Poster Analysis: Insidious

Poster Progression

After looking closely at the previous poster image, we noticed a mistake in the photograph. Where we had used a torch to illuminate Elsie's face, we had shone it mainly on the left side of her face (from viewpoint of the camera and audience), whereas the moon was positioned in the top right of the image, therefore if the image was to be realistic, the light from the moon would be on the other side of Elsie's face. So we rearranged the figure of Elsie and moved the moon to the top centre of the page to make it look more realistic. We also liked the idea of using the moon as an 'O' in 'Durlock' but wanted to keep to the idea that the human eye moves from the top left to the bottom right of the page, therefore rearranging the image has made the overall effect of the poster better.

We also decided to use our preferred font of 'De Walpergen Pica' as we feel it is more effective and eye catching for the audience.

We decided to use this image as a poster as it portrays one of the main characters; Elsie. She is the 'ghost' and main 'fear' of our story. We wanted to hold back some information to our target audience as to make them want to find out more and therefore watch the trailer and film (if there was one to be created), so we kept the image very dark and out of focus so you can just see basic features of Elsie's face, similar to the Insidious poster but not giving as much information away, therefore using 'subtle horror' which is what our target audience said they preferred. 

For this poster we placed the title of the film 'Durlock' in the centre of the image as to draw the audience's eyes straight to the name. The main setting and basis of our horror trailer is set in Durlock House, we felt the name 'Durlock' was powerful enough and gave off the right connotations as a title and basis of the story. We kept to the dull colour scheme of black and white and decided against using any form of red colouring in the title, as this will connote blood, which is not a specific convention we are using in our sub-genre Paranormal/Supernatural. The photograph of Durlock House acts almost like an establishing shot, based on the ideas we have taken from The Conjuring poster, this introduces the audience directly to the setting of the horror and gives them some form of information and idea of what the film is going to be like.
We created the basics of our posters on a free editing website www.picmonkey.com and used 'Roman Antique' font in black and to stand out against the background, we also used a white shadow to highlight the text and link to the black and white theme of the house.

Poster Analysis: The Conjuring

Target Audience Research

We asked ten people (5 males and 5 females) aged from 16-18 years old to complete our questionnaire based on Horror movies, this will give us an indication on what to include in our own trailer and a general understanding of what our target audience are interested in.

Results

50% of people we asked said their favourite sub-genre of Horror movie was Paranormal/supernatural. This is our chosen sub-genre for our Horror Movie Trailer as it appears to be the most popular. 20% of our participants said they like Psychological and one person enjoys Found Footage and therefore a sense of realism. We will try to include conventions from these three sub-genres to our Paranormal/supernatural Horror trailer as they are the most popular and relevant to eachother.

We will apply the results from Question 2, 3 and 5 as these are the favoured answers from our target audience. They also link in well with eachother to create a ghost/haunting theme relevant to the sub-genre of Paranormal/Supernatural. We also now know to base our trailer in the present time but reference and possibly relate to the past.

60% of participants asked said they would prefer to see a teenager as the main protagonist, this is perhaps due to the age range of the people we asked as they will be able to relate to the main protagonist if they are of a similar age. The fact that all of the participants we asked said they prefer Horror films to be 'realistic' supports the idea that they like Horror movies to be relevant to them and believable, so they can feel directly involved and almost 'part of the movie'. Relating a storyline to real life will be closer to our target audience too, and therefore 'scarier' for the viewers.

This question gave us mixed ideas as to what to do about the casting of our main character, but as the highest percentage, 4/10 participants said 'don't mind/unsure' about the gender of the protagonist, so we have decided to choose our friend who is female to play the main role.

More male than female participants said they would prefer for the main protagonist to be female, perhaps this has relevance to Laura Mulvey's Male Gaze theory (1975) where the dominant point of view is masculine and the women are often displayed in order to provide voyeurism for the masculine viewers. But as the response to this question is mixed as the majority of participants 'don't mind' or are 'unsure' of what gender they would prefer to be the main protagonist, we will not be conforming to the Male Gaze theory like in many other Horror films such as 'Psycho' and 'I Know What You Did Last Summer'.

