Star Theory

Richard Dyer developed the idea that the viewers’ perception of a film is heavily influenced by the perception of its stars, and that publicity material and reviews determine the way the audience experience the film. He argued that stars are constructions; ‘A star is an image not a real person that is constructed (as any other aspect of fiction is) out of a range of materials’.

The star theory suggests that if a film includes well-known actors, people will want to go and see the film. For example, if a film that starred George Clooney was being advertised, it would most likely be a success. Not only because the film’s plot has attracted the viewer but mainly the star persona.

If I could choose stars to act in our film I would choose actors that had played similar characters before. I would choose Chloe Moretz to be in our film because she is a well-known child actor and she had the main role in ‘Carrie’ which was a successful remake of the 1976 horror film, made in 2013. She received the Best Performance by a Younger Actor Saturn Award for her role in Carrie which suggests that she is a good horror film actor. She has been in around 40 films in the last 10 years, often playing lead roles; this shows that she is often the main star used to pull in audience. The film ‘Carrie’ is about a shy girl, outcast by her peers, who unleashes terror on her small town after being pushed too far at her senior prom. The character of Carrie is extremely similar to that of Cassandra in our film so I think Chloe Moretz would be the best star to play the role.

We would use the image of Chloe Moretz that has been constructed by the media to pull in a big audience and raise the success of our film.

Representation

Bennett and Jones stated that “representation is the process by which images, words or sounds are used to indicate issues or debates beyond what they literally mean” in the AS Media Studies textbook.

Growing up, almost every young girl aspires to be just like their favourite Disney Princess and these characters have been seen as ‘ ideal women’ since they were first created in 1937.

Snow White is the heroine in the first full length Disney film Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. She is a very feminine, beautiful and dutiful woman and is described as “the fairest of them all”. This quote refers to not only her beauty, but also outlines her obedience as an inferior woman. As an early Disney film, traditional gender roles are presented, showing her cooking and cleaning and mothering the seven dwarfs; this reinforces the stereotype of women being housewives.

The idea that a woman cannot cope without someone to protect her is shown in the film; this reflects the sexist gender politics of that era. Snow White, who could be described as the damsel in distress according to Propp’s theory, is saved by a ‘hero’ in the form of a handsome prince. This also displays the old fashioned belief that males are superior to/are relied on by women.

In our production, Cassandra is an evacuee who has been taken away from her home, along everyone who cares about her. This fits with the idea that women need looking after and are vulnerable and weak.

In the film, the queen is told that she is not the ‘fairest of them all’ any longer, causing her to become full of hatred for Snow White.  This role too is a typical female role, reproducing the image of the femme fatal into a self-centred, jealous woman who would do anything to be seen as beautiful again. This could show how women can lose control of themselves and become evil without stability and support, contradicting the gentle and caring stereotype.

This character is similar to who Cassandra becomes after she dies; she returns as a heartless, and evil spirit who wants revenge on the people that made her life a misery.

Representation of women in the media has changed a lot since the first popular Disney Princess films were made. Females playing lead roles in recent films such as The Hunger Games and Divergent portray women as strong, brave and independent people that do not rely on others. 

Job Roles in Film

Directors are the driving creative force in a film's production - visualising and defining the style and structure of the film, then bringing it to life.

Producers are responsible for all aspects of a film's production, putting together a creative and talented cast and crew, and turning story ideas into profitable films.

Directors of Photography work with the Director, camera crew and lighting department to create the visual identity, or look, of a film.

Actors interpret others' words in order to bring a script to life, and to put flesh and blood on characters.

Camera Operators prepare and operate the camera and all its equipment, working with the Director and Director of Photography.

Film Editors work closely with the Director to craft the finished film.

Make-up and Hair Artists create make-ups and hairstyles to meet production requirements and oversee make-up and hair continuity.

Production Co-ordinators run the daily operation of the production office.

Production Designers define and manage every visual aspect of a film.

Casting Directors organise the casting (selecting) of Actors for all roles in a film.

Screenwriters research and develop story ideas and write screenplays.

I will have the Director role during the production of our horror trailer. I think I suit this role because I can visualise how I want our ideas to come across on camera and bring them to life. Having had experience with acting, I know how to instruct the actors and give them enough stage direction so that they have a clear idea of what they have to do.

