Graeme Burton's theory of horror films states there are formulaic key elements of the horror genre which the audience 'subconsciously expect to see' applied to movies. I agree with Burton's theory as even in films in which the director intends to challenge the audience's expectations, clear genre markers such as stock situations, genre icons, themes, setting, stock situations and plots, characters (the protagonist and other stereotypical stock characters) and backgrounds and decor are still used so the audience recognise the genre although some are used to a lesser extent than others. In this task I have looked at a few summaries of popular horror films to see how the formula is applied.

Key elements in horror synopses

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Applying conventions of trailers

In class we have been working on applying the knowledge of trailers we gained during the research tasks and setting about creating our own trailer. The task was to promote a new London set horror film named Bloodshed High aimed at teenagers through a captivating movie trailer that used and defied some conventions. My group and I discussed first what the plot was going to be; we decided to involve a school prom to appeal to our target audience and have a unique selling point of mixing an American theme familiar to British teens with an English setting. We also considered how we would create audience expectations by using a certain production company or a star director.

Next we began work on the storyboard for the trailer (shown above), using the following conventions:

• Showing the distribution company's logo first. We developed an idea that the style of the logo could be adapted to look more appropraite for a horror film (e.g. have a black background and a glow around the text). We decided to use an independent British production company.
• Establishing the film's setting and themes by including an establishing shot of the school building featured in the film. Straight away this will tell our audience that the film will be set in a London school and we could make it obvious that it is a horror film by using similar lighting, eerie sound effects and angles representative of the genre such as in Grave Encounters:

• The next shots will show the parts of the film that are exciting, built up tension and best represented the film. They will also introduce characters and the one-line dialogues ensure the audience can relate to them. It was crucial that we had to choose shots that hinted at the plot instead of telling it, as trailers are different to movies in that they're a promotional tool to make potential audiences want to see them. Horror films rely on enigma codes used in the promotion because an essential part of the film usually is figuring out the mystery of who the killer is, as in our film, Bloodshed High. We decided to not show the killer or hide their face in the trailer. The pace of the shots at this point will mirror the excitement building in the story, building to a climax at the end. At this point the images will stay on screen for a few seconds to create a sense of disorientation or confusion in the viewer. In the montage of shots, each individual shot will fade to black which gives a sense of impending doom.
• Music will be used in our trailer to portray it as a youth based film: we will use popular music from UK artists in the appropriate scenes to highlight the setting and appeal to the audience but also use non diegetic stings in the scenes where the killer strikes, adhering to established conventions.
• We will use variation and adherence to trailer conventions to allow the audience to recognise Bloodshed High as a horror but one that is appealing to the youth market and to distinguish it from other films.
• Instead of a voiceover or many onscreen titles, we will use dialogue as a soundbridge to convey the themes and story of the film. We will use the film's tagline before the montage is shown to further represent what Bloodshed High is about. After the action is shown, we will present the film title after introducing it as a feature 'from the director of 28 Days Later', another London based horror. We will include the release date which will be near Halloween to capitalise on the mood of it and the fact it may be during the school half-term break. 
• Finally we will end the trailer with an ominous scene of the killer cleaning the blood off the title which we decided would be a typical horror film style: an old fashioned serif font (which fits in with the school setting) in red and a glowing outline against a black background:  

Our trailer is going to express the plot, USP and genre of Bloodshed High and promote the film as exciting for the audience by engaging them with text based images, action, sound which will become more dramatic as the trailer continues. Although it may show the story in narrative order, the enigma codes are still in place to make it seem interesting enough for the audience. We will engage the audience significantly by appealing to their sense of personal identity by using actors and a location they can identify with.

Trailer analysis continued

From viewing the trailer, the audience could deduce that the story will follow the characters shown encounter frights within the hospital. There is a sense of impending doom and that there will not be a happy ending (although this is uncertain), suggested by the dialogue and emphatic soundtrack. The trailer for Grave Encounters effectively advertises the film because shows the audience clearly what they can expect yet it retains the element of suspense, making the viewer want to find out how the story will be resolved. When it comes to actually creating the trailer for a film, I think I would use the Grave Encounters trailer as an example of how a trailer can promote the movie while still using a small budget. However, I think I would use clear genre markers instead such as an 'old fashioned' serif font in the title and a clear conflict within the plot and include the release date at the end.

