Research into similar products - Carrie Trailer Analysis

Camerawork
The establishing shot is the camera panning upward onto the house. The house doesn't look particularly old or spooky, it is just ordinary. The following shot is the camera panning around one of the rooms in the house and again it just looks to be a normal house. It zooms onto the door shaking creating an atmosphere for the audience. There are a series of close ups on Carrie which reveals a lot about the character. There is a two shot which reveals the mother grabbing onto Carrie. There is a canted angle which shows Carrie's face as she looks menacingly at the American flag as it waves. The comparison between Carrie's ordinary and secret life is constantly referred to. There is a long shot revealing both Carrie and her prom date and in the background is her very ordinary looking house however the audience know what is kept behind closed doors and the date does not. This foreshadows a problem. 

Sound
There is a deep rumbling noise which is non diegetic along with the sound of a lady's voice singing. Once the camera is inside of the house you begin to hear a girls fearful screams which sets the scene and instills a sense of worry into the audience. There is the sound of the scissors cutting material as the mother sings and both of these sounds are diegetic. The door begins to bang and this reveals the state of panic Carrie is in. As the scenes are played all of the sounds seem to come together to create one very tense soundtrack. A slow and quite sad piece of music is played which is reflecting Carrie's mood as her voice is featured in the voice over and she talks about why she does not fit in and is different to everybody else. The voice over makes the audience aware that there is something not right with Carrie however does it without giving too much away. The slow soundtrack is disturbed by the noise of the blast at prom followed by everyones screams which shows the audience the action. Flicking between the quiet music and the screaming people again reinforces the idea of her having two lives, one which is a big secret. 

Mise En Scene
There is low key lighting throughout which is used to create the scary atmosphere of a horror film. The settings used are very normal every day life settings for example, a home, school, library, swimming baths. This is to support the story line and shows the audience that she appears to be a normal girl however this is not the case. Again, costume is very normal up until the moment where Carrie explodes at the prom. At this moment she is in a ripped up prom dress covered in red and black. The lighting flickers and her expression turns angry. 

Editing
Editing is very slow paced to begin as it is simply telling the story of her life and how she is an outcast. However as the story line begins to delve deeper into Carrie's life the pace of the editing picks up. When there is action/drama on scene the editing is a lot faster. 

Planning

Firstly I have used a popular horror films title to see what words are associated with it. The words 'deprive' and 'mortal' could be incorporated into a film name to create something effective. The word haunted was used to see what synonyms it had. I think the words 'obsessed' and 'inhabited' are also potentially good film names. 

Research into Target Audience

What would you find in a 15?

Any of the following:

•   strong violence
•  frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***').
•   portrayals of sexual activity
•   strong verbal references to sex
•   sexual nudity
•   brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence
•   discriminatory language or behaviour
•   drug taking

What would you find in an 18?

18 works are for adults and can contain strong issues such as:

•   very strong violence
•   frequent strong language (e.g. 'f***') and / or very strong language (e.g. ‘c***’)
•   strong portrayals of sexual activity
•   scenes of sexual violence
•   strong horror
•   strong blood and gore
•   real sex (in some circumstances)
•   discriminatory language and behaviour

                                                                     

Research

Paranormal Horror

This is a film based on the idea of spirits and supernatural events.

Eg- Paranormal Activity

Slasher Horror

Involves a psychopathic killer and a lot of violence.

Eg- Scream

Gore Horror

There is a lot of blood and very explicit content in a gory horror film.

Eg- Saw

Monster Horror

This kind of horror will feature a monster/creature often praying upon human victims.

Eg- Frankenstein

Psychological Horror

A psychological horror is typically about the confused mind of a human character.

Eg- Gone

Research into similar products

Research

When thinking about the ancillary products of my horror trailer I have looked at some example of horror movie posters. Here are a few which I have looked at and taken inspiration from. There is a key theme running throughout all of these. All of theme only use colours such as black, grey and red and none of them are very bright. It is also common to use shadows which retains the mystery of the characters. 

