailer from 1:02-1:05.  Also diegetic sounds are amplified and emphasised to make them sound sinister and so turning innocent objects into evil; this is a convention for the supernatural sub-genre. An example of this is in ‘the possession’ trailer from 0:57-1:02 where the sound of the fork is being amplified. Moving on to the lighting, it is easy to see that all the trailers use dark, shadowy lighting in the trailers are this is a convention for horror movies in general. Lighting helps to reflect the mood of the scene and can represent the personality of a character. This technique is used in ‘The exorcism of Emily rose’ where at 1:20 there is a shot of ‘Emily rose’ possessed. The audience can see that she is under possession as the lighting on her face is profile lighting and reflects the evil presence in her soul. 

Mise-en-scene elements are a major part in portraying the sub-genre and these include, costume, hair, make-up, character placement, facial expressions and body language and settings and props. Beginning with costume make-up and hair, we can see in all the trailers that the protagonist wears simple costumes such as jeans and t-shirts. This is to reinforce the idea that they are ‘normal’ people and that this evil occurrence can happen to anyone. This also applies with the hair and make-up. Moving on to facial expressions and body language, we can see in the trailers above that the protagonist tend have expressions of shock and fear as they see their lives falling apart, whilst the antagonists tend to snare at the camera and their bodies are usually bent in a way not possible for a human being; this is to show that they are demonic and therefore representing the supernatural sub-genre. This is shown in all of the trailers apart from ‘the woman in black’. In trailers, props are used as part of the iconography so the audience can identify the supernatural sub-genre. Items such as crucifixes’, bibles or anything to symbolise religion are often used as religion is a big part of the supernatural topic. In trailers, the setting place a huge role as the perfect setting can create the perfect eerie ambiance when viewing the trailer. Six out of the eight trailers focus on a house as their main setting but in different ways, for example 'The Woman in Black' trailer narrative revolves around a house and so we predominately see this haunted house in the trailer, whereas 'The Possession' trailer narrative revolves around a box, but is set in a house to follow the codes and conventions of horror movie settings. The fear of the threat coming from within your home is growing within society and so this is why a typical house can make the perfect horror movie setting. 

Another convention spotted throughout these trailers is that they all include are dead black-outs. They are placed in-between the shots of the film and make a great effect as they heighten the fear created.

All the trailers above also include the movie title, release date or ‘coming soon’, website, director’s name and tagline. A trailer does not have to include all of the features listed but some of them will appear.

Finally the last convention to talk about it is the actual length of the trailers. From the eight examples above none of them are longer than 2.40. A short trailer full of action is more effective and also ensures that it does not give too much away, the audience are left wanting more. 

History of Supernatural Movies

Supernatural films have themes which include Gods, ghosts, apparitions, spirits and any other similar ideas. They are usually combined with other genres such as comedy, sci-fi, fantasy or horror. Until recently, supernatural films were presented in a comical/romantic way and were not intended to frighten the audience.

Ghosts which are the subject matter of the film can be dated back to WWII where the ghosts were benevolent and were involved in a romantic narrative or featured as angels. The ghosts/spirits usually assisted the human characters in ‘whacky’ situations, e.g. ‘Topper’ (1937) or Joseph Mankiewicz' romantic fantasy which is said to be ‘the turn of the century’, ‘The Ghost and Mrs, Muir’ (1947). 

 

Moving on to the mid 1940’s, ghosts and the power of supernatural beings were beginning to be established into serious horror themes. This is when ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ (1945) was released and Val Lewton also began producing many supernatural horror films including the cult classic ‘Cat People’ (1942). 

The 1940’s was also the time when films combined religion with the supernatural narratives. Stephen Vincent Benet released ‘Devil and Daniel Webster’ in 1941 which showed a farmer selling his soul to the devil.

Between the late 1950-1970 was when directors began producing low budget supernatural horrors which are similar to the movies we see today, examples of these include ‘The Haunting’ (1963) and ‘The Legend of Hell House’ (1973).

From the 1980’s to modern day supernatural horror movies came into their own, and there were many box office hits such as ‘Poltergeist’ (1982), ‘The Ring’ (2002) and ‘Grave encounters’ (2011). They differ from the previous supernatural as they involved the idea of a unknown threat and the found footage format which portrayed the movies as true stories brought the narratives to life and so intensified the fear. 

The Pitch & Analysis

The Pitch!
On the 8th October I pitched the ideas for my new horror movie to my media class. This allowed me to gain constructive feedback and improved my initial narrative ideas. Below is the presentation which I presented to my class and at that point in time, I had not fully developed my narrative ideas or my ideas for my ancillary tasks and so after the presentation, the class and I were able to put our minds together and fill any gaps in my work.

