Villain Costume research

We have chosen these items of clothing for our villain as they are all dark and mysterious and they hide most of an individual body. We want our villain to stand out so by putting him in dark clothing and a mask he is not fitting the 'norm'.

We have chosen the first image because the audience wouldn’t normally see someone walking around with a mask on and ripped clothing. This would show them alienated from society. Also a mask covers all facial features so the identity of our killer would be kept secret at all times which would enable him to have a distant relationship with our victim from afar. We think that this mask is unusual as it had strange markings around the facial features on the face. This will make the audience find our villains disturbing as they will not be able to relate to him so will therefore not know what he is thinking or be able to agree with his actions.

The second two images show what our villain will be wearing in our film. These items of clothing are quite unique as they look old and tatty.

        

Victim Costume Research

In our trailer, we intend to put our victim in really feminine, light coloured clothing as light clothes make someone look a lot more vulnerable due to the things associated with different colours of clothing. For example white is associated with purity, and black is associated with death, so someone who is wearing white would be seen as a lot easier of a target. We want her to be wearing just jeans and a vest top as then it is obvious that she is just lounging around at home, and not going out or anything, which supports the idea that she will be home alone. Initially we wanted a girl with very blonde hair who we could perceive as not the wisest of people to be in our trailer, to conform to the stereotypical victims in horror films/trailers, but we want to subvert that stereotype by having a girl who thinks about her actions slightly more, but still has a troublesome time. 

Possible Shots

This is a prezi of shots that we might use in our film.

Mood Board of our film

1. This first picture is of our main character, a vulnerable teenage girl, who has been left alone in her house for the weekend. We have chosen to use an actress with blonde hair as we feel that it makes her look more naïve and sensitive.
2. This picture is of the villain in our film who is wearing a Halloween mask which will cover his identity. This means that the audience will be more scared as they will be unsure of who the villain is and it means that we can have a hidden twist in our film.
3. The next picture is of our location for the first half of our film. This house is very big and surrounded by trees, this suggests to the audience that it is deserted and in the middle of nowhere which means the vulnerable teenage girl has nowhere safe to run forcing her into the dark woods.
4. One of the first props that we will use in the film is a house phone which the teenage girl will phone her boyfriend from and the strange and scary events will strange to happen. She will also use this phone to call the police which will cut out half way through her conversation showing that she has no contact to the outside world
5. These are the clothes that our victim may wear. The top and trousers are quite pale and pastel colours which will make her look even more innocent and unsure of what is happening to her. They are also clothes which are believable for a young woman to wear which will make the audience relate to the character and think that it could happen to anybody
6. We might have our villain wearing black leather gloves which will hide his identity even more and also hide any finger prints he may leave. We think that these make the villain a more frightening character as it makes him look unusual and mysterious
7. These woods will be near the girls house which she will run to when she gets scared. In the dark this location is very scary as there is so many hiding places and she can get lost. They are also a good location because they are deserted and in the middle of nowhere
8. These clothes are for our villain as we think that they are quite unusual and strange. This will make him appear to be out of society and mean that no one in the audience can relate to him.  The big coat coves his whole body which again hides his identity
9. We are going to use headlights as one of our props as they light up a whole are but keep the person behind them in the dark so that they can not be seen. This will make the audience not know who the villain is which will be a scary twist at the end of our film     

Certificate Research

• From researching the different certificates that films can have, it is clear that a lot of them are unsuitable for a horror film as they would mean that people of a too young age would be able to view them and they would be too frightening for them. The certificates that would be unsuitable (PG, U, 12) are below; PG - Parental Guidance, would enable people of any age to view our film, which would be a very bad decision, as a parent may take their 7 year old to view our trailer, without them realising what our trailer may entale. U - Universal, would also be unsuitable as Universal means that there is nothing unsuitable for children, which in our trailer, there probably will be, so we do not want children to watch it. The Certificate 12 would also be unsuitable as by rating it as a 12, our target audience of 15-24 would probably not watch it as they would assume it is not very scary due to it being such a low age rating. Also some parts would probably be too scary for a 12 year old.

When you view a horror film the certificate is generally higher than these ones, as the content of the films is completely different. If you watch a film with any of the above certificates, it would probably not scare you very much, as that is not what the aim of the film is. Horror films are generally aimed at an older audience because of the terror it may cause.