Research

I have looked into costumes etc used in horror films and came across a lot of special fx makeup and how people achieve these looks. I thought these would be useful in the construction of our trailer and could be used as inspiration/ guidelines on how to achieve a certain look for a character.

Research into similar products - Teaser Trailer Analysis

Camerawork
The establishing shot is a pan around the room onto the mirror draped with a cloth hanging on the wall. This sets the scene and still withholds a lot of the mystery as the audience are in the dark about what the object on the wall is at this stage in the trailer. There is a wide shot used after this and the camera also zooms in closer to the mirror however all you can see is a dark dingy loft. The mystery object (the mirror) is the focal point of this shot. As the piece of material drops the camera stops zooming in and stays at a wide shot showing the rest of the scene also. The slow zoom creates tension for the audience which is useful in a horror trailer especially. The screen blacks out and then a series of events flash on screen with the use of a lot of different camera angles including a canted angle and a close up. The variety of shots used here gives the audience an impression of panic. Finally there is a mid shot of a woman which quickly zooms into a close up which would shock the audience but this happens after the screen has blacked out. 

Sound
The deep, non diegetic sound creates a rumbling noise and a tense atmosphere. In horror trailers there is always deep, disjointed soundtracks to represent the on screen mood. As the mirror comes onto the screen a high pitched whistling noise begins which is very eerie. From the start to end there is very little diegetic sound. The only diegetic sound is the sound of the chain and the sound of the wind when the sheet drops from the mirror. There are no screams and no panicked responses that the audience can hear from the characters. The soundtrack does not match the clip continuously as there are close ups of characters screaming however the audience do not hear those screams. The voice over from the beginning of the clip is the voice of a little girl which is common in a horror film, by using the voice of a child it creates a much more creepy atmosphere. As the events flash on screen the soundtrack becomes a lot more intense.

Mise En Scene
Throughout the trailer there is low key lighting- also typical of a horror trailer. Low key lighting is used so that the audience can put themselves into the characters shoes and feel the on screen mood. The setting is mainly the dark and abandoned loft which is very dusty and you can tell it isnt cared for. The only costumes I really picked up on in this trailer where the ones of the three children stood together with sheets covering them. This instills a 'fear of the unknown' to the audience. 

Editing
The use of fast paced editing is very effective to use in a teaser trailer as it gives short quick glimpses of events in the film without giving too much away. The aim of a trailer is to make the audience want to pay to watch the film and by giving these short snippets of action, it causes curiosity within the audience. Some shots are on screen for no longer than a second which is very effective in this case.

Research into similar products- Trailer Analysis

Camerawork
The establishing shot is a wide shot of a ballet dancer which sets the scene and initiates a specific mood. There is then a close up of her feet which again reveals the fact the she is a ballet dancer. A wide shot is again used which shows the character gracefully dancing with her arms outspread. 

Research into Similar Products

A close up is used which reveals the mysterious expression on her face. It is obviously the main character featured on the poster. The colour scheme is very monochrome. The contrast between the black background and her porcelain white face creates a very strong impression upon the audience. The contrast of her pale face upon the black background gives the audience a sense of conflicting ideas. The colour white has connotations of purity however the black has connotations of mystery and death.

 The picture is the focal point of the poster which creates an importance for the character. The quote featured is 'An Extraordinary Intoxicating Masterpiece'. This highlights the fact that the film would be aimed at people who enjoy intense films based on niche subjects such as art and ballet. 

The magazine 'Little White Lies' has featured The Black Swan on their cover. They have also gone with a black and white colour scheme which portrays the same message as the poster. The black and white contrasting colours are a main focus and therefore very dominant on the cover. The magazine is always kept simple on the cover with one featuring film and maximum of one cover line. This creates a great impact upon the audience as it is their sole focus when looking at the cover.  The masthead is not in the left third which is not a typical convention of a magazine however the cover is not what you would expect of a magazine in general. This magazine is more for a niche market audience and is very specialist rather than a typical movie magazine such as 'Empire' or 'Sight and Sound'.

