Target Market Research Questionnaire Results

Recently I conducted a survey to find out who my target audience is and what they want from my horror teaser trailer. The survey was created online, the web link was shared on various social media platforms. I asked a number of thirteen - fourteen questions so I can get the most information to find out exactly what my audience want in order to benefit the production of my horror teaser trailer.

My first question was about people's gender and the reason I asked this was because different genders have different tastes in films. The results I got back were: 27% male and 73% female. This shows that females are the ones I should focus on because they are the ones who answered the questionnaire, mostly.

The second question I asked was what age people were. I made this a close ended question and gave people a range to answer from because people would feel sensitive to answering with their real age and thus a range was provided. The results are as followed:

The most popular result was 15-18 with a high percentage of 67%. My horror teaser should only be made to suit 15-18 year olds. This makes the job of making the horror teaser easier because these are the age groups who are constantly chosen and targeted for well-known horror movies and so I will ensure that my horror teaser will be just for this age group.

The next question I asked was what genre of horror do people like to watch. This multiple choice question was because not everyone likes one specific genre of horror; allowing multiple choice gives me a wider scope on what genre do people prefer the most:

The results varied but the top two genres were Supernatural and Slasher horror. This would make sense because these are the two most popular genres with great films i.e. Supernatural has films like The Conjuring and Insidious whilst Slasher has great films like Scream and Nightmare on Elm Street. So taking the results, I will make my trailer a hybridised genre in order to gain the most audience and in terms of production will be very easy to produce. My horror teaser will just be a hybridised genre between Slasher and Supernatural.

The next question I asked was people's fears. It is very important for me to know because most horror movies play on the idea of fear. Using people’s fears in the trailer allows for a really effective and scary horror trailer. This also was a multiple choice question because it gives me a wider view to see what people are really afraid of:

The most popular result were dolls with a high score of 13%. The reason for this vote could possibly be due to the fact the the fear of dolls is a common phobia. In addition to this, many films are beginning to include dolls as a fear factor e.g. Annabelle. This high percentage along with blood and claustrophobia ensures that I should try involve dolls and blood to heighten my audiences' fear as well as getting the best out of making a perfect horror teaser.

The following question inquired what kind of monster, people would like to see. The pie chart accumulated results and I revealed that the top three results are Other 15%, Unknown 15% and Ghosts/Spectres 12%. The first two results are ambiguous that I can use any monster I want to portray yet it still made it difficult to decide what to use. I used the third highest which is a ghost/spectre which had 12%. This helps to create a focus for my trailer and I am able to use ghosts to make my horror trailer.

The next question asks about the setting of my horror teaser and the most popular result was an abandoned building (15%) and isolated area (19%). These results help to to narrow what the atmosphere of the building is. The teaser is set in an isolated are to show to the audience that no one will help the protagonist of the teaser.

The eighth question asks the audience on what the best features of a trailer are. This question is necessary for it will help provide a focus on the production of my trailer to ensure the best out of my entire trailer. The survey came up with the result that originality, suspense and jumpscares were crucial for a horror trailer. These factors help to sell the genre of the trailer, that is horror. Originality is so that the horror trailer is selling something new and unique. Knowing this, I can ensure that I pay close attention to these elements to create the best horror trailer.

The ninth question I have asked is where people access their trailer. how people access their trailer means that I can select the correct render format for the teaser trailer to be shown for different media platforms. Different media platforms have layout requirements for videos to be presented. Majority of the votes lean to YouTube which shows that the video format has to meet YouTube upload requirements. I will make sure the teaser is uploaded to YouTube where everyone accesses videos.

 The following question, I asked was regarding the character types people wanted to be portrayed on screen. Majority of the votes go to ghosts and female killer which means that the audience would like to see a female antagonist take the centre of the screen and so I will go for a female ghost killer. In terms of protagonists, a female protagonist is more popular for I assume it is due to the fact that most horror films have a female play the victim. I however will go against this because it will make the horror teaser unique and different compared to other horror trailers. I will also make my protagonist have an ethnic background because my research has shown me that ethnic minorities are killed first in a horror trailer and having an ethnic minority survivor would engage audiences even more into my teaser and be a diverse trailer. I will make sure to have an ethnic survivor and female killer.

Overall I have discovered that my trailer should be suitable for YouTube and targeted to a female audience in their teenage years. I set the teaser trailer in an abandoned building and would have an ethnic minority protagonist go against a female ghost killer. The genre of the trailer would be a cross of slasher and supernatural and the trailer would involve mystery, jumpscares and originality. Finally I would ensure that the trailer would include dolls to play on the fear of the audience and show that the teaser is truly terrifying.

