Friday, 30 March 2012
Groups initial idea for a horror movie
The initial idea for our movie was to use a monster who was hidden by a gas mask, at a old crash site which was being searched by two students. We wanted to use the return of the repressed in our movie. We wanted some of the movie to be filmed from a old handheld camera from the view of the characters but also some of the movie to be filmed by the normal third person camera view.
the two boys are students investgating a old world war 2 crash site where they hope to find some valuble items. The two students have been warned about the dangers and storis of the location but continue as they dont beleive them. the students become attacked by the monster in the gas mask. They then try to escape the location with thier lives.
the two boys are students investgating a old world war 2 crash site where they hope to find some valuble items. The two students have been warned about the dangers and storis of the location but continue as they dont beleive them. the students become attacked by the monster in the gas mask. They then try to escape the location with thier lives.
Return of the Repressed
Freud's theory was that after a traumatic event the brain would represse elements of it down in the memory. this was a flawed defence mechanism which would backfire. As freud beleived that these repressed memorys were able to then adversely affect the actions and desires in future thoughts with out the person realising. These feelings would come about in a secondary form which the person wouldnt realise it happening, such as if i a child was beatern as a kid. They would then stand a likely chance to become a bully or a aggressive adult, which could lead to them beating their own children. The conscious thought wont link the repressed thoughts with the actions at the time. However it is thought that these subconcious thoughts are what drive the actions in future life. This theory hasnt been rigorously provern by scientific proof, but it is taught i basic psychology still in education and is seen to be a strong theory.
How frueds theory fits in with the horror genre and movies. Alot of villians with in the horror genre do the killings due to a repressed memory shown or said in the dialogue during the movie. some examples of this are the movie Eden lake. the main monster in this movie (bret) has evidence of coming from a aggressive difuntional family. this is shown when the father returns home. There are holes in the wall from where something or someone has hit them, he also returns home shouting for bret in a aggressive manor and there seems to be alot of alchole bottles around the house representing that the aggressive farther could drink alot and be drunk alot of the time. these moments of aggression in the house hold my become repressed by bret in his mind but yet still affect his actions and thoughts, which lead him to commit the violent acts he does in the movie. Another movie this is present in is the film Haloween. little mike witnesses his sister having a sexual relationship with a guy before he kills her. When mike escapes and begins killing, all the kids he kills are in sexually active relationships. This could be a use of return of the repressed as subconsciously he doesnt realise the link or connection that all the victims have, but they are the result of repressed emotions.
How frueds theory fits in with the horror genre and movies. Alot of villians with in the horror genre do the killings due to a repressed memory shown or said in the dialogue during the movie. some examples of this are the movie Eden lake. the main monster in this movie (bret) has evidence of coming from a aggressive difuntional family. this is shown when the father returns home. There are holes in the wall from where something or someone has hit them, he also returns home shouting for bret in a aggressive manor and there seems to be alot of alchole bottles around the house representing that the aggressive farther could drink alot and be drunk alot of the time. these moments of aggression in the house hold my become repressed by bret in his mind but yet still affect his actions and thoughts, which lead him to commit the violent acts he does in the movie. Another movie this is present in is the film Haloween. little mike witnesses his sister having a sexual relationship with a guy before he kills her. When mike escapes and begins killing, all the kids he kills are in sexually active relationships. This could be a use of return of the repressed as subconsciously he doesnt realise the link or connection that all the victims have, but they are the result of repressed emotions.
Thursday, 29 March 2012
In what ways does you media product use, develop or challenge the conventions of real media products?
Our movie and movies such as blairwitch project and clover field all use a handheld camera to film the footage for the movie. this first person view is unique and isusually only found in horror movies. However unlike these two films our movie wasnt filmed all in first person hand held. we also have the use of the third person view and use of the cameraman.
Both our movie and movies such as Cloverfield both contain areas where the charecter is talking into the hand held camera. This makes the footage look more realistic and gives the handheld camera view a more effective feel.
The scenery in our trailer and in the movie jeepers creepers 2 are simular. they are both in open areas where there is nobody around. this is used alot in horror movies as the victims are unable to get help as they are in the middle of no where.
Both our movie and the movie crazies include the protagonist running away from monster. Running away is always shown in the trailer. This is because they must be running as the monster is close, meaning they could be caught at any moment and brings up a sense of tension and adreneline to the audience.
Both our movie and rec use simple black and white intertitles. these intertitles make the movie more realistic as they provide facts about the narrative which help to create a beleiveble background to the plot.
Friday the 13th, the villian jason wears a hockey mask to hide his face. The villian in Crash Site also wears a gas mask to hide his face as well. This is popular in horror genre as it hides the villians face creating an emotionless creature which we are unable to create any true feelings for as we dont get to see who he is or if the villian is really human. This sense of the unknown gives the audience more of a reason to fear the villian.
Return of the Represt both occurs in our movie and friday the 13th. this is another well used convetion of the horror genre. this has been used ever since the traditional first horror novels. count dracular was a sample of the return of the represt. the audience fears things from the past which are able to inhabit the present and this is used in our trailer as the villian is beleived to be from the crash site, hense the gas mask.
The movie Paranormal Activity and our trailer both use night vision. i think the use of night vision is good as it shows that the characters are in the dark which is a convention of the horror genre itself, yet we can still see what is happening and maybe more than they are able to.
The characters in our movie and the movie Friday the 13th are both young adults/ teenagers. This is a popular age for the the main victims to be as the audience for the movies are around the same age and therefore creates more fear into them as it suggests that the victims could well be them.
