The Demented draft poster, initial plot and class feed back

Steriotypical fan

As a group we have discussed who our stereotypical fan for our horror movie would be. We are aiming to target a stereotypical female with in the age range of 18-30 years of age. By discussing the demographics and psychographics off our target audience we are able to make a better trailer which will aim to please the stereotypical fan we have created.

The character we have created is a female between the ages of eighteen and thirteen. Our female fan is called Roxy; she has long brown hair is quite masculine. Roxy is classed as working class, working as a police woman wanting to change the world for better. In her free time she watches horror films with her cats in her flat. She plays guitar in her band called ‘Rocking Headstones’, her and her band mates play in small pubs around her town. Roxy has a large tattoo of a rose on her upper arm, which adds to her masculine side. Roxy has her nose and tongue pierced with a variety of piercings on both her ears. She comes across rather rebellious in a feminist way, she doesn’t believe in inequality between genders.

Horror trailer mood board

Six-shot practice horror sequence

horror sub-genre pie-chart

Horror film poster review 3

THE UNBORN

The unborn was released in 2009, and is branded as a super natural horror thriller. The main image on the cover of this poster is a young girl; she is attractive and is dressed minimally to attract a male audience. At first the girl on the poster does not look in a danger but when you look closer you see the reflection of a male in the mirror, this shows her looking vulnerable and threatened.

The colours in this image are all dull, dark colours these colours such as black and grey are usually associated with horror films because these colours portray a scary, tense and unpredictable atmosphere.

The fonts used on this poster are gothic looking; this is used to present an old fashioned tone to the film making you think that it may introduce something from the past into modern film.

The tag line from this film is ‘Evil Will Do Anything To Live’ this shows that the film isn’t a gory film it is more psychological horror film, this is backed up by the image on the poster. It tells us that something evil is going to be waning to enter life and something bad will happen for then to go ahead.

Based on this poster this movie is targeted towards the male audience, this is obvious because the girl on the poster is overly sexualised and wearing very little clothing designed to attract male viewers.

Horror film poster review 2

SCREAM 4

 

 



The main image on the poster is the killer, the poster shows the iconic mask from the franchise which is easily recognisable even to people how are not fans. It is possible for the poster to be very minimal because like said previously it is iconic and people do not need a range of persuasive techniques to make them go hey will just go and watch the film because they know they already like the films meaning only the most important information is needed on it.

The colours on the poster are dark and dull, this is very common to horror film posters as it connotes something scary, dark colours are usually associated with the night time therefore not being able to see anything. Lots of films are set at night time to intensify the atmosphere of the movie and making the situations the characters are put in much more isolated. Black is used as the background as it shows a dark and gloomy ending the film. The splashes of red dotted around the poster mimic splashes of blood showing that there WILL be blood ad there WILL be death.

The sharp knife like chin on the mask conveys the idea of gory, ‘blood heavy’ film to come, it also connects the mask with danger.

The tag line for the movie is New decade. New Rules. This shows that it is still the same concept but something all new in terms of what is going to happen with the idea of some new and interesting twists and turns. People might not be bothered about seen yet another scream film and not know where they could go from the last tones but this is saying that it will be different and new and exciting.

I think that the target audience for this film is for 18+ and both male and female I think this film is directed more to the male audience though because of its large amounts of blood and gore suggested being in this film.

Horror film poster review 1

FRIGHT NIGHT

 

The main point in the poster is of the demon erupting from the house in the image it isn’t clear if this is the killer in the movie. The house in the image shows that it is very isolated as it is on its own and no other houses are shown. The house looks dark and gloomy. The single light in one of the rooms of the house shows a slight glimpse of hope.

The house is in the centre of the poster but does not dominate the poster because the dull colours of it fade into the rest of the poster; on the other hand the demon above the house is in a bright white and blue colour stands out making it the key feature of the the image.

All of the colours in the poste are very dark and threatening, it is obviously night in the photo to match with the title Fright ‘Night’. The warm colours of orange and yellow coming from the window stand out because they are opposites and this possibly shows the survivor of the film.

