Impact of research and audience survey research

Comparable Texts - Horror trailers analysis

The Strangers
The strangers film has a similar story line to our film which is why we have looked at it. We have noticed that the trailer includes many quick shots and fast paced music. We wish to incorporate this style when creating our trailer to help its pace change throughout which will make it exciting and intriguing. There are also some shots used in this trailer that we wish to use such as the wide angle shots where strangers appear out of the dark. The shots of the house showing it being empty and eerie. These effects are ones we wish to use in our trailer.

Invasion of the Body Snatchers
This film has a similar story line to our film so there are some aspects of this trailer we wish to use. It is an early form of sci-fi horror so obviously we will be using aspects from this trailer and incorporate it in ours to help develop the story into the trailer to make the audience interested. We also like the use of the titles. Even though the titles in this trailer may appear to be outdated we can still use the affect in our own trailer.

The Host
Unlike the other two films this film is not a horror, it is a sci-fi thriller but there are still aspects of this trailer that we can use in our own. In this trailer many of the shots show people being chased. This would be perfect in our film as the story follows a group of teenagers being chased by the mysterious figures. This trailer also uses titles which is an effect we wish to use.

So all of these trailers have effects and styles we wish to use in our own trailer. The use of cinematography and mise-en-scene is perfectly exampled in all of these trailers. The creepy house with the figures appearing from the dark and the chase scenes. These are all examples of the cinematography and content that we wish to use

Survey Responses - Analysis

Survey Questions

Before making the trailer for our film, we had to create a questionnaire to find out what kind of film people would want to see. We came up with ten questions with multiple choice answers. After the questionnaire has been filled out by enough people we will analyse the responses and use this data to create our trailer.

1. Are you male of female?

• Male
• Female
• Prefer not to say

2. How old are you?

• 16 and under
• 17-25
• 26-30
• 31-40
• 41 and over

3. What is you occupation?

• Student
• Public sector
• Private Sector
• Self Employed
• Unemployed

4. Do you go to the cinema? If so how often?

• No
• Yes - rarely
• Yes - occasionally
• Yes - once a month
• Yes - twice a month
• Yes - once a week
• Yes - more tan once a week

5. What is your favourite film genre?

• Comedy
• Action
• Adventure
• Si-Fi
• Horror
• Romance
• Fantasy
• Animation/Cartoon
• Other (please specify)

6. Who do you normally go to the cinema with?

• Large group (5 or more)
• Small group (2 to 4)
• One friend
• Significant other
• Family
• Alone

7. What are your reasons for going to the cinema?

• Film plot
• Genre
• Actors/actresses involved
• Director
• Socialise

8. Based on the synopsis below, would you be likely to go see this film at a cinema? Specify your reasons why.

• Yes
• No

9. If you would not see this film at the cinema would you consider to wait for its DVD release?

• Yes
• No

10. Would you recommend this film to others based on its synopsis?

• Yes
• No

Film Distribution

What is meant by the term film distribution?

Film distribution is when the film is released to many screens. Distributers have to determine how best to sell the film to the audience, this includes advertising as well as the display of the film itself. When distributing a film it has to be advertised as well as released in cinemas and on DVD or Blu-ray or streaming sites. When distributing the aim is to let it reach as many of the audience as is possible.

What does a film distributor do?

The distributors will complete the marketing to entice an audience to watch the film. It will then release the film in cinemas, again trying to reach an audience as big as possible. A film distributer has to decide which area would be most successful in the release of the film depending on the nationality of the film as well as the method of marketing and advertising. The methods of distribution can vary depending on the company’s reference to distribution.

How does reach relate to film distribution?

Reach is literally the film reaching out when advertising. It is how many media platforms the advertising campaign uses and how it reaches the audience. The campaign can use platforms such as television, radio, billboards, posters on buses and various others. The size of the reach can have an effect on the budget. If a big reach is used then there will be less money to use on the film as well as less profit being made. However if a large reach is used and it is successful, such as the Woman in Black campaign, then it can benefit the film and help to make more money.

What is meant by the distribution plan?