I conclude that our movie trialer follows the conventions of the normal horror movie conventions as most of the styles and things used in our trailer can also be found being used is other horror movie trailers as well.
Both our movie and movies such as Cloverfield both contain areas where the charecter is talking into the hand held camera. This makes the footage look more realistic and gives the handheld camera view a more effective feel.
The scenery in our trailer and in the movie jeepers creepers 2 are simular. they are both in open areas where there is nobody around. this is used alot in horror movies as the victims are unable to get help as they are in the middle of no where.
Both our movie and the movie crazies include the protagonist running away from monster. Running away is always shown in the trailer. This is because they must be running as the monster is close, meaning they could be caught at any moment and brings up a sense of tension and adreneline to the audience.
Both our movie and rec use simple black and white intertitles. these intertitles make the movie more realistic as they provide facts about the narrative which help to create a beleiveble background to the plot.
Friday the 13th, the villian jason wears a hockey mask to hide his face. The villian in Crash Site also wears a gas mask to hide his face as well. This is popular in horror genre as it hides the villians face creating an emotionless creature which we are unable to create any true feelings for as we dont get to see who he is or if the villian is really human. This sense of the unknown gives the audience more of a reason to fear the villian.
Return of the Represt both occurs in our movie and friday the 13th. this is another well used convetion of the horror genre. this has been used ever since the traditional first horror novels. count dracular was a sample of the return of the represt. the audience fears things from the past which are able to inhabit the present and this is used in our trailer as the villian is beleived to be from the crash site, hense the gas mask.
The movie Paranormal Activity and our trailer both use night vision. i think the use of night vision is good as it shows that the characters are in the dark which is a convention of the horror genre itself, yet we can still see what is happening and maybe more than they are able to.
The characters in our movie and the movie Friday the 13th are both young adults/ teenagers. This is a popular age for the the main victims to be as the audience for the movies are around the same age and therefore creates more fear into them as it suggests that the victims could well be them.
I conclude that our movie trialer follows the conventions of the normal horror movie conventions as most of the styles and things used in our trailer can also be found being used is other horror movie trailers as well.
The Role of the Distributor
the role of the ditributor is to plan, identify and deliever the largest audience possible for the movie they are working on. Using the audiece it is their job to create a interest in the audience for the film as this will help convince the audience to want to go see the movie and plan for when they will befor the movie has been released. the job of the distributor is a competitive business where they are all competeing in making their movie sucessful in the launch of the movie to the cinema but also sustaining its future in the market place.
This is then made harder as the entertainment indusrty is forever moving forward and changing. One of the biggest changes to the industry would be the move to digital. Digital has allowed movies to be promoted, consumed and released in diffrent ways. therefore creating a more modern cinema and entertainment industry. The consumer is able to pick which movies they want the infomation about and trailers for. This means the distributor looks for an original convention in the movie or a outstanding feature which will help sell the movie to the audience. Such as a star actor. anouther exaple is the movie ironman. This is a well known marvel superhero. The distributors would use this to thier benifit when trying to create a audience for the movie. other things such as 3D or a "hook" which is a interssting story line will also be used by the distributor. The distributor will need to identify the audience, why this audience might see the movie, estimate the revenue potential, build awareness and interesst in the film by developing plans and partnerships. This is then making as much interesst as possible and getting people into the cinema when the movie launches. The distributor also has to work with the exhibitors to get the movie screened in the cinemas. In the contract with the exhibitors include the rights to be able to release the movie into cinemas and also promote the movie befor and during the release of the movie using all forms of media. Distributors can be working on multiple movies at the same time. In a average week around 10 movies are opening in the uk cinemas, this makes the movie industry a highly competitive place as the media oppertunities to promote the movie compared to the amount of movies is small.
This is then made harder as the entertainment indusrty is forever moving forward and changing. One of the biggest changes to the industry would be the move to digital. Digital has allowed movies to be promoted, consumed and released in diffrent ways. therefore creating a more modern cinema and entertainment industry. The consumer is able to pick which movies they want the infomation about and trailers for. This means the distributor looks for an original convention in the movie or a outstanding feature which will help sell the movie to the audience. Such as a star actor. anouther exaple is the movie ironman. This is a well known marvel superhero. The distributors would use this to thier benifit when trying to create a audience for the movie. other things such as 3D or a "hook" which is a interssting story line will also be used by the distributor. The distributor will need to identify the audience, why this audience might see the movie, estimate the revenue potential, build awareness and interesst in the film by developing plans and partnerships. This is then making as much interesst as possible and getting people into the cinema when the movie launches. The distributor also has to work with the exhibitors to get the movie screened in the cinemas. In the contract with the exhibitors include the rights to be able to release the movie into cinemas and also promote the movie befor and during the release of the movie using all forms of media. Distributors can be working on multiple movies at the same time. In a average week around 10 movies are opening in the uk cinemas, this makes the movie industry a highly competitive place as the media oppertunities to promote the movie compared to the amount of movies is small.