• The two certificates above would be more suited for our film, as we are aiming to do a horror film, and by having either of the other 3, the target audience wouldn't be a high enough age, so not many people would want to view it, as it would be too scary for them. 15- is a good certificate to have, as many 15 year olds go to the cinema nowadays, and the 15 certificate allows you to include murder and blood. Although 18 is a good certificate for a very scary horror film, we do not want to limit the audience members ages that much, as we may get less people viewing it compared to if it was a 15.

Conclusion

• In conclusion, I think the certificate we will most likely use for our film will be a 15, as people of this age are more likely to watch horror films, and it would reach a wider audience as people may believe an 18 will be too scary for them. Also if we were to do an 18, less people would be able to watch it as it would be a too high age rating for them, but with a 15, anyone from the age of 15 upwards are able to watch it, so we would get a wider audience with this lower certificate. Also the main ages of people who view a horror film are 15-24, so we would be fitting into this group of people with our trailer

Questionnaire (Horror trailer market research)

Questionnaire

(Horror trailer market research)

Please circle relevantly.

What is your gender?

1.   Female    11111

2.   Male        11111

How old are you?

1.   15-24       111111111

2.   25-34       1

3.   35-44

4.   45+

How many times do you watch a horror trailer a month?

1.   0       11

2.   1-5    111111

3.   6-10   11

4.   11-15

What scene aspects of a trailer do you find vital when viewing?

1.   Fast paced scenes    1111

2.   Quiet, tension building scenes  11

3.   Dark, mysterious scenes  1111

4.   Normal average paced scenes with a twist 

What is your favourite type of trailer?

1.   Horror   1111

2.   Romance 11

3.   Comedy 111

4.   Action  1

What appearance of the villain affects you the most?

1.   Face in full show 1

2.   Masks on the face  1111

3.   Burns on the face  11

4.   Face in full shadow 111

What would you say is your favourite horror genre?

1.   Slasher  111

2.   Supernatural  11

3.   Torture

4.   Real Life  11111

What is your favourite horror trailer?

………………………………………………….  

Paranormal Activity   111

Cabin in The Woods  1 

Saw  1

Scream 3  1

The Grudge  1

The Strangers  111

Do you enjoy watching the trailers before a film at the cinema?

1.   Yes  11111

2.   No   11111 

Do you think music plays an important part in a horror trailer?

1.   Yes 1111111111

2.   No

Do horror trailers affect you?

1.   Yes  1111111111

2.   No

Target Audience Moodboard

The target audience for our film is 15- 24 year olds. This mood board shows what the target audience of our film may be interested in and like to do. We have included internet sites such as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter and YouTube. This is because lots of young adults spend their time interacting with others and watching videos online. We have also included films and TV shows such as the X factor and The Dark Knight Rises which young people are absorbed and drawn to. We will take aspects of these films and TV programmes into consideration when creating our film. We have included food and drink like McDonald's, Subway and Coca Cola as we think that this is what lots of young adults like and really enjoy eating. We have included Iphone and Blackberry’s as we think that young adults would be interested to stay in touch with new technology and be able to use the social networking sites out and about. 

We will try and make our main characters involved in these aspects as we want our target audience to be interested in them and feel that they can relate to them as they enjoy and like the same things as them. It also means that we can get into the right mind set as to what our target audience is interested in and may give us ideas to what props we should use in our film to keep them engaged and absorbed. It also means that we can use props that have meaning to the audience so they can then relate to the characters in the film and will make them put themselves in the position of the character and therefore the film will affect them more.

Possible Location 6

This could be a possible location for our trailer as the woods are very dark and scary; this means that the villain could be hiding in the bushes waiting to attack the victim. Although this would be a good location it is on a busy road which means there would be lots of traffic noise and it wouldn’t be very secluded.

Possible Location 5

 

This location might be a good location because its right by the sea which means our victim could be chased into the sea and therefore be trapped with no way out. This could cause some very painful and disturbing deaths. The location looks quite dull and run down which could make the audience uneasy and tense as they watch the victim run across the jetty. The boats in the foreground could be frightening for the audience as the villain could also have people lurking in the boats waiting to grab her.