The distribution plan is looking at where the film will be released. When planning the distribution things such as competition and the areas where the target audience live would be taken into consideration. The distribution plan will also affect the budget of the film. The wider it is released the more it will cost.

What is meant by the marketing plan?

A marketing plan looks at the whole project and takes every aspect into consideration. It will look at the films locations, costume and props, its advertising campaign and possible merchandise. The marketing plan looks at every aspect to create an estimated budget for the film.

What is the difference between advertising, publicity and promotion?

Advertising

Advertising is what introduces the audience to the film using trailers, posters, adverts etc. this is all done within the film’s budget.

Publicity

Publicity is the response of the film. It has anything to do with the response from people not involved in the planning or making of the film. This includes critic’s reviews, discussions from audiences, and articles in news.

Promotion

Promotion is done through the use of advertising in places where conventional advertising cannot be placed. This includes in restaurants in shops. This also includes the use of merchandise which can also be found in the same location. The use of competitions and collectable items can help to promote the film.

Find a teaser poster, main poster and main trailer for a horror film and put them on your Blog – who was the distributor and in how many countries was it released? Can you find how many screens it was shown in on the opening weekend?

28 Days Later teaser poster

28 Days Later main poster

28 Days Later trailer

28 Days Later box office details

Audiences and Institutions: The Woman in Black

Representation of Women - Quiz

Who wrote about the “final girl” in 1992?
Carol Clover

In what book did they write about the “final girl”?
Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film

List three traits of the “final girl”/three ‘conventions’.
-(Binary opposition) neither weak female or strong male character
-She fights back
-She is conservative/more innocent

Who wrote about existing research on women’s roles in media texts in 1983?
Jeremy Tunstall (The Media in Britain, 1983)

What were the 4 roles mentioned?
-Domestic
-Sexual
-Consumer
-Marital

In 1992 research showed that men dominated women on-screen, but by what ratio?
2:1

What was the only genre in which the ratio of males to females was more equal?
Advertising

Name one of the three problems with the findings?
-Men had the occupations
-Men were shown away from the home
-Men were depicted as authority figures

Why does the reading suggest that Ripley (Alien) is ‘more progressive’ than Lara Croft (TR)?
Lara Croft is sexualised and objectified

What are the 3 ‘C’s when discussing the portrayal of women in some lifestyle magazines?
Cooking, cleaning and caring

Who wrote Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema?
Laura Mulvey (Autumn, 1975)

(Briefly) describe what is meant by the ‘male gaze’
The use of camerawork; angling, point of view shots and framing etc. so that the women are an object of male gaze. The women are depicted as sexual objects.

Which magazine removed the male centrefold in the 1980s and why?
Cosmopolitan – the female audience found it more amusing and humorous than sexy.

Representation of Women (In Cabin in the Woods)

Narrative theory in relation to Halloween (1978) and The Crazies (2010)

Classical Hollywood Narrative is a theory that the majority of films follow a pattern. Most forms of media follow this narrative. The pattern being that in the beginning there is an equilibrium which is disrupted and then problems are restored to re-establish a state of equilibrium. This theory was originated from Tzvetan Todarov’s ideas and this theory developed the names “Classical Hollywood Narrative” or Classic Realist”. This theory is useful to understand media texts as many forms of media use it. Commonly it is used in films but also in news stories. It will also help us to understand the structure in narrative and different narratives of genre. However commonly, horror doesn’t end in a re-established equilibrium, nor does it sometimes start with an equilibrium. Sometimes the film starts with a disequilibrium, for example in Halloween the opening of the film opens to the main antagonist stabbing his sister. Once this initial disequilibrium has taken place it jumps forward in time to an equilibrium which is then disrupted when the main antagonist escapes from his captivity and is at large and now a threat. However once the battle between the hero and the villain is over, conventionally the villain is stopped, but in horror often the convention is that the villain gets a way. You could say that the initial equilibrium and the re-established equilibrium are both cushioned with disequilibrium.

