Cast Profile (Me)
I decided to cast myself to play one of Lucy's victims (Leon Faul), as it will make it much more convenient for us when we film, so that we have no drop-outs at the last minute, as I will have to be there when we shoot. Although I have no previous experience in acting, I don't consider myself to be embarrassingly awful (considering the fact that I played Joseph in the nativity when I was 4, as well as headlining 'The Owl and the Pussycat' when I was 9). I'll only be in a small number of scenes, so I won't have to try an pull off an Oscar-winning performance. I do avidly watch several TV shows full of A* actors, such as 'Game of Thrones', 'The Walking Dead', 'Dexter', 'Orange is the New Black' and 'How to Get Away with Murder'. Therefore I know what is expected of me in each scene that I'll be performing in.
I'm good friends with Lucy (who is playing our main character Delilah) as well as Faith (who is playing another minor character, also named Faith). Because of this, I think that we will have good chemistry on camera, allowing us to interact more realistically.
For my part, (as a normal teenage boy) I will be wearing an average attire to play my part, consisting of some navy skinny jeans, a navy hoodie and some Nike shoes - as well as a bomber jacket if I'm in any scenes outside. From this, the audience will recognise that I am an ordinary teenager, allowing a large portion of them to relate and sympathise me, whilst my simple outfit doesn't distract too much from our main character.
Cast Profile - (Lucy)
Our Location
As I mentioned in the previous post regarding the risk assessments for our locations, one of the first places we will be using is my grandma's house. We worked with this location in our AS production so we know that it has already been a successful choice for us and we therefore feel more confident in using it this year. Obviously it was also a convenient location as it is owned by someone in my family, so it was much easier to gain permission to use it and it will also mean that there will be a responsible adult on hand when we are filming, in case we need any assistance. It is also a very diverse location as there are plenty of areas we can use outside if necessary and the Victorian interior can help to create an authentic effect.
I think that this will be a very effective location for our main character's house, as it could be seen as being different due to its more old fashioned interior and exterior, which can help us to show that our main character has something different about her that creates a distance between her and the people around her. There are a few bedrooms that we could consider using as our protagonist's bedroom, as this is likely to be a fairly important location, and my personal favourite is the bedroom which features a dressing table and a chair located near to the window. I particularly like this bedroom because it is quite old fashioned while still being feminine and authentic, and I think it will fit with the desired aesthetics of our trailer very well. We are still currently undecided as to whether we will be utilising any of the outside locations at the house, but we are more likely to film any of the outside shots that we need in the local park rather than at this location. We are also unsure about the additional rooms we will use to the protagonist's bedroom, but we are likely to need at least one other bedroom for the protagonist's sister and we may also end up using other areas of the house throughout our trailer as well. Overall, with our previous experience using this location, in addition to the authenticity we hope it will provide, we feel confident moving forward with our choice to again utilise what this house has to offer to our production.
Production Logo
We have been working on a production logo and produced the one above. 'Changan' is a mixture of our names, giving us our own unique identity, rather than naming our production team after a horror related title, which may not stand out as much. Our title is in capital letters and a bold white font in order to stand out from the black background, so that we can easily be remembered.We still wanted to convey aspects of horror across to audiences watching our trailer however, to reinforce the horror genre upon them. We did this by implementing a skull on either side of the logo, which are commonly used within the horror genre to represent death, therefore informing the audience that we specialise in the horror genre, producing a spooky vibe. It will also add to the eerie atmosphere we wish to build within our trailer, as a result of the dark colours used in the logo itself. We featured stars in the background, representing a night's sky. This too is typical of the horror genre, and is also aesthetically pleasing to the eye. We will feature this logo at the top of our blogs in order to showcase our identity in all areas of our production, therefore increasing continuity within our brand.
Resources & Equipment
In order to complete our production, we will need several types of both hardware and software. I covered all of the electronic hardware within my technical research, and will therefore avoid going over it again.
To produce our ancillary pieces, we will require 'Photoshop' which will easily allow us to edit our magazine cover and poster, which we can access on our home computers. We will also need to use Final Cut Pro to edit our final production piece, which is available at our college. We used Final Cut Pro last year and it was easy to navigate around, yet had all of the tools we needed to edit our production well. Photoshop on the other hand is new to us, therefore we will have to look up some tutorials to learn how to use it. There are a number of tutorials on Youtube which we will watch very soon, and we'll also refresh our minds on how to use Final Cut Pro, due to our year long hiatus from it.
