Questionnaire Results

Horror Questionnaire

Insidious: Trailer Analysis

Film trailers are a form of advertisement and are used to attract interest towards the film it is promoting. This interest is created by the use of sound, camera shots and editing usually hinting towards the narrative and giving a glimpse of what the film has to offer. Film trailers create a sense of mystery and leave a lot to the audience’s imagination and speculation and, from this, interest is created.

The narrative is established through the use of a myriad of scenes and camera shots. The audience learns that the film is taking place in a suburban house due to a wide shot of the house in question. The film is also centred on a family and one of the children especially due to the amount of shots which include them. Danger or distress is also introduced due to a shot were the audience sees a child in a hospital bed and again with the introduction of a demonic force shown by a number of shots that are used to shock the audience. Mystery and enigma is established in the form of questions, such as “What happened to the child?” and “What is the demon doing/what does it want?” At the start of the trailer there are scenes of laughter and happiness which is then contrasted with the later shots which show misery and grief.

The characters are established through a variety of shots, such as close-ups and two-shots. For example, the parents are recognised by a two-shot as they are standing together which shows unity, especially in a time of need. The main characters are also shown by the amount of shots they are in within the trailer showing the audience that they will be the main focus of the film.

Dialogue is used to allude to the fact that the child isn’t in a coma but something even worse has happened to him. The main line of dialogue is “It’s not the house that’s haunted, it’s your son” which is used to shock the audience and is likely to stay in the mind of the audience accentuating interest for the film. It also helps the audience link it to other films of the same nature, such as The Exorcist and Paranormal Activity which deals with hauntings and possession, which may fuel their interest for the film as they could be fans of this branch of horror.

The soundtrack of the trailer is mainly a loud ticking noise which could signify time and a ticking clock. This could signal to the audience that the parents only have a limited time to save their son. Screams and loud noises from action scenes are also used to build tension and give the trailer a climatic ending to leave it in the minds of the audience thus generating a developing interest.

Action clips are used nearer the end of the trailer to contrast with the serenity of the other scenes, at the start of the trailer. This implies towards the narrative; that the film will start with happiness and then something terrible will happen. It alludes to the danger that the family will face within the film. Action clips are also used to and suspense and tension, this effect is also accentuated with the fast-paced cuts between shots whilst the soundtrack gains tempo and increases in dynamics

Titles and graphics are also used to create interest with the film and engage the audience. The first graphic used is the title of the film which then gets rearrange so as to reveal a hidden message which could confuse the audience and add mystery. This then makes them think there is more to the title of the film than they first thought, so the ‘puzzle’ of the title sticks in their mind. The second graphic used states that the film is from the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw, which are two of the biggest horror franchises at the moment, and this means it will immediately generate interest with fans of these films.  Throughout the trailer, the first graphic keeps returning as a way of adding mystery to the title ‘puzzle’ of the title. This is also a way of ‘stamping’ the title of the film into the memory of the audience so when the film does come out they will easily be able to remember the trailer.

The genre of the film is easily introduced through the use of certain dialogue and the use of ‘scary’ action scenes. For example, when one of the characters says “It’s not the house that’s haunted, it’s your son” the use of the word “haunted” immediately signifies to the audience that it will be a horror. This is because it gives connotations of ghosts and possession which are common conventions of horrors. The action scenes also scream horror through the use of demons and dark shadows which are also conventions of the horror genre.

Overall, the trailer appeals to the audience as it hints at the narrative, themes and conventions which adds mystery and interest to the film. The use of action scenes, soundtrack and dialogue creates suspense and tension and makes the trailer ‘stick’ in the mind of the audience. It also appeals to fans of the horror genre by including specific codes and conventions that are specific tot this genre.

Film Magazine Analysis

The Crazies: Poster Analysis

Insidious: Poster Analysis

Short Film Analysis: The Descent

Short Film Analysis: The Hills have Eyes (2006)

Creep Analysis

Halloween & Scream: Comparitive Essay

After John Carpenter’s Halloween, the Horror genre became saturated with repetitive copy-cats as many directors started to imitate the conventions used in Halloween. It started to become too unrealistic, as audiences became uninterested as the plots and characters failed to relate to real life. The violence was also seen as unnecessary, violence for violence sakes, and this was connected with the violence and rising crime rates in society and therefore fell out of favour with the majority of the public as parents were scared of their susceptible children. The violence was also shown to be without consequence and this created a sense of moral panic as gratuitous crimes were blamed on the gore and situations that were portrayed within the films. The Horror genre also failed to attract a wide proportion of society as their audience was mainly male, as this is what the conventions attracted, and females became additionally apathetic towards the outworn similarities between the horrors that were released. This led the Horror genre making a disappearing act, much like Michael Myers, as the audience were no longer concerned with boring copies and obsolete plots. Enter Scream: The revival of the Horror film, as Wes Craven was keen to change the perspective and representation of the genre he loved.

