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.