Feedback Analysis:

The idea of a pitch is to present my ideas to my peers. My presentation included my sub-genre choice, influences, target audience, narrative and location.

Looking back at the feedback now, it seems that my pitch may have been lacking in detail as after I presented my narrative, there were still a few questions which were asked.

I was having one major problem with my narrative and that was I didn't know how to link the satanic cult to the child and my peers helped me by giving me lots of different suggestions such as a birth mark, or a pact created by an ancestor which is now affecting the family. These suggestions were all useful but I found them too similar to existing horror movies, but I did like the idea of a predominant symbol which keeps reappearing throughout the trailer and is linked to the cult. I explained an idea which I was brewing that the cult goes after the daughter just because they can, and so my tagline would also be ‘just because they can’. This idea was well received however they suggested a word change for the tagline as it sounded too similar like the Nike slogan ‘Just do it’.  My peers then helped me develop this idea and explained how I could perhaps use a crystal to decide how the antagonist chooses its victims.

 

We then started discussing my location and possible scenes which I could feature in my trailer such as a misty window where the mother looks outside and sees mysterious goings on. These was an extremely useful section of my pitch as many of the scenes discussed now feature in my trailer and this pitch was the making of my narrative. Also as I am gaining advice from members who would fit into my target audience I feel as if I will be appealing to my market successfully. Using their suggestions I have decided to use a scene which involves the mother looking at the window and seeing the symbol of the cult in the condensation, as she double checks what she saw, the symbol disappears. 

As my characters vary greatly in age I was told to consider my actors carefully and make sure they look an appropriate age so that my trailer retains authenticity. By using characters which are similar ages to my characters it means that my preparation for make-up will not be as much. 

Target Audience Research

Research into my chosen target audience will allow me gain more knowledge about their interests and so will allow me to understand how to scare them to their cores! This will ensure that my production pieces will feature factors that appeal to the audience and so will successfully appeal and satisfy their horror needs.

Target Audience Profile:

The audience of my new horror movie will effectively consist of both males and females aged 15-35. Although the movie will appeal to both genders, however, the audience will be predominantly female as the emotional and sensitive narrative of supernatural horrors will intrigue her more, however there will be a sub-section of males who will watch the film too. She does not only want to relate to the characters in the movie but also the situations they are placed in furthermore females would be more open-minded to the concept of spiritual objects and the idea of possession and may even be fascinated by the supernatural. Even though she loves horrors they are not the only genre she watches; she also enjoys comedy and the classic Rom-Com such as, for example, ‘The Proposal’, this is because she enjoys the witty speech, funny jokes and like most girls she is a hopeless romantic who loves a happy ending.  

The younger females aged 15-24 will be studying in school or university, thriving to obtain a successful career. She enjoys a strong social life and is always spending time with her friends and family. Obviously, one of her major past times is going to the cinema and watching a good supernatural horror, but her other hobbies include shopping and relaxing with her friends in the local coffee shop or bar/pub for the students aged over 18.

The older age bracket of 25-35 females have a professional job and are successful in their workplace allowing them to have a high disposable income. She may be dating, in a long term relationship/married or even be single but whatever her relationship status is, she is content with her life. The females from both age brackets are spontaneous, curious, loving, intellectual and caring.

 One of her main hobbies is going to the cinema on the weekend to watch a good horror movie. She normally goes with her boyfriend/husband or friends after enjoying a nice intimate dinner. Another major hobby is looking after her body and health and she normally goes to the gym after work or a run on the morning of her weekends. Her diet is healthy and she enjoys cooking exciting, yet nutritional recipes, however she does enjoy the occasional snack such as popcorn and chocolates at the cinema.

Her high disposable income allows her to go on shopping trips with her friends and spoil herself. When relaxing at home she may watch TV series such as ‘An American Haunting’, ‘CSI’ and ‘Eastenders’ or may decide to kick back with a good book such as ‘Angels and Demons’ by Dan Brown or ‘the Surgeon’ by Tess Gerritsen. She tends to read horror/thriller books as she finds them more captivating and gets enveloped in the world of the book.

Movie such as ‘Paranormal Activity’, ‘the Amityville Horror’ and ‘the Devil Inside’ would be some of her favourite horrors which she has previously watched because she finds that she can relate to the characters in the narrative. This is an important feature for her in the movie; it there is no realism she will not enjoy it and so because these movies show the possibility that supernatural occurrences can happen to anyone, they are her favourite. Also the narratives of these movies tend to focus on the protagonist’s family and because she is close to her family, the thought of a threat from her family or happening to her family will terrify her. 

Being a modern, curious and independent woman she enjoys travelling to exotic places and seeing new things. Whilst travelling she may use an iPad/laptop to watch her favourite movie to keep her entertained or listen to her iPod which has playlists that consist of the latest hits. Similarly to most people, she too has a blackberry, iPhone or another Smartphone that she cannot live without; it keeps her connected with her friends, family and business associates.

