Planning: Location

After deliberation we decided that our main location for our film would be set in our school Parkhall Academy. We chose our location to be placed here because we needed to base our film with somewhere that had long empty white corridors for it to look like a mental institution and clinical. Although from the outside it does not look like a hospital but it does pull off a institution look from the inside corridors. The shots which we intent to take are isolated so it ralate to an institutional view and our storyline will be based on a girl being isolated for peers on the wider world. As our trailer is a genre of horror the school is an ideal place and the closest location we could film in as a hospital would not be appropriate for medical reasons. The location is good for us to portray images and clips of isolation and a girl trying to escape, large wide windows with no possibility of opening helps our trailer create this image.

Planning: Mind Map

For our first part of planning to get us started we created a mind map combining our ideas of what we believe would make our A2 coursework effective and ideas for what our trailer is going to be based on. These are initial ideas that we thought were liekly to come up in the horror genre after all the reasearch we done including from our AS media coursework of an opening scene to a horror.


The mind map we have created includes a variety of possible settings used in horror films such as isolated buildings, woods, deserted houses, hospitals ect. I liked the idea of using a hospital for our location. Films such as 28 days later are located in hospital however they use more than one location, as we may also use more than one, in some cases this will help attract a wider target audience. The title of the film trailer is properbly one of the most important issue especially when trying to targer your audience. The film title needs to be right and catchy for your target audience to even acknowledge your film. This is because some people prefer certain genres to others and this can be shown from a film title. Mise en scene will also need to be considered carefully, things such as the make up will give the character their identity as talked about it recent reasearch talking about the 'joker' in the dark knight. Depending on the characters role play depends on what their hair, costume and make-up will involve. For our trailer we have came up with the idea of having a mental patient in a hospital therefore, the make-up will involve the character to be pale and ill looking and portat a pale complextion.


We plan to use alot of these idea's within our trailer as we have decided to base it on a mental patient who has been abused through her childhood and has now turned 'nasty'. This is where out horror genre comes in as she is out to kill!

Questionnaire & Results

I have conducted research in to my target audience through a questionnaire. The results from my questionnaire informs me of various information relating to film trailers, age groups and personal preferences revolving music, genre, actors and storylines. Our results will be very useful to evaluating different people opinions of all different ages, genders and ethnicity's. I will take into consideration of these opinions and take action when producing our film trailer.


This is the questionnaire that we design for respondents to fill out. The results from my questionnaire into target audiences shows that the most common places an audience watches film trailers are on the internet and at the cinema and therefore this would be the best platform to release my production through. Additionally, I found that most individual's of all ages enjoy watching film trailers as they are able to see future releases, predict good films to watch and watch there favourite actors. In general the public enjoying seeing the main actors in the film as it is this they is more likely to attract them and want to pay to see the full viewing of the movie.. This is good for publicity when it is a well known star as it creates a buzz amongst the public and generates a fan base. My sample for my questionnaire said they prefer to see a 1/2 of the storyline, as it enables them to know the genre and style of the film however it allows most of the film to be a surprise when they go to watch it. The sample also felt a range of locations used in the trailer made the film more appealing as it showed diverse parts of the storyline and actors. It was also more enjoyable and exciting to watch. Additionally to this they felt the use of titles in a trailer are important in order to get the main information across such as title of the film, release date and main actors. Out of the 12 questionnaires, 8 people said that they prefer fast pace trailers as opposed to slow pace Within a trailer they expected to see the main actor, titles and a range of locations. The information they expected to gain from the trailer was the basic narrative outline, the genre of the story and additional info such as release date etc.

This results for this pie chart asked the respondents 'what do you enjoy about film trailers?' The majority of people answered to build up an insight about the film, which then encourages them to go and watch the full film. Our aim will be to produce a film trailer with a clear storyline without giving away to much so people are left in suspense and want to watch further. We need to ensure that we make our film trailer exciting to help build up insights for the audience so they want to know more about the film.

This graph asked the quesion 'who do you prefer to see in your trailer?' The majority of people said they thought film trailers are more effective when the main character is introduced. I totally agree with this as introducing the main character will draw the audience in therefore i will take this into consideration and i will follow the respondants view and will include the main character in our film trailer.

This line graph shows the respondents answers from the question 'do you prefer fast pace or slow pace trailers?' The majority of people preffered fast pace trailers which is resonable as film trailers need to build up excitment for the audience. In our film trailer we will use fast past to build up tension and excitment but slower pace in cartain shots for the audience to have a good idea of what is going on.

This graph asked 'how much of the narrative do you prefer to see?' Many respondants answered 50%, this means half of the storyline to be shown which is a significant amount of the story. However the audience would want to know what they are going to watch. We will use peoples opinion to help support our trailer to help it become successful, we will include a strong narrative so the audience understand what the film is going to be about and if it is there type of film they are likely to watch it, however we dont intend to include the full narrative as this gives away the film and less people are likely to go ahead and watch it as they feel they have already seen the majority.

Conventions of a horror

Above shows conventions of a horror in which out group may use some of these ideas in creating our A2 coursework.

