Distribution

Who would distribute our Film Trailer

A film distributor is s a company or individual responsible for the marketing of a film. The distributor may set the release date of a film and the method by which a film is to be exhibited or made available for viewing: for example, directly to the public either theatrically or for home viewing. A distributor may do this directly, if the distributor owns the theatres or film distribution networks, or through theatrical exhibitors and other sub-distributors. A limited distributor may deal only with particular products, such as DVDs or Blu-ray, or may act in a particular country or market.

Film Distributors for Big Budget films
Warner Bros
Warner Bros are one of the most recognisable distributors universally. They founded in 1923(April 4)
They are one of the most respected, diversified and successful motion picture and television studios in the world.
Facts on Warner Bros
Today, the vast Warner Bros. library, one of the most prestigious and valuable in the world, consists of more than 61,000 hours of programming, including nearly 6,500 feature films and 3,000 television programs comprised of tens of thousands of individual episodes/

Warner Bros. began with the four Warner brothers--Albert, Sam, Harry and Jack. In books chronicling the American film industry, the brothers are all legendary, especially the flamboyant showman Jack L. Warner. Pioneers in their own right, the Warners brought sound to movies, introduced the first “four-legged star,” revitalized the movie musical, created the gangster-picture era, and produced a number of socially significant films that evoked national awareness about growing problems of their times.

At the box office in the 1990s, Warner Bros. Pictures continued to break records and earn critical raves around the world. The decade got off to a great start as “Driving Miss Daisy” won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Actress and Best Screenplay for 1989. Best Picture Oscar nominations followed for “GoodFellas” (1990) and “JFK” (1991). Clint Eastwood’s “Unforgiven” (1992) garnered four Oscars (Best Picture, Best Director, Best Supporting Actor and Best Editing), followed by an Oscar nomination for “The Fugitive” (1993). The Studio made history in 1999 when, for the first time, its domestic box office surpassed the $1 billion mark and for the third time in the 1990s, it passed $1 billion internationally. “The Matrix,” alone, took in some $460 million at the worldwide box office, breaking Warner Bros. Pictures’ worldwide revenue record and creating an extraordinary new brand for the Studio.

The year 2000 brought the Studio continued success with such films as “The Perfect Storm,” “Space Cowboys” and Castle Rock’s “Miss Congeniality.”

 

In 2001, Warner Bros. Pictures shattered every one of its own box office records and several industry records thanks to the beginning of the Harry Potter phenomenon (“Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone”), “Ocean’s 11,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence,” “Cats & Dogs” and, internationally, “Miss Congeniality.” Domestic box office reached $1.23 billion, and international box office soared to $1.34 billion. “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” took in a worldwide box office of $973.6 million, and became the Studio’s highest-grossing film and the industry’s third-highest grossing film of all time in worldwide box office.

The second Harry Potter film (“Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” which became the fourth-highest grossing film internationally of all time), “Scooby-Doo,” “Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood,” “Insomnia,” “A Walk to Remember” and “Two Weeks Notice” made 2002 another record-breaking year for Warner Bros. Pictures, with box office receipts surpassing the $1 billion mark for the third time domestically and the fifth time internationally. Warner Bros. Pictures’ $1.6 billion in international receipts led all studios and was both a new record for Warner Bros. Pictures, as well as the second-highest gross ever from a major studio.

Warner Bros.’ various businesses continued to be category leaders in 2003. Warner Bros. Pictures had its second-best domestic box office year in history ($1.16 billion) and its best-ever year at the international box office ($1.63 billion), becoming the Studio’s most successful worldwide box office year ever. Warner Home Video was number one in overall market share, and Warner Bros. Television was the industry’s number-one supplier of television programming. Consumer Products celebrated its 20th anniversary having racked up $50 billion in worldwide retail sales in two decades, and International Cinemas opened Paradise Warner Cinema City in Shanghai, marking the first time the Chinese government allowed a major U.S. theatrical company to extensively brand an in-country theatre.

It was very recognisable from all of the Harry Potter films.

Why it would fit with our trailer and genre

I feel that because we are appealing to a mass audience that Warner Bros would be perfect for distributing our film(trailer). It is recognisable and is known for its superior films. It would attract audience as many people know who warner bros are. People associate Warner bros with good films so I think it would definitely attract the audience and make it feel like a movie.

Maybe we should go Independent?

Independent may require a smaller budget however paranormal activity used an independent distributor and now the low budget film is one of the most profitable films ever. Apart of me likes the idea of having an independent distributor because it makes it seem less of a 'film' to me it makes it more real in a sense and more scary because I feel like I know its not all Hollywood and glamourized to be a stereotypical big budget not real movie. However we are appealing to a mass audience so maybe it wouldn't be as advertised well.