Target Market Research Questionnaire

The following link is a website I used to make my questionnaire. It is an online story writing and questionnaire maker. The website offered me an easy format to research who would my target audience be. The questionnaire is made to be accessible to people on the internet and gain a wider number of people. My results would be narrowed easily and I can come to conclusions about certain decisions much more quickly.

https://www.quotev.com/quiz/9745832/Trailer-Survey

Below is what the questionnaire looks like:

I chose this question because males and females have different tastes to one another. Knowing the gender will have a huge difference on how to create my trailer for the either males or females.

Knowing the person's age is vital as it ensures that my horror trailer is made for a specific age range. Children are unable to watch horror movies due to their horrific and violent nature and so knowing the age makes sure I, the creator is aware of how old my target market audience is.

I asked my audience if they liked horror movies for I don't want to create horror movies for those who don't want it.

This asks the audience a particular genre of horror they prefer. It gives me a wider scope to work with for I can look out conventions for specific genres to conform to the genre and make the best horror trailer possible.

The main aim of horror movies are fear. To scare the audiences requires knowing the audience's fear and this can enable you to craft the horror trailer to achieve the highest thrill out of audiences.

Every horror movie has an antagonist. I need to know what kind of antagonist my audience are scared of, which helps me to make the best horror movie possible.

Having an idea on the location that audiences want to see the trailer helps me to have a basic idea on what kind of place will scare my audiences.

Audiences like particular things in trailers which will intrigue them and attract them to film. Knowing what audiences like best eases my task in focusing on making one certain factor the best to attract audience attention.

This question asks users how often they watch horror movies. This is so that, those who always watch horror movies will get the best horror trailer possible as they will have the best understanding of what the conventions of a horror trailer are.

This asks users where they watch their trailer. Access to the trailer is crucial to garner a wide target market audience and so I gave users the options where they want to access their trailer.

This question helps me to construct the protagonists of the trailer. The question asks for a new kind of hero as it will attract the audience if there is a new kind of hero.

This asks the users what kind of font they would like to see. The font of text needs to convey the genre of the horror as well as the visuals because the font style speaks more.

The question helps me to understand the conventions that audiences recognise to help understand what the genre of horror is.

Sounds help to increase mood and tension. Thus knowing the type of sounds that people expect to hear in a horror trailer is so that the trailer sounds as scary as it looks.

Alien Promotional Campaign Research

To understand what the aim of our coursework is, a lot of research and analysis has to be conducted in order to understand how to construct our horror trailers. I will be deconstructing the promotional package for the horror film, Alien (1979).

A marketing campaign is a method used to promote a product through different medias i.e television, radio, print and online platforms. In terms of film, a marketing campaign helps to garner more attention for film. Many things may encourage a person to go see a film, in terms of marketing, a teaser to the film can be released as well as interactive activities that allow audiences exclusive access to content that is restricted until post release of a film.

The marketing campaign I chose to research is Ridley Scott's film Alien (1979). Alien was a film that captured a lot of attention for its story, characters and horror style. It used various platforms like releasing trailers, TV spots, radio adverts, toys and arcade games. The target market for the audience was adults because horror films were exclusively for adults, particularly men. If a child were to ever watch it, they would be intensively frightened and shocked from the content they are exposed to. However movies trailers, including Alien would have been shown on TV during the daytime or the nighttime because the internet was not available in 1979 and so films were advertised on the television.

It could also target children, particularly boys as the film spawned a video game and a 18 inch toy of the film monster, the Xenomorph. Thus boys would be allowed and exposed to the Alien film and it generates more profit for the company.

Alien Poster:

The poster is fully black with the exception of a egg and a v shaped crack at the bottom of the egg, oozing green matter. The floor has a lattice shape of what presents bones. The egg is brightly lit green and this colour is often associated to evil and aliens, the green reinforces the idea that there is something strange happening. The black and green contrast really well as black is connoted to isolation, darkness and evil. The black and green together present an image of fear and terror. 'Alien' is bold Arial and spaced out to maximise the space and catch the viewers attention. The tagline is "In space no one can hear you scream" this shows an immense fear and it presents a new image of space to the audience. The use of scream suggests that there will be things haunting you and the fact that no one can hear you, really builds on the terror and isolation that the viewers may witness when watching the film. The egg is a symbol of birth and it tells the audience that something is coming, a terror is born.