Resources/Props
School/Friend photograph - We will produce a physical copy of this by using a Polaroid camera, which is old fashioned in itself, complimenting our character's style that we are trying to emphasise. Polaroid cameras print a picture the moment it has been taken, often with a brown tint or in black and white, which will be effective in creating a dark atmosphere within the film. We have friends with Polaroid cameras so acquiring one won't be a problem.
Knives - Everybody who is starring in our film owns knives, however we will choose those of a significant size to appear throughout the trailer, as it will appear more dangerous, and will be more noticeable to the audience. Knives are obviously sharp and may be a safety hazard, and we will cover this in our risk assessments.
Vinyl Player - Lucy has her own vinyl player which she will bring when we shoot the footage.
Scribbles on Paper - This can be made by ourselves by simply scribbling on some paper, we will also crinkle it so that it looks old, which will be odd to the audience as to why our character is yet to throw it away.
Old Books - Me, Megan and Lucy are all avid readers, therefore we have many books that we can bring to place in Lucy's room.
Clothes - Lucy has a vast wardrobe, including many old fashioned items of clothing which I have covered when I looked at different costumes she could wear. Because of this we will not need to go out and purchase any new items of clothing.
Resources/Props
Knives - Everybody who is starring in our film owns knives, however we will choose those of a significant size to appear throughout the trailer, as it will appear more dangerous, and will be more noticeable to the audience. Knives are obviously sharp and may be a safety hazard, and we will cover this in our risk assessments.
Scribbles on Paper - This can be made by ourselves by simply scribbling on some paper, we will also crinkle it so that it looks old, which will be odd to the audience as to why our character is yet to throw it away.
Old Books - Me, Megan and Lucy are all avid readers, therefore we have many books that we can bring to place in Lucy's room.
Clothes - Lucy has a vast wardrobe, including many old fashioned items of clothing which I have covered when I looked at different costumes she could wear. Because of this we will not need to go out and purchase any new items of clothing.
Risk Assessment Forms
To ensure that we are following legislation with regards to our location choices, carrying out a risk assessment was essential. Firstly, we looked at any risks or issues that may occur at our first location; my grandma's house. After gaining permission to film there, we found that there were only a few minor issues, many of which could be solved purely by having a responsible adult on set to assist us. One of the only other issue that we found was related to the weather, which can easily be solved by making sure that we thoroughly check the weather forecasts before each day of filming, dependent on whether we plan to use any outside areas of the location.Our second risk assessment was for our other location of a local park. Again, we didn't come across any causes for concern or issues that would cause a particular risk. Although, as this is a public park, the environment of it may change from day to day due to different people visiting it who may leave any rubbish or hazards behind, so we will have to be wary that there may be different issues there when we arrive at our location. In addition, the only other problem identified was again to do with the weather. As it is currently winter, the weather will obviously be unpredictable so we will have to remember to check the forecasts in even more detail for this location as we are planning to film completely outside while we are there. Over the next week or so, I plan to begin taking photos of our first location (my grandma's house) while Charlie will be responsible for taking the photos of the local park.
Costumes & Props
Costumes are vital when it comes to expressing a character's personality or current mood. We've thought a lot about which outfit will help to emphasise our anti-hero as an outcast, and I decided to look into how 'outcasts' in the media are presented, as well young women are generally dressed within modern horror films.
Dexter, from the hit TV show 'Dexter' is one of the most popular anti-heroes in history, known for being a serial killer whom only targets other murderers (which relates to our character in how she targets those who she has a vendetta against. His balance of good/evil is expressed through his plain green-ish clothing, which is neither too light or too dark. This could suggest that whilst he isn't noticeably evil, he isn't particularly 'good' either. It is conventional in horror films for antagonists to be dressed in a dark attire, and protagonists in more casual, light clothing, therefore we will take this into consideration when choosing the exact outfit our main character will be dressed in.
An example of a horror film in which the protagonists are dressed in 'light' clothing is Friday the 13th. The colours include yellow, white, light blue and red, which are all bright colours, which can typically be associated with 'happy' things, such as summer for example (Yellow = Sun - Red = Flowers - Blue = Sky). White is often used to symbolise angels too, emphasising the positive tag given to that colour. 
