Setting

The setting of a horror film has to reflect on the mood of the film, and this is done using areas that are generally abandoned, dark, and gloomy for example

• the woods
• a farm 
• an abandoned country road
• late night on a quite motor way 
• in an old fashioned house 
• at a lake 
• in a barn 
• in a warehouse 
• in an abandoned hospital 
• in a field 

however a good way to make a horror movie more shocking but realistic for the audience is to set it somewhere that would not usually be associated with horror for example 

• at a regular house 
• at a party 
• in a carnival 

Semiotics

In class time we did some research on semiotics which are important to know about when creating a product that is going into the media, as I have to get the audience of my trailer to believe it as being natural and real.

Signs are anything that can be used to lie, the treachery of images refers to how the sign or image of something is not the thing itself, but because we live in a world that is dominated by the media we see signs and images almost all of the time which leads us to just believe that they are reality.

How does this relate to my product?
Semiotics could be used in relation to my product by making the audience believe what they are seeing rather than seeing it as a constructed product. The horror genre, which I have chosen for my product, often has to use semiotics in order to make the super natural and unbelievable into the believable, for example semiotics are used to show who is the victim in the film, by signs that make the actor appear afraid. It is also used to make the audience believe that something such as a actor covered in fake blood and not moving, is a real person who has been murdered. 

This painting by René Magritte is of a pipe, however what he is trying to say is that, this is not a pipe it is a painting of pipe, and what can also be said now is that this is not a painting of a pipe, it is a picture of painting of a pipe. 

The same applies to this image, as real as it might look, this is not a cow, it is a picture of a cow, however we are led to believe that it is just a cow because we are so revolved in images and signs. 

Another way in which images lead us to believe something that is not real is through using signs on things such as adverts and posters, for example this picture is not happiness, and these models have most likely never met in their lives however we are led to believe that they are a happily married couple because of many signs used., for example; they are hugging, smiling, laughing, close together, touching, wearing a wedding ring, and at a marriage-able age. 

Semiotics is explained through signifier, and signified, the signifier is what sign/image has been used and the signified is what the audience interoperates from it. 

Music Inspiration

Because my story line idea revolves around a girl who is finding out secrets about her past and is trying to solve the mystery I need music that will fit in with this, however will still fit in with the horror theme and make the audience feel uneasy, this song incorporates both of these aspects and so is something that I am looking to include somewhere in my trailer, but only the first 20 seconds up until the word 'dead'. 

Storyline/Trailer Inspiration

The unborn is one of the trailers that has acted as inspiration towards my new idea, this shows a girl who is discovering things about her past that she never knew, which is something that happens in my product, it also shows her looking at old videos that she finds which is also a concept that I will be using however the videos that I will be using are the way that she find out about her past and so will be used in different ways to the Unborn however this still gave me inspiration towards some of my ideas. 

Change

After thinking over my idea of a slasher horror I have decided to change the idea, as I feel that because slasher films with a masked murderer have already been done so many times that my idea could end up looking unoriginal. However my new idea is still going to be in the horror genre, with more of a thriller twist to it and so the research and planning that I have currently done will still be relevant towards my trailer, but I will have to find some new inspirational texts to look at for ideas.

Research Questions

1. The conventions that I plan to keep for my text are circled around a horror theme, and therefore the images, text, taglines and font use will all incorporate this theme. The image will include dark lighting so that it has a mysterious and eerie feel to it, it will include a close up picture of either the main victim/hero in the film or the main villain. The colour pallet that I will be using in my text is red, black and white as this is the typical colour scheme for a horror theme and is easy to work with as the colours all contract each other and therefore stand out, with the black representing dark and mysterious connotations and the red representing blood and danger in the film. The font that I will be using will be a type face font that is easy to read but I will also be using a more chilling font in the red colour to represent the horror theme.

2. The target audience of my text will be teenagers who are 15 and over as the film will have its main characters as teenagers, however because the film is a horror it will be rated a fifteen and so will be targeted at people older than that. The gender of the audience will be mixed as horror films tend to be aimed at both genders. 

3. If my film was to be produced in real life then it would need to have a film institution to produce it, after researching into some film institutions and the films that they have produced I have found that ‘Rogue Films’ is an institution that tends to produce horror films with similar genres to the one I am creating and are also a well established and well known brand that people know of, however this company may not be as well known as companies such as universal, or paramount pictures but these companies have not produced as many films in the same genre as mine as the major companies tend not to produce horror films. However my film will be a British film as it will be filmed in Britain and include British characters, and therefor I have done some research into British film companies that would produce my product in real life, studio canal is a British film institution that has funding from universal, this would be a good company to produce my film because it is well established and has the funding to advertise the film with trailers in the cinemas and on television which would increase sales for the film.