Alien Trailers and TV Spots:

The trailer is very important because it allows the audience a small preview into what the film is about as well as convincing audiences to go and watch the film. Trailers are mini teasers for a film and cause an interest in audiences in order to piece together everything they see. Trailers are possibly done during production yet more likely post-production as it helps with the construction process and makes it easier for editors and advertisers to collate a trailer and distribute it around.

The Alien trailer is very unique because there is no dialogue or any other sounds. The sounds are very unsettling and slowly build up to a crescendo before completely shutting off. This is conventional in most movie trailers. The climax of the sound is a clash of loud sounds which are slightly muted and you constantly hear a high pitched alarm sound alongside a deep sound that resonated with the beating of a heart. These sounds instil a fear in the reader and it keeps them hooked on to discover more on what is going on in the trailer. The same goes for the TV spot but the TV spot has a high pitched whisper which immediately causes fear in the viewer as well as intrigue as to what the film is about.

The trailer definitely follows the conventions in a sophisticated way that they are almost difficult to identify however they also break a few of the conventions in order to engage with the audience and introduce them to something niche:

• Trailers usually have a 3 Act structure yet this film does not have that structure, instead it clumps a lot of tense moments together whilst it begins with a constant reverse shot of an egg and land and this is very effective as it causes the viewer to feel intrigued and cautious to which they would go watch the trailer to understand the purpose of the trailer structure

• The trailers uses close up yet wide shots to capture the sense of isolation and fear that is to be experienced when watching the film and this allows the audience to understand the context of the film without showing anything and it is a clever technique in conveying information whilst still giving the viewer something to be interested by

• There are few fades to black but most of the trailer consists of jump cuts in order to establish the control of fear and this is very conventional of a horror movie as it once again shows that the trailer does not reveal much and keeps the viewer shrouded within mystery

• The events are in a mixed up order and do not reveal much which is interesting and it does not reveal the 'alien' thus keeping the audience wrapped within the mystery of who or what the alien is. Once again this is very conventional because the audience are unaware of the events that occur and not placing the scenes in order forces the viewer to go watch the film to piece together the meaning of the trailer

• The beginning clip shows a fade in of the title of the film on the skyline of the film only for it to disappear and appear at the end after the music cuts off with: "In space, no one can hear you scream." This generates a feeling of intense fear and isolation as it signifies to the audience the horrors that may occur in outer space which is slightly conventional because it draws the viewer in with a line and it grows a sense of fear within the audience that is slightly satisfying

• The egg symbolises birth and with the words 'alien' fading in at the moment the egg is cracking, it suggests to the audience that an Alien is born or more likely arrived on the scene. Harsh lighting and dark lights are used to conceal and remind audiences that space is a wide dark place which is cold and lonely

Alien Atari game:

Alien 18 inch Action Figure:

Alien Toy Movie Viewer:

After researching I found that the target audience is being engaged through the TV mostly as there was no YouTube or internet in the 1970s and so every person would have got their information on the radio or on the television. The film is presenting itself as a sci-fi horror for it takes place in space yet it does not explicitly tell you what the threat is. The threat is alien and without knowing what it looks like, stirs an emotion of paranoia and fear in order to really capture the audiences attention. The unique selling point of the film is the tagline and the mystery of the alien. The tagline instigates interest and fear and the fact that no one is exposed to the aliens identity, people would want to watch the film in order to understand the appearance of the alien and why it is such a big threat. There has been viral marketing after the release of Alien for it inspired a giant franchise of seven films, many comics and video games.

Final Girl Theory

The final girl theory is a common theory that is identifiable in horror films, particularly slasher horror films. This refers to a female character who survives the traumatic events and has a final showdown with the antagonist of the film before then surviving to tell the story. Carol Clover coined the theory and spoke about the main conventions as what would make a final girl:

• The final girl is a female
• She is a 'virgin' or she does not have sex in within the film
• Has morals and does not commit an vices i.e. drinking, smoking, taking drugs or having sex
• Intelligent and is often put down or dismissed by male or female characters
• Attractive and sometimes the damsel in distress
• Brunette as it shows her being ordinary whilst blonde females are known to be quite promiscuous
• Somehow manage to kill the killer or get away from the killer
• White
• Uses an object with phallic connotations and stabs the killer

Audiences, in particular females would be surprised and sympathise with the killer because she becomes the identity that females are better survivors. In addition the audience do not identify with the sadistic killer but identify with the victim. The audience become masochistic voyeurs and hail the female as the hero. Three examples of the final girl are as followed:

Black Christmas (1974): Jess Bradford is a female who lives in a sorority house. She is a common example of the final girl as she is a brunette who does not commit all the vices like smoking and drinking although she had sex with her boyfriend before the film events which results in her being pregnant. She wants an abortion because she wants to become her own person. In the end she manages to over power the 'killer' by bludgeoning him to death.

