MAGAZINE COVER ANALYSATION

The cover of Diabolique promotes the film 'The Woman In Black'. It features Daniel Radcliffe as the lead actor in the movie, showing he is important and a vital role in the film. It also uses a background related to the film to give the audience a sense of setting and location. It uses the film's logo which is the biggest font on the cover apart from the magazine's title, showing that it is the featured movie article inside. The cover also includes various tag lines which are all of the horror genre, for example "black sabbath" and "gothic". This is to keep in theme of the movie it is promoting and in a way gives clues of what the audience can expect from the movie. The consistent blue and white font tie in with the colours of the featured image and background, whilst the orange links with the magazine title. The character's eyes also provide an example of synergy with the blue sky and font. The outfit of the character is black, which is typically related to death, another general convention associated with horror films

The actual design of the magazine is very well suited to the nature, as it has a very old fashioned style of writing and colors. This works well with the character as he is very well suited to the design and makes the cover that much more effective.

The reason for choosing this magazine cover for inspiration is how the genre of the film links closely the genre we will be using. The magazine cover proves that using simple design and style is equally as effective in enticing audiences to reading the magazine.

FILM POSTER ANALYSIS

The Conjuring Poster

The poster for the film 'The Conjuring' is extremely dark, using minimal colour. The shadows created by the dark light give an eerie atmosphere which is complimented by the face of the doll which has frequently been used in other horror films. I believe the logic behind this inclusion is that audiences have been desensitised to generic stereotypical villains whose identities are concealed and are typically presented wielding weapons. Instead, they have taken an item that the majority of audiences would have had in some form in their childhood, that would be considered as a companion or friend. This makes the idea of them being evil even more impactful as it is unexpected. The simplicity of the poster is also striking to the audience as it plays with shadows instead of created over digitalised special effects. Lastly, the text of the poster is very well suited to the simplicity of the poster, the bold white striking title stands out in order to make an impression on the audience and have them wanting more. This is also emphasised by the text "Coming Soon" which compliments the doll on the poster's cynical appearance as to say the doll is coming for you. The reason for choosing 'The Conjuring' poster is firstly because of how it manages to manipulate something the audience would originally consider as 'safe'. The use of the doll is very sinister which makes the audience uneasy and enticed to the poster. This a concept we hope to interpret when we are designing our poster in order to grip audiences as much as possible. 

The Woman In Black Poster

The poster for the film 'The Woman in Black' conveys the genre of the film as horror in many ways. Firstly, the lighting of the poster is very dark which makes the poster look very scary and intensifies a sense of mystery. The fact that a dark shadow is used on the character's face gives the impression there is a deeper story behind them and increases the viewer's anxiety to want to discover more. Additionally, the mystical effect used in the poster not only adds a terrifying effect for the audience to look at, but also relates to the sub genre of ghosts. The colours of the poster are mostly greys and blacks. The use of dark colours in contrast to the text written in white makes it stand out and appears as opposites, as you would normally expect such words to be written in dark colours to intensify their dark meaning. However, because they are written in such a bold colour, it raises the impression that it is cleverly done in order to convey the fact the "woman in black" is very powerful, bold and something to look out for. Furthermore, the background of the poster is the typical location as horrors often use dark, eerie settings in order to really grasp fear from the audience. Additionally, the fact the background is located in some sort of forest makes the film seem a lot more realistic, resulting in the film having more impact. Overall 'The Woman In Black' poster is extremely effective and one of the best aspects of it is the use of colour which strikes the eye. This is something we hope to do in our poster to intensify its overall affect. 

Insidious Poster

The poster for the film 'Insidious' is again dark to relate to the typical conventions of film posters for horror genres. It does include some light to give a sense of location to the audience of a suburban neighbourhood. The fact that a young boy is presented to be the main character, and possibly evil, supports the horror convention of evil characters being unsuspected and unexpected. The proportion of the character against the background makes him seem larger than the house, presenting the curse inside of him taking control and overpowering him. The character is the main focus of the poster also shown by his size and central position, telling the audience that this is the character that will be featured heavily and that the film centres around. Special effects have been used in the boy's eyes to represent a sense of evil inside of the boy, as opposed to the boy appearing as an evil spirit himself. The child does not appear as a typical horror villain - villains are usually presented as older, their identity hidden from view, and wielding some kind of weapon. The dark clouded sky is also used in the background to represent danger or the idea of something bad coming. This surrounds the house which adds to the idea that the evilness takes hold of this building alone. As a whole, the insidious poster is cleverly done as the simplicity of it makes it that much more thrilling. As a group we will take this into account when designing our poster as it is evident a simple idea is very effective.