The distributor's logo is altered in many of the big budget productions instead of independent film trailers because it draws on the viewer's own experience and subsequent expectations made from seeing films made by the same companies. Below, the logo for Dimension Films fits in with the overall style of the trailer for Apollo 18 as it mimics a malfunctioning camera. The theme of disorder in the opening sequence of the trailer mirrors the film's premise and represents the "mockumentary found-footage style"

Apollo 18

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark

The use of a black background mirrors the film's title while the white glow makes the text look eerie and slightly ethereal despite the thick sans-serif font. Perhaps it has not been altered to the same degree as the Warner Brothers logo because the Miramax logo is more text than image based.

Final Destination 5

Familiarity is used in this alteration of the distributor's logo to effect. The Warner Brothers logo in this instance looks a lot like the one used in some of the more recent Harry Potter films instantly telling the audience that it will be a film with dark or fantastical themes and promises plenty of action. 

Features of multimodal texts

Multimodal texts/formats: In English, the modes of language are reading (including viewing), writing (including composing electronic texts), speaking and listening. Multimodal texts are those that combine, for example, print text, visual images and spoken word as in film or computer presentation media.

As a multimodal text, this film trailer combined visuals, sounds and text to give information about and promote the film The Ides of March which led to the audience having certain expectations about it such as it would be well made (as it was by a big production company) and be a politcial thriller (clips indicated what the plot was about).

Trailer analysis

'Grave Encounters':
The name of the film appears quite near the end of the trailer because the trailer features a lot of text instead of a voice over meaning the trailer doesn't appear too text-heavy. Telling the audience the film's title at the end of the trailer helps them to remember it rather than at the trailer's start and moreover, they associate the anticipation the trailer creates with the film title.

The typography, effects and colour used in the title are evocative of ghosts (bright and glowing), suggesting as well as the language -'grave' has connotations of death- that the film's plot involves the characters meeting with the ghosts. The word encounters is enlarged indicating that the movie's focus is on the conflict between ghosts and humans.

As it is a low budget independent film, the trailer does not mention the actors but it does include information about the production team. The name 'The Vicious Brothers' indicates that the director and writers of the film specialise in the horror genre. The information is presented to the audience towards the end of the trailer also so the viewer remembers their names. The viewer might even be familiar with the production team through other types of promotion such as the video clip below.

The type of action from the film presented to the audience emphasises that it is a horror film. At first it is less scary because the plot is being introduced but towards the end the images become quite graphic. The trailer indicates that the film's USP is that it has a strong plot as well as the type of action horror fans would expect. The contrapunctual change that takes place in the middle of the clip (where it becomes about making the programme about the hospital) is signified by the different style of text.

The soundtrack of the trailer is a mixture of a pulsating beat to mirror the build-up of momentum and a high pitched drone sound is more typical of a horror film score, enhancing the eeriness of the action.

Instead of a voice-over, dialogue is used from the actual film so it helps to establish familiarity with the character when the audience sees the film. We can also infer that the man narrating is the film's protagonist so when the trailer begins to show the scarier moments of the film we begin to sympathise with the character. The voice used creates a serious tone initially yet shifts to a more frightened tone to generate excitement within the audience.

The action shown in the trailer is initially shown at the same pace of a clip in the film and as the trailer goes on, the clip lengths become shorter and shorter leading to a slightly longer clip at the 'climax'. The shifting pace mirrors the use of sound effects, keeping the viewer engaged with everything going on all at once.

The last frames of the trailer are the title, the credits for the film and its website. The production notes emphasise that it is going to be a scary film; the writer and director's name ('The Vicious brothers') lead the audience to expect this. Unusually there is no release date for the film which would help build up anticipation for it.

I think the trailer is a more effective advertisement for the film as it draws on the eerie images in the poster and emphasises the scary nature of the film by using music and non diegetic sound effects. Furthermore, the trailer shows some of the action, allowing the audience to get a better feel of the film. I would expect to see this trailer appear in the cinema at a late time before a film aimed at a teenage or older audience because of some of the images that appear in it. Likewise, on television it would probably be shown after family viewing hours to make sure it only reaches its intended target audience. Also, horror and thriller films are shown on TV during the late hours so it could potentially be reaching fans of those genres likely to see this film.
The trailer may be scheduled to air between other horror movies or films aimed at a teenage or adult audience such as 'Fright Night' or 'Final Destination 5'.