Scream was a lot different to the Horror films that had come before; it was new, intense and comical in places. Wes Craven was determined to leave the clichés of the Horror genre in the dirt as he avoided them like the Black Death. This was also helped by the new technology of the era, Scream avoided use of the Steadicam and instead used improved editing and climatic music to ensure that the stalking scenes remained thrilling. Other clichés are not only avoided but also mocked. Throughout the film, characters refer to the old conventions of earlier Horror, “Never say "who's there?" Don't you watch scary movies? It's a death wish. You might as well come out to investigate a strange noise or something.”, in an attempt to show the audience that things have changed. Not only does this work, but it also gives Scream a humorous side, and the audience laughs despite the situation, creating a perfect contrast, between Horror and Comedy, which eventuates the shock the audience feels when the violence kicks in.

Horror films had, up until Scream, represented the female characters badly; they were often shown to be helpless, stupid and sexually objectified and this was seen, by most audiences, to be sexist. This could also explain why the female audience felt annexed from the genre and a factor to as why it lost popularity. However, in Wes Craven’s Horror flick, the character of Sidney Prescott (played by Neve Campbell) is shown to be a lot tougher than most ‘damsel’s in distress’ and breaks the stereotype of the helpless girl. Nevertheless, this isn’t just kept to women and the audience can easily see that the characters are a lot less stupid than those in Halloween. There is also a semblance of equality between the victims and their killers, and in some scenes the victims even inflicts lasting injury on the killer, before they are ‘dispatched of’ of course. This is very different from Halloween, as no one is able to fight back against the might of Michael Myers and, even when he is shot multiple times, he survives to fight another day. This ‘super-human’ villain approach is discarded with in Scream, it had become a cliché by that time, and the killers are revealed to only be local boys from the community.

The use of big name stars in Scream was also a step away from that of Halloween and other early horrors. Horror, at that time, had been viewed as a low budget genre, using every day suburban locations, lacking special effects and cheap unknown actors. Scream was, of course, different. With a number of big name stars, e.g. Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell and Courtney Cox, it was made more appealing to mass audience and females as they were able to see big name female actors and didn’t feel so cut off from the genre as before.

The music also differed from that of Halloween. In Halloween, the music was monotonous and obvious and the audience became aware of a ‘scary-part’ as the music picked up which ruined the suspense as the audience new when something was going to happen. In Scream, however, the music was used much more efficiently. It contained atmospheric music as a background to add suspense and tension, subtle to most audiences, and used different soundtracks for different scenes, so as not to indicate so obviously when a scene was about to hit a climax. This brought back popularity for the Horror genre as people where actually able to ‘jump’ and be scared at the film, rather than just know when something was going to able and give them times to brace themselves.

Halloween and early horrors were also very obvious in the narrative. The audience became aware, quite early on, who would die and who wouldn’t. They also didn’t contain any plot twists, or if they did they were obvious and the audience felt let down as there was no challenge or surprise to the film. Scream, introduced a lot of plot twists to the genre and the audience were always kept guessing. The ending would have also surprised a lot of the viewers as Craven not only used one killer, but two and it wasn’t just mindless murder, the ‘psychos’ had understandable motives for their actions, unlike it Halloween where Myers is literally just a psychopath.

In conclusion, Scream brought back the popularity for the horror genre that had been lost by repeated clichés and differed a lot from Halloween and other early horror films. It changed many aspects, including the soundtrack, actors, and plot and added a sense of humour to create a film that not only surprised its audience but brought it back.

Scream Review: Secondary Research

Scream is a rarity: a horror movie spoof that succeeds almost as well at provoking scares as laughs. That's because director Wes Craven (A Nightmare on Elm Street), in addition to having a genuine affection for the genre, understands how wildly improbable and easy to lampoon it is. And, with Scream, he skewers it at every corner, using self-referential humor and a flood of in-jokes (some subtle, some obvious).