This means the distributors have to use every way possible to engage a strong audience. To do this the distributors use diffrent ways of advertising the movie. One way is posters. The poster must fit the conventions of the genre as well as the storyline of the movie. the imagery must be interessting and encourage the audience to want to find out more about the movie or to go see the movie. It must also contain the vital information for example, the name of the film, the date of the release, the stars of the movie, the directors of the movie and the company which made the movie. Posters also usually contain a catch line which is a glimse at the narrative and what the movie will be about. This allows the audience to understand the movie and poster better, allowing them to create more of a bond with what the movie may be like and creating a sense of wanting to know more about it. Another way is through the use of trailers. Trailers are also used to give the audience a better understanding of the feel for the movie and what it will be like. this helps to create a hype about the movie coming up to the release of the movie. this will help people to want to go see the movie and also make it a talking point amongst the audience and creating a larger audience because of it. Word of mouth is another way of advertising. It allows the audience to talk to friends and let them know about the movie which if the other ways of advertising are good then in theory creates a larger audience as the movie becomes a talking point in conversations and on social networking sites. Another tool in advertising is social media. Social media allows people to keep up to date with such things as movie trailers and releases. Distributors are eager to make sure that thier movie is the one in the discussions on such websites as facebook and twitter. To help achieve this and help the audience keep up to date movies will make fan groups for the movie on these sites that the audience can follow and share information from. These also give the distributor another media level to promote their advertising products such as the trailer on. The distributor will also try and get the movie in broadcasts and print media. This could range from posters or trailers to interviews with the director or stars from the movie. Promotional partnerships and merchingdising also help people discover the movie and keep the movie on thier mind until the release date.
Wednesday, 28 March 2012
How horror represents Gender.
Carol Clover in “Men, Women and Chainsaws” argues that many horror films are interesting in their representation of gender, because they provide a female point of identification for a male core target audience. To what extent do you think horror represents gender progressively?
Men and women are both viewed differently with in the media. Research shows that men and women are portrayed with the classical theoretical view. The classical theoretical view of media is based strongly on old research which suggests stereotypical views of women and men. They seem to show that women are presented as, “submissive, passive, with a focus on physical beauty (defined very narrowly) sexuality and emotionality. They are often defined through relationships through men.” Jeremy Tunstall (1983) views women to have 4 roles in society, domestic, sexual, consumer and marital. They also believe that men are presented to be “dominant, strong, active, independent, intellectual and authoritative.” These stereotypes are how the sexes are presented throughout media. Research shows that the media doesn’t show men and women in equal majorities but at a ratio of 2:1 and 2 being males. However more recent research shows that the media are starting to equal this out and it is close to a 50/50 match with in the media. However the amounts of males and females may be equal the way they are shown is still sexist to the fact that men are shown to have more important jobs and females are still shown to be one of the four, domestic, sexual, consumer or marital. For example a news report on an old lady winning the lottery may be titled “grandmother wins lottery” however if I old man was to win the title would not be written as “grandfather”. These ideas of how men and women are portrayed in the media are thought to then be placed into the movie genre of horror through the description of characters and the roles they for fill in the movie. It also states the amount of male and female characters with in the movie.
Carol clover believes that men are able to view horror through the eyes of a female due to the ability to familiarise them self with female victim. Carol clover talks about the movie “Carrie and the boys” where Carrie is represented as the victim, monster and the hero. This monstrous hero doesn’t become monstrous until forced to by situations or other characters in the movie. As she starts out as more of the victim hero. Where she is victimised by bullying off of her peers and family. The heroic side of her actions always come through as a monstrous act on other people. This monstrous act is seen as revenge to the bullying that she has been getting. Carol believes the reason males are able to familiarise themselves with the final girl is through the understanding of pain and bullying and how in the past they may have been or seen bullying around them. They are therefor able to watch a movie through the gaze of a female as she goes through similar experiences as bullying.
I have watched three horror movies and have decided to test out these theories. The movies I watched include Eden Lake (2008), the shinning (1982) and Halloween (1978). The first section I wanted to analyse is the character visibility of each sex. The movie “Eden lake” (2008) uses the conventional theory as men outnumber women 11-6. This seems to be based on the old conventions of the media and is therefore not representing gender progressively. The movie “The shining” (1982) also follows the 1992 research of men out numbering females 2:1. The movie “Halloween” (1978) has a ratio of 1:1 for male and female characters and is therefore progressively representing genders correctly. I then looked at the roles that the females within them have. In the movie Eden Lake jenny is portrayed as a domestic family member. The waitress is also domestic and Paige objectifies herself when she says “are you looking at my breasts”. She also is shown to be objectified as she wasn’t made to cut the male as he was tied up. This implies she isn’t a subject with in the group but more of an object. The shining represents females as domestic and sexual through the characters Wendy the sectary and the bath tub lady. However Wendy throughout the movie progresses to break the conventional view as she begins to look after the hotel and do her husband’s chores as he becomes more mentally ill. The movie “Halloween” three characters are seen as sex objects and Laurie and Annie are portrayed as domestic. This follows the idea that females are seen to fit within the four sections of media under the theory of the old theoretical view. In all the movies the female character becomes the main protagonist and this goes against the main convections of the classical theoretical view and shows how horror is progressing in its views on the female gender. I then went onto looking at the gaze of the movie. In Eden Lake the character jenny is subjected by the group of youths as they look at her through the binoculars. This is the only time that the camera objectifies a female with in the movie however the next shot is a reaction shot showing how jenny feels when she realises that she is being objectified and she covers herself up and this shows that she doesn’t like the youths looking at her and that looking at people in that way can be harmful or disrespectful. This is the only use of male gaze with in the movie. The movie the shining the bath tub lady is seen to be objectified through a male gaze as she gets out of the bath, then she has her transformation and the male gaze is lost. The transformation could be seen as a punishment for viewing her through a male gaze of bath tub lady. This could be a message through the movie not to see females in that way. Within the movie Halloween the movie at the beginning was viewed all through the point of view of Michael. Most of the females with in the movie are seen to be objectified and seen as a sex object before they die, however Laurie never gets objectified and then becomes the main protagonist and is the final girl who lives on. I then began to look at the narrative of the movies and found that Eden Lake has a none sexist view on females through the fact that jenny becomes the final girl and main protagonist and the body count of females compared to males is not sexist against women as there is a ratio of 4 males and 2 females who die in the movie. The movie The shining Wendy ends up as the main protagonist and the body count is equal and therefore the movie is not sexist and women are not being punished. Halloween has Wendy as the main protagonist and she also throughout the movie she is seen as a weak but ultimately surviving figure who overcomes the monster. The movie has a unequal amount of deaths from males compared to females. Three females die compared to two males and the deaths seem to be punishments for being sexually active.