Vladimir Propp studied many folk tales and identified that there are 8 character types used in narrative. These are;

• The villain – the baddie, or main antagonist of the story
• The hero – the protagonist
• The donor – the character that’s provides some sort of object with magical power
• The helper – the character that aids the hero throughout the story
• The princess – the damsel in distress, the character that the hero often saves from the villain
• The princess’ father – the character that rewards the character
• The dispatcher – the character that sends the hero on his way
• The false hero – the character that appears to be a helper but then reveals their plans are less than helpful

I don’t think that the analysis of these characters help to understand media texts. It does not make it any easier to understand narrative. You can make connections and recognise characters and how they are represented which would help us understand genre, but they don’t change the way narrative is structured. They are merely an observation.  However it will help us to understand the horror genre and the conventions it uses but not so much in the way of understanding its narrative. The character types used in Halloween are not conventional to Propp’s original ideas. For example the hero, Laurie is also the princess, or damsel in distress. She is the antagonist but she also saves herself from the villain. The helper, Dr Loomis, helps Laurie towards the end of the film. But you could also argue that Dr Loomis is also the hero as he is the one that saved Laurie and he is also one of the first established characters. The villain is Mike Myers but he could also be classed as the dispatcher as he causes Laurie to go on her ‘adventure’ to try and stop him.

Binary opposition are sets of opposite values. They help to establish themes in different texts of media. This theory was introduced by Claude Levi-Strauss and he formed the theory that these oppositions would help us to understand the structure of media texts. Not to understand the order of events in the narrative but the arrangements of themes. For example in horror common opposite values would be good/evil, natural/supernatural or humans/monsters. This theory isn’t helpful when trying to understand narrative structure but it helps us in understanding the themes of the genre and the conventions of horror.

In Halloween there are binary oppositions evident;

• Good/Evil: The main character Laurie is good and the antagonist, Mike Myers is evil
• Dead/Alive: most of Laurie’s friends are dead however she is alive
• Past/Present: In the past he was contained in the institute, in the present he it at large and dangerous
• Unknown/Known: Myers’ face is unknown he is masked, his presence is always known
• Innocent/Promiscuous: Laurie is innocent however her friends are promiscuous.

Bordwell and Thompson defined narrative as “a chain of events in a cause-effect relationship, occurring in time and space”. Their theory is that the narrative will begin with an overall situation which then is effected by a chain of events which creates the cause and effect pattern. In the end of a narrative there is a final situation. Naturally when we view a narrative our instinct is to connect events that have been caused by other events even if this is not true in the narrative.  Directors can manipulate our natural response to link to situations together and create a mood and atmosphere by bringing together certain shots. This builds a picture in our mind. This can be used effectively in horror by editing to pictures together for example a scene of a dead body which is then edited to another person; we can assume that this person has murdered the person that is dead. This theory I think would be most useful when analysing media texts. When analysing horror we can understand what techniques and shot that director will use to create their suspense or fear. In Halloween the opening scene sees Mike Myers murdering his sister. This then moves on to Dr Loomis going to collect him in a mental institute. He might be in the institute for another reason but we assume t is because of the murder of his sister. Another example of the cause and effect would be the telephone call that Laurie’s friend makes. She is strangled during the phone call by Myers and because of this strange activity Laurie goes to the house to investigate and she is then in danger of Myers. There events that we don’t see but know happens for example we know that Myers went through some sort of trial when being put into the institute but we don’t see him being put in the institute we just see him in it. We also know that Laurie’s friend made a phone call to a character that Laurie fancies but we don’t see this happen her friend just tells her.

The use of narrative theory in Halloween

• How does the start exemplify a common technical code convention of the horror genre?

In the beginning of the film we are presented with a point of view shot of Myers killing his sister. This is conventional as the point of view follows the killer and is a common technique that the horror genre uses.

• How does the setting fit with the horror genre?

The majority of the film takes place in a suburban are at night, this location is conventionally used in horror. Other locations are visited such as the grave yard and mental institute which are also conventional locations.

• What iconography of “innocence” do we hear or see early on?

The character Laurie throughout the film is conservatively dressed, the majority of her body is covered and she is usually wearing trousers. She has no boyfriend and she has an awkward attitude towards the opposite sex. Her character is virginal.

• What was the main industry impact of Halloween?