Horror movies reflect a big part of her personality, fears and life and so all the females from 15-35 will always make some time for a good horror movie, no matter how busy her life is. 

Questionnaire:

This was the questionnaire I designed in order to find out what my target audience like and what really scares them! I added a mixture of open ended and closed ended questions so that the audience wont feel like the questionnaire is a burden to fill out. The questionnaire was handed out twenty three people ranging from the ages of 15-35 and consisted of both males and females. 

Questionnaire Analysis:

This was the first question that I asked; it’s important to ask the age of the target audience so that I know how to address the audience better when thinking about how to make my trailer appeal to them. The youngest people that i asked were 15 as many horror movies are not age certified for 12 or 12A. After seeing this result I decided to make my horror trailer age certified 15 instead or 18, as many teenagers watch horror movies and it widens the amount of people which my trailer can appeal too.

When I was first thinking about my movie narrative and the target audience, I was unsure to whether the audience will be primarily male or female and so this question was extremely helpful to me in my research. it is now clear that the target audience for my trailer are dominantly female. This could be because females tend to be more open minded on supernatural and spiritual topics.

I feel like this is an important question to ask because it allows me to understand how much free time the target audiences spends watch horror movies. My aimed audience will like other movie genres such as comedies and romance and so this is why the majority only was horror movies 'sometimes'. The fact that my target audience are not necessarily horror 'crazy' tells me that my horror movie should include an emotional element and a more sophisticated narrative to intrigue them. 

I chose to ask this question, because it confirmed the fact that most of the target audience prefer the supernatural genre. If the results came back that more respondents preferred, for example, gore, then I would have had to re-think my narrative ideas This question was followed by a open ended question stating 'briefly state why' I felt like this is important to know because it will allow me to incorporate their answer into my work. Many respondents stated that they like the supernatural genre because it explores the unknown and so therefore scares them more. Another popular response was that the idea of ghosts terrify the audience, one person stated 'ghosts completely terrify me'.

The results from this question will help me to decide which features to put into my horror trailer; by knowing which features they find most effective, I can include them into my trailer so it will successfully frighten them. The most popular answer was the eerie music, which is interesting. I personally find eerie music effective and I now know it is popular amongst my target audience. Fast-paced editing was in close second place with 21%, this could be because as the fast montage of images happens it causes the target audiences adrenaline to pump and it is the part of the trailer which excites them most.

Aside from these 5 questions, I also decided to ask 3 open ended questions because it will allow me to draw out more information from my target audience. Below are the questions and the analysis of the results:

'What is your favourite horror movie? Please state why?'

I chose to ask this question as it would be interesting to see if one movie was favoured the most, or if there is a wide variety; if there was a favoured movie I thought I could use it for inspiration. The results showed that there was a huge variety of movies, however 3 respondents chose 'Silence of the Lambs' saying that the psychological narrative kept them interested and that it was a 'Classic' but also 'The grudge' was also chosen by 3 people who claimed that the use of sound was effective and it had 'disturbing scenes'. As 'The Grudge' is supernatural I will watch the movie again and see if I can gain inspiration from any of the scenes so that my trailer will appeal to my target audience. The other movies which were chosen were mainly in the supernatural sub-genre.

'Which horror film trailer have you seen that was the most effective in making you want to watch the film/frightening you? Briefly state why.'

By knowing which trailers my target audience find effective, I will be able to look onto them for inspiration so that my trailer is just as good. Out of 23 people, 4 people stated that 'paranormal activity' was the most effective in frightening them and pushed them to go see the movie. The second popular movie was 'Women in Black'. Below are the trailers for both 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Women in black'.

As you can see both trailers are extremely different, and when asked why they enjoyed the 'paranormal activity' trailer all of the four people said it because it was made in unique style. This trailer breaks the traditional codes and conventions and that is why it is so popular. This has made me realise that my trailer will also have to be unique and possibly invert some conventions so that it will successfully frighten by target audience.

The people who chose 'the woman in black' trailer said that the trailer successfully told the narrative of the movie without revealing too much.

'Have you ever been put off watching a horror movie because of its advertising campaign (film posters, trailers and magazine promotions)? Briefly state why.
Most people answered this question with a 'no', this may be because they genuinely haven't been put off by an advertising campaign. The next popular answer was a comment on horror films in general, four people said that they haven't been put off a specific movie but that they would not watch a movie it it seemed 'unrealistic' or 'too gruesome'. From this research I've learnt the importance of realism within my work and so I hope to maintain realism by, for example, using actors which are the same age as my characters and dress appropriately to societies expectation, this will allow my character to be universal and so the audience imagine themselves in their place.