I conclude that horror movies are mainly following the statistics found in the classic theoretical view of how women are viewed within the media. However some movies throughout the horror genre have a progressive view of gender with in their movies and this is becoming more common throughout the horror movie genre.
Men and women are both viewed differently with in the media. Research shows that men and women are portrayed with the classical theoretical view. The classical theoretical view of media is based strongly on old research which suggests stereotypical views of women and men. They seem to show that women are presented as, “submissive, passive, with a focus on physical beauty (defined very narrowly) sexuality and emotionality. They are often defined through relationships through men.” Jeremy Tunstall (1983) views women to have 4 roles in society, domestic, sexual, consumer and marital. They also believe that men are presented to be “dominant, strong, active, independent, intellectual and authoritative.” These stereotypes are how the sexes are presented throughout media. Research shows that the media doesn’t show men and women in equal majorities but at a ratio of 2:1 and 2 being males. However more recent research shows that the media are starting to equal this out and it is close to a 50/50 match with in the media. However the amounts of males and females may be equal the way they are shown is still sexist to the fact that men are shown to have more important jobs and females are still shown to be one of the four, domestic, sexual, consumer or marital. For example a news report on an old lady winning the lottery may be titled “grandmother wins lottery” however if I old man was to win the title would not be written as “grandfather”. These ideas of how men and women are portrayed in the media are thought to then be placed into the movie genre of horror through the description of characters and the roles they for fill in the movie. It also states the amount of male and female characters with in the movie.
Carol clover believes that men are able to view horror through the eyes of a female due to the ability to familiarise them self with female victim. Carol clover talks about the movie “Carrie and the boys” where Carrie is represented as the victim, monster and the hero. This monstrous hero doesn’t become monstrous until forced to by situations or other characters in the movie. As she starts out as more of the victim hero. Where she is victimised by bullying off of her peers and family. The heroic side of her actions always come through as a monstrous act on other people. This monstrous act is seen as revenge to the bullying that she has been getting. Carol believes the reason males are able to familiarise themselves with the final girl is through the understanding of pain and bullying and how in the past they may have been or seen bullying around them. They are therefor able to watch a movie through the gaze of a female as she goes through similar experiences as bullying.
I have watched three horror movies and have decided to test out these theories. The movies I watched include Eden Lake (2008), the shinning (1982) and Halloween (1978). The first section I wanted to analyse is the character visibility of each sex. The movie “Eden lake” (2008) uses the conventional theory as men outnumber women 11-6. This seems to be based on the old conventions of the media and is therefore not representing gender progressively. The movie “The shining” (1982) also follows the 1992 research of men out numbering females 2:1. The movie “Halloween” (1978) has a ratio of 1:1 for male and female characters and is therefore progressively representing genders correctly. I then looked at the roles that the females within them have. In the movie Eden Lake jenny is portrayed as a domestic family member. The waitress is also domestic and Paige objectifies herself when she says “are you looking at my breasts”. She also is shown to be objectified as she wasn’t made to cut the male as he was tied up. This implies she isn’t a subject with in the group but more of an object. The shining represents females as domestic and sexual through the characters Wendy the sectary and the bath tub lady. However Wendy throughout the movie progresses to break the conventional view as she begins to look after the hotel and do her husband’s chores as he becomes more mentally ill. The movie “Halloween” three characters are seen as sex objects and Laurie and Annie are portrayed as domestic. This follows the idea that females are seen to fit within the four sections of media under the theory of the old theoretical view. In all the movies the female character becomes the main protagonist and this goes against the main convections of the classical theoretical view and shows how horror is progressing in its views on the female gender. I then went onto looking at the gaze of the movie. In Eden Lake the character jenny is subjected by the group of youths as they look at her through the binoculars. This is the only time that the camera objectifies a female with in the movie however the next shot is a reaction shot showing how jenny feels when she realises that she is being objectified and she covers herself up and this shows that she doesn’t like the youths looking at her and that looking at people in that way can be harmful or disrespectful. This is the only use of male gaze with in the movie. The movie the shining the bath tub lady is seen to be objectified through a male gaze as she gets out of the bath, then she has her transformation and the male gaze is lost. The transformation could be seen as a punishment for viewing her through a male gaze of bath tub lady. This could be a message through the movie not to see females in that way. Within the movie Halloween the movie at the beginning was viewed all through the point of view of Michael. Most of the females with in the movie are seen to be objectified and seen as a sex object before they die, however Laurie never gets objectified and then becomes the main protagonist and is the final girl who lives on. I then began to look at the narrative of the movies and found that Eden Lake has a none sexist view on females through the fact that jenny becomes the final girl and main protagonist and the body count of females compared to males is not sexist against women as there is a ratio of 4 males and 2 females who die in the movie. The movie The shining Wendy ends up as the main protagonist and the body count is equal and therefore the movie is not sexist and women are not being punished. Halloween has Wendy as the main protagonist and she also throughout the movie she is seen as a weak but ultimately surviving figure who overcomes the monster. The movie has a unequal amount of deaths from males compared to females. Three females die compared to two males and the deaths seem to be punishments for being sexually active.
