When i start making my final project i will be using various types of technology which are listed as followed:
Blogger
Blogger is the source of all my information, where i record my progress and development. It is an easy way to keep all my work and therefore allows me to edit or reflect back on previous work.
Youtube
I have been and will continue using you tube to find videos of trailers that can help and inspire me to make my final piece, i can also research individual directors and there pieces of work to find patterns, tropes and memes, i can also find background music and other students work so i can compare and review.
Google I will use goggle to find out information quickly and effectively, using this i can research specific trailers, film, directors and the history of any topic that links with my theme in order to help me create my final piece.
Panasonic HD
This is the camera i will be using when filming my final piece, this camera is portable, lightweight and is able to be used on a tripod, however this is not the most professional camera and so the quality will not be the best, but this is a problem I am just going to have to get used not as it is the best camera our school can afford.
Final Cut Pro
When editing my clips for my final piece i will be using Final cut pro, this is a new piece of software on the Mac, up until now i have been using iMovie, so i have never used final cut pro before, however it is a much more advanced bit of software meaning i will be able to do much more and make it more professional, helping me in the long run.
These are the main pieces of technologies that i am using at the moment and know i will be using in the future however i may find myself using new pieces of technology along the line.
You should be nearing the end of the research stage! Plesse make you complete the
following:
consider
key directors of your genre and their influence.
define
your audience - age, gender, lifestyle interests and social-economic
group.
consider
digital technology you may use for production.
mood
board for your idea.
the
ideaology of your specific genre - this means the overall 'feel' and 'attitiude'
of your genre. Will you include specific icons, tropes?
you
do need to think carefully about audience pleasure. What will your audience
enjoy? Refresh yourself on the different theories listed in your booklet - could
this apply to your specific genre? Did it ever?
Plan
the storyboard (please see booklet for details.)
Set
up a focus group and consider all of the above when you question them. Blog your
findings.
This website shows the 100 best horror films, when looking at this i could see that most were psychological horrors more than any other horror subgenre.
Ideologies are things that you associate with certain genres, for example many people associate Action movies with car chases and gun fights. And Romance with hearts and flowers, and the storyline being on the lines of boy and girls fall in love and dote on each other, something happens but they power through it all in the name of love. Ideology is a very important part of a film trailer as it allows the audience to understand what the actual film is about and what will be expected of it, just by the fonts, transition and pace and sound. If you look at the film Transporter 3 trailer which is a typical action film you can see the difference between action trailers and psychological trailers, in this trailer it is very fast paced and the clips are shown not longer than 3 seconds and the transition is flash, which in a way emphasises the speed of everything, even after watching the trailer you feel tired because of the pace and the amount of things that are seen in it such as Jason Statham in car chases, fist fights, gun fight and a run. Psychological trailers are a lot more slow paced because of the main objective for a psychological horror is to make the audience tense and anticipate to create fear, and this is done through slow scenes in both the trailer and the film as this enable the audience to build up the fear of what is to come. Audiences are used to certain house styles for different genres, if i went against the conventions and were to attack the ideology of psychological horror by for example including a lot of gore as well as tension or use fast pace editing it could confuse and mislead the audience, as they may think it is not the genre that it is supposed to be representing and portrayed, I shall be sticking to the conventions of psychological horror trailers one important factor being the sound both diagetic and non diagetic. Horror films are all about juxtaposition what i mean by this is opposite sounds are used a the same time an example of this is a having a non diagetic sound such as scary thumping music and then a diagetic sound such as a child laughing at the same time, this is juxtaposition as these two sounds are completely different but when put together is quite scar, eerie and creates fear, This is done in the book clockwork Orange where Horrible, scary images are shown whilst beautiful music form the orchestra is being played over it. When making my trailer i will follow the ideologies of my genre as i believe that this is important in a trailer which is representing another publication.
“There is no terror in the bang, only in the anticipation of it.”