Film Trailer Research

Films have the overall aim to make a profit and entertain, however creating a film is a very expensive process that costs millions of pounds, and so money needs to be made in order to pay back investors, pay the costs of production and make enough money for the next release. Film trailers are used as a form of advertising for the film, they are shown on TV, in the cinema and online. A film trailer can establish the genre of the film, highlight important characters, for example famous actors and actresses, that will also act as a major selling point for a film, and can give the audience a brief intake of the storyline so that they know its a film that they want to see.
A trailer tends to be created at the same time as the film is being edited, they tend to be shown a couple months before the release of the film, however with some major sequels and prequels to films such as harry potter, twilight and paranormal activity the trailer will be shown far in advance in order to build up the audiences anticipation for the film.
Trailers are a form in their own right and have a range of features that establishes the difference between the trailer and the film, a trailer only has around a minute and a half to catch the audiences attention and make its mark and therefore will incorporate some of the films most intense moments/ funny moments/ scary moments/ romantic moments, depending on the genre however will not ruin the film for the reader by showing all of the important parts. The music is a very important part of a trailer as it helps establish the genre of the film and creates a mood for the particular scene. Some more conventions of a trailer would be, voice-overs that tell the story and give credit information such as actor names and director names, one-line conversations between characters, establishment of location, film title appearance at the end of the trailer, and dramatic camera angles.

Magazine Front Cover Deconstruction - Labelling

This is a labelling deconstruction that I did of Entertainment Weekly, featuring 'The Dark Knight', this, although it isn't horror, is given the image of a horror genre on this cover, and therefore is a good magazine to use as inspiration for my own product. Features such as the colour scheme, make-up and dark backgrounds are what have inspired me on this cover towards my own product. 

Magazine Front Cover Deconstruction - Table

The second deconstruction that I have done for a magazine front cover is a table that is de constructing a cover of Empire magazine which features Captain America. This again is not the same genre of my film as it is difficult to find magazine front covers featuring films which are of a horror genre, however this has given me some more inspiration on font styles and sell lines which I should be using on my product.

Magazine Front Cover Deconstruction - Table

Magazine Front Cover Deconstruction - Essay

As my second ancillary task is to create a magazine front cover that features the film, I will be researching the conventions used on the front covers of film magazines, although many of the conventions are already similar to me because of last years coursework of creating a music magazine, I will still need to identify differences between music and film magazines to make sure my cover is suitable to my product, this cover uses a good range of typical film trailer conventions and although not in the same genre as my own product it is still crucial to take a look at these features for example, font styles and examples of what other information would be on the cover of a film magazine, as these features would not be typically genre specific anyways.

Magazine Front Cover Deconstruction - Essay

Film Poster Deconstruction - Labelling

The third deconstruction that i have created is a labelling deconstruction on the film poster for 'salt', although this is an action film and therefor not the same genre as my product, it still uses similar conventions and I feel that it is succesful poster and therefor it will be good to deconstruct it to see what features have made it successful and how I can incorporate these into my own product.

Film Poster Deconstruction - Table

For my second deconstruction I have looked at a film poster and de-constructed it in the style of a table, the poster that I have de-constructed is for the film 'The Fourth Kind', which is again a horror however this film is a more supernatural horror, which is not in the same style as my own film, however it will be good to look at different styles of horror film posters for my research towards my own. It has given me inspiration with the use of text effects, as I think the glowing effect on the film title is effective for a horror genre.
Film poster deconstruction - Table

Film Poster Deconstruction - Essay

The First deconstruction that I will be doing is for a film poster, and this will be in the style of an essay, the poster that I have decided to use is from the film 'Prom Night' as this fits in with the horror/slasher genre of my film, and so I can relate this deconstruction to my own ancillary task, it shows alot of typical horror conventions and his given me inspiration towards my own product as I also plan on using a screaming face as the main image for my film poster.

Film Poster Deconstruction - Essay

Deconstruction

For my Media Coursework I will have to produce two ancillary tasks to coincide with my trailer, these include a film poster that advertises my film, which can be either a teaser poster, a main poster, or a text orientated poster. I then have to create a film magazine front cover which will feature my film on the cover. In order to gain better knowledge of the conventions used in these products in a real life world I will be researching and de-constructing three film posters and three magazine front covers, one a table outlining conventions used and why, the second an essay going into more depth about the conventions used and why, and the third a labelled deconstruction of the picture.   

Inspiration

Because I have chosen to make a horror film trailer the types of films that i have gotten my inspiration from are also of the horror genre. Some of these include 'The Strangers', 'Scream' and 'Sorority Row'.

'The Strangers' and 'Scream' were both inspirational towards my ideas because i plan on using a masked man as the killer in the film.

'Sorority Row' has been an inspiration because it revolves around a group of girls with a secret, and the secret being a reason for what is attacking them. 

Media A2 Coursework Proposal

For my Media A2 Coursework I had the choice of creating; A short film, a music video, a film trailer, a documentary, or a trailer for a new soap. 

I have chosen to produce a film trailer, which includes two ancillary tasks, a film poster, and a film magazine front cover that is featuring my film.
The genre that I have decided on for my product is horror, as this is a genre which I enjoy and therefor can relate to when creating my trailer and ancillary tasks. As I often watch horror films I am fimiliar with the conventions used in the film posters and trailers and so will be able to incoperate these into my own product.
The audience for my product will be young, around the age of 15-30, I have chosen this age range as becuase it is a horror film the film certificate will be around a 15 and so the target audience should relate to this. The gender of my target audience will be both males and females, as this is what horror films typically are, horror films that have a story line aimed more towards females still have a male target audience by using pretty girls in little clothing as their actors.