Drafting and planning

Colours and their connotations

The main colours you see in horror films are black, white, grey, and red. The reason for this is because these colours all have connotations of things such as death and blood.

Here is an analysis of colours which I am going to use when creating my storyboard for my trailer:

Research

As sound is one of the key things in my teaser trailer I am going to do an analysis of the types of sound used:

Diegetic sound- is what happens inside of the film. For example I might feature a short dialogue, a scream or the sound of footsteps to entice the audience. 

Non Diegetic sound- is not contained within the film. For example it may be an overlaying track of eerie music or a voice over. However I do not think I would feature a voice over in my teaser trailer. 

Sound Bridge- is when the track plays over more than one shot which I think would be a good idea to use in a teaser trailer because it creates continuity so therefore there would be a continuous mood throughout of my trailer.

I am going to use a mixture of both diegtic and non diegetic sound in my trailer. However, I am not planning on using a lot of dialogue. Diegetic sounds which we may use are things such as dripping taps, doors slamming, creaks and bangs. In the place of dialogue we may use gasps or screams but there will not be any full conversations in our trailer. Non diegetic sounds used may be an eery piece of music which has been lowered in volume so that is plays along with the diegetic sounds. The non diegetic sound will also be a sound bridge as it will be playing from start to finish of our trailer. 

Research

I have looked into the effect Mise En Scene used in horrors

Lighting

Low Key Lighting is commonly used in horror films. Certain areas are lit up to create shadows however the rest of the scene would be very dimly lit to create a spooky atmosphere.
Along with low key lighting Strobe lighting can be used to create a sense of panic and chaos.

                                                                               

Camera Effects
Night vision cameras are often used in horrors. They give the audience point of view from the characters.

Costumes/Props/Makeup
Depending on what genre of horror film it is the costume or the props used will give the thrill of a horror. For example The Shining contains a lot of props such as axes and knifes to create suspense and tension. On the other hand films such as The Ring has used costume to create an eerie atmosphere. Costumes are typically long draping pieces of material, ripped or bloodstained.

                                   
                                       

Location

Many films are shot in far away abandoned shacks, castles, mansions, dark forests and dingy motels. As soon as the scene is set in one of these locations the audience automatically thinks of all of the connotations that these places have. When I am setting the scene in my trailer I am going to aim for a sense of isolation.

Research into similar products

I have explored the different kinds of shots used in horror films and the effectiveness of them:

                                            
 This is a Big Close Up and is used to emphasize the emotional state of a character. These are common in horror films as they reveal emotion and feeling which creates the shock in which horror films intend to cause. For example, this shot from the film Orphan is shocking to the audience as the aggressive look on the characters face may be abnormal to one of an ordinary child.

This is an Aerial Shot. It is shot from above the woman which would make the audience realise that the events in the film are out of the ordinary. It also makes the scene slightly distorted as it is not shot from an ordinary angle.

This is a Wide Shot and is useful as it reveals the character and the whole of the scene behind here which creates mystery for the audience. These are commonly used in horror films as the reveal things in the background to the audience which characters in the scene may not be aware of.

This is Low Angle Shot. This creates emphasis on a specific character and is mainly used to give the character authority or power.

This is a Medium Shot and is revealing only the top half of the characters body which retains some of the mystery. These would be useful in a horror trailer as they reveal certain aspects of the movie without giving away the whole scene.

Research into similar products

Along side a teaser trailer I am also going to produce a teaser poster and a magazine cover featuring our horror film. Analysing teaser posters has made me more aware of the codes and conventions of one:

Research

After deciding horror is the genre I am focusing on I have done some in depth research into teaser trailers for horror films.