This location is good as it is very deserted and isolated. There are also no streetlights present so in the dark it would be hard to see where the edges are so she would easily be able to fall into the ocean

Possible Location 4

This location may be a good place to have our trailer as there is a deserted looking house at the end of a long road, and on the left there is a big field showing that it is in the middle of nowhere. This could be a good location as if someone was in the girl's house, she may be forced to run into the field, which looks as if it goes on for miles, and in the darkness she would not be visible to people who could help her. Also the further into the field she goes, the less chance there would be of someone finding her.

The fence could suggest that the girl would be closed into the field and trapped, so this location could keep our audience involved in our trailer to see what happens when she is forced into this field.

The horizon line shows that the field leads to the back of beyond, and in the dark, there would no way out, and our girl would probably get lost; therefore she would be more vulnerable to whoever was chasing her, especially if they knew the area.

Possible Location 3

 

We may use the first image of the house as the main location for our trailer, as there is a long pathway towards it and it is partly hidden by a tree. The trees in the top hand corner of the picture is a big characteristic of horror films as the villain could hide behind them or the wind blowing the trees could distract the attention of the victim and cause her to miss what the villain is doing.

The second image of the shed is another location we may use as it is really full which means that the villain could be hiding in there and watching the victim from a far. The shed also looks like a characteristic of a horror film as it appears to be deserted and run down.

The last two pictures may be used in our film as its an unusual camera angle which shows the reflection of the house in a scary and uncomfortable position. We think that this would be interesting for the audience as it probably hasn’t been used before. One idea that we could use is someone all in black walking towards the reflection so that the audience can see them but the victim looking into the shed can't. This would be disturbing and frightening for the audience as they would feel that something was bound to happen to the victim and there would be nothing they could do about it.

Institution Research

 

Dream Works Pictures -


This institution is a very well known and popular film brand. A lot of films produced are animated and aimed more for children though, so using this as our institution in a horror film may create the wrong idea of the effect we want our trailer to have. This logo is very widely associated with 'Shrek' which is obviously not a horror film, so by putting this logo, we may be attracting the wrong audience for our horror trailer. Some of the films that have been produced include:

• Shrek
• Meet The Parents
• She's The Man
• The Ring

Although 'The Ring' is a horror film, the other three are comedies/romcoms. As the majority of the films produced by this logo are comedies, it would not be suitable for our horror trailer.

 

Paramount Pictures -

This logo is another well known brand, that is very popular and famous. This may be a good logo for our film as from the start, it would be recognisable. The films produced by this company generally do well in the box office, so by having this logo, an audience member would probably expect our trailer to be of that standard and be encouraged to go and watch it. Some of the horror films they have produced include:

• Friday the 13th, Gross: $64,997,188 (USA) (19 April 2009)
• Paranormal Activity, Gross: $193,355,800 (Worldwide) (21 January 2010)
• Sleepy Hollow, Gross: $206,071,502 (Worldwide)

From looking and these films and their gross in America and Worldwide, Paramount may be a top choice for our final institution choice.

 

 

Ghost House Pictures -

Ghost House Pictures is a very horror based institution. This is made apparant by the skull in the picture above. Ghost House Pictures have produced films such as:

• 30 Days of Night
• Drag Me To Hell
• The Grudge
• Boogeyman 2

If you continue down the list of films they have made, it is clear that they are widely associated with the horror genre as most of their films are not suitable for young children and are horrors. Most of the films they make are widely successful in making people jump due to the different editing and camera shots. Looking at the film 'The Grudge' the way it is made is very effective, as no other film has had the idea of having a girl with her hair over her face, who is really pale making a loud croaking sound. Although GHP would be a good institution, we did use it last year for our film, so this year we would want to use a new logo.

Warner Bros Pictures

From researching this film institution, I do not think we will use it, as they have not produced many horror films, and are mainly associated with every other genre including action, sci-fi and adventure. Also a lot of their films are aimed at a younger audience, and most people's assumptions when they see this logo is that it is going to be a light hearted film. Some of the films they have produced are:

• The Harry Potter series
• The Exorcist
• The Matrix series
• Star Wars

From looking at these films, it is clear that the genre of films this company produce would not be suitable for our trailer. When I look at this logo, I also think of Bugs Bunny, so if we were to use this, people may think our film is a joke.
Overall from the research we have done of these film institutions, I think the company we will probably use would be 'Paramount Pictures' as they have produced more horror films than the majority of the other institutions. 'Paramount Pictures' will be a good institution to use because they are widely popular and well recognised. By using them, hopefully there will be high expectations of our trailer.