I conclude that horror movies are mainly following the statistics found in the classic theoretical view of how women are viewed within the media. However some movies throughout the horror genre have a progressive view of gender with in their movies and this is becoming more common throughout the horror movie genre.
Monday, 26 March 2012
How did you use new media technologies in the constructionand research, planning and the evaluation stages?
Adobe photoshop cs5
adobe photoshop is a program which has
multi purposes but generally is used for creating imagery on the
computer. I used photoshop to make my movie magazine and poster.
Photoshop is quick and easy to use allowing a great variety of tools
worked well for making these images.
Youtube
I used youtube to research existing
horror movie trailers to get a sense of what I wanted to do in our
trailer. We also uploaded our trailer to youtube to allow it to be
viewed and linked to my blog. Uploading our video allowed the trailer
to be viewed by our class and allowed us to get positive and negative
feedback on our trailer. Youtube works well as it allows us to find
the clips we are searching for but also helps us to find relating
clips we didn't know about at the same time.
Premier pro
premier pro is a video editing software
we used to create the trailer. I found the setup and interface easy
to understand. It also worked well in allowing us to create our final
trailer and edit it.
Blogger
we used blogger to publish our
research, creations and evaluation. Blogger is a useful site as it
allows people to read the course work. It is also good as it allows
us to use a wide range of media within our coursework from
images,links and videos as well as text. It also allows us to
organise our course work neatly and makes it easy to view and sort
through.
Video camera
we used our own video camera to shoot
the trailer. The camera we used was easy ro use and we had no
problems with it. We also used the camera to take the stills for the
film poster and the magazine front cover. The camera was high quality
and had good results.
facebook is a social networking
website. I used facebook to get people to answer my questionnaire for
the research. Facebook is a great way of getting in touch with a
great amount of people. facebook also worked well as our peers were
are target audience so were able to get them to answer the
questionnaire. We also used facebook to organise the times for
filming, such as where and when to meet
How effective is the combonation of your main product and ancillary texts?
A film distributor has the job of using
research and statistics to find their target audience for the film
they are working for and to then advertise the film through posters,
film magazines, billboards and tv advertisements. They also use
teaser trailers to broadcast to their target audience in such places
as tv, cinema and the internet. The advertisements all aimed at their
specific target audience, because the methods of advertising the
distributors are able to access their target audience easily through
methods which people encounter every day, such as the billboard or
the poster. The distributor also has to think why the audience will
want to view the film and then exploit this in the advertisements.
The distributor also has to plan strategies in ways of getting the
movie known to people also through ways such as partnerships. Many
Disney movies have a partnership with places such as mc donalds where
there is a toy to do with the movie in happy meals. They also have to
estimate the potential for revenue in the different formats that the
movie will be released in. the main role of the distributor is to
create as much interest in the movie as possible and to convert this
interests into people going to see it in the cinema. I have tried to
do the same for our movie as I created a movie poster and a film
magazine front cover. As a group we also created a trailer for the
movie. I think I have made a good cover and poster for the movie as I
tried to catch the idea of the film and why people would want to go
see the film. Such as in the poster I showed a picture of the villain
in the gas mask looking off camera with a dark feel to it and small
amounts of red in the picture. The colour red is known as a evil
colour of danger and this brings a level of fear to the poster. I
also made it dark as the fear of the unknown Is used a lot in the
movie and the trailer so I tried to make the poster include this as
well. I think both my magazine cover and my poster capture the feel
of the movie and the genre conventions of the horror genre and
therefore worked well together and alongside our movie trailer.
What have you learnt from your audience feedback?
on our horror trailer
we have had a mixture f positive and negative feedback about our
trailer. The feedback was on the conventions of a trailer as well as
the conventions of the horror movie genre. To get feed back on our
horror trailer we had a class viewing of the trailer, in which every
one had a piece of paper to write down their views on the trailer.
To make sure people wrote down what they really thought of the
trailer these pieces of paper didnt have their name on it so they
would feel able to write the true negative and positive views about
the trailer.
Some positives we got out of
this feedback session include the inter-titles throughout the
trailer. The inter-titles were put in to show the history and back
ground of the story in a small amount of time. We included a effects
on the inter-titles which made selected words turn red and go fuzzy
before vanishing. The words we chose in each sentence include the
main words for the title. In the different inter-titles there are
different effects to try and keep them slightly different. Such as in
one the title disepaers apart from the the section we wanted to stand
out which goes red and then fuzzy before leaving the screen. Six
different students from our class liked these effects in the trailer
and committed on different sections of the titles from isolating
different words to the effects upon the words. This positive feedback
shows us that our intentions worked well, however there was also a
small amount of negatives also on this section. One person said they
found the inter-titles were over used and became tedious.
Another section of the
trailer we got positive feedback on was the use of the music and
music that we selected. In our trailer we chose to select the music
from early on. We noted that the music was something that we would
have trouble changing to fit the pace and sections of video. So we
chose the music we wanted then fitted the trailer to the music, such
as where the music violently stops so does the footage. This is to
add more effect to the trailer. The positive feedback in this section
included, “the music works well and in time” “the music really
worked with each shot” and “liked how the music picked up when
the scenes became more horrific”. We got six positive feedbacks in
the class on the music but we still had a negative on the music as
well, “music was fitting but could have differed at some point”.
The main titles such as
“crash site” and the production studios were another area of the
trailer that we got positive feedback from. The positive feedback was
all on how they looked on the screen. Some of these include “the
final title was very good and fitting” “liked the smoke effects”
and “the titles were very good”. The titles were all created in
premier pro and edited using after effects. We got one negative on
the titles which was that the earlier titles for the production
companies were not long enough and could have been expanded upon to
be made longer.
