Research Into Horror Posters

The visual and written code used in this poster is the sword and the mask. This shows that the man is trying to hide his appearances and at the same time trying to protect himself – this is a cliché horror film, which relates to audience, which tends to be young people.
The name ‘Friday The 13th’ is a type iconography because instinctively when you see the name you know it’s a horror movie.
A catching slogan to describe the film more would be ideal in this poster, as most horror film poster tend to have this. This could be a way to go against typical horror clichés .This poster creates enigma through the mask as the man is full covered up and we do not now who or what he is. The phrase ‘Welcome to Crystal Lake’ makes you wonder what goes on in crystal lake and why the man is there – this is another sense of enigma
The film producers are trying to create a sense of danger and equilibrium by showing a man in the middle of a forest with a mask and a weapon in his hands, this creates a sense of fantasy in which you wouldn’t see in real life.
You can instinctively tell that this film belongs to a horror genre, this is shown through the iconography of the masked man and the setting around him.

The visual written code used in this poster is woods on the poster. This shows that it is set in a misty place and also the written codes on the poster gives an insight into the storyline and what to expect , rather than having to guess for yourself.The poster provides more information than a normal poster would or should provide. This poster has a picture, title all the normal things a poster should have. However it does have a contain a mini synopsis which most films do not have, this could make the poster stand out more.
I would have expected to see a release date on the poster, most poster have a realise date. Maybe this was done to keep the audience in suspense or to make the audience search for when it’s actually realised, this could show that the audience actually wants to watch it since they went out of their way to search for it. This poster creates enigma through not having a main picture, this make you as an audience rely on other things like the title and words to find out what the film is about. The film producers are trying to create a sense of danger and equilibrium by showing the misty black and white forest, this is something you wouldn’t see in real life, and it gives you that sense of fantasy. Once again instinctively you would know this film belongs to a horror genre. It has all the conventions that a horror poster should have.

The visual and written codes used in this poster is the lift that is the centre of the picture, also the upside crucifies. This shows what kind of film it is going to be my looking at the visual iconography.

The visual image in this poster which is the lift and the upside crucifies, gives us the information about what the film contains and an idea of who would be in it e.g. devil related people
For a typical horror poster, this poster has all the conventions of a poster so all the information is there, however there is no picture to show us a concrete idea, so it relies on guessing.
This poster creates enigma because as i said before , it has no picture to show us who is in it and what there role is in the film.

The film procedures are trying to create a sense of danger and equilibrium by showing a closed lift with a red line in the middle of it, you do not know who is in the lift and what will happen if they come out. So the equilibrium comes from that.

From looking at these poster , it has help me understand what a typical horror poster consist of , and whether I'd like to go with the typical horror poster style or go against it. I now know what needs to be done on our poster to draw our target audience in without giving too much away of the story line.

Synopsis Research

All the synopsis of the films above has various things in common. In the three synopsis they all have children in it that have a relation to evil or the devil. The movie synopsis will give you the basic plot details without giving you all of the different types of information that would ruin the movie for you. I looked at 3 synopsis (which are above), which are from the films 'Let Me In' ,'The Last Exorcism' and 'The Hills Have Eyes'. I looked at what the three synopsis have in common and noticed they both firstly involve a lot of youth. They feed off the innocence of young people and make them become the Antagonist.They also involve an Protagonist that seems to be a "Mystery" person.They films both involve murder and both show before the film gets heated and the killings start there is some background information as to why the killings start to happen. They both involve someone has done something to another person and revenge is being seeked to teach them a lesson.

By researching horror film synopsis , I have learnt what it takes to write a synopsis that doesnt give too much away of the story line. However because I am not writing a synopsis for my horror film , instead I am doing a trailer , I can still use the idea of the synopsis to help me create a short trailer that has all the elements of a synopsis that doesnt give anything away.

Click on the link for more horror film synopsis >> http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1148204/

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1232783/synopsis

Research into Genre

Research into Genre on Prezi

What is Horror?