Possible Location 2

This is one of our possible locations as it is woody and secluded. The first image shows a road with just trees either side, and no lights. This could be effective in our trailer, as darkness is someone's worst enemy. In the dark you are not able to see everything, and many things/people can be hidden. Involving woods in our trailer may be a good idea as there are many different routes you can go into a woods, but still end up in the same place.. So if our character was to run away into the woods, she could be met at the other end by our murderer.

Another good thing about the woods is that at night, there are no lights except possibly the moon. This means that we would be able to create light where we wanted it, and we would be able to decide how much light we wanted. The only downside to there not being any light, is that we may struggle to make the area light enough, that the camera picks it up and the image is not dark and orange, which is a problem we encountered last year.

Initial Ideas for our Trailer

Possible Location 1

This is a possible location for our horror film as it is misty and foggy, creating a scary and unknown atmosphere. The trees along the road make the area secluded and scary, and the lack of light gives the impression that anything or anyone could be hiding waiting to come out.

The road lines leading the eye into the picture makes it seem enless and deserted because the audience wouldnt be able to see where it ends becuase its so foggy, which reminds them of a tunnel. This may make them think that there is no way out as tunnels only give you two opions: you can either turn back or carry on with your journey.

If we were to choose this location we could a young girl walking along this deserted road. Another idea we could do is if the villian was the one walking from the distance, we could make it like 'Nightmare on Elm Street' where you don't see the villian for a while, so suspense is built up and the audience are on the edge of their seats. We could also have a scene where the 'pretty young blonde girl' is walking along this road and starts to run as she is really scared of what might be behind her. This will make the audience empathise with her.

Stereotypes of Horror Films

Killing the pretty blonde girl

In most horror films a very common cliche is when the villain kills the pretty blonde girl first. Most audiences, mainly men, enjoy this aspect of horror films as it makes the them feel like a hero as they think they could have saved the innocent girl from the evil villain. This makes them feel good about themselves. Also the female audience will be interested as they can relate to the 'pretty girl' as they want to be her and think that they are like her. This means the audience put themselves in the characters position, which causes them to be more scared and frightened. 

Children

Children are frequently used in horror films as the audience finds the perturbing and unpredictable. They also may think that the creepiness of what the children are doing is contrasted with the purity of their actions. Another thing that may scare the audience is that they know that the children aren't thinking like an adult and are are unsure about their actions.

Scary location

The scary location for a horror film is always used so that it reflects the feel and genre of the film. The film makers will always pick a very scary and disturbing location for the audience as they want to make them as scared as possible. Another thing they will be looking for when choosing a location is a place that most people can relate to for example a scary house or deserted car park, which are familiar surrounds for people.

Lonely situation

When leaving one of the characters on their own it makes the film all the more frightening as the character does not have anyone to call on or to help them. The character is therefore more vulnerable when by themselves.

We only see glimpses of the villains face

In horror films they usually don’t show the villain’s face as the unknown is quite scary to people. It causes people to imagine their own villain which fulfils their worst fears. Suggestion stimulates the imagination of the audience and involves them in the creative process.

Tense moments

Tense moments in horror films are used to build suspense and instigate the audience to anticipate that the worst is going to happen. The big build up is also more likely to make the audience jump as it as it builds anxiety rather than getting it over with quickly.

Blood

Using blood in a horror film is very common as everyone has an automatic innate reaction to blood which makes the film shocking and gruesome.

Did I just see that moments?

These moments in a film make the audience think about the plot in more detail and they try to link it in to the story line. This again builds suspense and triggers the audience think something is about to happen.

Dreams

Although the use of dreams in horror films is quite common and could be looked upon as being a cliché the advantages of a dream situation are enormous. In a dream the brain is roaming and out of control. This means that the unreal and totally unexpected can occur. The possibilities for strange villains, supernatural experiences and non sequential events are endless.