Halloween made a big profit as it was quite a low budget film and its success encouraged the production of many more slasher’s.

• Name some “slasher” films which followed on from Halloween.

Scream, Friday the 13^th, Prom Night

• What are the four plot rules of the “slasher” film sub-genre which Halloween began?

A traumatic event in the past creates a psychopathic killer
The killer returns to the site of the event, usually on a specific date to use a calendar motif in the title.
The killer stalks and kills a group of teens with a blade.
The final girl survives but the killer is not entirely vanquished.

• Give three ways in which Laurie is androgynous.

She fights back, she is clothed conservatively, she has manly features, and she doesn’t wear makeup.

• What does the extract mean by “a reactionary sexual agenda”?

It is the idea that the boy-ish virginal character survives and the sexually active characters die.

• How does the director, John Carpenter, counter the suggestion that Halloween had a reactionary sexual agenda?

Carpenter disagrees that his film has a reactionary sexual agenda, he says that the teens where just distracted and Myers main target is Laurie.

• Why does Mike Myers kill his sister?

He is evil.

The use of narrative theory in The Crazies

• Does The Crazies follow the CHN? Why or why not?

This film starts with a disequilibrium but then swiftly moves to an equilibrium. However this film finishes with a disequilibrium and therefore does not follow the classical Hollywood native.

• How many of Propp’s character types can be identified in the film?

There are a few of Propps characters in this film, the hero is the sheriff. The damsel in distress is the sheriff’s pregnant wife and the helper is the sheriff’s deputy, but you could argue he is he false hero as he does turn against the two during the film but then helps them in the end. The villain is the government as they are behind the infection that spreads.

• List five examples of binary oppositions in the film and explain them briefly.

Dead/Alive: the characters that are alive are trying to get away however some have died because of the illness that has spread.
Infected/Uninfected: the infected have lost their human qualities however the uninfected are still human.
Free/Quarantined: the people who have been quarantined cannot get away from the illness opposed to those who are free and safe from it.
Day/Night: everybody is reasonably safe during the day but it is a risk to be out at night.
Normal/Un-normal: things are normal when there are no infected but once people become infected they are worried nothing will be normal again.

• Identify the three “durations” and give an estimate of the time each duration covers.

Screen duration – 101 minutes
Plot duration – about three days
Story duration – a couple of weeks

• Give two examples of events that cause later events in the film but which occur before the film “starts”.

The plane crashes and infects the town’s water supply. The first character to drink the water gets infected and then threatens to kill the sheriff.

• List two events from the 101 minute film that happen in a different time and space to the one we are shown.

At the end of the film we are shown a city, much bigger to the town that is already infected before the two last characters arrive. When the sheriff’s deputy returns to the deputy and he doesn’t tell him where he has been.

Horror film analysis - Halloween

Horror film analysis - Tucker & Dale vs Evil

Jack Torrance - Horror character research

Jack Torrance

John Daniel “Jack” Torrance is the main ‘villain’ in the novel and film of the same name ‘The Shining’. He was created by author Stephen King who also wrote the novel Carrie.

In the novel Jack Torrance grew up in New Hampshire. He is a writer and former teacher. He has troubles with his wife, Wendy and his son, Danny, due to alcoholism and an unstable temper. He accepts a position as a care-taker in an isolated hotel, located in Colorado, for the winter. He is hopeful that this new position will fix the relationship issues with his family and re-establish his career. He is also hopeful that the isolation will give him time to write a play.

The hotel that jack takes his position in is haunted by ghosts who have died within, in violent manners. The hotel is also a host to a being of unknown origin, who wants to control Jack into killing his son Danny and harness Danny’s “shining” in order to “break free” from the hotel. Jack gives in to the ghost’s of the hotel’s demands to kill his family and becomes determined to kill his wife and son.

The film adaptation of the novel features Jack Nicholson in the role of Jack Torrance. The film strays in a few places from the original text, for example the film leaves out information about his traumatic childhood. It also implies that the character is insane from the start and not driven insane by the ghosts of the hotel.

History Of Horror (Research)

Horror Conventions Research