Production preperation

We have thought of titling our teaser trailer film as Dendrophobia. Dendrophobia is the fear or forests and trees we found this appropriate because of the location we are planning to film the majority of the footage. Our primary location is called Tockholes woods below are some location shots.

In the teaser we will only reveal the two main protagonists (Casting shots below) this is because we want to create suspense and enigmas in order to gain interest from the audience.

(Casting shots)

In the teaser trailer we want to briefly introduce the audience to the plot we want to be able to display our teasers genre of horror and sci-fi. Because audiences watch genres expecting the same but different it is important to show the audience what our film will provide that is different from the typical or older horror sci-fi movies which have already been released such as Signs or The forth kind. Like the forth kinds advertising campaign we want our audience to believe that this film could or actually did occur this is because we believe that it will have more of an effect we aim to make the audience continue to think about the teaser after first viewing.

The props we have decided we need are as follows:

Police barrier tape,

Torches,

Mobile phone,

Tent,

Beer bottles,

Edited News paper.

We have decided on our non-diegetic soundtrack we have chosen the nursery rhyme Teddy bears picnic we hope by combining the to binary opposites of nursery rhyme and horror we will grasp our audiences attention further. I found the non copyrighted music on a creative commons website the music was composed by Arthur Pryor in 1908. Below is a link to the website

www.archive.org/details/ArthurPryorsBand-TheTeddyBearsPicnic1908

Adam

Narrative

In our project we are creating a teaser trailer for a hollywood blockbuster film. This is film comes into the genre of horror. We are using the common conventions of this genre along with the sub genre of sci-fi.

We have created a plot that we feel fits the conventions and shows our brand images perfectly as being 'the scariest film of the year'. Our film will be filmed in a wooded area we have found that creates a real sense of eeriness. The trailer starts with Anthony and Adam walking in the woods with flashes from old newspaper saying someone went missing their years ago and was never found. Various pieces of weird activity take place and they find some police tape that is still their from disappearance. We decide to settle down in an area for the night and things take a turn for the worse and scenes are shown of both Anthony and Adam very scared of whatever is around them. The only sights we see of whatever is lurking out their is the blood on the hands of the attacker.

Or product only occasionally follows the rules and the common narrative structure. As we are creating a teaser trailer and not a full film, our product does not have that much of a complex structure. Our product follows this narrative structure but also breaks it in many ways. The narrative is linear, and means it has a beginning middle and end. Our editing works on creating verisimilitude and uses a wide range of shots and effects in order to show this.

I have now looked at two other products that are similar to ours and studied how they follow these rules and narrative structure. First of all i looked at the film 'signs'. This follows Todorov's theory of all narratives follow the basic structure of. Equilibrium - disruption - equilibrium. This means that the disruption is based in the centre of the film and that everything mainly revolves around it. I also found that the film follows the basis of narratives revolves around cause and effect. We always see and understand the cause of the action that takes place. The second product i looked at was 'paranormal activity'. This film very much chooses to break many of the common rules and narrative structure. This is largely based around the budget for the film and the aims and brand image it is trying to get across. The narrative does not have a definite closure. This happens in quite a lot of horror films and happens for a reason. If all the enigma's or not resolved it still plays on the mind of the audience and make them think. This applies in many films like this and ours, into what actually is out there and is trying to hurt people. Without this sense of not knowing what is out there, horror films would be pretty pointless as the audience would not be as scared.

Our project will not really follow the typical narrative patterns and theories. This is because many of these features do not appear as much in horror films. Our product will not follow todorov's theory and will go equilibrium - disruption. Rather than back to equilibrium once more as it is only a trailer and we need to create those enigma's for the audience. It will not have a definite closure as all enigma's will not be resolved in our footage. This is so that the viewers want to watch the film and everything is not given away in the trailer. Despite this there are a few patterns which our product will follow. The role of the central hero will be central and the story and action revolves around me and adam, being created by the protagonist. Also the narrative to our product is chronological is even though it is a trailer it will still go in order and will be easy to understand. We will do ll this in order to create an effective teaser trailer that will match our brand image, create enigma's, and appeal to our target audience. Having done this our product will be successful.

Anthony

Feedback 23/11//09

Very good research group! Good links and use of images.

Remember to get 2/3 teaser trailers that you like and analyse them in relation to how they follow the typical elements/conventions of teaser trailers and if they work (Make us want to see the film -eagerly anticipate it?)

A good website to research and get quotes on film genres (horror) is - www.filmsite.org - film genres section.

Institution - is your film going to be a Hollywood or independent (British?) film? This will obviously influence the style of your film!