Rebecca is taking on the role of Producer. She is a very organised person and can be trusted to make sure props, actors, and costumes are ready for the filming process to start. Also, she knows our actors personally and has the vital contacts needed to organise times, locations and costumes. She also took up the role of the casting director as she organised the auditions and decided who would be appropriate for each role.

The Director of Photography for our film will be Sam. We think he has the technical ability for this role and is willing to co operate with the instructions of the director. He also has a creative eye and will be good at dealing with problems we may have with the Mise-en-Scene.

Rebecca will be our main editor because she has had more experience with editing software. However, we think that all of the group members should contribute equally whilst editing in order to create a final trailer that we are all happy with.

 

Research into Similar Film Advertisement

The Cabin in the woods is a horror film of the supernatural sub-genre. The film was advertised in numerous ways such as with trailers, film posters and websites, which increased its popularity when it was released in 2012.

Poster

The film poster denotes a cabin which appears to be twisted and distorted. I think this suggests that strange and twisted things are going to happen in the cabin. The cabin is floating in mid-air which could suggest supernatural activity. The wood in the background is faded in what looks like fog but the cabin is sharp and clear which suggests that that is the main location and it also creates a sense of isolation. The poster includes the line ‘you think you know the story’ which suggests that the film may not be what the audience think it will be, this may entice the viewer because they want to see if the story surprises them. The date is included on the poster so that the viewer knows when they can go and see the film.

Trailer

Trailers are used to give viewers a basic idea of what upcoming films are going to be about and to intrigue people to watch the film when it is released. The Cabin in the Woods trailer shows an equilibrium, according to Todorov’s theory, quickly followed by a disruption. The editing gets faster as the trailer progresses which builds up tension; this is a horror film convention commonly used. I think this is an effective film trailer because, after watching it, I knew what the film was going to be about but I was left wanting to know what happens in the end.

 

Website

The film has its own website which would allow people to explore more into what the film is going to be about. Small clips are shown from the film as you progress through the website which is meant to intrigue the viewer and make them want to see what happens in the full film. There is a link to the trailer on the home page which will give the viewer an insight into what the film is about without being told the ending. There is an ‘about’ page which gives a brief synopsis of the film which, again, acts as a ‘teaser’ and intrigues the viewer to watch the full film. There is a gallery page showing pictures of the film. If actors are recognised when people look through the gallery, fans of the actors’ previous work are more likely to want to see the film. All of these pages are there to let viewers get to know the type of film Cabin in the Woods will be. There are links to social media so that people can share the page with other people which will make the film known to a wider audience. This is an example of convergence which is an effective way to promote films.

Research into Period Drama Conventions

Written by Hannah Boardman

As our trailer is set in the past as well as present, I have done some research into period dramas. This will help me to know what I should be aware of when it comes to filming scenes set in the past.

Period drama conventions from hannahboardman

Initial Planning

We used a flip chart technique that we observed in the Hot Fuzz DVD extra where they were discussing their initial ideas.

When researching for 'real life' inspiration for our trailer, we came across an article in a local newspaper about a school girl that committed suicide due to cyber bullying. Firstly, we created a mind map of initial ideas such as personalities of main characters, location. story and costumes.

We then put our ideas together in a brief synopsis.

We began to think about how we could get the storyline across to the audience. We came up with shots that might look effective for the bullying scenes and thought about how we could emphasise the distinction between past and present in the trailer.

We then added depth to our characters by creating a character profile including their names, interests and physical appearance.

Advertising the Film

Advertisement is extremely important when releasing a film as they create excitement for the film. If the trailer looks good and is advertised on a number of different platforms, it would be made known to a wide variety of people who could then share their enthusiasm for the film with others.

 I would want my trailer to be shown as an advert in the cinema before another horror film starts. I think that the trailer would appeal to the majority of the audience in the cinema because they have paid to see a film of the same genre and presumably like that type of film.

 I would want a TV advert for my trailer to be on late at night from 9pm because that’s when children are in bed and most adults get chance to watch television. Also 9pm it is the UK watershed time; this is a point in time after which programmes and adverts with adult content may be broadcast. Our trailer includes content that would only be appropriate to be shown after this time such as violence and suicide. As the target audience of my trailer is adults/ young adults, it would be the perfect time.

