Horror Research

Paige Hetherington

The Strangers Trailerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1TBlPelvbE&feature=player_embedded

The storyline basically consists of a couple away on retreat who hear strange noises and knocks on the door for several hours throughout the night, gradually the strangers enter the house and keep the couple hostage in their own house, eventually to kill them and leave them for dead. The trailer opens with non diegetic mysterious music being played over the top at the beginning adds a sense of awareness to the film and builds up slow tension. The fact that the film is set at nights also coincides with the thriller theme. The use of shadows relate to the thriller genre because they represent the unknown and mystery. The use of the wide shot when the stranger is standing behind the woman without her knowing adds complete fear to the viewer because it leaves you wondering what the person is going to do. The trailer challenges its genres conventions because it used costumes to foreshadow the characters fate before hand. Also the use of female ‘villans’ in the trailer challenges this because we would normally stereotypically expect a male to commit such vile crimes. The target audience for this film in my opinion would be older teenagers and above as it contains series of thrilling events which could altogether frighten the minds of younger children and this could have an effect on their behaviour. This type of trailer appeals to its target audience because of its use of non diegetic and diegetic sound including the soundtrack at the beginning and some of the music played over the top throughout. Also the lack of dialogue from the ‘strangers’ in the film adds tension and mystery to the extract and creates a much more vivid atmosphere.

The Strangers Poster

The poster stands out although it has a black and white effect as it gives connotations of dark, cold, death. Also the main image on the page stands out and instantly attracts the audience as the prop of the ‘knife’ seems to be the brightest thing on the page. The knife perhaps portraying the death and killings in the film and is significant as at the end of the film it is the knife used to kill the characters. The use of capitalised font at the top of the page saying ‘LOCK YOUR DOORS. PRETEND YOUR SAFE’ adds a sense of lack of security. The masks on the villans in the picture also relate to the theme because a mask is solely used to purposely disguise someones face which can be scary and can also relate to Halloween adding tension to the scene. I think that the target audience for this again is teenagers in their later years as they know that the film is not actually reality and can understand properly.

The Last House on The Left Trailerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AR4qYK6W0eU

The storyline consists of two females going to a retreat in a house pretty much alone, to meet a boy whom takes them back to their house and his parents come back only to turn into murderers and try to kill both females. The murderers then go to the parents of the females houses and stay pretending that their car has broken down. In the beginning of the trailer there is deep focus on a sign which reads ‘LAKE ENDS IN THE ROAD’ this reveals to the audience instantly that the characters driving past that same way are in danger and something is going to happen. The use of the prop pliers when the male character goes to cut the other character almost makes the viewer fear for the character and want to help her. The use of the prop of the gun adds extra excitement to the scene as it makes the viewer know that something bad is about to happen as the gun we all automatically associate with death. Diegetic sounds used including opening of flip-up knives, gun shots are all noises associated with death, mystery and fear. I think that the target audience for this film would be 18+ as the film is horrific, and includes a series of unforgettable murders/brutality/sexual references/language in which all are suitable for children under this age limit. I think that this trailer appeals to its audience through its wide use of sounds from its eery soundtrack in the middle of the trailer.

The Last House on The Left PosterThe red word ‘house’ stands out on the page because of the black background and this is eye-catching. Also the words being rather big and capitalised makes the page more interesting and appealing on the page. The limit on text makes the page more focused on the small image towards the bottom of the page. Featuring a house shows the viewer that the film must be about a certain house which is noted from the title. Also the red word that is in the title being red has several connotations and could be used to portray blood, death which all are relevant to the current horror theme. The black colour scheme also could represent death and because the film again is obviously set at night-time which instantly makes the film more scarier, this adds more excitement to the poster and makes people think that they want to watch it. I think that the target audience for this sort of film would probably be more appropriate to older teenagers because of the use of language and also because of the genre of the film.