E.g. the film VHS

Ancillary tasks

Ancillary Task 3 - Design process of Poster

For the last ancillary task I had to design a poster. This is created as a key advertisement from Producers for the audience to make them want to go and see the film.

So far I think the poster looks great. The picture is definitely the best as it is creepy and matching with the title well, the audience will want to go and see the film because they want to know what this clown does and the storyline. I really like the font as it looks really disturbing and chilling. I visualise it looks as if its been drawn with a knife or a sharp object. The clowns body language in the shot is really effective especially the hand as it looks like it has a white glove on it matching with his hair. He is also smiling with big eyes and teeth which portrays the spookiness and creepiness of his character.

Here is a quick example of how it would look now(not finished)

Ancillary tasks

Ancillary Task 2 - Creating a webpage

For another one of my ancillary tasks I had to create a webpage advertising my film trailer. As I am not extremely experienced with IT, I had a look at a few videos on YouTube to see how to make a website. It was very interesting as there was a range of answers on how to make a webpage, one suggestion using Notepad which I have on my Laptop. I followed a step by step guide on how to make a webpage using notepad.
1. I opened notepad and starting following the instructions

Here as you can see I opened up one note and followed the stages. The Html refers to the weblink. Other things include The title of the page which is called Spotted, the body and the header.

Here you can see the details I added to make the font colour red and the background black centred. I kept saving the work and refreshing my page to see how it looked.
Now I want to add some different fonts and finally add my film trailer
Ive taken my inspiration from the paranormal activity webpage

They are advertising the latest film called The Marked Ones and below are a series of pictures of things associated with it

Also at the side is social networking sites you can share the website with. When you enter the website it automatically comes up with the film trailer which I think is a really great idea.

Designing Process

As you can see, by creating my website I am using notepad and html. I used a black background with a red font to colour coordinate with our poster and magazine cover. I used the slogan, Welcome your fear awaits you, enter at your own risk at the top because as soon as someone enters the website this is what they will read, I think it makes it gripping and scary. I placed an image in the middle but eventually this is where the film trailer will go and I will have images round the sides. At the bottom you can see I have developed it further by adding some hyperlinks such as 'find a cinema and gallery'.  I really like the idea of paranormal activitys webpage I think its very effective and adds to the reality of the film.

In the end I decided not to do a webpage as I only wanted to do a poster and magazine cover. I wanted to see what it would look like and above is the design process of it.

Research

Research - Analysing a students work

In my portfolio, I need to analyse the work of other students to comment on what they've done well and how they've inspired me.
I looked at a students Film Trailer from last year (Holly) and she did a Psychological horror called Bloody Mary

I  thought the name of the film was a great idea since its short and catchy and resembles a horror movie since lots of people know who Bloody Mary is, or at least that she's scary.
At the start I thought she had a really good idea with the light switch and the noise to go with it, then using a shot reverse shot going back to the light from the houses. Her idea comes across as really fluent with bloody mary haunting this girl as she has repeated her name in the mirror. I think the Mise-En-Scene is really effective as the makeup and costumes, setting are definitely really good. As it is set in a home, this attracts the audience even further because it is in a familiar location (e.g. audience live in a house). I think the music was great it really was eerie and sounded professional, especially when it carried on to the end and you thought that was it, but then Bloody Mary pops up at the end making it really scary and similar to professional film trailers. Moreover the editing techniques she used were good especially the ghost walking up the stairs. The superimposition she used was all consistent which flowed really well and the font really matched with her idea.

Research

Research: Tropes on how to write a Slasher Horror
When deciding which horror genre I wanted to come across I noticed this on how to write your own slasher movie. I have highlighted key parts which I feel is relevant to our genre (Psychological horror) and what we could incorporate.

Research

Who Is involved in a film trailer?

In a film trailer, you want to see the clips which are most advertising to the audience. In these clips you may see characters you want to learn more about. In our case you want to learn more about the mum and the innocent boy and ofcourse the clown to see what has happened.

This is a list of our actors
Mr. Swain - Clown
Liam - Little Boy
Sarah - Mum
Police officer - Voiceover

In a Film trailer lots of cast members are involved too. These can include;
Director
Producer
Actors
Make-Up & Hair
Camera Operator
Lighting Operator
Sound Operator
Film Editor

Film making

In order to make a film, you have to go through the following stages.

1. Scriptwriting
2. Producing
3. Directing
4. Cinematography
5. Sound
6. Editing

Here is a short clip on How to create a movie trailer, it has some great tips on using iMovie 11.