-Alfred Hitchcock
Alfred Hitchcock's quote above is a very good explanation of psychological horror as the whole point of it is to create fear which is done through the anticipation of something that is about to come, and not necessarily through the action itself, as you see in Hitchcock's films he does use some gore but it is never the main focus of the film. Many horror films today are about all visual horror using gruesome images of death which gives the sense of dread. Whereas Hitchcock's films build up that dread slowly which makes it all the more tense, it has been said and is evident in his films that his suspense brings the viewers to the breaking point just before letting the audience see . and enjoy the next chapter in the story, his quote above about the terror being in the anticipation means that is is more subtle but results in assault on your psyche. Ideology of a psychological horror is to mystify and create tension throughout, psychological films are much more intelligent than other horror films such as slasher films because it is all about the mind and it scares the audience by getting into their head to create fear. When looking at a trailer you can tell that it is psychological because of the way it is shown and what it shown, for example the build up scenes and reaction shots, basically it is full of clips that are made for tension and not the main scenes. In my trailer i will be taking in the aspect of ideology so i intend to show build up scenes rather than the actual action, i will also be using a close up shot of the spirit but only once and quite fast this then paints a picture in the viewers mind of what they people in the film are going through and heightens the fear and anticipation. Non-diegetic sound is key in trailers as it sets the scene an mood for the film itself, i will be using a heartbeat as this can represent both the characters heartbeat and the audience. When a heartbeat sound is used the viewers heartbeat naturally meets the same rhythm and so when it gets faster and louder so does the audiences' which gives them adrenaline and out of breath after hearing it because of the intensity of it. The heartbeat sound is essentially a trick used by directors to evoke fear into the audience using a simple sound knowing that there body will respond to it.
Definition
An urban legend is a story that has been told, but not always believed by the teller as to whether it is true. There are a variety of urban legend stories, especially horror ones, as most of them serve to create fear. Many psychological horror films have taken there story lines from urban legends, and that is why i have decided to apply this to my trailer, even though the storyline of my film is not based on true events or real urban legends, the storyline is about an urban legend/story that i have created which turns out to be true.
My film plot could be compared to the urban legend 'Bloody Mary' which is a about a girl that would come to haunt you if you say her name 7 times which summons her. My storyline is about someone who finds out about a woman that was killed by their ancestor, and in turn finding out about her and saying her last words out loud 'summon' her and she then haunts that said person.
The Shining made in 1980 is a a very famous psychological horror. It was Directed and produced by Stanley Kubrick. Shots
A variety of important shots are used in this trailer of 'The Shining' to convey fear and build up tension throughout. The first shot we see is a birds eye view shot of the woodland area with a car driving through, this shot shows the car being very isolated which already sets the scene of the trailer- a 'middle of nowhere' scene. It then has a establishing shot of the house form the outside, it is quite a big house and at is representing the typical horror convention of 'the scary house' as these are usually big high up away from civilians. We then see the man typing on his typewriter close up, the way the lighting is set out already gives an eerie feel to it and is already suggesting that he is the one that is going to cause trouble. This is where certain clips are shown to build tension such as the tracking of the woman running in the snow, and various shots of the man walking through the building and in one holding an axe, but still at this point we do not see the connection of how this has happened. We then see a range of clips that show happiness however the way they are shot show elements of horror. For example the little boys is on his bike and riding it through the hallway, this is shot from behind and is a tracking shot which gives the impression of something chasing him or following him. We then get another close up of the man the camera skips forward 4 times to close up on his face which is quite manic and shows that something is obviously wrong with him. after this the clips are short and snappy. Most clips as reaction shots which are close ups of the characters reactions. It then has a close up version of a earlier clip of a woman running in the snow to link them and show why she is running in the snow it also gives a clearer view of the knife she is holding. the clips where she is swinging the bat are over the shoulder shots make the audience feel as though they are there even maybe in the woman's shoes, this in turn builds more tension for the audience.
Editing
The main transition between clips is a fade away however there is one clip where the man hits the door with an axe, here there is a flash transition, this it a fast and grabs the audience attention. it also suggests that what we have just seen it a flash forward of what is to come.