Nightmare On Elm Street (1984): Nancy Thompson is a female who also is a popular example of the final girl. She is a brunette and does not have sex with her boyfriend Glen. She at first is the damsel in distress before she then overpowers Freddy Krueger by burning him and diminishing his power to travel through nightmares.

Scream (1996): Sidney Prescott is a popular recent final girl and has been given the title Scream Queen which is an actress becoming notable for playing a survivor in a film. Sidney is highly intelligent and has morals although she also has sex within the film with her boyfriend, Billy Loomis who later turns out to be the killer along with Stu Macher. She manages to overpower and kill both killers.

Frankenstein Poster Comparison

James Whale: Frankenstein (1931)

Kenneth Branagh: Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994)

 I decided to take a look at the two film posters for the iconic monster Frankenstein. I am comparing the 1931 poster to the 1994 poster for colour, background, key image, text font, tagline, layout, target audience, similarities, differences and reactions as well as conventions and codes.

The colours of the poster are contrasting as the 1931 poster uses reds, blues, blacks, greens and yellow. The use of blue in the 1931 poster is to symbolise darkness and melancholy which implies that the film will feature a tragedy which would provoke the audience to feel sympathy. The blue is blurred with the black in order to share the same symbolisation of darkness, depression and evil. Green is tinted with yellow to make a sick like colour and this makes the audience think that the film will be rather sickening and frightful. The background is plain and is consisting of colours which is beneficial because it allows audiences to focus on the main factors of the poster.

The colour of the font is yellow mixed with red and it creates harsh violent colours, symbolising fire which is a part of the films plot and the audience are provided a subtle clue that the film will involve something burning. The red is to signify danger and anger thus conveying the mood that this is a film of violence and sadness.

There is a woman and a man wearing white clothing with contrasting presentations: The woman is wearing white and this makes her a symbol of purity and chastity. Her positioning -the way she is lying shows a contrast suggesting that she has lost that chastity that she is trying to retain; the man wearing white signifies he is intelligent and this is evident in his stance for he is tall and he looks to be mixing something in two glass beakers. The audience conclude he is a scientist and so the man is highly intelligent.

Both posters shares the similarity of having the antagonist/protagonist on the poster as the image. The 1931 'Frankenstein' poster uses the monster as the anchor image because it is the main secondary character of the story: both protagonist and antagonist. Having the monster on the front poster will attract the audience to go watch the film because it is new and interesting. Katz and Blumler will say that the main reason for watching films is for personal identity. Frankenstein's monster being the main image will persuade audiences to go watch the film for interest.

The font of the text is san serif and this is to show the film as artistic and clever. San serif is informal font and it allows audience to feel more attracted to the film because it is bold and big which will catch the attention of the audience. The tagline of the poster is: 'The original horror show! Frankenstein - the man who made a monster". The tagline is to remind audiences of the genre of the film that is horror but also who the true monster of the movie is. The tagline makes the audience believe that there is a person that is more villainous and thus audiences would feel an interest to find out who the true villain of the film is.

The target audience for 1931 Frankenstein would be male and perhaps some female adults aged 18 to 40 because both genders would be interested in science fiction film and the fact that the film was adapted from a nineteenth century novel, it would encourage females to watch how a female authors work is adapted for screen. Male audiences would be fascinated by the science of the film and the poster shows a woman lying down implying that there is a beautiful women thus it relates to the male gaze theory in that men objectify women.

The 1994 poster is dominated by various shades of blue and black with a slight tint of yellow. In the 1994 poster, the blue is a symbol of electricity. The electricity provides the audience a clue to the plot. This poster uses black to shroud the main image as it entices the audience into what the physicality of Frankenstein is and it would persuade audiences to go watch the film to satisfy the mystery.

Most of the background is black which helps to convey mystery and darkness because it keeps the audience on the edge of their seat and inquisitive in order to satisfy the mystery. The background has a cloud effect which gives the audience exposition that the film is set during the night or a setting with bad weather and this is to remind the audience that it is a science fiction movie. The main image is masked by the black colour in order to keep the audience away from the narrative as well as creating mystery so the audience have an interest in the film.

The text is a white serif font with a slight blue glow and this is to make the film come across as an intense scary film. Serif fonts have sharp edges which has the connotations of strength and masculinity and so this would show the audience that the film is serious, scary and intimidating. The poster does not have a tagline and this goes against conventions of a film poster but it would attract audiences to the poster because it is structured differently. This makes audiences rather intrigued by the film poster and thus persuade them to go watch the film.