Target audience - you need an age range, gender bias, race and socio-economic status (demographic profiling) you can have secondary audiences that are wider but you need a specific target - dont forget to use Young and Rubicon for your psychographic profiling too. Dont forget to put your audience questionnaires and results on here also.

Now move on and look quickly at your other key concepts and we should be starting to see some planning - location shots/casting shots/storyboards and animatics etc...

Remember to outline your film and the brand image you are trying to create through your products.

Audience

We have found our target audience by using GRASS which is as follows.

Gender

Race

Age

Socio economic

Status

Social economic status are an organization of different work classes organized into 6 different groups these groups are.

A - Upper class ( Business professionals )

B - Middle class ( Middle management )

C1 - Lower middle class ( Trades and supervisory jobs )

C2 - Skilled working class ( Blue collar workers )

D - Lower working class ( Manual workers )

E- Subsidence ( Unemployed / Pensioners )

Our GRASS is as follows.

G - Male/Female

R - Any race

A - 16-25

S

S - C2 - B

Young and Rubicam Created the cross - cultural consumer characteristics

There approach categorizes people in terms of there personal aspirations. they set out four categories of audiences based upon these characteristics.

Mainstreamers 40% of the market they seek comfort in the same but different thus they will purchase into or view films from well known branded names.

Aspirers - These people are motivated by their status they buy smart high tech and like to have fashionable goods

Succeeders - these people have already climbed the ladder of success and aim to keep the power they have gained Car adverts which emphasize power are an example of something that would be aimed at this group

Reformers - This group want the world to be a better place. these are more likely to strive to buy eco friendly and health products.

The Group of people we are aiming our project at are the Mainstreamers they are a very large proportion of the market so it would make the most sense to aimed our project at this group to ensure our target we will create our project so it is the same but different following some recognizable conventions of our chosen genre of horror whist putting in a new and modern twist to make sure we are giving our audience the same but different.

Adam

Genre

In our group we have decided that our project is going to follow the genre of horror. Our teaser trailer will be for this genre and will follow the elements of this such as including frightening and horror scenes. Our poster and website will also follow this genre and will be present through the style and features of these products.

We have also that our project is also going to be a hybrid. We have chosen that the sci-fi genre also is going to be in our project. This makes it a hybrid but we have all agreed that horror is the dominant genre still in our product.

I have decided to look into some more depth about the genre of horror and have been looking in particular at the conventions of the genre. These were my findings:

They include typical characters, the most important one of these is the murderer or villain who appears in all horror films to create the action or there would be no horror. The victim or victim's are also typical characters in horror movies as they often get killed or injured.

Horror films often have typical settings such as dark places e.g. a wooded area. This is common in many films as it allows the horror to take place without people seeing and makes the action more frightening as you don't know what lies in the darkness.

In terms of mise en scene many of the same features appear in horror films. From weapons such as knives and guns to black leather gloves and a long coat. Objects such as these combine together to make the footage scary for the audience and allow them to become involved in the action.

I also found out that their are some common narrative ideologies. These have a range of messages such as, not to go out late at night, not to mess with the wrong people. to the true message of crime and the reality that it can bring to peoples lives.

Finally i did some research into the typical sub genres in horror. These are:

Gothic Horror

Techno Horror

Body Horror

Stalk & slash

Torture Porn

Psychological Horror

Zombie films

These are all different types of sub genre's and we are sure that our product will fall into some of these.

We have researched our genre and have looked in depth and found examples of teaser trailers. These have been posted onto our blogs along with the posters from the films they are from which are, signs, and paranormal activity. We watched them and then discussed how they followed the typical conventions of the horror genre and how they could help us in our project.

www.filmsite.org

Also in my research i have looked into the popularity of the genre. I went on the website www.boxofficemojo.com and looked into the horror section. I found that for the last ten years horror films have proved very popular. There is a market for them out there as many films have made mega bucks from their takings at the cinemas. One of the most popular films that has been released is SAW II which made over eighty seven million dollars in the box office. It is clear that that the audience for horror products is very large. The most common target ages is 16-25 for most horror products but many more ages are appealed by the thrills and spills they bring.

I have now looked at the example teaser trailers that i found and have analyzed how they follow the conventions of a horror, and the sub genre conventions of sci-fi in some cases.

After looking at the trailer from the film 'the forth kind' i have found several conventions that show its genre. The dark quickly changing scenes make add suspicion and tension, whilst not giving much away and creating enigma's for the audience. This dark theme flows through ll the sub genre's that fit into the horror section. It also showed the victim's from the film. These are in every film and without them there wouldn't be a film. Police cars were shown in the clip, these add to the mise en scene and the drama that it creates.