Mise en scene
The location that this film is set in is a big house or holiday home, and at night outside it lloks quite eerie and scary. In the day time the house does not look that scary. So this could link to the fact that the mans perosnality changes as does the house atmosphere (changes like a flick of the switch-dark,light-good,bad). The set design of the house is big gives it quite a tense feel as there arte many places for the killer to hid or suddenly jump out of. The most significant prop in this trailer is probably the axe, which fits in with the conventions of a horror movie as the most popular killer weapon is a sharp object such as a knife or an axe. In the trailer you also see a woman holding a knife so this also fits in with the convention.
Sound Non diagetic sounds are used such as music. The music throughout the trailer gets louder and faster to build up the tension and make it more scary and show that something bad is happening and the end there is a church bell which sounds gloomy, churches are associated with two main events weddings and funerals and because of the genre the first thing you would think of is a funeral, suggesting death and murder. The dialogue on some clips overlap other clips and act as a voice over, this is evident at the beginning of the trailer, it gives the audience a back sorry giving them a taste of what is to come. In the clip where the axe hits the door the background music matches it and everything then goes black. Diegetic sound is used such as the axe hitting the door.
My Psychological trailer is aimed at is late teens and adults, mainly because it is a horror and most horror films have a a certificate of 18. So the age range will be from 8 to 25. I think that this film can appeal to both male and female, my trailer is going to show that the film is containing more women than men and in a horror film this is slightly going against the convention, this means that more men may be interested in it because of this or as i have said in a previous post women may be able to empathise with the women in the trailer so i cannot really define which gender group my trailer will appeal to more.
Lifestyle
I can see my target audience as students either in or just finishing their education. Most probably have a part time job, this way they have time to go to the cinema. I would also say that they are the type on people that like to be scared so take part in activities that do this such as watching a psychological film and going to the fair and going on the biggest and fastest rides there.
Interests
Most people who like this genre take an interest in urban legends which are myths and rumours most of them are told to scare people. Bloody Mary is probably the most common one.
Socio-economic group
I believe my target audience for this genre of film would fit into class D and E. This is mainly down to the fact that most of them ill be students, unemployed or have a part time job, either way they will most likely have a lack of money and so one simple luxury that they can afford is the cinema.
Why?
At this moment in psychological horrors seem to be very popular within the horror genre with films such as 'Sinister' and the Paranormal Activities sequel. And the fact that more are being made means that more people are watching them. So i am appealing to the mass audience. The fact that this genre is getting more popular means that more people could have watched a psychological film meaning my trailer will appeal to many people simply because of the chosen genre.
Profile
I have decided to choose Neha as my target audience profile. This means she is my narrowed down template as to who i am aiming my trailer at. I choose her because she is a fan of my particular genre and has watched many films that come under it, so she really is the perfect target audience.
Age:18
I think that my trailer will be more appealing to this age and generation as they have grown up with many psychological horrors such as paranormal activity and woman in Black and they seem to enjoy it.
Gender:Female
As i have mentioned before my genre can appeal to both genders, but it can appeal to male more than female in some circumstances so I want to even that out, so i can widen my target audience. I think that females will appeal to this because there is going to be a womanly figure that they can relate to, and therefore they will be able to interact with the film much more and that is why Neha is my target profile as she fits it perfectly.
Lifestyle/interests:
Neha has quite a mainstream life as she is currently in full time education and taking her A-levels. She has a part time job which means she is able to afford the luxuries of the cinema which is quite cheap but is an activity she enjoys.In her spare time she hangs out with her friends and family, when she is not doing this then she is working on her art. Art is her favourite subject at school and her main hobby, her favourite part of it is the complexity of it and the clever and range of techniques she can use to make her work interesting and stand out. Her favourite films to watch are mainly psychological horrors as she likes the cleverness of them and the way they play with your mind, she watches them to also get inspiration for her art, to make her art also clever and appeal to a mature audience, much like psychological horrors.
She wears casual clothing from the high street such as jeans, t shirt, jumper, converse and denim jackets from shops such as top shop or new look, which i think links with my genre as the characters do not usually wear clothes that stand out as this enable to audience to relate easier to the characters. As Neha is a template not everyone who likes my genre will necessarily be like her.
Socio Economic group: Neha is from the social group C mainly because Her mum and Dad have very good jobs and so she has a comfy and happy lifestyle.