The target audience for the 1994 Frankenstein would be for males and a small amount of females aged 18 - 30. This film would have a significant male audience because the poster is designed to be very masculine and dominating however females would be interested if they have a preference for mysteries.

Conventions of film poster

The conventions of a movie poster are as followed:

- The title of the film: Krampus, which is a German myth on a half-demon, half-goat that punishes misbehaving children in the season of Christmas.

- A tagline or slogan: You Better Watch Out. Krampus ...Is Coming To Town. This takes the rendition of the song: Santa Claus is coming to town and transforms it to make it creepy by having Krampus coming to town.

- Anchor model: Krampus's hand is holding a snowglobe. The hand is wrinkly with a pale colour and it goes against the image of Santa for Santa would wear black gloves or have nice pink/peach hands. The nails are sharp and creating scratch markings on the snowglobe once again showing that Krampus is going to ruin things within a house and snowglobes have snow which is often associated to Christmas.

- Release date: December 4 which is in the month of Christmas and thus allowing for a wider audience because many people would go to the cinema to watch in the Christmas season.

- Production company: Universal, Legendary Pictures. These are well known production companies and it informs the audience who made the film and thus gaining a wider profit and audience for Universal and Legendary Pictures.

- Theme: Christmas, which is transformed into a possible nightmare version of Christmas, once again showing that even the jolliest of seasons have the worst nightmares.

- Genre: Horror, Christmas, it conveys to the audience the type of film it is and whether it suits their preference of genre.

After understanding the conventions of a movie poster, I applied these conventions and made my own version of a poster to the movie, The Woman in Black:

- It has the title of the film, The Woman in Black which provides the audience with the necessary information of what the film is called

- There is a tagline attached to the poster which is She makes you go round ... and round ... and round. This links to the anchor image which is a zoetrope and this was a Victorian toy that if spun, would let you see a little cartoon flip animation. Going around and around connotes to insanity and so it shows that the film is not for the light hearted

- The anchor model is the face of The Woman in Black on the front of the zoetrope because if catches your eye and it intrigues the audience as to why there is this specific face on the front. IT hooks the viewer into the film.

- It informs the viewer the release date which is February 2012 and it informs the viewer when they can go watch the film to experience the horror themselves

- It includes the production company on the bottom corners for it informs the audience on who made the film and knowing this, audiences can evaluate if the money spent was worth it

- The theme and genre in this poster is horror because it shows the face of a scary woman and using the zoetrope it presents a loss of innocence which could connote to the fact that the film is perhaps intense to which you may never forget again

Using The Woman in Black for my Production

To help with the research and ideas process of our own horror movie teaser trailer, we decided to watch The Woman In Black. This film had the most typical horror movie conventions and it was one that would be beneficial to our own teaser trailer. The five things that I would use for my teaser trailer from The Woman in Black are:

• A lack of lighting: This helps a lot in order to immerse the audience into a scary setting as well as ensuring that I get the most scares from this horror movie trailer.

• Lack of ghost: This really brings out the horror by implying the threat is there and not showing it because it constantly builds a fear in the audience and brings out the worst of terrors.

• Realistic locations: It helps to add realism to the film and it creates authentic horror with realistic settings.

• Ambient sounds help to intensify emotions and generate an even scarier atmosphere
• Close up shots in order to get a real sense of emotion from the character and once again help with conveying horror

The Woman in Black

In class, we decided to watch and analyse the film, The Woman in Black for it is the most conventional horror film. Watching and analysing the film will help me to understand the conventions of the horror genre and I will be able to apply them within the creation of my teaser trailer, poster and film magazine.

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2012/feb/12/woman-in-black-review-philip-french

After reading the article I noticed that the article picked up on a number of concepts:

• The comparisons between the novel and movie
• The many changes that were made.
• Arthur Kipps (Character in The Woman in Black) is similar to Jonathan Harker (Character in Bram Stoker’s Dracula)
• The many adaptations of The Woman in Black
• Follows the conventions of horror films
• Summary of the plot
• Mention of events in films
• Slight lack in horror
• Compliments to the film

The article itself is short and concise with formal and sophisticated language. The review is more informative rather than opinionated. It gives a brief address and has little compliments yet more criticisms. The guardian targets adults from 20 – 40, so adults would use somewhat sophisticated language and they would understand the purpose of the article. Overall the article is more critical than complimentary.

The Woman in Black Review:

There is no such thing as a horror movie without the use of darkness, jumpscares and haunted houses. So in order to find a horror movie that uses all those elements I decided to watch The Woman in Black, which is said to be the most typical horror movie to watch. I'll be the judge of that.

