Deconstruction of a Horror Trailer

Looking at the structure of Horror trailers


Paranormal Activity 4

Begins with the sound of crickets which suggests a normality and also a location with a date which creates a fear as there is a sense of 'realness' to the story. The fact that the first shot is during the night from the angle of a security camera suggests that the characters in this film do not feel safe in their own home.

The trailer continues with showing an image of the entrance to the house during the night which further empathises the feeling of being unsafe. There is also a time in the bottom right hand corner which shows the audience that this is being shot as if it is from another security camera. The muffled sound from the camera recording the entrance hall suggests that it is being tampered with, this is further reinforced by a character saying 'Katie' as if 'Katie' is unexpected. 'Katie' then throws the other female character who is holding the child into the wall implying that this woman is sub-human and has the ability to do damage without hassle. The fact that Katie takes the child away and 'Katie and Hunter's whereabouts remained unknown' shows that Katie did in fact come to take Hunter from his home and is not planning on returning him to his family.

The trailer continues with 'until now' suggesting to the audience that Katie and Hunter have been found. It then shows a close up shot of a blonde girl laying on a bed, inferring that she is a main protagonist in the story. The young girl is always shown as if she is being recorded by her laptop, further empathising the idea of home video recording. The police sirens, flashing lights and the blonde girl running towards a window to see what is going on is suggestive of the idea that bad things do not normally happen there, making her fear heighten.

'That's the new neighbours house' when referring to the home where the police is situated infers that the problem started when they moved into town, this reminds the audience of Katie and Hunter from the first sequence and make them question whether it could be them. The young blonde girls family is then continued to be filmed by the blonde girls handheld camera, again giving the trailer a sense of 'realness' which empathises the horror, as it is suggestive of the fact that it could happen to anyone. 

The close ups of the blonde girl from her 'laptop' create fear for the audience as we are not sure what is happening as all we can see are her facial reactions. The unknowing creates the most fear as the audience is constantly looking behind the girl to try and see if they can see anyone approaching her. The fact that the girl calls out for 'mum' gives her a sense of vulnerability and makes the audience sympathise with her.

Shaking lights and closing doors all create terror and is also something that I believe would be reasonably easy to recreate for my own horror trailer.

'I don't think it was an accident' and 'It's really weird' further empathise the idea of a supernatural being that is situated in their home.

The trailer ends with the young girl and her boyfriend trying to figure out what is happening to her little brother and their new neighbour, however it is not until the end of the trailer that we see the real destruction this supernatural being is capable of. However, although we do not see the outcome for the blonde girl, from the screaming and shots of Katie coming towards her we can tell that it doesn't end well. This ending creates interest and makes the audience want to see the film.

From this trailer I have learnt that there are 3 stages of a trailer:
1) Shows the protagonist before anything abnormal/terrifying happens.
2) Shows that all is not what it seems and that the protagonist realises something is wrong.
3) The protagonist is proved that she was right and nothing is okay.

Film's Cool - Jesse O'Mahoney

Jesse O'Mahoney is an experienced television writer with over 100 broadcast hours to his name. Jesse O'Mahoney has previously wrote on Hollyoaks for over three years and was head writer on Sky's Dream Team, a show he produced for over a year. Jesse O'Mahoney is currently working as a core writer on Eastenders. In addition to this, ITV Studios have just commissioned a treatment for a co-created drama idea with him.

Jesse O'Mahoney was previously a finalist for the Best Young Writer award at the Broadcast Young Talent Awards in 2006 and in 2003 won the Best Screenplay Award at the London 48 Hour Film Competition.

Jesse O'Mahoney is also a successful professional songwriter and vocalist in the band Black Diamond Bay.

                                 
                                                                    Black Diamond Bay

Due to Jesse O'Mahoney's extensive script writing and song writing experience he was extremely helpful in teaching us the craft of writing a scrip which was interesting and bound to compel the audience into wanting more. This enabled us to go away and think about what we would want each character to say in our trailer and make sure it was relevant and necessary in telling our story.

Below are some images of my A2 Media Studies class with Jesse O'Mahoney:

Film's Cool - Kate Hardie

Kate Hardie auditioned for her first role for the film Runners (1982) when she was 14. Since then she has stared in many films including Mona Lisa, The Krays and Croupier. Kate Hardie's most notable role was playing student nurse Karen O'Malley in The BBC drama series Casualty.

Kate Hardie as Karen O'Malley

In 2006 Kate Hardie graduated from the National Film and Television School in Screen Writing. Kate Hardie wrote two plays for Channel 4's Coming Up Series; Imprints (2007) and Little Bill Um (2008). Little Bill Um was also Kate Hardie's directorial debut.  In 2011 Kate Hardie directed a short film called Shoot Me, staring Claire Skinner and Paul Andrew Williams. 

 

Because of the experience Kate Hardie has with both acting and directing, the talk she gave us was inspirational and really helped us in creating ideas for our own story. We was told that to write a good story we must first find something that we can relate to, even something small, Kate Hardie gave us an example of being a single mum living with a teenage son. She then told us to think about the fear that resides in our idea, giving us the example of her son thinking that she was very controlling in what he does because she has to be both the mother and father. Once we had our idea that both related to us and had an understandable fear we could change it into the context that would fit our genre; horror. Kate Hardie's example was that a single mum with her son had to constantly move town, and it soon became obvious to the audience that every town the mother and son moved from there had been a number of murders. The son always had to look after the mother and the audience doesn't understand why until one night, under a full moon, the mother changes into a werewolf. 