On the other hand, antagonists are commonly dressed in dark colours, most notably black, which can be seen in 'Scream'. The colour black itself blends in with the darkness, meaning that at night it helps to be an effective disguise, which may be an angle we want to take with our character. Due to our realistic approach to our film, we will not be using any masks, which are only featured to both hide the antagonists identity, as well as give a human a more supernatural appearance.In regards to our anti-hero's outfit, we want to convey both her normal and psychotic states of mind. As we will be shooting scenes that take place in various different days, we will need more than one outfit, therefore we are looking to select attires of different colours (e.g. some white and some black), with the black connoting death and white connoting purity and innocence. By doing this, it could be used to foreshadow any actions she is going to take (wearing black shortly before she makes an attempt to kill one of her friends). This colour symbolises her state of mind/mood at different times, which is effective for an audience to identify actions she may take, whilst still being in the dark about the consequences/results of it. Furthermore, wearing black would be effective for her when attempting murder, as she would blend into the dark much more easily, reducing her chances of getting caught, and is conventional of villains in horror movies to wear the colour black. I think it's important to follow some conventions of horror movies whilst also differing from the norm, in order for the audience to recognise the horror aspects, whilst being introduced to some unexpected changes within it (such as featuring an anti-hero and having the villain be female).
One female protagonist/anti-hero we used for inspiration was Carrie. Who has some interesting costume designs.
This photo shows Carrie to be wearing plain coloured clothes, playing a troubled teenage girl who was subject to callous bullying and eventually snaps and kills a large number of students in her school. Her clothes aren't at all trendy/modern, which will be the case with Delilah too. This aims to show just how detached the character is from modern society, and how they do not fit into the mainstream fashion that the majority of students expect, and are therefore isolated from the majority of their peers, which is reflected here in 'Carrie'. The colour of her outer jacket is cream, which is often stereotyped as being a colour that old people generally wear, and is not associated with youth, further emphasising her lack of desire to fit in. Her white collared shirt is buttoned up right to the top, which creates a very formal, focused look. This is expected in a school environment, however in the film the other characters are wearing casual clothing, which segregates her even further. This may be the case in our film too, as we wish to make our supporting character wear regular, everyday clothing in order to represent the mass youth culture, contrasting with the old-fashioned clothing that Delilah will be wearing.
The difference in clothing when compared to her peers is shown here, in which the girl behind her is wearing a vest-top which exposes her cleavage, expressing a sense of sexuality in the other character which is not seen in Carrie. The vest-top also has a pattern on it, which aims to express her individuality and make her stand out as an individual, whereas Carrie almost blends in with the background, as the wall behind her is a very similar colour to her jacket.
Carrie is also seen wearing a dress in the film, which is a costume we are very likely to use within our production, as wearing a dress often differs from the norm in an every-day environment. Before the dress was covered in blood, it was a white colour, conveying the innocence of Carrie before the incident - as soon as she turned red her innocence was lost as she soon wrecked havoc on all in the building. This is interesting for us as we could use a white dress at the start of the trailer and then use a black one later on when Delilah breaks down, to show that her innocence has been corrupted by the evil in her mindset.
We have also decided we may include a male protagonist to further appeal to male audiences and we aim to make him appear very normal and like someone you would see on a daily basis, in order to make him more of a relatable character for our target audiences. Due to him being of a similar age to our target demographic, in conjunction with the way he will be dressed in everyday clothing for a teenage boy, this will make it easier for the audience to imagine what they would do if they were in his position, and remind them that the situation he is in has the potential to happen to someone like them. We feel that dressing this male protagonist in a hoodie and jeans would be an appropriate option, as this is a very common outfit worn by teenagers across the world, and connotes to the audience that the protagonist as a character is fairly laid back and casual, but also showing the audience that his life is about to experience some dramatic changes through the events of the film.
A recent horror film called 'Don't Hang Up' featured two male protagonists who were both consistently featured throughout the film wearing very everyday, normal clothing that any young male could be seen in. This makes the events that take place in the film even more disturbing to the audience as they can see that something like this could happen to them, and it is likely to make them feel more sympathy for the two protagonists. One of our aims is to make our audience feel an element of sympathy towards this male protagonist, and demonstrate the stark differences between him and our antagonist Delilah, as she will be shown in clothing that is a bit different from what our audience would see on a daily basis. However, one way in which we are subverting from the generic costume of a protagonist is by our choice to give him dark clothing. Typically, protagonists such as those shown above, are dressed in lighter clothing to connote their innocence and purity whereas we want to subvert from this in order to suggest to the audience that there may be a darker side to his character that they haven't seen yet, adding an element of mystery to our trailer.