Overall, this questionnaire has helped us to make vital decisions related to our Horror Movie Trailer that will affect and appeal to our target audience.

Narrative for Trailer

There are many different narrative structures that can be used for a Horror trailer, the narratives depicted in the trailers we have studied and analysed such as The Conjuring, Insidious and Paranormal Activity are mainly non-linear as they show rapid and frequently changing clips, cuts, flashbacks and the events do not necessarily follow eachother in chronological order. The ending of these trailers is also open ended as this does not give away the whole story or any form of closure to the audience. Therefore leaving them on a cliffhanger and persuading them to watch the full film to find out what happens, this is the purpose of trailers, they act as a 'teaser' for the audience with a sense of ambiguity about them. Which then draws an audience in to watch the film.

In our trailer we have decided to stick to the basic open ended narrative as to not give too much away to the audience and withhold information from them, convincing them to watch the full film (if there was one to be made).

We are considering doing something a bit different from the trailers we have analysed, instead of creating a trailer with a single strand narrative focusing on one character's adventures, we are thinking of using a multi strand narrative. We have three characters that we plan to represent in our trailer, a young boy (aged 8/9), a teenage girl (aged 16 as to appeal to target audience for relevant age) and Elsie (the ghost/paranormal being in our trailer). We were thinking of creating three separate parts of a trailer, each showing the three characters story and how they are relevant to our storyline. We could use point of view shots and hand held cameras to create a sense of personal narrative, this will also directly involve the audience and make them feel as though they are part of the story/film.

Types of Font for Poster

We tested out different font types and styles on Picmonkey.com and chose a selection that we could possibly use for our Horror trailer subtitles and movie poster. Each font fits the theme and conventions of the horror genre, some more specifically than others.

Similar to The Conjuring, Paranormal Activity and Insidious, where simple and clear font is used, we selected 'Cardo', 'Special Elite' 'Roman Antique' and 'Sue Elle Francisco' as they are simple yet eerily effective. We like the idea of the typewriter style as it makes reference to an old traditional item (typewriter), whereas we also like the slight childishness of 'Sue Elle Francisco' as it could be relevant to the characters in our Horror movie trailer.

We have decided against using 'Gypsy Curse' as it does not fit our theme, it looks like the type of font used in a Zombie Horror sub-genre film such as 'Zombie Hunter (2013)' and therefore does not fit into the conventions of our chosen sub-genre.

We also like 'Face Your Fears' and 'Nightbird' as both fonts have a creepy childlike look to them, this could be used in cohesion with the character Elsie in our trailer, as she is a 'childlike' character. Making the look of our Horror trailer and poster more appealing to the audience as they will recognize the link between the font and the plot.

After trying out each font we found another one called 'De Walpergen Pica' which we feel is the most effective and fits in best with the conventions of our sub-genre of Paranormal/Supernatural. It is simple yet 'eerie' and very bold, therefore attracting attention and connoting the right atmosphere needed for a Horror movie trailer and poster.

Photograph Editing

I found this image of Durlock House (setting for our horror movie trailer) on Google Maps and used editing software and websites such as Paint and Picmonkey.com to create an image that would be more suitable and relevant to the conventions of a horror movie setting.

I used Paint to rearrange the proportions of the image and lengthen the height of the image to 'portrait' which will be suitable for possibly a horror movie poster. I edited the exposure of the photograph on Picmonkey.com where I adjusted the brightness, shadows, highlights and contrast until I found the desired effect. I then used filters on Picmonkey.com such as 'Dusk', 'Black and White', 'Cinerama', 'Holga' and 'Infrared' to create a darker and older looking feel to the picture. I also increased the saturation and temperature of the image to give a slightly red 'burnt' effect.

I think this image could be used as one of our film posters as it depicts the setting of our horror movie and fits in well with the conventions of the horror genre as the image is dark, 'gritty' and old looking, which is also relevant to the period of time our trailer will make references to.

I took inspiration from The Conjuring film poster's below, as they fit in well with the sub-genre of Supernatural which is what we are basing our horror trailer on.