Film Trailer Ideas

Film Trailer Ideas

As we have finished our filming, now the post production starts. The post production is the final stage in film making in which the raw material is edited together to form the completed film or trailer.

Ideas for Music in background

Gary Jules - MAD WORLD -  We have used this backing track at the start of our film trailer. It is a cover of the original Mad World by Tears for Fears. We chose to use this as it is quite a sad and actually eerie song as it makes the viewer think a lot which fits in with the conventions of a Psychologiocal horror. It was used in a trailer for the horror film The Crazies. This is significant as our ideas clearly reflect the ideas of other directors in the fact that the song mismatches the genre and concept of the film.

POP GOES THE WEASEL
Pop goes the weasel is a carousel sounding song which we thought we fit really well with the eeriness and general spookiness for our film trailer, we also placed the music carefully where the clown appeared so people made this association.

Questionnaire

Questionnaire

I decided to do a questionnaire which in then I could analyse the results about how and what audience want from my genre.

1. Would you prefer a Psychological horror or Classical Horror (E.g. Gore)
2. What entices you in a film trailer?
3. What is your favourite horror movie?
4. What are your biggest fears?
5. What scares you about Psychological horrors?

Most of my questions are OPEN therefore will be open to a range of different answers and not just closed answers e.g. Yes/No this or that. This will give me a lot of Qualitative data which I can then transfer into ideas for my film trailer.

 Results
 From Question number 1, you can see that most people prefer a Psychological horror over a classical horror.
(8 People)

Most people preffered the story line portrayed in the film trailer, and coming second was the characters. From this analysis the narrative and mise en scene have to be really successful.

3 out of 8 people said the exorcist was there favourite horror movie which was created in 1973 as a supernatural horror film. This is interesting as more people seemed to prefer the older films rather than the newer releases.












Most people were scared of demons which links with the concept of religion and possession. This is what most modern horrors base their story on. It also correlates with how many people said The exorcist was their favourite horror movie.














Interestingly the most popular answers were that it could be real or it could happen to them.



















Analysing my results
This has given me a lot of good feedback about the things that engage and scare people with psychological horrors. In reference to Hannah and I's film trailer the idea of it happening to them is the most scary thought about a psychological horror, and in our film a young innocent child gets taken by a clown which Is every mothers worst nightmare.
On average the participants biggest fear was demons, and possession. Religion is a big influencer in modern horror films because people have fear of the unknown, especially horror films with cult revelations in. In our film trailer there is no reference to religion however It is interesting to see about how many people hate demons. The thing which entices people the most in a film trailer was The storyline and characters. This is interesting as I will try to focus as much as possible on these two aspects in my trailer.

Genre Theorists

Genre Theorists

Genre is an important aspect in film making and it is important as a director to address your target audience and your genre. Our genre is a Psychological horror which is one of the most popular genres in the 21st century.

Tom Ryall conducted his theory suggesting that genre provides a framework of structuring rules in the shape of patterns forms and structures which act as a form of supervision over the work of production of film makers and the work of reading by the audience.

Steve Neal stated that his theory was about how genre was constituted by "specific systems"  of expectations and hypothesis which spectators bring with them to the cinema and which interact with the films themselves during the course of the viewing process. Neale also stated that genre are instances of repetition and difference. Difference is essential to the economy of genre.

Lacey - Repetoire of elements
Lacey states there are 4 repetoires of elements in relation to
Setting
Character
Narrative
Iconography
Style

He believes genres change over time. They do not have fixed universal values.

Narrative: Referring to the structure of the story e.g. Open, Circular as well as their conventions e.g. car chase
Characters: Narrative developed through characters and their functions e.g. Hero is the main character. Characters such as the final victim (usually a girl) defeats the villain.
Setting: some genres have a distinct location but this can be changed e.g. horrors have moved from places like graveyards(gothic) to suburban areas e.g. houses. Genres can also be associated with time period e.g. Prohibition in America.
Iconography: Films contain visual and audio images which become instantly recognisable and associated with genre. e.g. Pulp Fiction
Style: Iconography refers to objects but  Style describes the way they are presented. E.g. similar to mise en scene lighting, camera angles etc.


I agree with Lacey as I do think genres change over time depending on the era, cultural values and ideology and new ideas directors explore. I believe there are still some set conventions however directors are now going against this to make the film completely opposite to what it is meant to represent in the genre e.g. Scream. It is hard because some may consider our genre as a psychological thriller rather than a psychological horror. Genres I believe do over lap especially in the modern world where so many people have different ideas to what constitutes and fits into a certain genre. For example my own thought would be about the film 'The Lovely Bones' I myself would actually consider this a Psychological thriller but it is classed as a drama.