Stephen Kings IT Trailerhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hIZJqTfUUrY

This trailer is about a clown who tries to scare the young children and adults by a series of clown events in which he follows them, laughs and makes jokes, turns up in washing lines and many weird other things. The long shot of the young girl in the opening scene makes the trailer seem more interesting because it makes the viewer wonder what’s going to happen to her. The zoom on the face of the young female makes the audience know that she has realised the clown is not a happy clown but could possible be a threat to her and harm her, this evident in her facial expression. It’s unusual that the use of a clown is what is meant to be the person haunting everyone but we would normally associate clowns with parties, happy times and children. We expect clowns to be happy and cheer people up not scare and frighten them. I think the target audience for this film would be 15+ as it would not be suitable for younger children because the film uses a clown as the main ‘villan’ this would take away the happy and friendly concept a clown is meant to have and altogether put children off them. This could have an effect on their behaviour and change the way they see clowns. I don’t think the trailer makes you want to watch the film as it’s not appealing but scary and weird. The storyline is weird because it does not follow a pattern but shows a series of events that the clown seems to frighten people in ways a clown is meant to come across as happy.

Stephen Kings IT PosterThe main theme on the poster is appealing because it mainly consists of red and white. Red could be portraying blood, death and has numerous conventions all which match with the genre of the film. Also the close up of the clown allows us to see his features at which are not subtle but aggressive. The font also being capitalised looks effective because it stands out on the page and is eye-catching to the viewer. The long dirty nails on the clown are also matching in with the horror theme because they could be used to scratch or hurt another in which the clown probably uses as a weapon. I think that the target audience for this film has to be teenagers 15+ and above because of the clown being in the film could take away a child’s concept of what clowns are like really in reality. This poster is appealing because if people like horror films then the mid shot of the clowns face would catch their eye and they would want to watch the film. Also the use of simple colours which suit is appealing. Also the fact that the clowns identity is referred to as ‘IT’ makes people wonder what the clowns actual name is and why has it not got a name, or is that the clowns actual name?

Film Magazine Front Covers

ActionThe Dark Knight

The use of make-up on the close up of the joker is effective because it stands out and shows the behaviour of the character. The red around his mouth could be portraying blood and death. The use of a black background goes with the horror genre because black is a colour we associate with bad times, violence, death also. The green cross in the right hand corner could be foreshadowing death and could actually be a ‘cross’. The use of the text ‘Batman VS. The Joker’ could be revealing to the audience that a fight. I think that the target audience for this would be 12+ because young males would be interested in this sort of film as its action and exciting. The film would focus more on males because of the stereotypical male behaviour included in the film such as fighting. The film would appeal to this audience because of the fighting included which is spoke about and revealed in words such as ‘VS’ this shows that someone is fighting someone else and would attract the male attention.

Thriller/ActionInception

The use of the red text on the page instantly makes the page look more appealing because it stands out against the background. Also because the main title is capitalised it stands out and lets the reader know that the word is important and means something on the page. The prop of the gun in the males hand makes the poster more appealing to males as this is the sort of things that males find more exciting than females. It also links in with the genre of the film and the red in the title could be foreshadowing blood, death. The long shot of the character makes the viewer see what he is wearing and that he must be some sort of business man or in a high profession, he could be a ‘spy’ which might be being revealed through his costume. The use of the red on the title could be portraying blood, death and other things, all which link in directly with the theme of the film. I think that the target audience for this film would be 13+ because of the use of guns which would be inappropriate to children of a younger age. Children over the age of 13 should know that a gun is not an every day object and the concept that guns are bad.

Science Fiction/ActionTerminator Salvation

The background on the poster draws the readers attention because it shows the action that happens in the film, this would draw the attention of the male gender because they would be interested in busy action. The use of the capitalised red title stands out on the page and makes it quick to see at a glance for a passer by. The statement ‘world exclusive’ placed above the title makes the reader know that the film must be popular and would make them want to buy the magazine and read it. The red used in the title stands out effective against the busy background and could be foreshadowing death and violence all which are relevant to the film genre. I think that the target audience for this film would be 15+ because the use of explicit weapons.