We got positives also on the
narrative of the trailer. The trailer used sections of text to tell
the back ground story and the narrative behind the movie. The trailer
also jumps between third person footage of whats happening at the
crash site and hand held camera views of them before getting ready.
These we hoped to help to set a feel of reality and make the movie
seem more realistic. We used a idea of the killer wearing a gas mask
and the site being a possible war time crash site of a plane. This is
called the return of the repress. We all agreed that something
returning from the past was a good scary theme to link the site with
a possible horrific narrative. Return of the repress is used in a lot
of narratives for the horror genre. We thought this would help to
keep to the horror conventions. We got five positives on the
narrative of the trailer which included “good use of something from
the past” “told the story well” and “jumpy”. We also had a
positive which says “very clear narrative (chronological)”. I
found this positive slightly odd as the trailer wasn't in
chronological order. However they were able to view it and understand
it while thinking it was in chronological order. We also got five
negatives on the narrative. Two were based on the narrative not being
jumpy enough, however we did get a positive on this as well so I feel
that this is down to opinions and how easily people are able to be
made scared or what they fear. Other negatives “too much running”
“narrative lost with all the different build up shots”. I think
that we could have added some more shots which were not just running
in at the end and that would have made the final fast paced shots
flow better. I also think some of the build up shots were not needed
now I look back on the trailer after reading the feedback. Such as
when they were packing the car. This shot could have been removed and
it would not have effected the trailer at all apart from maybe stop
it feeling like it was being dragged out a little bit.
Our groups camera angles and
shots got three points of positive feedback. One was the range of
camera angles and shots we used and the other two were on specific
uses of the camera. One of them liked how the effect on some of the
point of view shots were fuzzy or black and white to distort the
picture at times. We also did a small camera shot where the camera is
viewed as if it is the hand held one and gets dropped as they run
away from the camera. We did get a negative which was that we didn't
use enough close ups in the trailer. I agree with this negative as
the fast pace sections would have worked well if there was a couple
of close ups within it to show the characters involved and to break
up the sections of continuous running. One person also thought that
sections of the “home footage” areas are unclear. I think our
group was attempting to make these areas be unclear as to what was
happening on camera as if to represent the camera was having
problems. This was to help establish the difference between the third
person shots and the view from the hand held camera. Another negative
was the over use of the pov shots. I think this could have been
avoided by making some of the pov shots shorter to create a quicker
pace in the trailer.
The effects also got five
positives. We used effects ranging from fuzzy sections where the
footage goes static to night vision when its really dark. Two people
commented on the static action on the different points through out
the trailer saying “i liked the fizzy bits and the sounds” and
“when it fuzzes out when on the map”. Another person liked the
night vision effect, one commented saying “had good effects on
shots” and another said the effects had a sense of
“professionalism” to them. These effects where from different
setting on the camera and effects added on after in after effects.
We got one positive comment
on the setting that we used for the trailer. We used a small area of
swamp like land to shoot the trailer on. The deserted feel of the
swamp gives a good horror feel and fits in with horror conventions
under settings as a place where no one can help you similar to the
movies “alien” (sett in space) and Friday the 13th
(set in the woods).
Overall I find our feedback
positive as we got more positive reactions than negative. If I could
go back and change a few things in my trailer I would maybe cut down
on the amount of build up shots or make them shorter to give the
trailer more pace from earlier on. I would also include some close
ups with in the fast paced section to help people acquire a
connection with the characters in the movie and maybe show a little
more of the villain to help the narrative and help people understand
what they are attempting to escape. I feel that the narrative we had
in mind worked well to the conventions of the horror genre and I
think the setting props and camera shots used in the trailer worked
well. I think the trailer could have worked better under the
conventions of a trailer as the footage we shown in our order did
make it harder to understand if you didn't know the back ground plot
before hand. The trailer was also slow for a little to long which led
to a feel that the trailer could have been made with shorter edits to
keep the audience watching the trailer.
Wednesday, 18 January 2012
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Theories on Narrative Structure - The Shining.
Narrative theories
Vladimir Propp had a theory which was mainly based on character functions. Propp analysed old Russian folk-tales and they all shared the same structural properties which were based around the character functions.
He decided that there were eight character roles which include:
The VillainThe Donor
The Helper
The Princess and her father
The Dispatcher
The Hero/Victim
The False Hero
This theory does apply itself to the movie The Shining. Danny could be classed as the hero as he saves Wendy and himself from the evil. He also has a power/magic which he is able to use and is able to aid him in escaping. Dick lends himself to be the donor as he provides Danny and Wendy with a chance to escape. Wendy comes under the victim as she is naïve and seems helpless throughout the movie.
However there are problems with this theory as a couple of the charecter roles can be interpretated in diffrent ways, for example, Wendy could be classed as the hero, as she is brave at the end and helps her son escape out the window. The hotel could even be the evil within the movie as Jack lived a normal life before he went to the hotel, then since he went to the hotel he gets images in the head and the evil posseses him, which leads to him trying to kill his family. The theory also doesn't describe the plot structure. So the theory doesn't lend itself to help you understand what is going to happen within the movie.
