Horror films are designed to unsettle the audience by causing frighten and panic, dread and alarm, invoke our inner fears, captivate and entertain us in a energizing way and lastly having a shocking finale.
Different audiences experience a variety of fears through either, nightmares, alienation, fear of death, loss of identity and fear of sexuality.
Characters
·Need surviving characters in the end
·Killer has trademark characteristics eg the weapon or character or the way he kills
·Conflict between Good vs Evil
·Outcome – Good always survives or defeats the bad guy
·Propp – Main characters: Hero, villain, helper, victim and the donor
Narrative
Propp – Equilibrium, Disequilibrium and a new equilibrium
Tormented is a low British budget film. The budget of this film was £700,000 and was released in May 2009. The trailer shows unknown British actors and their accents connote that the film is a British film. Tormented is a typical teenage slasher. The story is about a school gang who bully a boy called Darren Mullet. As he can’t take it anymore he commits suicide and comes back to take revenge on the bullies by killing them all in horrific ways.
At the beginning of the trailer we see who the film was produced by and we see an image of the BBC this connotes again that the film is a British low budget film. Throughout the trailer, the sound that is heard is diegtic sound. We are first introduced to our main protagonist Justine and her boyfriend. The camera slowly zooms into the two characters, this engages the audience and makes the audience identify with the characters. The sound that we hear throughout the trailer is parallel sound as the sound that we hear connotes the horror genre to the target audience. The sound bridge used throughout the trailer helps create a smooth transition from one scene to the next which connotes the film is ongoing. The diegtic sound gives the audience an insight to the story of the film and prepares us for what is to come. However the sound in the background is happy sound, however after the message “I am going to kill you” the sound changes which connote the change in the narrative and connotes the unhappiness. Also by using a long shot gradually becoming a close up shot lets the audience see where the scene is set in the trailer. The close up shot of the protagonist talking to her boyfriend connotes their relationship, also the diegtic sound that we hear is the dialogue by the two characters, this lets the audience know what is happening and also connotes to the audience their relationship, by doing this it forces the audience to engage with the actors as they are first actors to be seen which connotes they are important in the making of the film. The fade to white connotes that their life is peaceful, happy and enjoyable, also it connotes purity of Justine. However as the genre of the film is horror we as the audience know that this peacefulness and happiness will not last for long. Soon we see a fade to black which is a convention of horror, also this connotes that their relationship is moving on. The extreme close up shots of the characters body connote that the film will have sexual scenes which attract a male audience.
However the screams of the protagonist satisfy the audience as it is one of the conventions of horror. The long shot of the character dressed as a clown with a chainsaw foreshadow the chaos and danger yet to come. The chainsaw and the screams of the protagonist set a enigma code for the target audience that the film will contain deaths, also the chainsaw used by the character connote danger. Also as the camera moves around the room unevenly this connotes to us how the protagonist is feeling. We then go on to see the name of the film. The title of the film “Tormented” is in the colour red with a black background which connotes death and the genre of the film. Also the name of the film is an enigma code for the audience of how Darren Mullet was “tormented” by the bully’s and how in the end they will be left “tormented” this is connoted by the trailer letting us know “the best days of your live don’t last forever”.
The film is set in low budget locations, such ordinary houses and a school. The teenagers throughout the trailer are portrayed in a stereotypical manner to be always drinking and partying, this is connoted by their clothing and their actions. When the gang are at the house party at the beginning of the trailer, we see different flash shots of how popular they are. “in this world you’ve either somebody or nobody”. This connotes the different social classes between the teenagers. Also after the trailer informs us “or nobody” we are shown a shot of Darren Mullet which connote to the audience that is a “nobody” and the gang are “somebody”. This connotes that you need to climb the social ladder to be someone on this film as the bullies are seen as the “class legends” which drive Darren Mullet to kill himself.
The trailer uses continuous editing as each of the shots are placed logically which connotes that one event follows another. This also connotes the narrative of the film, which engages the audience. Also throughout the trailer a range of jump shots are used which again connote the narrative of the film. The costume and the setting of the characters connotes that the film is a low budget British film. The trailer uses a range of shot – reverse- shots to show us how Darren Mullet is feeling after being bullied this engages the audience into the trailer. The screams of the characters, shots of their deaths in pain and the dialogue again satisfies the audience as that is what they expect from a horror genre. This also gives us an insight of what is going to happen to the characters in the film.
By analysing this trailer, it gives us some tips as the film is a low budget film. Also the film trailer gives us some tips which we could use in our own trailer and what enigma codes and connotations engage the target audience. Also as the film certificate is 15 we can see what is allowed to be shown in a trailer of an 15 certificate film.
Firstly, this film is low budgeted which is made my British producers and also involve British actors. This was important to analyse as it compares to what we have to do but even on more of a smaller scale as it makes us understand the conventions of making a low budgeted film.
To begin with, throughout this trailer all actors are wearing the same clothes throughout which suggests that the simplicity can create dramatic effects as the blood and dirt represents the new climaxes being created through film. Another big aspect that it represents is the fact that in a low budget film, clothing is something which they can’t afford to keep changing and be glamorous with it compared to high budgeted films.
The characters are dressed as a stereotypical teenager who is scruffy and simple. From this you could connote that the appeal of this film attracts mostly teenagers as it quite similar to the way ‘real’ teenagers would react if put in a situation like that. No real plans or structures behind ways of getting out the basement. However the actions of the characters generate more tension as it always engages the audience to be thinking what happens next in the spur of the moment.