Prop Listing, Costume and Make-up, Setting

Due to our Horror film being based on a paranormal/supernatural sub genre with elements of psychological and some found footage conventions, to make our trailer seem as realistic as possible we will use the following props:

Props

• Child's carousel music box
• Photograph of 1900s family
• Torch 
• Old wooden chair
• Chains
• Child drawings 
• Sharp piece of wood

Costume and Make-up

          Elsie Durlock

• Black Victorian-styled dress 
• Long black hair 
• Dated hairstyle (tight, messy ringlets, unbrushed)
• Pale, plain face, dark bags under eyes

          Anna Paige

• Normal attire - stereotypical teenage clothing
• Short dark brown hair 
• Full fringe
• Pale, plain

          Alex Paige

• Normal attire - stereotypical childlike clothing
• Short dark brown hair
• Neat hairstyle 
• Pale, plain

Setting

• Gundymoor Woods
• The Heath
• Durlock House

Planning: Character Profiles

Production Schedule

For our horror film trailer, we have decided to film it at a friends' house in Widley. There are two of us in our group and a minimum of 3 main characters featured in the trailer, as well as a few others playing different family members.

When: November - December, evenings starting 4pm onwards - this to achieve the best possible effect for our trailer making it dark and mysterious to fulfil the stereotypical horror film setting.

Where: Gundymoor Wood, Durlock House and gardens (friends' house) and 'The Heath'.

Who: Jo - director/ producer/ camera work/ editing

          Kate - director/ producer/ camera work/ editing/ Elsie Durlock (hauntee) 

          Ellie - Anna Paige (main character)

          Alex - Alex Paige (Anna's little brother)

Dates of Filming: 16/10/13 - went to Gundymoor Wood and took a few photos and filmed a few shots     around the wood with the wind and rain to create the typical horror scenic atmosphere.

                             15/11/13 - went to Durlock House and created the character Elsie through dressing Kate up in an old fashioned costume and took some photos up in the attic, which is where the hauntings will occur. We also recorded some footage whilst taking photos which creates a good effect amongst the darkness. 

                            7/12/13 - we will film up in the attic again to complete the filming up there whilst it is dark to set the mood as well as take pictures and record footage outdoors to capture the house in the moonlight and make it took scary. 

                           11/12/13 - we plan to get together and organise what we need for each filming session, including a tripod, video camera, camera phone, and to find a date when we are all suited to film.

                            17/1/14 - went to Ellie's and got some footage of Durlock House in the dark from different angles and positions for trailer

                            1/2/14 - today we returned to the attic and recorded some footage as well as created sound affects that we could use to create suspense throughout the trailer

                            15/2/14 - we tried to create the creaky door opening and closing without anybody being there scene today and it worked reasonably well. After a few failed attempts we managed to succeed in shooting the footage and aim to add it to our progressing trailer during our next lesson

                            27/2/14 - today we went to Ellie's and recorded her brother in the role of Alex Paige for a clip in our trailer, as well as the character of Anna Paige exploring her house after hearing unexplainable noises

                            

Over the next few days Kate and I will finish up our posters, magazine covers and finalise our trailer, as well as make sure that everything on the blog is finished.

Location Scouting Report and Photos

'The Heath' 

Just down the road from our main setting (Durlock House) is a large field known as 'The Heath', we went here at night to use the open space to film part of our trailer and take photographs for posters and a magazine cover.

 These are the pictures we took whilst filming and testing out for possible posters and a magazine cover. The large area and darkness gave us plenty of space to work with and get the right angles, it is also a very desolate and empty area so there was minimal light and disruptions that would have affected the look of the photos and the sound on the filming we did.

Gundymoor Wood

This is the woodland setting we discovered just outside of our college. Although our Horror trailer is mainly being filmed at Durlock House and 'The Heath', we took some pictures and clips which could potentially be in our trailer or posters. The darkness and interesting trees, gates, barbed wire and other objects worked well with the conventions of our Horror genre.

We took photos in different effects and filters such as 'greyscale' and 'black and white' to achieve the right look that would appeal to a target audience, these pictures and settings also work with the conventions and codes that would be stereotypically found in a Horror movie trailer/film.