The costumes we use are likely to be quite old fashioned to instantly separate our main character from other girls, and these old outfits also give the impression that she isn't quite in sync with mainstream society, perhaps connoting narcissism with just how much she stands out and is willing to take someone's life.
We have also decided we may include a male protagonist to further appeal to male audiences and we aim to make him appear very normal and like someone you would see on a daily basis, in order to make him more of a relatable character for our target audiences. Due to him being of a similar age to our target demographic, in conjunction with the way he will be dressed in everyday clothing for a teenage boy, this will make it easier for the audience to imagine what they would do if they were in his position, and remind them that the situation he is in has the potential to happen to someone like them. We feel that dressing this male protagonist in a hoodie and jeans would be an appropriate option, as this is a very common outfit worn by teenagers across the world, and connotes to the audience that the protagonist as a character is fairly laid back and casual, but also showing the audience that his life is about to experience some dramatic changes through the events of the film.
A recent horror film called 'Don't Hang Up' featured two male protagonists who were both consistently featured throughout the film wearing very everyday, normal clothing that any young male could be seen in. This makes the events that take place in the film even more disturbing to the audience as they can see that something like this could happen to them, and it is likely to make them feel more sympathy for the two protagonists. One of our aims is to make our audience feel an element of sympathy towards this male protagonist, and demonstrate the stark differences between him and our antagonist Delilah, as she will be shown in clothing that is a bit different from what our audience would see on a daily basis. However, one way in which we are subverting from the generic costume of a protagonist is by our choice to give him dark clothing. Typically, protagonists such as those shown above, are dressed in lighter clothing to connote their innocence and purity whereas we want to subvert from this in order to suggest to the audience that there may be a darker side to his character that they haven't seen yet, adding an element of mystery to our trailer.
The costumes we use are likely to be quite old fashioned to instantly separate our main character from other girls, and these old outfits also give the impression that she isn't quite in sync with mainstream society, perhaps connoting narcissism with just how much she stands out and is willing to take someone's life.
Final Pitch
Me and Megan have decided to produce a psychological/slasher horror film, focusing on an outcast anti-hero whom seeks revenge on all who tormented her. Our trailer will be set in a number of places, including our anti-hero's bedroom, living room and garden - as well as a traditional classroom setting. We are looking to film one or two scenes at Bradgate Park, which will be used as a place in which our character isolates herself from everyone, and contemplates how to go about her revenge. She will generally lack support from her peers, besides one friend and perhaps one teacher who try and support her throughout.
Applying Todorov's theory to our production here will help to explain the structure of our trailer in more detail, as well as outline specific events that will happen in each part of the trailer, and how it both converts to and subverts from similar trailers/productions.
Equilibrium - Our main character will be setting off for a seemingly routine day of school. The scene will show her getting ready, with a particular emphasis on her appearance so that the audience can see she isn't a conventional teenage girl.
Disruption - Upon arriving to school, she will be confronted by her oppressors, who behave very negatively towards her, making it clear to the audience that they are a big problem in her life. Her home life will also be shown, where it will be made clear that she is distant from them. Her room will feature some items that convey her difference to most teenage girls.
Realisation - Our anti-hero realises how badly she has been affected by her tormentors, and starts to act strangely, giving off demonic vibes. She starts to plan her bloody revenge and is less and less affected by what is done to her.
Attempt to Repair - She sets out to kill her classmates, with a weapon we have not yet decided. She doesn't try to hide her plan to show how much she doesn't care about being caught.
New Equilibrium - We don't want to reveal the new equilibrium in the trailer as it would spoil the end of the film, which is something that needs to be avoided.
Applying Todorov's theory to our production here will help to explain the structure of our trailer in more detail, as well as outline specific events that will happen in each part of the trailer, and how it both converts to and subverts from similar trailers/productions.
Equilibrium - Our main character will be setting off for a seemingly routine day of school. The scene will show her getting ready, with a particular emphasis on her appearance so that the audience can see she isn't a conventional teenage girl.
Disruption - Upon arriving to school, she will be confronted by her oppressors, who behave very negatively towards her, making it clear to the audience that they are a big problem in her life. Her home life will also be shown, where it will be made clear that she is distant from them. Her room will feature some items that convey her difference to most teenage girls.
Realisation - Our anti-hero realises how badly she has been affected by her tormentors, and starts to act strangely, giving off demonic vibes. She starts to plan her bloody revenge and is less and less affected by what is done to her.