Ancillary Task

Ancillary Task 1 - Magazine
 This was one of my ancillary tasks for my portfolio of work. It was to create a magazine cover for the film which was preferably featured in a film magazine e.g. Empire. First of all I had to look at some existing film magazines to get a basic idea of what they are like, some of the conventions and features they had. I noticed that film magazines like 'Empire' used a lot of close-up angles as there main image. Obviously this was to show of the actors/actress' who were staring in the film and to reveal a bit about their persona or character in the film. They were extremely eye catching and had to be as a way of advertising the film. The 'Masthead' Empire was always in a bold capital serif font. This was to illustrate the importance of the name, when I think of empire I think of a nation of strong people, and obviously the magazine is trying to portray that the films are the best you can get. The font colour choice seems to be in a bold red which to my initial thought creates a sense of glamour and a sort of Hollywood esque feel; after all these movies that are featured are big budget films created in Hollywood so the directors and producers obviously want to portray it in a glamorous way. This also leads me to conclude that this is what directors think audience want, an escapism from real life everything is pixel perfect and people like this HD feel to a character it makes them attracted to learn more about the character and the story line, so when you see the magazine you think wow, that looks amazing. The Empire magazine looks hyper real and this is insinuating this is what the film will be like. Furthermore
the Empire Magazine varies with how much text it will put on the front cover, some covers have a lot of text whereas others are completely blank with the picture and only minimal text. The magazine tries to capture the films best portrayal for example sometimes one picture can speak many words.
I feel asif these magazines are amazing works of art and are a credit to the film industry. It makes me as a fan want to go see everyfilm on the cover even if I am not a fan of the genre e.g. Sci Fi





 Above is my first draft for my magazine. After seeing the Empire magazines there are a lot of things I would change to the draft. I wanted a black background to resemble the idea of it being a dark film with a happy contrasting image of a creepy clown. I did have a problem since I took a still from our trailer on the iMacs which I then converted using the VLC programme I mentioned in my technology post. I had to save it as a JPEG file, so that's why its looking slightly stretched out. As you can see on the empire magazines the full image is the background, so I may have to rethink this. Moreover I tried to capture the font as similar as possible but in a way that suited me. I like the font I have used however I want it to be bolder. I like my image for the advertisement as I think it does resemble the horror genre. I also like the choice of font for the 'Spotted' part. This shows a consistency as the film poster has the same font on it. I chose to use the plus as I got this idea from the Empire magazine which is just a symbol for what extra the magazine has in it. I guess the aim of the Empire magazines was to display the still image of the film which is shown on the cover due to the popularity of it, there isn't much space for other things e.g. not like a fashion magazine where everything is everywhere on the front cover. Iron Man 3 and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire were both two hugely popular films and this was the magazines intention of trying to advertise the film as much as possible. I chose to use stars because as I mentioned earlier, my interpretation of the name empire is about the glamour and how strong the nation is e.g. Hollywood(very influential). I may keep these in however have them in a different place.

Deconstruction 2

 This was my deconstruction number 2 and it was on word. It doesn't look very good however is all apart of the planning process. When I get to use Publisher I will then use the empire logo and fill in all my subheadings and other conventions of a magazine. I kept the plus feature in because it was a feature of Empire Magazines.

 

Research

Research - Narrative Structure and Genre Theorists

Because Hannah and I are creating a film trailer the narrative structure will be open as we want the audience to be curious about what will happen and then go on to watch the film.

A narrative is simply the way a story is told in each text e.g. non fiction/ fiction.

Narrative theorists include; Vladmir Propp, Todorov, Roland Barthes and more.
Todorovs Theory
The idea of Equilibrium, Disequilibrium, Resolution, New Equilibrium

Todorov in 1969 produced a theory which he believed to be able to be applied to any film. He believed that all films followed the same narrative pattern. They all went through stages called the equilibrium, disequilibrium, acknowledgement, solving and again equilibrium.

Roland Barthes
Roland Barthes was a French literary theorist and philosopher. He said that texts may be open or closed. Barthes used 'codes' which are sewn into the narrative these include;
The Hermeneutic Code
The Enigma/Proairetic Code
The Symbolic Code
The cultural Code
The semantic Code

1. The Hermeneutic code - the story avoids telling truth, in order to drop clues to create mystery
2. The Enigma code - The way tension is built up and the audience is left guessing what happens
3. The symbolic code - Similar to semantic code, it organizes semantic meanings into broader and deeper sets of meaning.
4. The cultural code - This code looks at the wider cultural knowledge and ideology
5. The semantic code - points to an element in the text that suggests an additional meaning. e.g. Connotation

Vladimir Propp (Characters) -
Propp was a soviet formalist scholar who analysed prop components of Russian folk tales. He proposed a series of set characters and plot functions which occur in a narrative.

