Location

Unfortunately we have had complications in choosing our location for our teaser trailer. Now that major scaffolding has been erected on the house that we were planning on using we have had to search elsewhere, and one particular place has caught our eyes - West Park Mental Hospital. It is situated in Epsom, and it is brilliantly gloomy (we hope it is not being demolished but are yet to confirm this.) Here are some images of the place:

Here the words have been used to create an image, with the help of a couple of horns and a tail, of what appears to resemble the Devil. This is highlighted by the fact that only the words ‘the Devil’ are in red, as are the horns and the tail.

Again the title creates an image that reflects the title ’27 Dresses’ and it intertwines with the image of the actress. Although it the image includes written information about the film that people tend not to pay much attention to, the title is made clear through its pink font.

The style of the title for the film ‘Blindness’  embodies the witty satirical image of an eye test chart and the caption underneath includes the word ‘vision’ as a pun on the title.

Although the font is not particularly original or inspiring, the fact that the reflections show what seem to be silhouettes gives a mysterious aura to the poster. 

The font of the title for ‘West Side Story’ looks almost mechanical and rusty, with the gaps and distortion in the letters and the images of the staircases and people, the impression is given that the title appears almost as a building.

Although this is not a particularly good example of typography, the background is very relevant to the film. What with the gritty appearance of the poster - the holes torn in it and the worn appearance of the chequered pattern and font, the viewer expects something more than what the title gives away.

Death masks

An idea on a style of mask we can use for the killer- a death mask. This is a cast taken from the face of a dead person, and encaptures the expression on the face when they died  

These are eerie and frightening, from a victims point of view seeing the face of death on their killer would be frightening, as they know they are about to die. Plaster casts are made to use these so we will have to experiment. 

Gorezone

This magazine is perfect for our trailer as it is specialist to horror films and has covered films that relate to ours such as “Friday the 13^th” and “Nightmare on Elm Street”. The magazine uses a block red font, as red is conventional of horror and has the killer on the front drawing the attention straight to the film as it is the main focus. On the ‘Friday the 13^th’ cover Gorezone expects the viewer to know the film, as it does not say the title of the film, showing how this magazine is directed at a niche audience. The magazine has also used contrasting colours of white and red and black and red to give a modern take on horror and shows that simplicity is more effective than loads of different colours. The picture of the characters cut through the title which gives the impression that it is a well established magazine although it only focuses on a smaller audience than other film magazines.

Typography research

Mask Analysis

 This mask covers Jason’s face in Rob Zombie’s re-make of ‘Halloween’. I find it particularly unnerving due to its skin-like appearance and gormless expression, and it definitely gives inspiration for the type of mask we intend to use in our teaser trailer.

This mask is worn by the villain/s in the ‘Scream’ films. Although completely different to Jason’s mask in the sense that it looks much more artificial, I find the sheer size and the horrified and almost sorrowful expression on the mask very eerie.

Although not a mask, the evil clown from Stephen King’s ‘It’ wears face paint so bold and vivid that it draws immediate attention. With no material actually covering the face it makes the viewer’s experience much more personal and horrifying – especially as it plays on the commonly renowned phobia of clowns that so many people hold, which is something I would like to incorporate in our trailer.

These are the masks worn by the villains in ‘The Strangers’. I find them particularly unnerving due to the dark, deep eyes and largely expressionless faces. The fact that they are all a yellow/white gives them a ghostly effect and makes them look pale and almost unhealthy.

28 Days Later Teaser Trailer Analysis

I find this trailer noticeably interesting due to the complete lack of storyline given away from it and its large reliance on sound. It starts with a caption ‘on the first day’ and has the intense sound of what seem like chimpanzees screeching as if to give insight to the writing, yet only a second long clip is shown in conjunction with it, giving the audience little time to process what they are viewing. The trailer then continues with captions chronologically ordering the events leading up to the film title ’28 Days Later’, all of which are accompanied with the incessant diagetic sounds of flies, rats, screams and panting, which all contribute to the perplexity experienced by the audience. The first time that a video clip within the trailer is played for longer than a couple of seconds is just over half way through the trailer and they still reveal very little of the plot to the viewer. The use of font is particularly effective in correlating with the mood of the trailer, as it is distorted and almost looks damaged.  

