First cut audience feedback

‘It was clear from the start what genre it was, without being overdone.’

This was something Del and I tried to focus on from the start, we did extensive research on codes and conventions of horror trailers. We also researched specific colour schemes that were frequent in horror films colours like red, black and grey. 

‘Coming soon or title credits page needed.’

‘Need to know when it’s released, but there's no release date.’

This was one of the most important things we missed as coming soon is an essential in trailers as the audience needs to be given a idea when the film will be coming. A title is another important aspect that needs to be added without them knowing the title they wouldn't be able to even understand the genre properly. A good title that is memorable enables people to talk about it, maybe even research more into the film. 

‘Add more music, it would help build suspense up to last scene when the main character says “Run!”’

Music is a key feature in setting the tone and mood of each scene. We have decided to add more music but we also try to not overdo it as during or research we found that to truly make a horror scary it has to be slightly  more realistic than fantastical. This means that the music we add has to either be barely noticeable or very loud and scary, we have decided to make our music using various copyright free music sources. Such as http://www.bensound.com/royalty-free-music/2 , http://freemusicarchive.org/genre/Ambient_Electronic/ as well as YouTube.

‘Angles used effectively.’

I feel our research on codes and conventions of horror movies enabled us to truly understand what was needed in our trailer. Angles and camera shots were just one of the many conventions and codes we looked into in detail.

'I wanted to see more content...'

We realised that we had cut down our shot a lot which made it seem we lacked content, so we will look back at previously cut frames and incorporate it in.  

Shot list

Credit: Del

Potential Hazards

Credit: Del

Costume research

Research into female protagonists

Villains:

The Loved Ones – Lola Stone

Lola Stone is a completely insane, a character who appears to be innocent. When the guy she has crush on turns her down for the prom and embarrasses her, she decides to take her revenge by kidnapping and torturing him. Her torture of him greatly contrasts her bright pink dress she wears throughout the film proving that she didn’t have to abandon her femininity to be scary.

Sleepaway Camp - Angela Baker

She is one of the only transgender horror characters to ever be put to screen. A sympathetic villain it's clear she doesn't kill because she wants to but because of her psychological breakdown. A lot of her “kills” are not actually shown onscreen so it’s left up to the imagination. We saw her as an effective character to look at as we didn’t want to show too many kills on screen either to create suspense. And it’s only a trailer, showing the kills would give away too much.

Heroes:

Sarah Carter – The Descent

Her husband and daughter die in a car crash so her friends suggest she travels an unexplored cave system.  They become trapped. Sarah goes through a lot in the last act of the movie, being captured by the creatures, watching many of her friends die, killing one of her friends to put her out of her misery, and defending herself against dozens of crawlers without any help. She is a very strong female protagonist and fits the hero archetype.

Nancy Thompson – A Nightmare On Elm Street

Nancy discovers the rules of the dream world specifically that you can bring things back to reality. She devises a solid plan, setting up a bunch of booby traps and planning to bring Freddy into the real world to kill. Her character is the most similar to our female protagonist their both young women and are quite strong characters too. 

Looking at all theses characters in depth Del and I realised that in order for the protagonist to appear likable yet relatable our protagonist actress Sam needs to go through changes throughout the film. Much like Sarah Carter in The Descent her character is very strong something that Sam needs to be but she also needs to show her emotional side too, making the film almost appear climatic as it matches her mood. 

Costume research

Costume is crucial in film; it allows the audience to form opinions on characters before they start talking. We have decided to put detail into how to characters are dressed because our media text is so short, as it’s a trailer. Our acting team is made up of mostly girls and extra that are of mixed genders this means that the male outfits are important as there are only a few.

In most horror films characters are dressed in everyday wear and the main character seems to wear something that makes them stand out to the others characters. This can range from them having a certain look to their backstory.

Underworld Revolution (2006). Main character Selene's stand out feature: eyes. 

You're Next (2013) female protagonist

Our main character Samantha already has a standout feature her hair color a bright auburn and her height (the shortest in the whole cast). Sticking with the idea that horror films usually have characters in everyday wear rather than fantastical clothes Del and I, have decided to dress the characters this way. The main reasons horror movies tend to do this is it makes the film appear to be more realistic thus scaring the audience more. 

Cabin in the Woods (2012) female protagonist

Looking at films we found that female protagonists tend to not be dressed sexually. 

The female character usually wears clothes that do not put emphasis on their physic. While other less important female characters do tend to show more this supports the theory of "The male gaze" by Laura Mulvey the female character as. As an erotic object for the characters within the narrative to view. As an erotic object for the spectators within the cinema to view. Our media text does not support Laura Mulvey's theory but understanding it; spotting when the male gaze is being used in trailers is important so we can avoid it in our own as it objectifies women. 

A female actresses costume, contrasts the female protagonists.

We've decided to keep characters dressed in everyday as it makes it appear more realistic. But the villain/antagonist face will be obscured,for binary opposition and to dehumanise the villain as we cannot see their face.

Script

Hannah is walking away from the camera then turns and faces the camera and shouts

Hannah: RUN!!!

Marlo heavy breathing

Hannah heavy breathing

Dialogue begins again with Marlo frantically calling to Hannah

Marlo: HANNAH!! HANNAH!!

Hannah: He’s COMING-

Marlo: HANNAH WHO-

Hannah: HE’S COMING!! HE’S COMING!!

Marlo: HANNAH! Look at me. LOOK at me.

Hannah: HE’S COMING!!

Marlo: No, no ,no. Hannah it’s just me…look at me…

Hannah doesn’t respond looks past the camera into the distance

Hannah: …

Marlo: What is it?-

Scene remains quiet for a few seconds, camera turns around quickly to see the killer standing behind them.

Marlo does a sharp inhale as he faces killer.

Screen cuts to black