The second teaser trailer i studied was 'signs'. The first thing i found from the conventions of the genre where in the non diegetic music and sounds. This music is very slow and eery creating suspense and atmosphere for the audience. Another convention of the genre was fire. Fire is shown in many horror and sci-fi films as it symbolizes danger and horror. In this trailer I found that it showed some small children. This is a common convention in this genre as they are often helpless to the outcome of the film and towards the danger that is coming their way.

'Paranormal Activity' is another trailer that i have studied. This doesn't always keep to the rules in terms of creating teaser trailers but never the less is still equally effective. The sound is quite important in this trailer as there is hardly any non diegetic sound as it is also showing the audience's reaction. The diegetic sound though is a common convention of the drama. The loud screams and shouts play a big part as they frighten the audience and make them become more scared and involved in the film. Also like a most horror or sci-fi films this takes place at night. This makes creates tension as the audience and the characters do not know what i lurking behind them.

In our group we have discussed what makes the genre the same but different. In many ways it is the same and follows many of the common conventions of the genre making it what it is. In contrast though it is different in many ways and we have decided on a unique selling point for the film. After a long think and studying many teaser trailers we have decided that our usp will be the way that the film is shot. We will use many point of view shots. This will create realism and will give the audience more of a feel to what is really happening. These shots will change very quickly, which will create tension and atmosphere.

Anthony

Signs Trailer

Institution

a) Branding is important whist creating any form of media project a brand sets up expectations to the consumer of the product. The brands we are trying to follow the

conventions of the Sci fi horror hybrid.

One of the key elements of creating a successful brand is consistency across the range of product and consistency in how a range of products are promoted across time:

' Brands need to provide customers with a consistent compelling experience in order not to confuse them, as confusion leads to doubt.' (mudvalley.com)

Also according to mudvalley.com, there are eight elements that combine to create brand identity:

• Brand Essence - what the brand means in a sentence
• Brand Slogan - often a catchphrase linked to a logo
• Brand Personality - what kind of character does the brand have? This humanises the brand and therefore makes it easier to relate to.
• Brand Values - what does it stand for/against?
• Brand Appearance - what does it look like / sound like / taste like?
• Brand heritage - what kind of tradition does it have?
• Emotional benefits - what feeling does it offer customers?
• Hard Benefits - it is cheaper, better, does it wash whiter? What "real" quantifiable benefits does it offer the buyer?

In our research we watched different teaser trailers for horror movies and sci fi movies some of which are a combination of both such as the trailers for The forth kind, Signs and Paranormal You can see the different teaser trailers trailers and posters for the films at the bottom of this post.

A teaser trailer's main aim is to advertise an upcoming movie. They are different to theatrical trailers for many reasons. Firstly teasers usually last around 30-90 seconds where as full theatrical trailers usually last around 2-3 minutes. Secondly teaser trailers are usually made about 1-1 and a half years. They usually contain little if any actual footage from the movie where as theatrical trailer have actual footage from the film. This is because the aim of a teaser trailer is not to give away to much of the plot or the characters because at the point the teaser trailer is released the film may still be being produced or edited.

Teasers are usually made for big-budget and popular themed films and are increasingly focused on internet downloading.

An early example of a teaser trailer is Richard Donner's Superman (1978). You can see this trailer at the bottom of this post.

Our media text belongs to the Hollywood Industry. In particular Dimension Films. This is because we want it to look as if we have had a big budget to create this teaser trailer.

The typical traits of the Hollywood film industry is that they have huge multi-million dollar budgets. With this huge budget the producer is able to hire the top actors that would complete the film. The actors are another important element of the film making. Having top well known actors will draw fans to the film. Also with the huge budget they are able to use the best locations, multi-million made sets for filming and items such as CGI. (computed generated image).

We looked at the trailers "The Others" "The Fourth Kind" and "Signs". These are similar as what we want to achieve is to scare the audience and get the hooked and this is exactly what these three trailers do.

Anthony Adam

Our group and brief.

There are three of us in our group. Me (Zoe), Adam and Anthony have decided that we are interested to do film promotion and for our main task we are going to produce a teaser trailer. We have decided to focus on the genre of Horror as this interests all of the group.

We intend to create a teaser trailer thats main aim is to grip that audience and want them to see the movie.

We are looking at lots of different trailers that will inspire us when we make our own. These are trailers such as "Paranormal Activity", "Signs" and "The Fourth kind."

By Zoe, Adam and Anthony.