Footage Selection

Insidious Trailer - Analysis

Insidious (2011)

Genre: Horror
Sub Genre: Supernatural
Director: James Wan (The Conjuring, Saw)

Plot: After an uncanny night in the attic in the new house, Dolton falls into an unexplained coma leaving his family in search for answers and help to awaken him. Little do they know that Dolton isn't actually in a coma at all, and that he is desperately in need of rescuing from the dark place in where he is lost. After 3 months of Dolton being in his coma he has been moved out of the hospital and into his own home so that he can be taken care of by his family, but since him being at home, weird and paranormal activities start occuring in the house. Renai, Dolton's mother is convinced that the house is haunted and when confronting her husband Josh about it, he does not believe her, however Josh's mother confesses to seeing a vision of a 'friend' in Dolton's bedroom.
They invite a medium who turns out to be Josh's mother's old friend to come and investigate the 'supernatural phenomenon' with her team of ghost hunters. The medium explains that Dolton is not in a coma but has the gift of being an experienced astral projection traveller, meaning that he has the ability to leave his physical body when 'dreaming'. Unfortunately, Dolton has travelled too far leaving him unavailable to return to his body and trapping him in a place called the 'Further' which isn't for the living place and allows 'entities' to try and get inside his physical body.
The medium then tells Josh that he also possesses the gift of travelling and so in need to rescue his son he needs to travel to the Further and snatch him away from the spirits.

Trailer Analysis

Mise-en-scene:
-low key lighting, creates a better mood for the audience to watch it, more scary to watch at night as more creepy and makes you on edge about what's coming next
-big, open plan American house, typical house design for a horror film, lots of corners and dark places for supernatural things to occur
-set within the house, making it scarier for the audience as it could be personal to them and increases the scare-factor as if suggests it could happen within their home

Camera Shots:

-        Movie trailer opens with a medium shot of Josh, one of the main characters, which introduces his importance and relevance throughout the film. In this shot the background detail is minimal due to it already being established beforehand in the movie

-        There are a few wide and close up shots of the family showing the stereotypical American family lifestyle

-        During the scene of Dolton falling off of the ladder in the attic there is a wide shot suggesting and showing to the audience that the attic has great importance to the film and that the upcoming events will be centred around it

-        Over the shoulder shot of Josh and Renai looking at Dolton in a hospital bed showing that he is the main focus in that particular scene, and that he is a victim of the spirits in the house

-        There are a lot of wide and midi shots of the inside of the house to highlight that the film will be based within it

Sound:

-        Trailer introduced with score music that has been created specifically for the film and is played throughout at varied volumes creating an unnerving feeling for the audience – the trailer ends with the score music stopping and then coming back at the very end quite loudly with a scary figure on screen, increasing intensity for viewer

-        There is the stereotypical dialect from the characters with an American accent announcing where the film is set, as well as threatening dialect from a character who is thought to be a spirit from ‘The Further’ creating suspense and shivers for the audience

-        There is a consistent sound effect of a ticking noise throughout the trailer which relates to the film itself as that sound has great importance to a main scene

Editing:

-        The opening scene in the trailer cuts to another clip that shares relevance to that particular scene

-        There is an eye line match shot in the hospital clip which shows Renai and Josh looking at Dolton, showing the importance of the scene, what has happened to Dolton and how it is impacting other characters

-        There are a few fade in fade out shots when the trailer starts to create suspense and tension for the audience as the music gets louder and the clips get quicker

-        Superimposition is used for a lot of shots which increases the intensity of the trailer as the clips are all blended together without a transition, but making it scarier for the audience as everything all seems to be happening at once

The Conjuring Trailer - Analysis

The Conjuring (2013)

Genre: Horror
Sub-Genre: Supernatural
Director: James Wan (Saw, Insidious)

Plot: Set in Rhode Island, America in 1971, a family move into a desolate farmhouse. Shortly after moving in, strange things begin to happen, the clocks stop at 3.07 am every morning, the family begin to feel a presence and start witnessing clapping, giggling and unsettling noises around the house that suggests something else is inhabiting their home. The supernatural experiences become more frequent and worsen, the family are being latched onto and tormented, the mother is locked in the abandoned cellar and the daughters are attacked by the spirits. Eventually the family seek help from paranormal investigators who carry out several observations and experiments that uncover the supernatural beings inhabiting the house, such as an accused witch who tried to sacrifice her children to the devil, who also killed herself in 1863 at 3.07 am. The house has also had numerous murders and suicides, meaning many spirits and demons are present. The tormenting becomes too much and it is eventually decided that the paranormal investigators must carry out an exorcism.