Attempt to Repair - She sets out to kill her classmates, with a weapon we have not yet decided. She doesn't try to hide her plan to show how much she doesn't care about being caught.
New Equilibrium - We don't want to reveal the new equilibrium in the trailer as it would spoil the end of the film, which is something that needs to be avoided.
Focus Group Transcript AND Evaluation
This is a very popular scene, as Mitchell uses no loud sounds to go with it, which differs from a typical jump-scare. The darkness in the corridor obscures the audience’s vision too, making it harder for them to see what is coming through. The audience do have a couple of seconds to realise that the antagonist is making an appearance, making the scare very effective, as it leaves them with enough time to ask themselves ‘What is that?’. The gradual realisation that it is a 7ft man with empty, black eyes is enough to scare anybody. We want to include a scene like this, however we haven’t yet decided if it is suitable for a trailer, or whether it should be left out.
Auteur Theory
The Auteur Theory first came to light in the 1940s Andre Bazin (seen on the left) and Roger Leenhardt (seen on the right) were the creators of this theory, and they stated that revolves around the director. They suggests that films are used as a way for directors to express their emotions, thoughts and opinions in any way that they like. Directors typically use lighting, camerawork, editing, and sound effects to emphasise their emotions. The theory has been criticised however, as all films are collaborated on, therefore no work is true to only the director, as other members of the crew would input their own ideas and style.
This theory applies to our production, as we really want to put our own spin on the trailer to make it personal to us. We'll do this by perhaps featuring some events in our trailer that can relate to our real life experiences (this will be discussed further on in the year when we start to plan our production fully). We are going to include what we see as relevant/interesting to us, whilst still trying to appeal to a wider audience. We're also planning and directing the trailer and both ancillaries ourselves, therefore unlike some blockbuster movies, ours completely spirals from our own ideas. Being auteurs means that we don't only write the script, we create emotion, tension and scare through other practices. We will try and do this primarily through sound effects, attempting to use less conventional sounds of the horror genre whilst still coming across as dark and eerie.
Topic Research
In order to gain a realistic insight into the motivations behind and effects of bullying, we decided it would be a good idea to research it. We have found some interesting statistics and stories that will help us to really get into the mind of our character and from that, be able to direct the trailer in a way that accurately represents the grittiness of bullying and harassment.
Bullying Statistics
- · Over 25,700 counselling sessions with bullied children on Childline in 2015
25,700 counselling sessions may sound like a large amount at first, however when you consider how many young people there are in the UK (Over 2 million) it doesn't even scratch the surface of how many kids are having to face bullying. This suggests that the majority of victims choose not to open up about their experiences, perhaps because they're afraid of the consequences in regards to the bully, or because they're embarrassed about it. Our anti-hero will relate to this, as she too will keep her thoughts to herself, until she has her psychotic breakdown in which she will express her feelings through vicious anger and frustration.Our trailer may show her attempting to open up to one of her few friends/family members, however this will result in her not being taken seriously - another factor of rejection that pushes our main character to breaking point.
- · People who have been bullied are more than twice as likely to bully others
- · 66% of boys bully compared to 31% of girls
- · 57% of female respondents to the survey bullied, 44% of males
- · 20% of all young people have physically attacked somebody
- · 44% of bullied people face depression
- · 33% of those bullied have suicidal thoughts
Noel Estevez
In June 2014, Noel Estevez (an American teen) was found to have stabbed one of his classmates to death, following the torment he received from him. Estevez once borrowed a phone from his former friend, and after his mother threw it out, his friend turned on him, and started to victimise him. He would regularly be seen running from attackers, and was on the receiving end of several death threats, gang attacks, property damage, and constant verbal abuse. Noel unsuccessfully attempted suicide the month before he killed his tormentor. Even then the abuse didn't stop, and in June, he was jumped by his former friend's gang, and in defence he pulled out a 6 inch knife and fatally wounded one of the gang members. Estevez was charged with murder soon after, One of his family friends stated that he 'wasn't the sort of person to have killed somebody'. This goes to show that anybody can be either a victim or perpetrator, which is the sort of message we want to get across in our trailer.
Progress Report 13/10/16
Our research into a number of areas of media has given us lots of ideas to think about for our production. This has blended in with the planning stage, so the two sides are not completely separate, making the whole process much easier for us.