Research: Targeting and audience & My chosen genre

TARGETING AN AUDIENCE

Films chose a target audience to help them specify who their film is going to be aimed at and how they are going to promote and market the film to get the audience drawn in. A target audience involves age, gender or ethnicity ect. By chosing a target audience it allows film makers to communicate and attract certain social groups, products such as adverts/film trailers/junkets/colours/layouts help promote a film as shown in research shown of magazine front covers and film poster. Advertisment is a main technique used for film makers as it gathers a wider audience. New technologies such as 3D is a huge francentise to attract new audiences, for example people are likely to go and watch a film at the cinema's because they are able to watch it in 3D. Films such as toy story 3D was a successful hit making the film popular and having a wide audience.

MY CHOSEN GENRE

For my A2 coursework my chosen genre for our product is 'horror'. The reason for this choise is because we previously carried out lots of research in our AS media coursework and produced a good opening scene to a horror therefore i think we could work well at completing a successfull product in this course. Horror is an easy genre to go for as conventions used in the genre are clear and easy to portray than other genres that I have researched. Horror is easy to identify as for instance mise-en-scene that can be used is simple such as the use of murder weapons (knifes ect). Also the iconography is easy to reinforxe as the use of cotumes and props such as blood is easily reffered to.

The audience of horror films are interested mostly due to the thrills and the adrenaline rush from being fearful. The usual age demographic is usually teenagers and young adults. Mostly horror films are reviewed negatively yet sell well as teenagers may find appeal in certain aspects of the film that a critic may negatively review, they might be interested solely in the terror and killings. Because of this, most horror films are targeted directly towards the teen demographic as they will accept the faults of the horror genre more so than an older audience and critics would. Horror films such as Final Destination and 28 Days Later are popular amongst teenagers because they appeal to teenagers. Though they may be targeted towards an adolescent crowd, older generations still enjoy the horror genre almost as much. Through research i have discovered that the majority of horror films have a 15 or 18 age restriction certificate.


CHARACTERISTICS OF THE HORROR GENRE
Themes: There are themes of good vs evil, normal vs abnormal, male vs female and dark vs light. Often these themes lead to the messages and values presented in the movie. Usually the basic theme for the plot will be for one character or a group of characters to overcome fear or evil an antagonists evoke to them.

Setting/location: The setting/location of the film from the Horror genre is typically set in an isolated environment. The atmosphere is usually intense and fast pace, the disturbance of peace in a quiet location.

Characters: The characters usually each play a specific role in the Horror genre. There is an antagonist which is the villain of the story, 'the bad guy' and the protagonist which is the character that tries to overcome and 'defeat' the antagonist. The role of a woman portrayed in the Horror genre is significant, usually in the beginning of a Horror plot the woman is seen as weak and feeble but then as the plot unravels she is seen to be strong and is the character that defeats evil. This follows the 'Final Girl Theory'. The heroes or heroines have different attitudes towards the antagonist than the 'Human Fodders'. The protagonists usually run away at first to either find a more destructive weapon or an effective method to overcome the antagonist. In addition the other characters that accompany the protagonist depend on them to keep them alive.

Iconography - This is what features in the film to represent that specific genre. With the Horror genre the use of props, music, camera shots and settings can signify that specific genre. The use of iconography can be heavily symbolise conventions of the Horror genre, for example the use of blood symbolises death which then can signify a theme from the Horror genre.

Sub-Genres of Horror
Haunting and Demonic Possessions - These types of films play and evoke the audience's fear of the unknown, superstition and the idea that evil forces such as ghosts and spirits exist in the world. These forces are usually portrayed in a spiritual presence of the dead such as witches, spirits, ghosts or demons. These kind of plots include the fight between good and evil by referencing religion. For example in films like 'The Grudge' which includes an American nurse being exposed to a mysterious supernatural curse.

Apocalypse - Mankind is threatened with extinction of the human race by inhuman creatures of monsters. The antagonists in plot may consist of creatures out of space or a threat of a plague or virus that can spread and wipe out man kind. Films like 'Resident Evil' or 'Rec' portray this sub-plot and the film usually ends with mankind dying out and the disturbing noises of the creatures dominating.

The Human Monster - This deals with the horror of abnormality of the antagonists personality such as psychopathology and murder or psychosis and insanity. This plot explores and takes the audience inside of the mind of the killer who appears to be insane, usually these sort of antagonists seek out revenge on innocent victims. The characteristics of this sub-pot portrays the idea that some people are born with no sense of morality therefore leading them to become a cold-blooded murderer.

Research: Campaigns (Brand Images)

Saw...

Brand image is key across all media aspects, Including film, trailer, poster, magazine and other promotional medias . The key in brand image research is to identify or develop the most powerful images and reinforce them through subsequent brand communications. Effective, powerful brand images that attract the eye are instantly evoked, are positive, and are almost always unique among competitive brands. Brand image can be reinforced by brand communications such as packaging, advertising, promotion, customer service, word-of-mouth and other aspects of the brand experience. A brand which is widely known in the marketplace acquires brand recognition.
An example of brand image is saw. The same text is shown amongst the trailer and the advertising campaigns including the posters, magazines and billboard etc. Additionally the same concept of the posters is carried on through the sequels and the sequels advertising.

Case Study

Paranormal Activity