Also, by hiring not so famous British actors, it decreases the cost of their overall price of the film. It also gives the film a chance to take risks and be really inventive as the producers have nothing to lose.
From this trailer, it is very evident that there is only one primary setting; the basement. Secondly, it’s not very big, seems to be claustrophobic for the four actors, there is only one different angle where the camera can look directly down, which are the stairs. In a horror genre perspective, it creates tension and more interaction and confusion between the characters which increases the thrill of the scenes. This is a positive and successful advantage of being creative with a low budget film.
Throughout the trailer, the effect fade to black is used as the main transition between all scenes. From this you could connote that black represents death, mystery and uncertainty to what’s going to arise in the next scene. This draws in the audience into the film and what’s going to happen next which is an aspect which in our trailer we need to focus on and not boring our target audience.
Also, in my opinion, the lighting seems to be quite natural the way in the daytime, the daylight shines through the windows which are above. This doesn’t create much light in the area which creates the gloomy and mysterious feel to the setting. As the trailer go along, the setting seems to be getting darker with more shadows and sometimes it’s hard to identify whose shadow it is. When making a horror film, the use of light is very important as it creates the emotion in the scene and the way the audience may perceive the emotions to be.
Lastly, the camera angles used in the trailer are very effective; even though the setting is a confided area the camera was able to witness people in different angles. In the trailer, one angle was when the camera was looking down from the top of the stairs at three characters. This could connote that the characters are inferior to whatever is after them. It also creates a sense of insecurity because they are weary to what is above them and how they might prepare for it. Also, throughout the trailer a variety of close ups and extreme close ups were used to acknowledge the characters expressions and understand their emotions. This is effective in horror as we want the audience to feel the same notion at that time.
Overall, this low budget British films generates a lot of simple ideas in the way we can organise and construct our own horror trailer and the ways to go about doing it.
Sorority Rows genre is horror and thriller, a hybrid, it was released on the 9th September 2009. The story is about a group of sorority sisters trying to cover up the death of their house-sister after a prank gone wrong, after graduation they get stalked by a serial killer.
Throughout the trailer, the whole cast are wearing stereotypical American/ Hollywood clothing, which are: expensive dresses, bikinis at the party. This connotes that the movie is a Hollywood movie and it also shows the protagonists to be women, which is not consistent through Hollywood movies but as the movie goes on the women are seen as weak and vulnerable. The hairstyles and make-up throughout this trailer are not an everyday wear, this attracts both genders to watch this movie, because they are wearing bikinis showing there sexual side and the make-up attracts the male audience because of the attractive women starring in this movie.
They set this movie in several of different locations such as: there college, each characters house, in a mining company which looks abandoned, in the reception of some hotel or spa, kitchen and one of the characters garden. When they are in there college, there is a girl that brings up the girl who died, once that is mentioned all of the girls facial expressions drops and they start to look at each other, to connote everyone else in that crowd does not know what happened but them and the audience. After this scene you see all the main protagonists body language is uncomfortable as they are all tense and frightened shown by there facial expressions.
At the beginning of the trailer when they are using fast editing to show the up tempo of the movie and their lifestyles, the lighting is natural but as the movie progresses the lighting comes from filler lights and key lighting, manly high key to make it look realistic. In the houses you see the lighting comes from the lamps around the rooms to also make it more realistic and allow the audience to see as if they are actually in the house. When they are at the mining company you see that the lighting is for the filler light but the direction it is coming from it looks as if it is from the moon. After this scene, the music is parallel to the scene as they are pulling a prank on the boy, to make the scene and to remind the audience it is still a prank. They also, in some scenes, use sound bridges to connote all the scenes are from the same movie and it also connotes the emotions and feeling you will have will stay with you throughout the movie and the audience will not lose interest throughout the movie.
However, when the prank becomes reality the music starts to become fast and the editing as well, they include close-ups of the characters reaction to allow the audience to identify with them. They use back lighting to create suspense and mystery. Throughout, manly they use fade to black to connote everything you are watching is building up to something bad. Then the music is still parallel with the scenes as they are all celebrating there graduation but their facials expressions are contrapuntal to the music. You could also say by having a celebration after connotes the relief of throwing the body, evidence of any dead body away. They use close focus on some of the girls in the ‘sorority group’ to emphasise on the facial expressions and allow the audience to relate to them. They allow the audience to see the man in the hooded gowns from one of the protagonists view and then an extreme close up to her eye to connote her feelings and how she actually feels because she widens her eye to connote shock and a bombshell.
They use both diegetic and non-diegetic sounds to allow the audience to have a feel of some of the movie, by using diegetic. By using non-diegetic allows the audience to have more enigma codes presented to them as the voice over gives some clues in to how they feel and what they are thinking but then it makes the audience think twice about what they are shown and screams to show the audience that they will be screaming throughout the movie and the excitement after.
The different types of camera movements used are: tilt, when they are playing volleyball and also when they look at the girl in the hot tub to show the males perspective and what he is looking at, they also use hand held shots to connote the audience is looking at the rest of the characters by a characters view and finally they use a crane shot to show the whole view of the mining company and what exactly all the characters in that scene are doing.
By looking at all these aspects of thriller, it allows us to have an understanding of what type of lighting is most common, which is filler lights and back lighting to create suspense and also allows us to create an idea of what we like our trailer to look like, as all these aspects collided allows us to be creative but also keep aspects of thriller and horror in our piece.