Our production will focus around a female anti-hero who is regularly tormented by her peers, and is eventually pushed to breaking point. She then plans to kill those who bullied her, and the audience would follow her during this time, possibly in a state of self-confliction, as they try to sympathise with her, whilst also feeling that what she's doing is wrong. We have chosen one of our friends (Lucy) to portray our main character, due to her passion for acting. She starred in our introduction last year, and was very convincing.
Because of the focus on bullying and the effects it can have on people, we will have to analyse it whilst completing our topic research in order to gain a full understanding of the subject. a particular focus will be toward our character's mindset and how her tormentors have affected her over time.We want our trailer to come across as realistic, therefore the research we conduct into this is essential to producing a convincing and gripping trailer. It could be seen as traditional to have a female character as the lead in a horror film, as they are typically seen as weaker and more vulnerable than men. Whereas the villain in horrors tend to be male, as they are seen to be stronger and have less morals than women. As Lucy will be playing both roles at some point in the trailer, it subverts both of these statements, therefore our production will hopefully provide some surprises.
Looking into cohesive marketing campaigns has taught us how to add continuity to our production and two ancillary pieces. We've decided to use the colours white, black and red for our film poster and magazine, as well as in some of the cuts between scenes in the production. Our poster will feature our anti-hero's head and shoulders on one side, with the title and other relevant text to the opposite. Lucy will wear white clothing for this, as it connotes innocence and purity, which can be contrasted with the blacks and red used for the text, which often represent death, blood and so on. The magazine and poster will most likely feature a similar colour scheme, however we have to consider the fact that magazines must have an especially eye-catching masthead in order to attract attention. Therefore further down the line we will have to find a bright colour that mixes well with red, white and black. We will also be choosing the font that will be used continuously throughout our main production and both ancillaries. The font will be re-used for the sake of recognisability, so that people can identify our product.
To conclude, the research we have conducted so far has provided a wide insight of all of the different paths we could take with our production. We've learnt a lot about film trailers and the conventions within them, as well as how to structure a trailer and just how much to reveal within it. Researching into film posters/magazines and taking into account which features are most important has been interesting, and we are really looking forward to expressing our artistic creativity when producing them both.
To conclude, the research we have conducted so far has provided a wide insight of all of the different paths we could take with our production. We've learnt a lot about film trailers and the conventions within them, as well as how to structure a trailer and just how much to reveal within it. Researching into film posters/magazines and taking into account which features are most important has been interesting, and we are really looking forward to expressing our artistic creativity when producing them both.
Emailing a Professional
We chose to email Supernova Films (an independent film production company) in order to see if they'd answer some questions we had that revolved around the horror genre. This particular company have produced horror pieces in the past, and therefore may be able to offer some invaluable advice.
Below is the trailer for their most recent film 'The Before Time'.
Reeling in Audience Feedback
In order to get a wider variety of responses for our survey, we sent out a public tweet to our followers, saying the following:
Slasher Sub Genre
Films of the Slasher sub-genre typically involve a serial killer murdering several victims, and often focus more on the killings rather than the plot or character development. The term 'Slasher' can also be used as a generic term for any horror film involving murder. The genre's peak occurred with American films released during the 70s and 80s, such as The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, A Nightmare on Elm Street and Halloween. Hitchcock's ''Psycho'' is often regarded as an early influential Slasher film, and the 1996 film ''Scream'' later revived public interest in the genre. According to Vera Dika, Slasher plots are always influenced by a past event in which a community, often made up of teenagers, commits a wrongful action towards the killer which causes them some sort of trauma. The film often begins with a commemoration of an important past event which reactivates the killer, and many films within the sub-genre all follow a similar formula.
A typical character to include in a Slasher is known as the ''final girl'', who escapes the killer's 
advances by the end of the film e.g. Laurie Strode in Halloween (1978). The film also often begins with the murder of a young woman. Another typical character is a psychopathic killer (often wearing a mask) who stalks and violently murders a series of victims, who are often young and attractive teenagers. There is often a backstory of how the killer got to this mental state, and the killer is usually male, although their identity is often concealed by something like a mask. Films of the Slasher genre use unconventional weapons such as blades, chainsaws, cleavers and blunt objects.The films are usually set in a quiet and peaceful town that is considered to be safe, but is usually isolated and hard to escape from, which creates a sense of dread from the audience as everything initially appears to be normal. They also usually have sequels in which the killer makes some sort of return or another character is inspired by the killer's previous actions.