Trailer Analysis

Mise-en-scene: 

- typical 70's costume, basic and dull outfits for family (suggests weak and poor), suits for investigators (suggests power, strength, money)
- dark lighting, dull colours and unknown shadows represent no life, evil and the idea of being watched (something else is present) spotlight at the start to focus attention on main subject of scene, keeps audience focused and expecting something to happen
- props used such as the recording equipment, piano, paranormal black & white photographs, music box are iconic and usually recognized in the horror genre as stereotypically 'creepy' and old.
-setting of an old farmhouse, decrepit and washed-out looking, isolated location with a lake and large odd shaped tree, also a dark, dusty cellar are stereotypically used to create a desolate and abandoned atmosphere
- props such as the noose, smashed windows/pictures, cloak, moving chairs and household items connote death and deliberate damage, also suggests to audience that the supernatural presence has power and is unpredictable and unwelcoming
- the old wardrobe, clock and music box are the main props used to represent the supernatural/paranormal events
- also the clip of the clock followed by the close up of the family photos acts as a juxtaposition, the clock represents evil, and the family pictures represent good and happiness, creating a contrast and the whole of this film is about evil against good, this clip shown in the trailer subtly explains this to the audience
- make-up is kept to a minimal and dull to show the supernatural experiences are taking a toll on the family and draining them of life (make-up makes them look pale and ill), make-up is also used well to show bruises on the skin of the family which suggest evil and that the spirit has 'latched' onto them
- the iconic 'scary face' which is shown twice during the trailer and at the end, has been stereotypically used in many well known horror films such as Insidious, The Grudge, The Ring, etc

Camera Shots:

- Mid shot opens film trailer then progresses to a long shot filmed with a hand held camera, this gives a realistic look which is appropriate as The Conjuring is based on a true story, therefore the camera techniques need to reflect the genre and appeal to the audience as being as realistic as possible to create some form of personal and gut response.
- The camera movement is very jerky and quick, it follows the paranormal investigators at the opening of the trailer to show that they are the main protagonists, the hand held camera only moves away from the characters when something unexpected happens, causing the camera to rapidly spin round and focus on the source of the noise, event or sighting. This also creates an even more realistic atmosphere, and reflects what the audience would do if they were faced in this situation.
- Use of a long shot followed by a close up in the trailer, show the audience what is happening in a larger scale, for example, the paranormal experts getting one of many requests from someone to solve their problem, this is then followed by a close up to show the emotions and fear on the woman's face, this allows the audience to understand that this problem will be the worst and most serious case the paranormal experts will have to solve, therefore introducing them to the main story line of the film.
- Establishing shots set the scene of the film and allow the audience to build an idea of the surrounding areas and layout of the film, this particular establishing shot is very dark and gloomy, with fog and use of pathetic fallacy in terms of the weather, it is also stereotypically at night, therefore setting the audience up for the following events.
- Several sequences of close ups lead to a slightly high angle shot of the action to show how things have built up and the actions of the paranormal/demonic spirit are starting to get worse, the shot is high angle as to show the audience the whole view of the event and to make them feel as though they are passive and just spectating from slightly above.
- From then on the camera actions pan, tilt, and move in a rapidly hand-held manner to show the sequence of events and how quickly things are happening, this builds up suspense and panic in the audience, not giving them time to think about what is happening.
- An over-the-shoulder shot displays the possessive hold that the house/haunting of the demons and paranormal spirits has on even the paranormal investigators. This demonstrates the power and how the audience feels again as a spectator who cannot do anything, and is simply watching and waiting for something to make them jump.
- Establishing shots of the rooms in the house show how the different events unfold and show the audience the layout of the rooms and where things could happen, their eyes will scan the room as they will not know what to expect next, this causes suspense.
- Extreme close ups show the detail and intensity of what may happen next, keeping the audience 'on edge' and waiting constantly for the next event to happen.
- The camera slowly moves around the bed of the woman and acts as a point of view shot to show the scene through the demons eyes and how it progressively watches and moves towards her to harm her. The audience will react to this as they will be afraid of the idea of being watched and slowly 'hunted'.
- This type of shot is almost a vertical dolly/tracking shot. The camera watches the protagonist fall vertically downwards, but it follows her, spinning and rotating at the same time. This portrays the speed and unpredictability of the movie trailer/film shows how quickly events happen, leaving the audience disorientated and sharing similar emotions as the protagonist shown.
- There is a frequent use of over-the-shoulder shots which usually put the audience in perspective of the demon/spirit, this also makes suggests that the characters in the film are constantly being watched and observed by an unknown force, this will create fear in the audience along the theme of 'fearing the unknown'.