Tzvetan Todorov came up a theory which is based on the equilibrum of the plot. It is based on a classic realist narrative structure and that each plot begins normal and has a stable equilibrum. then during the movie the stability of the equilibrum is upset and then the movie has a sequence of events which are up and down trying to stabalise the equilibrum. The end of the movie then has a new equilibrum which is where the movie is resolved and things go back to normal.Diagram of Todorov's 'classic realist' narrative structure:
Todorov's theory fits to the movie The Shining. The movie follows the "classic realist" narrative structure as it begins with a normal equilibrum, there is then a event which messes it up and the movie then leads to resolution through ups and down till the equilibrum is resolved and back to normal with Jack's funeral. However, the movie doesn't get closure with this theory such as how is Jack in more than one time frame. The movie also starts with a unstable equilibrum as Danny has a vioce with in his mouth telling him that the hotel is bad. The whole structure is vague and doesnt help us to figure a further understanding about the movie, however it is applicable to the film.
Claude Levi-Strauss has a narrative theory based on the idea that every thing has a binary opposite. He considers narrative structures in terms of having vertical binary oppositions (a horizontal structure is normal). Levi thinks that horror has a vertical binary structure, a classic example is something that seems innocent in real life is brought to be evil and corrupt in the theme of horror. Some examples are children toys such as clowns, bears and dolls like Chuckie.
The theory of the binary oppositions fits through out the film, like good vs evil. However it doesnt help to make the movie any clearer, like what is the evil? Is it the hotel, Grady, room 217, the buriel ground or has Jack just gone insane? Also the idea of real vs imaginary isn't clear. You are unable to make out what is real in the movie and what isn't. The theory is still useful in the fact it helps you to think about the boundries with in the movie and consider various interpretations of events that happen through out the movie. It also helps you to see underlying themes in the movie as well. However this theory still doesnt bring any closure to the movie or help in that retrispect.
Bordwell and Thompson's theory define structure in the form of time and space (cause and effect). The audience tend to to link the events within the movie to time and space and make sense of it that way, for example flashbacks.
The movie The Shining fits this as it states clearly the the days marked on screen which helps us to put the events in sequence. Some people see the movie as it uses flashbacks to the hotel showing what it was like. However this is a opinion on the reading of the text of the movie and a problem with this thought is how can Jack be alive in two diffrent time periods? This theory helps to analyse the narrative as the sequence of events being in time order show how the actions within the plot have effects the following days and helps uncover the story with in the plot.
The four narrative theories I have studied all fit within the movie The Shining in some way. However, not all of them help you understand the plot of The Shining any better when applying them, but they do make you look at diffrent things about the movie and all have a good purpose within studying the movie if you wanted to know a deeper meaning about the movie The Shining. I feel that to get a good understanding of the narrative not one of these theories alone will help me do that, but if you used each one and implied them to the movie together i think you get a better understanding of the narrative and are able to see the diffrent ideas within the movie better.
(Source: http://www.slideshare.net/nykelly/narrative-structures-and-the-shining)
Claude Levi-Strauss has a narrative theory based on the idea that every thing has a binary opposite. He considers narrative structures in terms of having vertical binary oppositions (a horizontal structure is normal). Levi thinks that horror has a vertical binary structure, a classic example is something that seems innocent in real life is brought to be evil and corrupt in the theme of horror. Some examples are children toys such as clowns, bears and dolls like Chuckie.
The theory of the binary oppositions fits through out the film, like good vs evil. However it doesnt help to make the movie any clearer, like what is the evil? Is it the hotel, Grady, room 217, the buriel ground or has Jack just gone insane? Also the idea of real vs imaginary isn't clear. You are unable to make out what is real in the movie and what isn't. The theory is still useful in the fact it helps you to think about the boundries with in the movie and consider various interpretations of events that happen through out the movie. It also helps you to see underlying themes in the movie as well. However this theory still doesnt bring any closure to the movie or help in that retrispect.
Bordwell and Thompson's theory define structure in the form of time and space (cause and effect). The audience tend to to link the events within the movie to time and space and make sense of it that way, for example flashbacks.
The movie The Shining fits this as it states clearly the the days marked on screen which helps us to put the events in sequence. Some people see the movie as it uses flashbacks to the hotel showing what it was like. However this is a opinion on the reading of the text of the movie and a problem with this thought is how can Jack be alive in two diffrent time periods? This theory helps to analyse the narrative as the sequence of events being in time order show how the actions within the plot have effects the following days and helps uncover the story with in the plot.
The four narrative theories I have studied all fit within the movie The Shining in some way. However, not all of them help you understand the plot of The Shining any better when applying them, but they do make you look at diffrent things about the movie and all have a good purpose within studying the movie if you wanted to know a deeper meaning about the movie The Shining. I feel that to get a good understanding of the narrative not one of these theories alone will help me do that, but if you used each one and implied them to the movie together i think you get a better understanding of the narrative and are able to see the diffrent ideas within the movie better.
Friday, 30 December 2011
A Trailer which i found Intressting
The Innkeepers movie trailer.
I have chosen the trailer the innkeepers as I like the concept of the trailer and how it creates suspense. The trailer begins slow and with a gradual build up of the story line around the location of the movie and the background of what has happened in the past there. The trailer at this point goes into section where they are getting ready to do research into the haunted inn. At this point it uses slow and sinister music to create a feeling of tension with in the viewer. The speed of the cinematography is slow to build up tension then suddenly speeds up when something scary happens to help make the scary section more effective. It then goes slow again to build more tension for the next section of the trailer. This continues throughout the trailer. The end section of the trailer uses a effective piece of old fashioned music with no sounds from the movie itself with also helps to make the tension effective and makes you pay more attention to what is happening on the scene as it is the only sense you can use to figure out what is happening. The final section has a quick edit of different images between dead and alive people which makes no sense but adds the movie as you want to know what is happening or what happens in the end. This section of confusion leads the viewer to want to know more as they don't like the feeling of not knowing the outcome. I think this trailer works as it creates suspense well and makes you jump with out giving to much of the storyline away. It also allows you to understand that it is a haunted inn but you don't know how haunted it is. The trailer is good at giving the viewers hints and allowing the viewers mind to want more. The effectiveness of the build up through the trailer makes the more scary sections more dramatic. The location is also a traditional innocent looking inn which gives you a sense of binary oppositions.