Kate Hardie showed us how we could change a simple idea into something that could capture an audiences attention and change into something that was almost unrecognisable from the original story. Kate Hardie also proved what she was saying by giving us examples of films that started with a everyday fear; Finding Nemo. Once the talking fish, sharks and the ocean were stripped back from Finding Nemo it was clear the story was simply about the fear a father has of his child going missing, and how if he did, he would go to the end of the earth to find him. 

Finding Nemo

Below are some images from the talk given by Kate Hardie:

How has researching stock characters helped in planning my own characters?

How has researching stock character helped in planning my own characters?

Researching stock characters has enabled me to gain some ideas about the characters that I would like to show during my Horror film trailer. The stock character that interested me the most was Pandora as I think the idea of a character being presented as innocent and pure but actually either being the killer or helping the killer is a really interesting idea as I believe it will shock the audience. In addition to this, a Pandora character also creates a more sinister killer as it is someone who would never be thought of as a killer until they reveal themselves. In addition to this, I also would like to include The Wanderer as a character as their constant wandering creates tension for the audience as they never know if the killer will be found or if the killer will find them. However, I do not think I will use the Jock, Popular Girl or Pervert as I believe these characters are just used to be killed and do not create much sympathy for the audience as it is seen as inevitable. 

The Orphan Trailer (Example of a Pandora character) 

This is an example of a Pandora character in a Horror film that I believe creates a truly terrifying killer, as unless she reveals her true self to you, she seems completely normal.

Stock characters in Horror

A stock character is someone based on common literary or social stereotype.

Examples of stock characters in Horror are:

1. The Wanderer; a member in a group who breaks away from other characters to explore the location where they are situated. The Wanderer goes to seek any characters that go missing or goes in search for help. However, The Wanderer ends up being killed or narrowly escapes death. The Wanderer would typically use the phrase 'let's split up' or is generally seen as the weak link between the characters. An example of a Wanderer stock character is Sarah Darling from Screem 3. 

2. The Popular Girl; is usually the most attractive female character. She is someone who is either loved or envied, but either way someone who everyone aspires to be like. The popular girl is usually dating the most popular boy in school or the 'Jock'. However, the popular girl is often killed during the beginning of the movie due to their state of popularity and/or what they get up to, e.g. drinking alcohol, smoking, having sex, as a punishment for their behaviour. An example of a Popular Girl stock character is Jennifer from Jennifer's Body.

3. Jock; is seen as the alpha male of a group of boys due to his sporting achievement. The Jock most commonly dates the popular girl and has a group of loyal friends who usually help him to bully other males who have a lower level of social status. However, the Jock is a regular target for the killer in horror films. An example of a Jock is Billy from Final Destination.

4. The Final Girl; The final girl is the last female character in the movie to be killed or is the only character to survive despite the killer's continuous effort to murder her. When there is a sequel to a film the Final Girl is often the main character as the killer wants to seek revenge on her for escaping previously. An example of a Final Girl is Sarah from The Descent.

5. Pandora; is the misleading character who at the beginning of the film appears to be innocent, however as the story unveils their true nature is shown; usually as the killer or the accomplice of the killer. An example of Pandora is Esther from The Orphan.

6. The Pervert; is a sexually motivated character, usually male, who despite not being the main focus for the killer, usually gets killed with the popular girl and the jock. It could be suggested, as with the popular girl, that his death was a punishment for how he lived his life. An example of a Pervert is Blake from The House of Wax.

What has learning about Horror stock characters taught me?

Researching stock characters has shown me how important they are in films as they allow particular audiences to familiarise with a particular character, whether that character is a jock or the popular girl. Stock characters also allow for fast and simple recognition of traits. A stock character often creates a sense of comfort for the audience as the audience feels as if they know what to expect from each character and understand where these characters come from. After looking at stock characters I have decided that in my trailer I want to include a Wanderer, a pervert, a jock. This is because I believe a wanderer creates tension for the audience as they leave the group to discover any hidden secrets, which could lead to how they are found by my killer. In addition to this, I would use a pervert and a jock because they would show traits which would anger my killer and show that my killer has a reason for killing them.

Final Girl Theory

What this theory has taught me:

Clover's 'Final Girl' theory has taught me that in order to have a successful horror film/trailer I must have a character that the audience can have hope in to survive the killer as this helps the audience to connect with the film. Clover suggests that the viewer begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the final girl part way through the film. However, the final girl theory does not only apply to females but also males and the character does not need to be alive at the end of the movie to be the 'Final Girl' but instead be the last character alive. Moreover, Amanda Young from the Saw movies shows how a final girl can then turn into the killer, creating a more interesting storyline.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ei7azCO49DQ

This video clip of the character Amanda Young from Saw shows her change from the final girl that escaped her ruthless killer to the killer herself.

Killer Conventions and the Male Gaze Theory

The features I would use for my Killer:
-Disfigurement (a literal or metaphorical mask is important)
-Revenge (a backstory that outlines motivation is important)
-The idea of being hidden
-The past being involved in the present events
-Supernatural powers
-Young child as the killer but being controlled by a stronger force

From looking at horror killers I have realised that:
-Cycles of abuse or violence repeat themselves
-Film titles will relate with the characters back story
-The killer will always have a cause or reason for their killings
-Killer looks remotely different from society

The 'Male Gaze' - Sexualising women for the male audiences pleasure

The concept of the 'Male Gaze' is one that deals with how an audience views the people presented. For feminists it can be thought of in 3 different ways:

1) How men look at women
2) How women look at themselves
3) How other women look at women

Criticisms of the 'Male Gaze'
-Some women enjoy being looked at e.g. models
-It's not always sexual, it could just be a comparison of looks
-Looking at someone is acceptable but 'gazing' is unacceptable as gazing implies more than looking at someone. Gazing signifies a psychological relationship of power where they're superior to the object of the gaze.
-Are gender roles created by the media?