Characters

1. The Villain — struggles against the hero.
2. The dispatcher — character who makes the lack known and sends the hero off.
3. The (magical) helper — helps the hero in their quest.
4. The princess or prize and her father — the hero deserves her throughout the story but is unable to marry her because of an unfair evil, usually because of the villain. The hero's journey is often ended when he marries the princess, thereby beating the villain.
5. The donor — prepares the hero or gives the hero some magical object.
6. The hero or victim/seeker hero — reacts to the donor, weds the princess.
7. The false hero — takes credit for the hero’s actions or tries to marry the princess

A good example of this would be in Shrek.

Propp also proposed 31 plot functions.   e.g.

ABSENTATION: A member of a family leaves the security of the home environment. This may be the hero or some other member of the family that the hero will later need to rescue. This division of the cohesive family injects initial tension into the storyline. The hero may also be introduced here, often being shown as an ordinary person.

I think the one which applies most to my film trailer would be Vladimir Propps theory. The idea of plot functions and different character types is very relevant in our film trailer. For example the Villain (Clown) and the victim (Little boy). Moreover with the plot functions for example DELIVERY: The villain gains information about the victim. The villain's seeking now pays off and he or she now acquires some form of information, often about the hero or victim. Other information can be gained, for example about a map or treasure location. This is so significant especially relating to the mise en scene with the blue ballon as the prop, the villain uses this as a tool to have a connection with the little boy.

Ideology

Ideology

What is Ideology?
Ideology is a set of beliefs or ideas and can vary with culture and lifestyle.

Our Genre
As our genre is a Psychological horror, the ideology will affect visual interpretation and representation to the audience. E.g. with a western film the audience can predict the types of font

As for the Rock genre, the theme is about being rebellious and not caring about anything 'going against the rules'
With our Psychological horror it can determine the set of conventions we would use e.g. Eerie Music, or even juxtaposing music (Happy music with a scary scene) this is known as Contrapuntal Sound- this is sound that doesn’t match the action that is on screen.

Setting
The setting in a Psychological horror is normally big house or forest/ woodland areas or even eerier settings such as hospitals. This is the idea of the psychological horror, to manipulate your mind that these places you are familiar with are dangerous.

Mise - en - Scene
Mise en scene is everything you can see in the shot( a French term for put in place ) so for example this could be the props used. The weapons tend not to be physical weapons, but tend to be more supernatural and psychological. A lot of horror movies are becoming more obsessed with the bible and religion. Religion is a concept which seems to scare people as it is the unknown, it is subjective so people can become fantasised and gripped with this idea. Props include 'Crosses, spiritual books, symbols, a priest etc.

Characters
The characters in a psychological horror tend not to be obvious and sometimes the audience find it hard to familiarise with the characters until around half way through the film e.g. in orphan, Ester the adopted child seems so lovely and settles into the family well, however she is the one who possess and tries to kill the family. In our case, Mr Swain the 'Friendly clown' with the blue balloon is our killer.

Psychological horrors act on the brain and act on many phobias and fears universally, so generally appeal to a mass audience which we are targeting.

Audience Pleasures
Audience pleasures are the pleasures the audience gain from consuming the text.
Some audience pleasures include;
*Identification with characters or situations that occur
*Identification with themes, e.g. work, family, relationships, getting on in life
*Familiarity of characters

These theories fit with my film trailer
The Hypodermic Needle Theory
The Hypodermic needle theory suggested by its name acts as injection which includes attitudes, beliefs which automatically injects into the audience so they are influenced by this. It is a model of communications and also known as the 'magic bullet' perspective. It dated from the 1930S when the influence of behaviourism was around. Audiences passively receive information from a media text and have no choice to challenge this idea.
It is relatable to my trailer and influencing my target audience as my audience could get ideas from the idea of the child being kidnapped by the clown. 
 It popular when considering violence in films. Films such as 'The Exorcist' (1973) and 'A Clockwork Orange' (1971) have been banned in the past - partly due to the belief that the audience may be influenced by these ideas and go on to commit them in reality.
Recently the horror film A Human Centipede has been banned in many countries as the industry's fear that people may get so fantasized they might go on to recreate these scenarios.


Uses and Gratifications theory
This theory is one of the most popular at explaining mass communication. This is one of the most important audience pleasures because it argues that what people use with the media rather than what it does to someone. So it is completely opposite to the Hypodermic Needle Theory. It argues that individuals take an active role in embracing the media. For example, when we come across a media text we are expecting to get some sort of gratification from it; people chose a text which satisfies them.
There are four types of gratification
Identity - e.g. when watching a tv show we try to identify with the characters and may chose to model our behaviour on these characters
Entertainment - as a source of enjoyment
Integration and social interaction - we can almost form an attachment to a character relating to their feelings/lifestyles etc. TV helps us to empathise and sympathise with the lives of others.
Information - we want to find out about the world and society and the media allows us to do that e.g. by watching documentaries.