 Most of our target audience are young and would use social media regularly. I would post my trailer on sites such as Twitter and Facebook where people can share the trailer with their friends. I would advertise the trailer on YouTube because the site is quite popular with the younger generation we are trying to target.

Further Audience Research

The BFI did a short study about audience preferences, as part of this they looked at genre. This can be found at http://www.bfi.org.uk/sites/bfi.org.uk/files/downloads/uk-film-council-portrayal-vs-betrayal-case-study.pdf. It showed that horror films are within the top 10 genres enjoyed by the UK population. As seen in the graph below, 32% of the UK population would watch a horror film.

It says that the target audience for horror films is mainly males and females that are below 35 years old. This table also shows that horror films should target a lower class audience such as students and workers with a low wage. This matches up with our own audience research as we concluded that both males and females aged 16-21 enjoy horror films slightly more than older people.

Pyschographics is a way to categorise audiences based on their personality, likes, and consuming activity. VALS (values and attitudes and lifestyles) is split up into 8 categories (seen below).

The 4Cs
Resigned	Rigid, strict, authoritarian and chauvinist values, oriented to the past and to Resigned roles. Brand choice stresses safety, familiarity and economy. (Older)
Struggler	Alienated, Struggler, disorganised - with few resources apart from physical/mechanical skills (e.g. car repair). Heavy consumers of alcohol, junk food and lotteries, also trainers. Brand choice involves impact and sensation.
Mainstreamer	Domestic, conformist, conventional, sentimental, passive, habitual. Part of the mass, favouring big and well-known value for money 'family' brands. Almost invariably the largest 4Cs group.
Aspirer	Materialistic, acquisitive, affiliative, oriented to extrinsic ... image, appearance, charisma, persona and fashion. Attractive packaging more important than quality of contents. (Younger, clerical/sales type occupation)
Succeeder	Strong goal orientation, confidence, work ethic, organisation ... support status quo, stability. Brand choice based on reward, prestige - the very best . Also attracted to 'caring' and protective brands ... stress relief. (Top management)
Explorer	Energy - autonomy, experience, challenge, new frontiers. Brand choice highlights difference, sensation, adventure, indulgence and instant effect - the first to try new brands. (Younger - student)
Reformer	Freedom from restriction, personal growth, social awareness, value for time, independent judgement, tolerance of complexity, anti-materialistic but intolerant of bad taste. Curious and enquiring, support growth of new product categories. Select brands for intrinsic quality, favouring natural simplicity, small is beautiful.(Higher Education)

Our audience are most like likely to be in the explorer category as younger audiences have more energy and are also more likely to go out to the cinema to watch the film. They like challenge, new frontiers and adventure which is exactly what horror films provide but they are also open to new ideas and products so would probably enjoy a scary film.

Schedule

As a group have put together a schedule which tells us when our planning, filming. editing and evaluations should be completed by. This will help us to keep organised throughout the production of our trailer and help us stick to deadlines. It also has given us an idea about when we should plan to film.

Our producer, Rebecca, has typed the schedule up on Microsoft Word so that it is clear and if the written schedule is lost, we have a copy saved.

Film Demographic Report

We put together a questionnaire aiming to investigate which audience is more likely to watch horror films and which type of horror films people prefer. We handed out the questionnaire to people of different ages and gender to find out who our horror film’s likely target audience will be.

As we are planning to do a horror film, we decided to dedicate half of the questions on our survey purely to the horror genre. When we asked which type of horror film people prefer, we found that 60% of people taking part chose the paranormal category compared to the 20% who chose Slasher and 20% preferring torture. The supernatural genre is the popular of all the horror sub-genres.

We investigated further into which sub-genre are most popular by asking which horror films people liked the most. We found that the most popular film was ‘Mirrors’ which is a paranormal horror film; this shows that our film would be successful as that sub-genre is popular.

Our results showed only slight differences between male and female statistics. This suggests our film will be targeted at both males and females. We did find a significant difference in how younger people prefer to watch horror films more than people over 21. Our films target audience will be aimed at teenagers and young adults because they are more likely to want to go and see it.

We looked at the Woman in Black IMDb to see similar film statistics and found that there was no significant difference between male and female viewers. This suggests that both genders enjoy paranormal films equally.