Movie murder weapons

Some famous killers and their weapons-
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre- Leatherface used a chainsaw
Halloween- Michael Myers used a large kitchen knife
The Shining- Jack Torrance used an axe
I took photos of a few household items that could be used as weapons, as we're filming in an abandoned house they need to be items that could have been left behind in the house

The fire poker could be ideal as it is unique it also looks brutal however it is quite small, an axe could do more damage in getting through a door for example.
We have chosen to have the killer use an axe because axes represent masculinity (associated with lumberjacks) and strength, because you need to be strong to use an axe efficiently. It is a large weapon and this adds to the hulking figure of our killer, having his weapon large would emphasise his stature and overbearing power in the asylum.

One Missed Call poster analysis

Psychological genre research

The genre of Psychological is related to the mind or processes of the mind; obstacles are mental rather than physical. Sometimes the suspense is drawn from one solitary character where they must resolve conflicts with their own mind. Usually, this conflict is an effort to understand something that has happened to them. These conflicts are made more of a struggle with physical expressions of the turmoil in the means of either physical manifestations, or physical contortions of the characters at play.

Examples of psychological horror films are The Ring, Psycho and The Shining. We will draw on themes of this genre by not letting our audience be fully aware of the plot  in our teaser trailer(by not having shots in chronological order and no spoken dialect) so they would have to watch the film to discover which character is in turmoil or whether what is happening in the trailer is even real.

Presentation on two choices of genres

Sherlock Holmes Website

Very effective horror teaser trailer

http://dont-be-afraid-of-the-dark.the-movie-trailer.com/

the use of non diagetic sound and a black screen is effective in a tense build up then sudden noise and visuals make the viewer jump. After the titles and credits at the end there is another scene to make the viewer jump, this makes the trailer more memorable, and would be a very good idea for our teaser trailer.

This poster is simple yet effective, a shot behind the killer close to the floor shows the weapon and not his face, hidden identity is a fear shared by many people because motives are hidden. The slogan is a twist on one of the ten commandments, 'love thy neighbour' has been changed to 'fear thy neighbour'. Because the ten commandments are known worldwide, this slogan is a memorable one. Because the weapon is a pitchfork, this poster implies that the film is set in the countryside, where there are less people and where police stations can be far away, this shows the fear that help will not arrive in dangerous situations.

Wolf Creek poster analysis

In this poster a montage of the victim's faces while they are scared is used, in order to make the audience feel this fear. The pictures have a dark orange/yellow tint, which is a sickly colour, is intense and also connotes danger.  The slogan gives away the theme of the movie, and two words 'thrill' and 'hunt' are larger, they are two words that can be associated with each other yet it is unnerving to the audience because it is clear it is about hunting humans. The single pictures of the faces are actually made to look like creased photos, to make it seem more realistic.

The Strangers poster analysis

In this poster the audience is placed behind the victims, creating the feeling that they are helpless bystanders. A sense of unease is promoted in that the audience can see the front of the killers, though they are wearing masks to hide their identity and show no emotion.  There is a slogan at the top which is effective at evoking fear, the word home is a safe word, where someone feels comfortable and the phrase implies an invasion of that. The mise en scene of the killers (clothing) is 'normal', showing that the killers could be anyone.

The Strangers Teaser Trailer

This Trailer inspired us to look into masked villains. As we want to explore the fear of the unknown as well as insanity. The use of still picture gives a great effect with the tag lines, as it depicts a factual informative slide show. This enhances the 'fear factor' as it creates a reality. 

Different shots from horror trailers.

The shots used in these teaser trailers are dim lighting from natural light or bright lights from torches and in the shots the people's faces are blacked out by the light so you can only see their silhouette.

Initial Idea

We have found a good location-an abandoned house, and have come up with a plot:
A small group of school boys decide to spend the night in an allegedly haunted house just outside of town, they bully a classmate into driving them there-he is a regular victim. He drives off, leaving them alone for the night. Strange things start happening in the house, the boys hear footsteps, see shadows moving, and one by one they start to disappear. The boys realise there is a killer in the house, and need to find a way to survive and escape the house.
We decided to go against the convention of having boys and girls in a horror movie to try and make it look different and unique compared to other teen horrors.

Typical locations of horror films.

Abandoned Warehouse.

Graveyards

Countryside e.g. woods or lake

All the typical places are isolated as the feeling of vulnerability enhances the feel of fear that the film creates.