I think entertainment apply to my trailer the most as it is thrilling and people want the adrenaline rush. Also it fits in with my target audience as the 15-24s will be likely to be entertained by this, whereas adults probably would think of it as rubbish and made up.
Moreover, I think information and integration and social interaction apply to my trailer because we learn information from the trailer e.g. the real truth of kidnapping. For social interaction and integration the audience can sympathise with the victims in the trailer e.g. The mum.

Memes and Tropes

Memes and Tropes

What are they?
A meme identifies ideas or beliefs that are transmitted or evolve in a culture. This means that someone's small initial idea (the minority) develops into something bigger (the majority) like a trope.
A trope is a recurring element in art or culture. They grow  from the repetition of someone's original idea. Generally Tropes are building blocks of texts, meaning they are  closely related to memes.

Tropes of Horror Movies
A Spooky House- . A staple of Horror. Where Haunted Castles would appear in European tales, the Haunted House takes its place in American stories. It is commonly associated with bumps in the night, strange lights, and a shady history involving violence and terror.

Isolated Area - Good location for horrors as the victims cannot be helped.

Abandoned Hospital/ Mental Institution - This features dirty broken tiles, cabinets and lab coats covered in blood stains.
Creepy setting as hospitals are associated with Illness and Death.

Bloody Handprint - A handprint in thick blood stains the wall indicating serious injury or even death. It is an imprint of what's happened to them.

Creepy Doll - The creepy doll stares at you and has usually been broken (e.g) missing eye. The fear of it coming to life scares many people. For example Chucky in Childs Play.

Creepy Circus Music - the effect is sad haunting and nostalgic. High pitch key and associated with killers like clowns. This is a good trope of our horror movie 'Spotted' where we play Pop goes the weasel music when he is on screen.

Research

Institutional mode of representation
IMR stands for Institutional Mode of Representation. The purpose of the IMR was to try and attempt to create a fictional world on screen that the audience would feel a part of, almost like they are taking part of the story. , the institutional mode of representation (IMR) is the dominant mode of film construction, which developed in the years after the turn of the century, becoming the norm by about 1914. Although virtually all films produced today are made within the IMR, it is not the only possible mode of representation.
Characters are psychologically individuated, through close-ups on faces and acting methods borrowed from (bourgeois) theater. Psychological depth is prized, and the narrative is driven by character psychology. The audience is therefore invited to interpret the motivations of the characters, and thus involve itself with the film.

Ideas

Our ideas

This is our clown costume we have borrowed from a member of staff. I love it because its vintage looking! it looked really good on our actor (Mr Swain) and so far we have had good success with it. I love the frills at the top because it makes him seem really innocent and a friendly clown which he is not!

Success of our trailer

Why I think our film trailer/ film will be successful
So far in my research, I have noticed how much press and coverage the Northampton clown has got. Its amazing how hes even managed to reach most of Europe, America and even New Zealand. I think because this has been advertised so well by the clown appearing, it would be great for our film (trailer) because people would instantly recognize that it was based on a true story!

So many people have been fascinated with the story and he hasn't even done much apart from appear around Northampton putting the spot on the globe! This is so current for us that its great timing because it makes such a good idea for a film trailer. We also have a lot of supporting research and evidence from this story as real journalists from around the world have come to see and get information for

Research

Research - Our Ideal Target Audience and Type of person
Age
As I mentioned in an earlier post our ideal target audience would be 15-24. This age would be appropriate as our rating would probably be a 15.

Gender
There would be no preferred gender as I think horror appeals to both, and if we want to appeal to a mass audience, applying it to one gender wouldn't be as successful. From my own experience and research, people generally go to see horrors in groups anyway and normally their mixed so it wouldn't apply to just one gender as we want to appeal to many.

Lifestyle
The lifestyle of our ideal target audience would be young and either in full time education or having a full time job. This is because these types of people would have more spare time to go to the cinema and experience the film, without saying il buy it on DVD and then not buying it. There lifestyle would be quite outgoing and brave, as some people will avoid horror in every aspect if they have phobias etc, especially for our film trailer(CLOWNS!)