The font of the title of the film has long knife like spikes on them and this is very threatening, I show                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             future danger. The font is written in white and this shows purity which contrasts with the dark dull colours on the main image making it stand out.

The tag line of the film is ‘there are some very good reasons to be afraid of the dark’ it is very common for horror films to be set in the dark because it adds an essence of uncertainty to the atmosphere creating a tense, dark vibe.

I think that the target audience for this film is women under the age of 18 I think this because there is no sexual image on the poster to attract men and the demon is sort of cartoon life attracting the slightly younger audience.

Mama still image analysis

This image is a close up shot of one of the little girls in the film mama. Victoria had been left alone in the forest with her little sister for years and they have grown up into feral children. As victoria becomes adjusted back to normal life with her uncle and his girlfriend the family are over watched by ‘Mama’ who had brought them up whilst living alone in the forest. This still shows the scene where mama tried to attack Annabelle then chases after Victoria and Lily, I like this still because I think that it shows that Victoria has The image is angled upwards untoward the little girl, to show her unrealistic power. Her dark eyes along with the dark whole in her mouth can connote dander in the future or that the future is ‘dark’. The shadows in the back ground show low key lighting to add an aerie atmosphere and to make the scene more scary.

psycho still image analysis 3

 

This image shows the outline of an old woman violently approaching to attack a victim. This is shot from a point of view angle but the attacker is hidden by light shining over the face to disguise the fact that Norman Bates it also his mother. This images shows the mother with the knife comi8ng from above and this shows that this character is much more powerful than the persons whos point of view it is shot from. This knife is seen as a phallic symbol.

Psycho still image analysis 2

 

in the back ground of this still image you can see stuffed birds, this relates to the fact that Marion is from phoenix and links her to the hotel. This room has to key lighting and a lot of shadows in the background, I think that this shows the idea of Norman bates’ separate personality looming over him. I think that the family pictures in the background show loyalty to his mother and that she is still at the front of his mind.

 

Psycho still image analysis 1

This scene from Psycho shows Bates hotel for the first time and introduces it as an old washed up business that no longer gets any customers. The building where Norman and his mother in the top right hand side of the image is places above Marion to show power, and that she Is vulnerable to this house. The rain connotes misery through darkness.

 

Dawn Of The Dead still image analysis 3

This scene shows Fran and Stephen in bed together, they look sad and bored of having everything. The mall is described as a prison with golden bars. It is subliminally showing how communism is affecting America. This image also shows that even though they have everything they are still not satisfied.

Dawn Of The Dead 'old' still image analysis 2

This scene from the film shows lots of body horror, and by this time the censorship wasn’t as restricted as the hays code. The gore in this scene is drawn out and makes the image of someone’s guts being ripped out much more real. In this still image you can see that the characters just have some grey paint on them opposed to high budget films with special effect zombies.

 

Dawn Of The Dead 'old' stills analysis 1

This scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979) shows main characters Peter and Stephen this still image shows that they are happy and feel safe in the mall; they also love the things that the mall gives them. This movie was made in the late 70’s when shopping malls were just arising and Romaro was trying to comment on communism. In this image the characters act as if the                                    money is actually their own.

 

 

 

 

Dawn Of The Dead still image analysis 3

This still from the film show that Anna is an extremely strong character, not only that but she is a very masculine character too. She is showing that she knows how to use a gun and has the toughness to shoot it unlike other girls in the film such as Monica who subsequently end up dead and not surviving till the end of the movie.