The Woman in Black is based on a book by Susan Hill - whilst slightly changing elements of the book for the film, the movie follows a young man by the name of Arthur Kipps. He’s a widow who aims to keep his job by travelling to a small village and sort out the paperwork of a deceased woman. He stays in the house of the deceased woman in which strange supernatural incidents happen and many, many children die.

This wasn't a very scary film for I didn't jump, scream nor feel my skin crawl with chills and goosebumps. It was a good storyline I admit, but I felt it lacked a spook element. The sounds and everything were perfect but I felt it missed out a lot. The Woman in Black definitely follows the conventions of a typical horror movie:

• Haunted house
• A local myth
• Creepy children
• A lack of light
• Dark colours

There are a few positives like the fact that you don’t see the ghost a lot which helps to alleviate the spook factor a bit and to present a face of terror. There are very very few positives for there are mostly negatives like there was not a clear understanding to the ghost’s purpose and the most obvious question: “Why does he not leave the house and town if he knows that there is crazy supernatural ghost acts happening?”

Daniel Radcliffe -who plays Arthur Kipps, does an okay job, I mean he is very adamant on keeping his job. He is a terrible father and human being and what happened to him was very deserving. It was very anti-climactic and it drained the story out of the horror movie. Overall it was a well-made film that perfectly used all the horror conventions but it lacked clarity in conveying a story.

Friday the 13th: A New Beginning Sound analysis

There is a mix of non-diegetic and diegetic sounds which make the audience feel tense and on edge. The audience are welcomed to the sight of Jason Voorhees killing the two men and climbing out of his grave. The diegetic sounds of rain, thunder and lighting are to create an ominous atmosphere and to establish to the viewer that the threat is dangerous and he has come out of his grave unaffected by pain. The music intensifies until Tommy yells no! and he is then woken up with pants. There is no music in this scene as it reminds the viewer that it is not a dream but reality. Jason's iconic song is played when the camera is on him and it reminds the audience, who are either fans or first time watchers, that this is Jason: the ultimate killer. The audience focuses mainly on Jason Voorhees because he is the anti hero of the story. Although he kills many people, he is the one that is to be favoured among the many other characters because most of the audience are masochists. The song is played to us to make us identify that there is an imminent threat and it build tension within the viewer before then revealing the jumpscare to us.

Sound and Music in Film

Sound and music play a key role in the media especially within films and TV shows. They set the mood, inform and engage the audience with the media piece. Sounds are essential in all genres and there are various terms associated with sound:

Voice over:
Gone Girl (2014)
Narrative or commentary given over the film heard by audiences and not characters in the film
It informs the audience on the context of the story and it delves the audience on another view point.
It shows audiences into the mind of the character and it creates an opinion of either shock or sympathy
There are constant sound effects that are quite asynchronous sounds during the scene before and after. It helps to keep the audience linked to the film and it generates tension in the audience.
We focus on the story of the character and how and why she frames her husband for her murder.

Sound Bridge: 

Rocky IV (1985)

Sound that carry on from one scene to the next scene

It inspires the audience and shows the audience the a summarised version of moments, particularly with this video it shows the character’s struggle.

The audience would feel inspired and cheer Rocky on to beat Ivan Drago.
It shows a comparison of training between Rocky and Ivan Drago. Before Rocky is seen, looking back on the past and regretting his mistakes. Trying to get inspired for the future match. Our focus is on Rocky and how he works hard and naturally to retain his honour while Ivan cheats with drugs and advanced technology.

Sound Effects: 

Jurassic Park (1993)

Sounds added to the film post-production to enhance meaning

For this clip, it helped to create the sounds for the dinosaurs that were imagined to have. The sound mixers used the sound of a baby elephant which was edited to sound like a T-Rex. It creates an aura of fear within the audience when they hear a T-Rex roar.

There are ambient sounds of the rain before and after to show how bad the T-Rex attack was.

Our audience then focus on the T-Rex and would feel fear as well as excitement in hearing what an ‘actual’ T-Rex sounds like

Character Theme: 

Beverly Hills Cops (1984)

Part of soundtrack that associates to particular character

This theme song is instantly recognisable and the audience would recognise the theme song and attach it to a particular character, Axel Foley (Eddie Murphy) in this case. The theme song starts at 0:18 and loops in the background.

Before is a lot of dialogue, noises and a different kind of music score because this is to slowly tease the audience into what the character does. After is dialogue and silence, this is because the theme song introduces what Axel Foley does. Our audience then focus on the theme song because it relays Axel's character as jovial and sneaky.