Sound: 

- Stereotypical dialect of the characters and an American accent to make clear to the audience about the setting of the film.
- Slight crackling sound that suggests the footage we first see at the start of the trailer is old (70's) and supposedly 'found footage'.
- A mischievous and eerie child's laugh is heard, asynchronous to the dark and frightening events occurring in the trailer, therefore creating a juxtaposition that is so contrasting, it creates fear in the audience. The laughter is presumably unheard by the characters which makes the suggestion that the demon/spirit in this film is mocking them and has power over them.
- The click of the camera is synchronous to the photographic images shown in the trailer, this sets the basis of the story line and tells the audience that the protagonists (the paranormal investigators) have seen many cases involving evil spirits and demons before.
 - The backing track to the trailer is Donovan- Hurdy Gurdy Man (1968) which is relevant to the time period that The Conjuring is set in, once again it is contrasting with the horror genre as the song is considered a relatively 'upbeat' and 'happy' tune, similar to the Insidious backing track Tiny Tim- Tiptoe Through the Tulips. It appears that lighthearted songs are used in horror movie trailers to create some form of false security for the audience that is so contrasting with the conventions of the horror theme, that is has a fearful response from the audience. We will be using this idea of a contrasting backing track in our own trailer to have the same effect as it is much more subtle and creepy than a stereotypically 'scary' sound track.
- The trailer again uses the contrast of a child's music box to create a juxtaposition that is very effective, children are represented as innocent, and the idea that something relevant to a child is used in a horror movie trailer has been repeated in several other films/trailers, creating an iconic relevance to the conventions and themes of the horror genre. We will also include some form of children's object such as a music box in our own trailer to give an iconic understanding to the audience.
- There is a frequent and random use of high pitched noises, short gasps, smashing, groaning and screaming in The Conjuring trailer which conform to the expected conventions of the horror genre, we will definitely use similar noises in our own horror movie trailer to make the audience 'jump' and to keep to the theme of the genre.
- The ticking of the clock and monologue of the mother who needs the paranormal investigators house both stop simultaneously and fade to silence, this accentuates the terror felt and gives the audience no choice but to wait in anticipation for something terrifying to happen.

Editing: 

- At the beginning of the trailer, the use of the 'found footage' and old video camera is accentuated by several cuts and blurring within the footage, this exaggerates to the audience that the footage is old and reinforces the time that film is set in.
- There are mainly jump cuts between scenes in the trailer to show how rapid and unpredictable the story line and plot of the events occurring in the film are. There is an increase in the amount and frequency of jump-cuts towards the end of the trailer which coheres with the increase in sound effects, this is to build up a suspense and climax of the trailer.
- A lot of the scenes depicted in the trailer fade out to black, this connotes a dark and evil mood which is represented by the colour black, this also suits the conventions of the horror genre.

Planning

We have researched some music that would fit into the Horror genre, a lot of horror movies such as Insidious and The Conjuring use the iconic music of a childlike theme, such as a music box. So we researched old carousel tunes and decided that these two fit our theme well.