From my research into the slasher sub-genre, our group decided that we liked the idea of the killer being a character who has been bullied or isolated from the community around them, which contributes to their mental state and motive to kill. We decided that our main character/killer would most likely be a female character, which subverts from the conventions of the sub-genre as the killer is typically male. In addition, we decided that the majority of our characters would be young and attractive teenagers, which follows the conventions of slasher and we would consider making one of our possible locations within a school environment to really emphasise the youth of the characters. Implementing a ''final girl'' character would be something we consider, however as the killer may be female in our trailer, we could switch the gender roles around for this character as well, or we could have the ''final girl'' character be the main bully or the one who initially provokes the killer to develop a motive to kill their peers.
Inspiration for our Film Trailer
I put forward the idea to my group that we focus on an anti-hero for our film trailer. We haven't seen this in any other student productions we've looked at so far, and therefore we agreed it would be an interesting path to take. In the trailer, we acknowledge that it may be difficult to convey the messages we want to send to the audience. On one hand we want the audience to sympathise with our lead character, but on the other hand we want them to question their actions and really wonder which side they're on. It will be an onerous task to portray these messages effectively without spoiling the outcome of the plot. There are two successful pieces of Film and TV that acted as the inspiration behind our plot, both of which I am a huge fan of.
Carrie (2002)
'Carrie' holds the identity of being Stephen King's first published horror novel. The book was very successful when released in 1974, and was later on adapted into a film in 1976, which further led to 2 remakes of it, (2002 and 2013). I watched the 2002 version earlier this year, and was impressed by what I saw. The character of Carrie herself, is trapped between her home and school life. She is a lone child who lives with her over-religious mother, She is isolated by her mother, and suffers further abuse, such as being trapped inside a dark closet as punishment. Her school life isn't much better, as she doesn't have any friends, nor does anybody sympathise with her when she's subject to verbal and physical abuse from her classmates. This led me to propose having a female lead, as it subverts the stereotype of male characters being the anti-hero, and it could be effective as generally, people subconsciously sympathise with females more. We also have a friend who is an outstanding and versatile actress, and we believe she will be perfect for this particular role. One route we will not be going down however is that of the supernatural genre, as we feel the disturbing yet gritty acts that our anti-hero will perform won't come across as 'real'.
Dexter (2006-2013)
'Dexter' is one of the most critically and commercially successful films in recent decades, revolving around a vigilante serial killer, following a code in which he only dispatches other high profile criminals so that he can fulfill his urge to kill whilst doing something somewhat helpful to society. Dexter, played by Michael C.Hall, struggles to balance his family and social life with his secret murderous 'dark' side. One thing that impressed me after finishing all 8 seasons of this show, was the way the directors would tell the audience what Dexter was thinking. Every time Dexter was thinking something he didn't want to say out loud, he would voice over that shot, directly addressing the audience of what actions he plans to take and why. This gave me the idea to have our anti-hero talk over some parts of the trailer, so that the audience can see what sort of person she is, but without revealing too much, so that they would want to watch the full film, in order to gain a full understanding of her confusing character, and the origins of her psychotic breakdown. Michael C.Hall does a fantastic job of portraying an emotionless, yet loveable and ironically humerous anti-hero, which is something we hope to portray successfully in a similar way.
Overall, 'Carrie' gave us the idea for our anti-hero to have been bullied and isolated in her past, however has now snapped. We will expand on this in our own unique way, by going down a hyper-realistic route, focusing more on her psychological state of mind. 'Dexter' has helped us prepare to edit our anti-hero's voice over the trailer, and we now have a rough idea of what our character will say, and in which tone of voice, and whether to express certain emotions or not.
- Charlie Ball
Carrie (2002)
'Carrie' holds the identity of being Stephen King's first published horror novel. The book was very successful when released in 1974, and was later on adapted into a film in 1976, which further led to 2 remakes of it, (2002 and 2013). I watched the 2002 version earlier this year, and was impressed by what I saw. The character of Carrie herself, is trapped between her home and school life. She is a lone child who lives with her over-religious mother, She is isolated by her mother, and suffers further abuse, such as being trapped inside a dark closet as punishment. Her school life isn't much better, as she doesn't have any friends, nor does anybody sympathise with her when she's subject to verbal and physical abuse from her classmates. This led me to propose having a female lead, as it subverts the stereotype of male characters being the anti-hero, and it could be effective as generally, people subconsciously sympathise with females more. We also have a friend who is an outstanding and versatile actress, and we believe she will be perfect for this particular role. One route we will not be going down however is that of the supernatural genre, as we feel the disturbing yet gritty acts that our anti-hero will perform won't come across as 'real'.