Interests
Our ideal person would be interested in obviously going to the cinema quite often, they will be quite outgoing and enjoy an adrenaline rush, perhaps like a theme park goer. Some one who is quite sociable, so they could go with a group of friends and enjoy the experience

Socio Economic Group
Our socio economic group would be A-C1.I would appeal to a mass audience because teenagers are likely to go to the cinema e.g. on a weekend or as leisure time whereas parents and older adults probably wouldn't have the time to do this because of work commitments children etc. Teenagers have more leisure time so will have time for fun things like this. Teenagers are also very sociable so they would spread the word to their friends. I have chosen A-C1 (Middle - Upper class) because they will be able to attend the cinema, and the film is psychological so they would have to grasp the idea e.g higher education to understand.


Our audience group
I have chosen this audience group because in many ways yes it is conventional. I want to apply it to a mass audience because I don't feel like its an independent film in any way. That means its a big production film, therefore being advertised everywhere. From the Northampton clown story, so many journalists came from worldwide from one story, so I want to make the film this popular. There is definitely a gap in the market as this type of story has not been around since when IT was out, and even then, it was only one film about clowns. Usually in the modern world most horror films are now based around demons and possession etc, so I feel as if this clown story would grab people and engage them to watch something different.

Research

Research

Technology

I have used a range of technology and will continue to use technology to create and complete my portfolio.

Google
I have used Google a lot as my main search engine. I prefer using google over anything else because I find it easy to use and efficient. I've used Google to research e.g. different genres and to store images for my blog.

 Safari
Safari is Apples browser for their products e.g. iMac, iPad, iPhone etc. I am currently working on my project which is on the iMacs and do some researching on safari also.


YouTube
YouTube is key in my research of existing and upcoming Psychological horrors and researching other genres. This will be my main source for linking my videos and any existing texts and research I find on YouTube to help support my portfolio.


Sony Camera/Jessops TP 323 Tripod
We needed a handheld camera which we borrowed from the media studio and a tripod to film in our locations. We definitely needed a tripod as because I experienced some difficulties when trying to film without a tripod. The tripod was efficient and you could film really easily on it.

iMovie/ Final Cut Pro
We have been using a combination of iMovie and Final cut pro to produce and edit our film trailer. I find that final cut pro is more superior for editing and for iMovie to place the shots and pieces of film into the right order. A combination of the two has been excellent and m glad I've got to use both and see which one works best for our film trailer.


Blogger
Blogger is the tool I have been using to produce my blog and Portfolio.  I can easily access it from either my laptop or school. Moreover I can access it on different mediums e.g. Ipad/Iphone.



iMac
Ive been using the iMacs at school, and I can say the graphics and retina display on the iMacs is amazing. I love using safari and other programmes. Sometimes it has been difficult to use because I don't have one at home but I have learnt a lot along the way.


VLC(iMac Programme)
As I mentioned, VLC is an iMac programme I used to create still images for my magazine cover for the Ancillary tasks. VLC is great, although can be quite complicated to use as you have to access it through applications and more process.

Research

Research

A - Our target audience will be 15-24 for both genders. I think this would be appropriate because teenagers are engaged in the thrill of the horror and they like the adrenaline you get from being curious about whats going to happen and what is in the real world etc. From evidence many teenagers-24 year olds + are interested in the idea of horror movies and they are the ones in the cinemas.

Socio- Economic - I think our socio economic group would be A-C1. I imagine most of the audience we are appealing to are still in full time education or have a job as they can afford to go to the cinema and see new releases. I would appeal to a mass audience because teenagers are likely to go to the cinema e.g. on a weekend or as leisure time whereas parents and older adults probably wouldn't have the time to do this because of work commitments children etc. In addition, teenagers want to experience what's out there and with the horror genre you can really play and manipulate peoples minds without being too extreme, which makes it chilling and exciting. I think our film would be really successful because during the Northampton clown story ( which we have took ideas from) there was so much media attention and a lot of teenagers were looking about or going on the clowns Facebook page to reveal more clues. Adults probably just take it a lot more on the chin, whereas teens are gripped by this paranormal idea.

Genre - Our genre is Psychological horror. I love this genre because as it suggests it plays and manipulates your mind. I think this would appeal a lot to our target audience because it makes them overthink about whats happening which makes it even scarier as their minds can be easily manipulated and psychological horrors are great because they tell a story leading up to a big climax. Most horror movies are a linear narrative although some can be open leaving it for another movie or even circular. Some examples of Psychological horrors include
The Blair Witch Project

Orphan

The Omen

Directors of the horror genre

Directors of the Horror Genre

James Wan was born on February 26, 1977 in Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia. He is a writer and director, known for Saw (2004), Insidious: Chapter 2 (2013) and The Conjuring (2013). His work has been very influential in the horror genre and many people find his work fascinating and his work to be scary and gripping. His modern filmmaking has inspired many horror directors to think of new ideas and sequels which can be gripping in the 21st century.