Pitch: 

Murder on the Orient Express (2017)

Determined by frequency of either high or low

The sounds in this trailer have varying pitches in order to captivate the audiences and keep them constantly interested in the trailer.

It generates interest and shock as the mixture of high and low pitches catch the attention of the viewer, especially the part of the train sound halting and a man screaming very loudly in agony.

Before is a lot of noise and action because this trailer is giving the audience a brief teaser to what the movie is very low pitch sounds of a rhythmic train sounds, people talking and the train travelling. After the spike of sound, there is a slow build up of a song to interest the viewer even further. 

The audience then focus on the scream of the man which leads the audience to speculate who is killed, why and who the suspects are.

Contrapuntal Sounds: 

The Hitman's Bodyguard (2017)

An effect that occurs when sound is out of sync to image

The sounds, particularly the music is contrapuntal/is unusual to the image as it uses Whitney Houston's I Will Always Love You for an action comedy movie. There are two links of the song. The only reason why this song fits is because it adds comedic humour for it is a love song that is not to be expected in a action comedy movie. It is also an intertextual reference to the 1992 movie The Bodyguard.

It generates interest within the audience as it adds comedy. The audience will laugh and appreciate the trailer and go watch the film to see if it has the same comedic value as the trailer.

Before the song is dialogue as it tries to come across as a serious action movie but after the song is just silent for the trailer credits have arrived and so it marks the end of the trailer. 

The audience mainly focus on the song because it is unusual to have a love song within an action movie and it diverts the audiences attention from the trailer to the song.

Ambient Sounds: 

Inglourious Basterds (2009)

Ambient sounds are present within a scene

These are sounds that can be heard within the video clip. The sounds in this clip have trees rustling and birds sing to signify that it is early morning and that they are outside. There is a clanging sound which signifies the Bear Jew hitting his baseball bat and it adds tension and suspicion to the audience.

The audience are brought into a real environment as they are exposed the reality of the environment, men, dressed in army clothes. The audience will believe the realistic setting and enjoy the following scene of the Bear Jew.

Before the sounds is silence there is then a musical score that highlights and matches the beat of the baseball bat to slowly build to the revelation of the appearance of the Bear Jew.

The audience mainly focus on the clanging sound because the other ambient sounds are meant to be the background to provide awareness to the audience.

Semiotics

Semiotics is the study of signs and the meanings of those signs in society. The signs essentially stand or signify something and it conveys meaning. This can vary from words to drawings, pictures and street signs. Anything visible is a sign. An example of this in film is this:

Captain America (2011)

Audiences see this and recognise it to be the shield of the iconic character: Captain America. It uses the American flag and colours for it symbolises that it is Captain America's shield.

The Wizard of Oz (1939) 

Another example of a sign is the red shoes in The Wizard of Oz (1939). The shiny red shoes are a symbol to the audience of the character Dorothy Gale.







The main theorists are:

Saussure: He theorised that there were three levels on the way audiences perused a media text:

Syntactic level: This is the denotation of a media text. The most obvious of what one can see. In relation to the first example we can see a circle object with a silver star in a blue circle and red stripes. The shield is dirty. In the second example we see red glittery shoes with red bows on the top of them.
Representational level: This is the way it has been portrayed in a particular scene. In relation to the first example we see a close up of the shield perhaps on a desk or on the floor. The second example has the shoes worn by a person and are positioned in a way as if the shoes are being shown off to someone.
Symbolic level: This is the connotation of a media text. This is the meaning and significance behind a sign. In the first example this has many meanings as it symbolises Captain America but it also symbolises hope and freedom for people. The second example also has many meanings for it symbolises that it is Dorothy Gale but also a means of solution or as a warning for red is a colour connoted to danger.

Barthes: Media texts often use old myths or stories to convey a slightly modern story and this can signify alternative meanings. An example of the use of a myth, is the legend of St. George. It is known that St. George was a knight who killed a dragon in order to save a young woman. This is very common in medieval, superhero and action romance movies for example: Speed (1994) and The Bodyguard (1992)

Speed has the generic story where Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) rescues Annie Porter (Sandra Bullock) and kills the bad guy, an ex-cop and terrorist Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) This is similar to the legend of St. George for Jack is the hero whilst Annie is a victim. It creates the symbol that women can't save themselves and need rescuing from men whilst men take on a more stronger active role and face danger while still killing a person and getting the girl at the end.

It is the same for The Bodyguard for Frank Farmer (Kevin Costner) is a bodyguard hired to protect famous singer Rachel Marron (Whitney Houston) from a hitman Greg Portman (Tomas Arana). This also follows the legend of St. George for Frank rescues Rachel and kills Greg and towards the end Frank and Rachel are together. Once again is shows women as weak while men are strong.