All the below entries on my blog are all related around horror. But none of them actually describe what the horror genre is. So what is horror?
Below are the words I think are associated with horror:

I've watched a lot of things that seem like horror , in other genres – crime and suspense fiction, dark thrillers, but I saw them as distinct and separate genres. I'm suggesting that do we re-classify anything scary as horror? I don't think so, but what I am suggesting, is that maybe we have been thinking of horror in very narrow terms, keeping it firmly within the realms of the supernatural, when maybe the dividing lines between horror and other genres are more blurred. A film concerning serial killers which focuses on fear, has elements of both horror and crime/suspense.

This suggest that maybe we shouldn’t be looking at horror in the strict terms of the supernatural, but we should widen our criteria. I suggest that two types of horror exist - supernatural horror, and a horror which is not supernatural, but based around the horrors of our real world – hate, murder, cruelty, both are equally valid. There are many types of horror type movies that people relate too .

Gore horror will give a person chills and be repulsed by what is being seen or read. Old horror goes beyond a physical reaction to the deepest part of the mind--the part that believes that there are demons hiding in the shadows, creatures that we can only begin to imagine; old horror will make you believe that the danger you see or read is real and is the kind that will scare you enough to have a night light on or be safely in bed before all lights can be turned off; it will make you think twice about stepping out of your warm home into the dark of the night because...you're no longer sure that there isn't anything out there that will hurt you.

Analyzing Trailers (Let Me In)

Whilst watching the trailer , it is only 2mins 8seconds into it that we are presented with the name of the film. This could be done to keep the film in suspense , keep the viewer guessing to try and figure out what names could fit with a trailer like this. Also when the name is presented to us it is only shown for 4 seconds which doesn't allow much time to process what the name is or why the name was giving. I think this was done for a reason, to continue with the suspense of the movie. This is definitely what we call a teaser trailer.
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When watching the trailer we are told who is starring in the film. Many trailers do this for the mere reason to let the audience know more about the film in their trailer. It is also done because saying who is starring in it can also make more people want to watch it , as some audiences like to watch films were they can watch their favourite actor/actress play a role on screen. This earns the film some 'brownie points' and is always good for the film press release.

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In the 2min trailer we see quite a lot of action whether it be from trying to catch someone or kill someone, there is a variety shown in this 2min trailer. Below are some snap shots I have taken from the trailer itself to show the various shots of action the trailer shows.

The shots above were ones of which I captured from the actual trailer. All the shots show different type of action that was shown in the 2min trailer. All the shots distinctively show some aspects of a horror movie, rather than an actual action movie. Just by looking at the background in some of the shots instinctively tell you that it is a horror movie. If I were to compare these shots to shots which are done in an actual action movie there would be more differences and less similarities.

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The music in the film is very dark and sinister, which tells us what type of film the trailer is advertising. The music in the background plays a very significant role in letting the audience know what type of category they want this film to come under. Once again referring back to action movies, you are less likely to hear dark , sinister music in the trailers of such films because this may make the audience wonder is this a horror or an action movie. So sound/music determines what type of film the producers want us (the audience) to categorise their film under.

>> Click on the link to hear examples of typical horror music

Examples Horror Music

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The speed from the trailer is very different than watching it from the actual film. This could be because the trailer is picking out the best bits to show , so it has to work through it rather quick than it would have in the actual film. The speed of what we see starts of at normal speed with various slow 'blinks' to go to another shot. However when the action starts to appear in the trailer the speed rapidly alters to a quicker speed and we see fast shots and flashes across the screen to emphasise the action.

*Slow speed* * Faster speed* * Faster speed*

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In the last frame of the trailer we are presented with the directors and actors/actresses name. Doing my research on other trailers this is a similar occurrence in which we see who is directing the film or who is being featured in the film at the last frame. This may be done so you can focus on watching the actual trailer rather than focusing who directed it or who is in it , that could be the reason why it is shown to us right at the last minute so it can either be a surprise or just to keep you watching the trailer until you are shown who director or will feature in such a movie.