The list of movies mentioned or satirized is amazingly long, and features everything from the 1931 Universal classic, Frankenstein, to Tom Cruise's All the Right Moves ("if you pause [the video] at the right place, you can see his penis"). Craven, never one to take himself too seriously, pokes fun at his own reputation and his movies, at one point calling himself "Wes Carpenter" (an allusion to the numerous people who confuse him with director John Carpenter). References to Carpenter's original Halloween abound; several minutes of footage from that film are used here in a uniquely effective manner.

Scream opens with a 12-minute prologue that introduces us to Casey (Drew Barrymore), an all-American girl who's popping popcorn in preparation for watching a video. The phone rings, and there's a mysterious voice on the other end. He asks her what her favorite scary movie is, and she replies that it's Halloween. He then invites her to play a game, but she gets freaked out and hangs up. When he calls again and she demands to know what he wants, his response is simple and succinct: "To see your insides." The cat-and-mouse game continues until both Casey and her boyfriend (who has the misfortune to stop by) are gutted like fish.

This double murder is only the beginning, however. It appears that the killer's real target is Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell, from TV's Party of Five), a high school girl with a troubled past. One year ago, Sidney's mother was raped and murdered in a highly-publicized case. Now, when Sidney is attacked by someone wearing a Grim Reaper mask and her boyfriend, Billy (Skeet Ulrich), is arrested, her life is turned upside down. From the bathrooms at school to a friend's house, the stalking continues. Meanwhile, an aggressive tabloid reporter (Courteney Cox) begins harassing Sidney for a story.

Scream never stops poking fun at itself. Craven and screenwriter Kevin Williamson allow their characters to make all sorts of disparaging remarks about the horror movie cliches they're living (and dying) through. In describing why she doesn't like slasher flicks, Sidney claims that "they're all the same… Some big-breasted blond who can't act" does stupid things. Another character, a video junkie (Jamie Kennedy), describes all the gory, real-life events as "standard, horror movie stuff… There's a formula to it -- a very simple formula." Then, as a group gathers to watch Halloween on TV, this same guy recites the three rules of surviving a horror movie: never have sex, never drink or do drugs, and never say "I'll be right back."

The most obvious and inventive parody in Scream involves a direct takeoff of the killer- stalking-Jamie Lee Curtis-through-the-house sequence from Halloween. While that scene is playing on a TV, similar events are happening in the very room where the TV sits. In fact, as Michael Myers is approaching Curtis' character from behind, the death-masked killer is sneaking up on the guy watching the video, who is screaming at the TV, "Look behind you!" Since he's so knowledgeable about the genre, he should consider heeding his own advice.

The director doesn't do everything right. The film's self-parody aspects are sometimes too cute, and there are occasions when they dilute attempts at shocks and suspense. There are also a few too many twists and turns in the script, and the ending is unnecessarily protracted. In general, Scream probably could have benefited from a little more tightening up during either the scripting or the editing stage.

Some of the casting choices are unusual. Most of the major roles go to fresh faces. Neve Campbell, who doesn't have much feature experience, finds the right tone for her character, allowing Sidney to be a little tougher than the typical damsel in distress. Courtney Cox, on the other hand, is never believable as the tough-as-nails, career-obsessed reporter. Drew Barrymore and Henry Winkler (a.k.a. The Fonz, as a high school principal) have cameos (Winkler's is uncredited).

Craven couldn't have made this movie if he didn't understand both his craft and what his fans expect. Of all the mainstream horror directors, he has been the one most willing to take chances. In some ways, Scream is an extension of Wes Craven's New Nightmare, which also blurred the lines between motion pictures and real life. This is a horror film designed with movie-lovers in mind. Beneath all the gore and violence (and there's a lot of both), there's a keen sense of wit and intelligence which sophisticated viewers are likely to appreciate. And that makes this much more than a common slasher flick. Have fun, and remember that "movies don't create psychos; movies make psychos more creative."

Halloween

Key Elements of the Horror Genre

Production Schedule

Project Brief

I will be designing and developing a promotional package for a new Horror film which will include a teaser trailer (maximum 60 seconds), a film magazine front cover, promoting the film, and a promotional movie poster. I will also have to create an original soundtrack for the trailer and all images must be my own.