The trailer features visual identifiers that enable the audience to immediately recognise the movie's genre:

• Costume
• Setting
• Lighting
• Camera angles

However variation is employed as well. The trailer doesn't include a release date and it doesn't feature all of the visual identifiers of a horror film (such as props and costume) because it is not marketed as a normal horror feature with conflict resolution. Instead the premise of the film is that it is a metafictional 'film-within-a-film' about ghost hunting. The concept is postmodern and quite novel so the audience would expect the trailer not to adhere to all the horror film conventions. In my own horror film trailer, I would be careful to use a mix of conventions and variations because the interested viewer could not find out when the film comes out on DVD or in cinemas by watching this trailer. Although it's a limited release movie, it could diminish a potential audience's interest in the film.

What considerations are there in choosing a film title?

Deconstructing Film Titles
In the activity above, I deconstructed various film titles by analysing the typography, colours, images and words used and made observations on what I thought the films' genres were and the audience expectations of each. In my research I noted the following:

• The images were genre based and the typography would relate to the genre so these genre markers would lead the audience to have expectations about the film
• There are certain conventions of film title design, meaning the film would be easily recognisable in terms of genre
• The titles of some films are considered to make them 'high concept' like Shark Night for example. It also has a short, simple name to make the film marketable worldwide
• Long film titles are indicative of a serious tone and usually suggest the film is a drama
• Horror films have shorter titles which relate to an event taking place within the movie
• Most films' titles express something about the narrative
• The language used relates to the target audience, e.g. Killing Bono is aimed at rock fans

What is more important- image or words?
Both are equally important: words have connotations and associations while images support these to emphasise the meaning

The Meeting 2: Evaluation

I think that the second meeting film was a success as the group improved on the work done in the first short film thanks to the group being better prepared for filming and editing. However the second effort could have been improved by the whole group being present and rehearsing the scene ahead of filming. We acted on the constructive feedback given to us by the rest of the class.
What was your responsibility in the filming process?
Acting, drawing the storyboard and writing the script
What decisions did you have to make in this role?
How I could effectively relay the plot of the film to the whole group; how I would devise a script that communicated the message/purpose of the film and fit the given time frame
How effectively did you carry out your responsibilities?
Quite effectively as I produced the script and storyboard before filming but I could have improved by distributing scripts before we shot the scene
How effectively did the team work cohesively?
The second attempt at making a film allowed us to work better as we planned thoroughly how we were going to make the film and edit it
What areas would you like to develop?
The variety of shot types used and camera angles
What are 2 areas you felt went well and consider one recommendation you would give yourself or the group to improve upon this practice?

• Filming in a given time frame
• Planning how to shoot the film
• Next time we should rehearse the scene before filming

USP Research

Trailer title: Cowboys & Aliens

What's the USP? 

• Mix of genres: Western and Sci-Fi
• Star director/ association with a hit film:

Trailer title: Green Lantern

What's the USP?

• Use of 3D technology and special effects
• Action sequences/ promise of  exciting plot
• High concept- association with DC Comics

Trailer title: Real Steel

What's the USP?

• Mix of genres: Sports/Boxing and Sci-Fi
• Star actor
• Emotional content as well as action offered

Initial exploration of movie trailers

 Today in class we had a look at film trailers and explored what the purpose and intention of a trailer is and what a good trailer such as The Amazing Spider-Man does to be a successful example. Here are my findings:

The Meeting 2: Organisation

Compared to our first effort, for the second time filming was a lot more organised because we had planned in advance where and how we were going to shoot the film. The aspects we had to consider were:

• Location: where in the school building could we find an appropriate area to shoot in?
• Length of time it would take to film: we were given one lesson to complete filming in
• Equipment we could use to shoot and limitations: we were given a camera and a tripod which affected the type of location used. In the end, we used an indoor location so lighting and sound would good quality
• Props and costume
• Roles and responsibilities within the group: each member of the group had a specific role; storyboarding, writing the script, acting, filming. In case one of the group members was absent we also had to think how we would manage to film with only 3 members of the group
• Health and safety: we decided to film indoors so we would not encounter problems if the filming equipment got wet for example and film in a specific part of the classroom so we wouldn't trip over cables

In spite of this, I think improvements could have been made in our organisation, such as rehearsing the sequence before the lesson began so we could have filmed it quickly and possibly have done some editing.

Examples of existing weblogs and good practice

See screencaps of the blogs I evaluated on Prezi

Visit the blogs:

• Midnight Massacre
• Pete Fraser's Media Blog
• The Film Geek
• Acland Burghley Media Blog
• Insaland
• Art of the Title

Horror film trailer: Final Destination 5