Dawn Of The Dead still image analysis 2

This still image shows that Anna is clearly the final girl of the film, she is wearing masculine clothing and is standing is a strong position. The fact that she is placed in the middle of the shot shows that she is the most important character in this scene. Monica is seen to be flicking her hair. In this film Monica is overly sexualised with makes her seem incredibly vulnerable. She is the ‘female victim’. You can also see that as Anna looks at Monica the rest of the group follow her, this connotes that she is a leader than the rest of the group trust her and are willing to follow what she does

 

Dawn Of The Dead stills analysis 1

 

This version of dawn of the dead doesn’t focus so much on communism as that was not relevant when the movie was made in 2004, this film was made when the Iraq war was taking place and signifies America against the world. It was also only a few years after the 9/11 bombings. This is a small clip edited into the start of the opening scene which looks like old footage from the Middle East area suggesting that the virus effecting America originated from the Middle East.

 

 

 

Cloverfield class horror trailer review

Horror trailer review

Cloverfield

Year released:  2008

Genre: action horror

My rating: 8.5\10

 

What happened in the trailer?

This movie trailer starts with a part in a flat in America, there is then large shakes and it appears that there has been an earthquake. People flea from the building and to the roof top to see what is going on, from here onwards it is obvious that it is not an earthquake people realise that it I much more and run for their lives at the sight of the creatures destroying their city.

 

I think that the most positive aspect of the trailer is at the end when the pace increases nearer the end and the audio and the visual footage is cut in and out to increase drama I also liked bit of hand held camera at the start of the trailer I think that this creates panic and makes you feel like you are actually there experiencing what is happening. During the trailer for this film it doesn’t mention the name of it, this makes the film seem mysterious and keep you guessing what it is called/what it is

 

I think that the worst aspect of this trailer is that pretty much the entire film is summed up by this one trailer ad there isn’t really much left or the actual film.

 

The average score that this movie got from the class was 8.5 I think all round everyone liked this trailer as it is very well made and a good representation of the movie.

 

Toxic Avenger class trailer review

Horror trailer review

Toxic Avenger

Year released: 1985

Genre: gory horror

My rating: 3

 

What happened in the trailer?

The trailer was just a mash up of all the events that happen in the movie it show lots of different clips. It has a voice over all the way through in a tacky American accent explaining the film it shows how a boy is picked on and then is chased out of a window into a barrel of toxic waste burning his skin and turning him into the toxic avenger where he fights evil.

 

 

I think that the most positive part of the trailer is the comedy aspect of it, the jakes are terrible and that’s what makes them so funny. I like the way the trailer has a tacky American voice over and I think that this gives it character and again is so terrible it makes the film good and different to more serious films. This trailer shows lots and lots of clips which could be a good thing, if you wanted to watch this film by watching the trailer you would know exactly what you’re in store for and that this film is the kind of thing that you like.  

 

I think that the main negative is that the trailer shows so much footage from the film there isn’t really much that you haven’t already seen when it comes to seeing the full film this also relates to the fact that the trailer is extremely long and becomes a little boring after a while. I think that this film might be a little to ‘tacky’ for some viewers or maybe not serious enough for the slightly older audience that this trailer is directed too.

 

The average score from my class was 3 I think this is because most people in my class like psychological horrors not gory horror films.

 

 

 

 

 

Evil Dead class horror trailer review

Year released:  2013

Genre: gory horror

My rating: 8\10

 

What happened in the trailer?

Group of teenagers unleash the demon from the book and once again get trapped in the forest. They find a girl in the house and she thinks whatever is haunting them is inside her. The rest of the trailer is the group trying to escape from the forest alive. This trailer is a red band and therefore shows lots of body horror and gore effects.

 

I think that the most positive aspect of the trailer is the way in which the trailer is shot I like the effects that are used on it, which makes everything bright and eye catching. I think that the most clever aspect of the trailer is the pace of the trailer I like the way that it is slow at the start but not boring and then cuts into a really fast pace and the music that is on the trailer reflects this. I think a really interesting element of this trailer is the jump cuts.

I thought that the trailer was one of the best ive seen and I didn’t really have much to fault it on but one small negative would be that the gore is quite intense and for a lot of people might be too much. I found myself looking away for parts of the trailer too!

 

The average score that this movie got from the class was 8.5 I think all round everyone liked this trailer as it is very well made and a good representation of the movie.