Stereotypes of Romance Films

‘Mr. Right’ finds her initially annoying

At the start of a romantic comedy the audience unusually don’t expect the couple to be together at the end as they initially hate each other or one of the characters thinks that the other person is really annoying. Example of these are one of the main characters does not like the other for some mistaken reason, one of the characters is in a relationship or their family is making it impossible for them to be together. This normally makes the audience more interested and find it unexpected when the two characters get together.  

Montages

A montage is very common in romantic comedy’s as it shows the couple’s relationship grow and develop over a long period of time. It usually is shown half way through the film and sums up the events that have occurred in the past. This may be used in a film as it stops film form becoming long and boring for the audience, it also means they have more film space for other aspects of the film.

Pushy mother and subordinate father

Sometimes in romantic comedies there is a pushy mother or a subordinate father. The parents are very often seen as the ‘villain’ in the film, this gives the couple something to concur and overcome. It demonstrates the good cop bad cop situation and makes the story not so straight forward.

Faithful side kick

In many romantic films there is a faithful best friend who the main character can confide in about their ‘difficult’ love life. This lets the audience hear what the character is thinking and gives them another opinion. It sometimes adds a comedy aspect.

Happy ending

A romantic comedy always has a happy ending as it makes the audience feel happy and gives a positive vibe. It causes the audience to think that the couples love will last for the rest of their lives and be happy ever after.

Stereotypes of Action Films

Explosions

The use of explosions in action films is sudden, dynamic and grabs the attention of the audience both through the visual effect and the noise that it makes. It varies the types of difficult situation the hero has to cope with and is a good vehicle for the use of special effects.

Hero/ heroine

The use of a hero or heroine is a common idea which enables the audience to identify with either of them. Since the action film genre is one that tends to appeal to men more, the hero in this type of film is very often male. Stereotypically men are faster, stronger and take more risks and therefore make a more dramatic subject.

Side kick

In this type of film there is frequently, but by no means always, a side kick. He is a person that the hero can confide in, thus letting the audience know what is going on in the hero’s mind. He is often of inferior intelligence and ability which makes the hero seem all the more brilliant. Since he is in on the plot he may be useful as a back up in getting the hero out of an impossible situation.

Chase scene

The chase scene in an action film is exciting and stimulating. People seem to enjoy watching vehicles travelling incredibly fast as this is not something normally allowed, and are often startled at the feats which the stunt drivers of the vehicles perform.

Fighting (punch up)

The fight scene often involves heroes and villains, good and evil, coming into close contact with one another and striving to win. It is much more real and up close than seeing two machines confront each other. There are often sound effects of thumps and grunts which may cause the audience to almost feel the pain.

Self surgery

This shows that the hero is brave and strong and will carry on whatever happens. He is not deterred or put off by a major injury.

Villain (usually Effeminate/ homosexual, foreign bad guy, oppositional characters)

The villain in an action film is the vehicle for the fear, tension and excitement that the action film tries to nurture. Villains need to be apparently strong, invincible and all powerful. They are usually thoroughly unpleasant so that the audience doesn’t mind what happens to them and are often part of some minority group that most of the audience will not identify with. If they are foreign the nationality is very often unspecified. While the villain may be in possession of advanced equipment and be backed up by an army of supporters or employees so that he appears fearsome, it is often when he comes into hand to hand contact with the hero that his weaknesses are revealed.

The villain misses

Very often in action films the villain can’t hit a still target in front of him let alone hit any of the main characters. This is known as the Stormtrooper Effect. This adds to the heroism of the main character as it makes him look better and stronger.

The main character usually won’t die

It is the fact that the main character never dies that allows many people to enjoy sitting through the fear and tension of the fights, explosions and the chases. They know that their hero, the man they are identifying with, will survive come what may. He is an almost superhuman person that members of the audience may aspire to be like.

Survival

It is often the case that however violent the explosion or fierce the fire the film will show hero or villain escaping with barely a scratch. This highlights their amazing abilities.

Male and female romance

Since the idea of the film writer is that everybody wishes to identify with their superhero, who is leading a life of excitement and challenge, they tend to round the hero off by not only making them invincible but also very attractive to the opposite sex. Therefore every woman who meets the hero will find them deeply attractive and the hero will win the prize of the woman who is perceived to be the most desirable.