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After watching the trailer for 'Let me In' and looking at the poster for the film , I have come to an conclusion that the trailer is much more effective in making me watch the film. The trailer gives me a much greater insight of what to expect , it doesn't give too much away (which is always a good thing) and it also draws you in to make you want to watch it. However the poster would be effective for someone who likes to guess what the film is about by working out their own conclusions about it. Posters can show you what trailers can. Its like deciding what better moving images or still images? They both have their purpose but moving images give you something to work with whereas still images give you something to work for (work out what it is about).

Whats better Poster or Trailer?

Class Based Research (2) - Whats more important words or images?

When looking at posters for films there is either an image on it or words - or if your lucky both!
But you'll never have neither. So the important question is what's important words or images?
DEBATE DEBATE DEBATE!!

Having words on a movie poster is very cruical in trying to sell that poster to an audience. Words let you think for yourself, it allows you to make up your own mind of what the film is about since there is no image to help you (this could be a good or bad thing). However most posters that just have words on it have their intention , the main idea could be to leave the audience in supsense until they actual view the film.
It could be seen as a problem if a movie poster just has words on it and no image. This could turn into a negative for advertising your poster as certain audiences would actually PREFER that the poster they are looking at had images on it, they would rather see what type of film it may be by just looking at the poster whereas words can't give you that straight foward information.

Having images on a movie poster put that particular poster at a great advantage. Images on posters always gives a wider idea of what the film will be about and who is in it. Also when passing by a poster the image is the first thing that stands out for most people. When looking at an image you get a full picture, when looking at words you will have to figure out a full picture in your mind.

AND THE WINNER IS....
So overall after weighing out the pros and cons , it is clear to see that in my opinion images are more important when referring to movie posters. Having images on a poster gives the film a better understanding and therefore means people would like to see it.

Class Based Research (1) - Looking at Film Titles (Denotation & Connotations)

In class I done pieces of work which I done to show different film titles. I showed the connotations and denotations of 4 film titles I looked at in class

The first title I looked at in class and research about was"Due Date". When hearing the name for this film I instinctively suggested that it was a horror movie and I didn't think for a second that it would be a comedy film. I suggested it would be a horror which was connected with a long awaiting court case. However this could be because I am a Media student , if someone else was to be asked whatkind of film they thought the "Due Date" was they most probably connect it with pregnancy and of course they'd be correct. After realizing this , it has taught me that the name for my Horror movie doesn't have to be a "typical" horror name for it to have a horror genre.

The second film title I looked at was "Case 39". When hearing the name for this film I didn't have a doubt it my mind that it wasn't a horror movie. All the pieces fitted together , from the name to the actual styling of the film title. Looking at the connotations for the film title before looking at the denotations was helpful because it lets your mind wonder about what kind of horror it may be e.g the story line it may have. If I decided to look at the denotations beforehand I would have easily guessed what story was and type of horror it may be.

The third film title I looked at was "Let Me In". Hearing this name instinctively gave me different story lines but straight away I knew it was a horror movie I wasn't unsure what genre it was. I was contemplating on different story lines e.g. Danger , Intruder and Psychology. However once again I wasn't using my Media knowledge to go against stereotypes and my ideas were wrong. The film has nothing to do with what I have mentioned. This has shown me that a
name of a film especially horror doesn't need to have anything to do with the actual story-line.

The fourth and last film I looked at was "The American". Before I looked at the poster for this film my first instincts were that the film was about someone immigrating from another country to America. I also had ideas about a typical 'American' film consisting of a high school and typical American themes. However when I was finally faced with the poster for this film it showed me that all my ideas of what the film would be about were all wrong. Sterotypically hearing the name 'The American' you would instinctivly think it was to do with some of the above ideas.