Strauss: He devised the theory of binary opposites in which every symbol had a counteract symbol. Meaning that to everything there is a positive, for example:

Good and Bad
Light and Dark
Day and Night
Loud and Quiet




Binary opposites have significant symbols and are in many films and one film to use in particular is Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice:


Good (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman) and bad (Doomsday, Lex Luthor)
Old (Batman) and young (Superman)
Hope (Superman) and justice (Batman)
Day (Superman) and night (Batman)
Men (Batman, Superman, Lex Luthor) and women (Wonder Woman, Lois Lane, Martha Kent)




These three theorists devised theories which help define the media texts and semiology is what helps to understand the meanings shown in various media texts. Signs are shown in everything within media texts:

Colour

Crimson Peak (2015) this uses a lot of yellow to signify brightness

Camera shots and angles

Reservoir Dogs (1992) this uses a low angle to show the characters as powerful and big

Clothing

Star Trek (2009) the clothes are colour coded as the yellow is to commanding officers of a divison, red is for engineers/communication officers and the blue is worn by medical/science experts.

Editing

American Psycho (2000) this uses a shot reverse shot in order for the audience to catch a surprise of Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) killing Paul Allen (Jared Leto)

Mis-en-scene

The Shining (1980) the mis-en-scene is obvious and clear for the viewer to understand

Purpose and Functions of Trailers

It is crucial to know the purpose of a trailer and the way it functions. Researching this will help me understand the method of how to construct my own horror movie teaser trailer.

Why do film companies need to use trailers and why is a trailer important?


Film companies use trailers to ensure they can get the largest box office number and the largest profit for the company to gain more status. This can only be done if a large audience goes to see the film and help increase the costs of going to the cinema to watch the film. Trailers benefit film companies a lot for they are mini summaries to the film -without revealing big plots and the ending. Trailers generate intrigue within the audience and it persuades audiences to go watch the film. Currently the film Wonder Woman (2017) is topping the box office charts with a total of $300,000,000 dollars in over a week. This released many trailers in order to gain a large audience which it successfully did so. They capture an audiences attention without revealing too much of the story.

What types of trailer are there and when is a trailer made?

There are two types of trailers which are the official trailer and the teaser trailer. The teaser trailer teases the audience into a small clip and access to the film whilst the official trailer is played in the cinema a few weeks before the actual film is played. Trailers are available everywhere and are released in order to give a short yet enticing introduction to the film. Sometimes teaser trailers tease a trailer in order to get audiences more interested and attracted to the film. Teaser trailers are often released early in exclusive events like San Diego Comic Con etc. Here is an example of a teaser trailer for Beauty and the Beast (2017)

















How are trailers chosen to preview before certain films?

Trailers are selectively chosen by an exhibitor/cinema manager and they would play a selected range of age appropriate trailers to an age appropriate film. By showing trailers before other films, the audience can choose whether or not to go see the film and so it makes them come back at a later date creating a cycle of regular audiences. In addition trailers are given a classification in order to make sure that the appropriate content goes to the right audience for example cinemas would not play the Deadpool (2016) trailer at the screening of a kids film, Sing (2016)

What is the BBFC, what do they do and how are films certified?

This is the British Board of Film Classification which is a non-government and independent body that determines whether a film is appropriate for viewers or not. The films are rated through a process as followed:

1. After the film has finished, the distributor send it to the BBFC with a form, listing all the important details like the length of the film, release date and their preferred rating and this helps give the BBFC a scope to understand the meaning of the film.
2. The company pay the BBFC
3. Films are scheduled for there are hundreds of films that are sent to the BBFC.
4. Compliance officers watch the film and note the title before writing a synopsis and then giving an age rating.

The films are certified in the following order:

Why is it important for a trailer to show us the genre of the film, how does this happen and how does the trailer show that this film is worth coming to see?

It provides more information with the film. The genre is an important part because it is up to the audience on what film they want to watch and so when watching a trailer, the audience deconstruct the trailer to see the genre and whether or not it suits them. Many symbols are given to the audience in order for them to figure out the genre the trailer is attempting to convey. Another way of figuring out the genre of a film is by the star for some actors are associated to certain roles. As well as using the genre to sell the movie, some campaigns may have a unique selling point, something that separates the film to make it unique.This trailer is the Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales and it tells the audience that it is an action adventure movie. The USP for this film is Johnny Depp who is known for playing the infamous character Captain Jack Sparrow.