Neil Marshall born 25 May 1970 is an English film director, editor and screenwriter. Marshall began his career in editing and in 2002 directed his first feature film Dog Soldiers, which became a cult film. He followed up with the critically acclaimed horror film The Descent in 2005. Marshall also directed Doomsday in 2008, and wrote and directed Centurion in 2010. The rise of cult films has attracted many, the idea of cult films adds to the horror genre well as it has a lot of untold mystery.

Alfred Hitchcock born 13 August 1899 – 29 April 1980 was an English film director and producer. He was one of the most famous and influential directors world wide of psychological thrillers. He had coined many techniques in the suspense and psychological thriller genres. Many directors in the 21st century strive to be like Hitchcock taking and adapting his techniques into their films. Hitchcock directed the famous 'Psycho' which many know the famous shower scene and music from. Psycho is almost certainly Hitchcock's best-known film.Produced on a constrained budget of $800,000, it was shot in black-and-white on a spare set. The unprecedented violence of the shower scene, the early death of the heroine, the innocent lives extinguished by a disturbed murderer became the defining hallmarks of Hitchcock's new horror movie genre and have been copied by many authors of subsequent horror films.

Textual Analysis

Textual Analysis

Deconstructing Film Posters

1. The Purge(2013)

The Purge is described as an American horror thriller. It has been very successful and had an average rating of 6.5/10 by viewers on imdb.
Conventions on the poster
Immediately the audience can see a dark background conveying some mystery and horror possibly a fear of the unknown. This emphasises the front image making it seem more apparent and the audience can associate the image with the darkness.

The close up shot of the person with a mask with a big smile demonstrates that the film is a horror. The smile seems haunting to the audience especially if you look at the position of the eye, slightly above the face mask holes looking angry and scary. The mask is obvious because of the apparent holes which makes the audience wonder who is behind the mask, it becomes gripping with the audience wanting to know who it is.

Dialogue (Superimposition) is in white, meaning it stands out from the dark background, it gives a good colour contrast. It is bright and eye catching.

'One night a year, all crime is legal' the dialogue makes it seems like an interesting story, not always following typical horror story lines.
'Survive the night' June 7th, audience associates this date possibly with the film..

 Follows typical conventions with actors names and production companies at the bottom. June 7th is repeated so the audience know this is the day it is coming out, making it memorable.

2. IT the clown (Stephen King)
I chose this specific film because it fits with our genre of having a clown as the main scary offender. It was a very successful films, and choosing to make a clown scary in this way resulted with many people having phobias.

Conventions of the poster

The poster has a very simplistic idea to it. A white background being supposedly 'ripped' by IT the clown. He has a strange shape head and wild bushy red hair making him seem abnormal and scary, especially to children which are mainly his victims. His facial expression is casual with an awkward smile making him seem frightening. In addition the oversized claws make him seem like a different creature making the audience wonder.

Stephen Kings 'IT' well from the title, what do the audience think? Stephen King has cleverly picked a title which makes the audience wonder what is 'IT' or it? in a red serif font in capitals it stands out and is like a play on words. Moreover the title looks like it has been scratched.

Below are the actors/actress faces. This is unusual for a film poster to have them in order like this with two different themes going on. Perhaps the audience wonder are these his victims/ helpers.

Dialogue in black to colour contrast white background. Black also to symbolise darkness of the film?
'The master of horror unleashes everything you were ever afraid of'
As he is a popular director, he is stating the audience can expect a lot of horror from the film.

Actors/actress and production companies at bottom, following typical conventions.



Valentines day poster( Similar to Stephen kings it idea with faces at bottom) however completely different genre.
























3. Paranormal Activity

These series of films received a lot of attention as this was one of the first string of films to create a independent/production movie with handheld cameras so it was essentially capturing real life.

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Conventions of the film poster

A dark background is symbolising it is typically a horror movie, unconventionally image is stripped in middle of page. Image is also striped to look like a recording with the night vision effect.

Paranormal activity was in red with a 3D effect. I think the director used a good choice for the name. The activity could mean a series of things especially while being captured in a household.

The actors are looking but you cannot see the scary person or thing which means people will be curious to find out what it is, this is good as it captures the audience without seeing the 'demon' or scary thing until the end.

At the top is an opnion which again is unconventional, however it shows that they are trying to make it independently.

Furthermore at the bottom is a quote of 'Paranormal activity not showing in your area?' DEMAND IT! with a button type text. This gives the illusion that the film is real and makes it even more scary as it seems like people are trying to 'spread the message' and don't want the audience to think of it as a film more like real life footage, you have to see this!

Overall a good film poster, which goes against some typical conventions