 We plan to use a child as the main villain in our horror film because we have seen children being very effective in making viewers scared in other popular supernatural films. We asked people if they ‘would find a little boy or a little girl creepier in a horror film?’ so we could use a child that would make our film scarier. The survey showed that little girls were significantly more popular than boys so we have decided to use a little girl to increase the popularity of our film.

From this research we have decided to target our film at an audience of young adults. We have also decided to use a young girl as our main villain because we think it will make our film scarier.

Film Trailer Conventions

Created by Hannah Boardman



I have made a Powerpoint presentation of typical film trailer conventions.

Horror Film Trailer Conventions

Genre - which originates from a French word meaning 'type' -has always been a powerful idea in the making and analysis of feature films. Genre helps put films into categories and 'allows the prospective audience to predict and choose which products they will enjoy.' -Advanced Studies in Media

My group and I have decided to create a horror film trailer for our A2 coursework. We have looked at different horror film trailers to get an idea of the typical conventions used in the genre so that we can include them in our trailer to make it more appealing to our target audience of young horror film fans. We are going to take into account popular locations, characters and editing techniques to achieve this.

Death or a fear of dying is an underlying sub-theme of all horror film trailers. Aspects of death are shown through connotations which hints to the audience that either someone has died or is in danger of dying.

The colour red is used in many horror films to connote danger:

In Annabelle, the doll wears red which makes her stand out as the dangerous one which will cause the disruption.

There is also a clip of a red ‘A’ written in blood, in the same trailer, connoting death.

Our main character is going to wear red ribbons in her hair which will make it clear to the audience that she is going to be the person causing bad things to happen.

Location

There are generic conventions used when making films, depending on their genre. Common horror film conventions include remote locations such as haunted houses, old abandoned buildings and dark woods.

These are used to create the sense that the victim is alone with only a small chance of being rescued, making it scarier for the audience. The sense of isolation also allows the viewers to connect and empathise with the character.

Our group have decided to set our trailer in a haunted school.

Characters

Vladimir Propp’s Character Types in Horror Films

Horror films usually have a villain that struggles against the hero such as in 'The Woman in Black'. A Ghost named Jennet is the villain in the ‘Woman in Black; in the film we see her seeking revenge on the people in the village and the main victim, Arthur Kipps.

They have a hero/ victim; in the case of ‘The Woman in Black’, the victim is Arthur Kipps.

Usually horror films don’t include a helper; Victims are usually alone in an isolated place so it seems like they won’t be saved.  

Certain types of characters are more effective in horror films and are commonly used as villains:

 Little girls are popular in this genre because most people find them creepy and unnerving; we are going to use a little girl as our main villain for this reason. Films such as ‘The Shining’ display this convention.

·        Moving toys are used to suggest paranormal activity; they are scary because the audience are not used to seeing inanimate objects come to life so it makes them feel uneasy. An example of this is in ‘The Woman in Black’ trailer when the toys in the playroom start moving on their own. This establishes that the film is a paranormal themed horror film straight away. 

             Clowns are often used because Coulrophobia (fear of clowns) is an extremely common fear so the films will scare a wide audience.

      Shots, Lighting and Editing

Chiaroscuro, low key high contrast lighting is used in horror films to create a fear of the unknown and to represent the dark and scary happenings.

The editing pace usually speeds up throughout horror trailers to build up tension for the viewer and fast clips are used to make the audience jump.

Todorov’s Narrative Structure

Most horror film trailers start with an equilibrium that very quickly gets disrupted or no equilibrium at all as trailers are only a few minutes long and can only show a small part of the film. The main focus is on showing as much as the disruption as possible because it allows more ‘scary’ parts of the film to be shown which creates more fear for the viewer.

 For example, in the ‘Annabelle’ trailer, we hear a panicked voice as soon as the trailer starts, this shows the disruption:

“John, wake up!”

“What?”

 “Next door, I heard a scream”

The fact they had been in bed suggests that there was an equilibrium just before but it is not shown in the trailer.

Our group have decided to have an immediate disruption in our trailer because we have seen how successful it is in gripping the audience straight away.

Trailer Analysis- The Woman in Black

Here is the trailer I analysed:

A2 Coursework Introduction

My name is Hannah Boardman and I am an A level media student at BRGS Sixth Form. This year I will be making a promotional package which shall include a film trailer and website; this blog has been created to show evidence of my coursework. I will be working in a group of three that consists of Rebecca Ainsworth and Sam Duxbury.