Dexter (2006-2013)
'Dexter' is one of the most critically and commercially successful films in recent decades, revolving around a vigilante serial killer, following a code in which he only dispatches other high profile criminals so that he can fulfill his urge to kill whilst doing something somewhat helpful to society. Dexter, played by Michael C.Hall, struggles to balance his family and social life with his secret murderous 'dark' side. One thing that impressed me after finishing all 8 seasons of this show, was the way the directors would tell the audience what Dexter was thinking. Every time Dexter was thinking something he didn't want to say out loud, he would voice over that shot, directly addressing the audience of what actions he plans to take and why. This gave me the idea to have our anti-hero talk over some parts of the trailer, so that the audience can see what sort of person she is, but without revealing too much, so that they would want to watch the full film, in order to gain a full understanding of her confusing character, and the origins of her psychotic breakdown. Michael C.Hall does a fantastic job of portraying an emotionless, yet loveable and ironically humerous anti-hero, which is something we hope to portray successfully in a similar way.
Overall, 'Carrie' gave us the idea for our anti-hero to have been bullied and isolated in her past, however has now snapped. We will expand on this in our own unique way, by going down a hyper-realistic route, focusing more on her psychological state of mind. 'Dexter' has helped us prepare to edit our anti-hero's voice over the trailer, and we now have a rough idea of what our character will say, and in which tone of voice, and whether to express certain emotions or not.
- Charlie Ball
Group Update
Unfortunately, our would be third group member Dan has fallen unexpectedly ill, and will be taking a year out of sixth form, therefore leaving just me and Megan left to produce the work. We wish him well for his return next year.
The Conjuring 2 - Trailer Analysis
The Conjuring 2 is a sequel to The Conjuring, and is a supernatural horror film, released in June 2016, directed by James Wan, and produced by New Line Cineman, The Safran Company, Atomic Monster and RatPac-Dune Entertainment. The film had a budget of $40 million, and has so far made $247 million at the box office, portraying its commercial success. The film has also gained critical praise, with reviewers being impressed on how 'scary' the movie really was. This also reflects the success that the first film had, which is the reason this sequel was made. The trailer for this film was released on 26 March 2016, and currently has over 15 million views on Youtube.
In conclusion, I believe that the Conjuring 2 trailer is highly effective, creating an eerie atmosphere from the start, and is very convincing to horror fans like myself, especially due to its lack of plot spoilers and gritty, realistic approach. Whilst James Wan does use jump-scares in his film trailer, I believe he utilised them well, as they seemed to be genuinely creepy rather than mind blowingly 'in your face'. If he used too many jump-scares, hardcore horror fans may boycott the film, as they largely tend to look down on this 'cheap' way to get a reaction from the audience. The antagonist does look fairly bland, however is effective none the less, due to it harbouring a surprisingly horrifying appearance at a glance. The editing throughout the trailer is very effective, as lots of low pitch sound clips are implemented into it, creating an eerie atmosphere, and as the trailer goes on, the sounds get more intense, ultimately trying to scare the audience, which is common in horror film trailers. As well as this, the structure of the trailer is also very effective, as we are slowly introduced to the main characters, as it builds up to a very intense ending, which intends to excite the audience, and convince them to pay to see the real thing. Towards the beginning of the trailer, the first few shots are between about 7-9 seconds long, which sets the slower pace of the trailer, so that the audience are more relaxed, which can be reversed later on when the duration of the majority of shots are little more than a second long. The transition between shots gets faster towards the end, in order to show several action shots which are used to rouse the audience, and excite them for the film's release. The change in pace throughout a trailer is common within the horror genre, as the editors wish to end the trailer with a 'bang', again contributing to leaving a lasting impression on the viewers.
Mise-en-scene is also very prominent in creating an authentic setting. All characters are dressed realistically, and there is a clever choice of clothing for the possessed girl, who in one scene was dressed in a red coat whilst the demon was in control of her. The colour red is used to often represent blood/evil, and therefore informs the audience that this girl is no longer innocent and powerless. One scene shows lots of furniture which has evidently been thrown around, suggesting that this spirit was responsible for that, showing the audience what it is truly capable of. As I mentioned towards the beginning of my analysis, the mise-en-scene also helped us to see what sort of personalities our characters had, such as the worn down parents, wearing rather dull clothes to accompany their drowsy facial expressions. We could also tell when the girl was possessed and when she wasn't, due to her change in facial expressions and body language.
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