I have chosen the trailer the innkeepers as I like the concept of the trailer and how it creates suspense. The trailer begins slow and with a gradual build up of the story line around the location of the movie and the background of what has happened in the past there. The trailer at this point goes into section where they are getting ready to do research into the haunted inn. At this point it uses slow and sinister music to create a feeling of tension with in the viewer. The speed of the cinematography is slow to build up tension then suddenly speeds up when something scary happens to help make the scary section more effective. It then goes slow again to build more tension for the next section of the trailer. This continues throughout the trailer. The end section of the trailer uses a effective piece of old fashioned music with no sounds from the movie itself with also helps to make the tension effective and makes you pay more attention to what is happening on the scene as it is the only sense you can use to figure out what is happening. The final section has a quick edit of different images between dead and alive people which makes no sense but adds the movie as you want to know what is happening or what happens in the end. This section of confusion leads the viewer to want to know more as they don't like the feeling of not knowing the outcome. I think this trailer works as it creates suspense well and makes you jump with out giving to much of the storyline away. It also allows you to understand that it is a haunted inn but you don't know how haunted it is. The trailer is good at giving the viewers hints and allowing the viewers mind to want more. The effectiveness of the build up through the trailer makes the more scary sections more dramatic. The location is also a traditional innocent looking inn which gives you a sense of binary oppositions.
Monday, 5 December 2011
Horror Genre mood board.
This is my horror genre mood board of what i find scary in horror movies.This mood board includes:
The undead
Eyes
Hiddern identity such as a mask
Spiders or insects of such sort.
Weapons of a melee concept
Churches
Dark woods/foggy woods.
Evil symbols which are not understood
BLOOD.
The undead
Eyes
Hiddern identity such as a mask
Spiders or insects of such sort.
Weapons of a melee concept
Churches
Dark woods/foggy woods.
Evil symbols which are not understood
BLOOD.
i chose the undead as i think they are scary due to the fact that they have died already and are back not to live on but to seek revenge. most horror movies using undead use them as a dumb but violent evil in the movies. first use of the undead was in the book "frankinsteins monster". I put in eyes as in horror movies the evil can oftern have blood shot eyes or abnormal eyes. This i think works well as it lends to the saying you can tell a persons behaviour by looking in thier eyes and the villian having abnormal eyes shows their bad intentions. I find masks or hidding identify scary as the person trying to hide obviously has somthing within them they are trying to hide. this being violent or not i still think it works well in horror movies as you are unable to see emotions or the face of the killer. This stops you from creating a attachment to the killer and helps you to fear them. I find insects scary as they are small but i have grown up scared of them and they sybolise rotting or dirt. when used in horror movies i think they can lend them self effectively through the symbolisations. I think melee weapons are effective in scary movies as they are brutal and violent and deal a slow death which works well with the horror genre. I find dark woods or churches scary as woods when dark have alot of areas you cant see and easy to hide within. churches are have the sense of unknown with the idea of religion. Evil symbols work well as they are usually made up and the meaning has no known meaning of them, which leads to the fear of the unknown. Blood works well if not used too much. Blood works well because of the fact as humans we asosiate blood with not being good and it being a bad sign in any situation.
Thursday, 1 December 2011
The Shinning Trailer
I have chosen this trailer for the use of quick edits which follow the slow edits to create tension within the movie trailer. I think this works well as it gives you a sense of action and fear within the trailer and gives the impression that the movie has sections of scary fast paced scenes. It also has a fast pace ending which flows into a black screen before the movie title comes up. This makes the viewer want to see more and see what happens which is the whole
point of a trailer.
The Strangers Horror Movie Trailer
I have chosen to look at this horror trailer as i feel it has some reaaly good camra action as well as edits within it. The trailer has a slow tempo at the start and helps to tell the story line and background of the movie. The Tempo picks up in the middle then slows down at the end. i think this use of the speed of edits works well and helps to make the viewer want more and go see the movie. There is also a interesting using of sound as a diagetic sound of a swing continues through the trailer to become a non diagetic sound in the back ground. The sound of the swing is a creepy sound and it helps create the sense of fear in the trailer. At one point within the movie trailer the sound goes quite and and there is a long edit of one of the main charecters standing still and in the background the killer appears. The edit then finishes and this makes you want to know what happens and if the killer attacks. leaving you with a sense of suspence and wanting closure.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
The Crazies Horror Trailer.
This is a horror trailer of the 2010 movie "The Crazies" I have chosen to include this movie trailer as I like the use of quick bursts of clips after each inter title. I feel this gives a sense of shock and shows the movie has scary sections which might make you jump with out giving to much away. I also like idea for the movie that the evil within the movie are humans which have become infected. They have also found a way of making the military a force of evil as they try to stop the spread by killing everyone. I like the use of speed with in the trailer as it starts with long edits and sets the scene and establishment of the horror movie. Then the speed starts to pick up as the quickness of the edits pick up and it begins to show the violence of the movie and the struggle to escape. The trailer then slows back down and creates suspence to finish off the trailer making you feel like you havent seen enough and needing closure, therefore making you want to view the movie.
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