Overall the posters have contributed greatly to how we will design our poster. From each poster we have picked up the use of colours and text is important, a simple design can be very engaging and using ideas and concepts audiences normally find 'safe' captivates them even more. 

GENRE CONVENTIONS

Genre conventions are elements in a written piece that separate genres from each other. Viewers expect these elements in specific genres, and so in a film, the movie is marketed to include as many of these elements as possible. Conventions are sometimes labelled as cliché if an audience find them tiring. 

For example, a horror film's general elements often include monsters, creepy settings, isolation, darkness, villains and violence/gore. The conventions of a ghost film is that it is not comedic. Ghosts are often portrayed as being lighthearted and funny in productions aimed at a young audience, possibly using a cartoon. In real-life settings, a sheet is used as a prank at Halloween time. However, in more recent years, ghosts have been manipulated using technological effects that change the opacity of the body. Many horror films have a victim following the ghost as it disappears, fading into shadows to create suspense. Ghosts are also often linked with traditional periods such as the Victorian age, thus wearing dark clothing and having a contrasting style to modern protagonists.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK TRAILER ANALYSIS

The Woman in Black is a 2012 British horror film. A young lawyer, struggling with work after the death of his wife, is sent to a remote village to settle the estate of a deceased eccentric woman who owns an English manor. The village residents want him to leave as they are trying to conceal a deadly secret. But he refuses, and soon discovers that the house of his client is haunted by the vengeful ghost of a woman dressed in black. Out of all the trailers that we chose as a group to research into, The Women In Black is certainly a more period horror based around ghosts. We chose this film because in our trailer we hope to create something with the supernatural/ghost genre, therefore we wanted examples from films with a different style and which included the most effective techniques that would be useful in the production of our own trailer. The casting of this film is very clever in terms of how Daniel Radcliffe, popular from the hit movie Harry Potter, is the main character. Harry Potter and The Woman In Black have similar conventions in terms of the fact they both show elements of the supernatural and magic therefore Daniel is straight away very relevant and suited to his character.

Straight away in the opening scene, the setting of the film is very much deserted, uneasy and ultimately creepy. A blue filter is used as there is a long shot of the house to portray the "haunted" effect and give the audience a slow introduction to the film. Along with this, a tracking shot is used which moves around areas of the haunted house. This is done to increase the tension as the house appears to be very dark and gloomy. The trailer then instantly speeds up as the audience are shown various mysterious things. The length of the shots are very short and flash by very quickly which leaves the audience wanting more. It is also an effective way of increasing the audiences heartbeat as all the sudden action is very fast.

The trailer for 'The Woman In Black' represents an upper class working lawyer. This challenges the stereotype that upper class people have perfect, uncorrupted lives. This adds to the effect of the genre as the audience thinks that if bad things can happen to higher class people then it can easily happen to them too. The setting of the film in a castle mansion also relates to the class represented. The age of the characters is primarily young which enhances the idea of not being in control as the ideology of young people is that they cannot look after themselves well. The gender of the main character (a young man) presents the idea that a man should be strong and fearless. This stereotype is challenged as he becomes weakened and afraid of various events including ghosts of young girls. Because of this, the target audience would be primarily young people because firstly Daniel is very popular within young people because of Harry Potter, therefore, a large amount of the audience will consist of these young people anticipating his next character. Secondly, the film is very thrilling however not too terrifying which makes it suitable for a younger audience.

INSIDIOUS TRAILER ANALYSIS

Insidious is a 2011 American  supernatural horror film. The story centres on a couple whose son inexplicably enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for ghosts in an astral dimension. The movie as a whole has a very powerful story line as it skilfully manipulates the audiences emotions, giving it a greater degree of impact. This is firstly done by the characters used in the film. The story is based around a modern family whose lives completely change by unpredicted sudden events. The fact that a child, commonly associated with innocence and vulnerably  is what is behind the family all of a sudden corrupted lives, makes it much more thrilling as it is the last character the audience would ever associate evil with.

The trailer opens up with various shots of an ordinary family living their daily lives. However, it quickly changes in colour and intensity as a dark, gloomy filter is added to the camera lens to intensify the horror genre. Additionally, there is common theme throughout the characters' clothing of the colour blue. This could be because blue has the connotation of the supernatural, therefore it is used to convey to the audience the theme of the film. In contrast to this blue tint, the characters are given a very pale appearance which once again gives of a very eerie effect.

In terms of the cinematography, camera shots such as closeups and two shots are used to show the characters' facial expressions when sudden action takes place. This allows the audience to experience the same emotion of the characters and makes the film much more thrilling. Tracking shots are also used for example when one of the characters is going through a dark corridor. This is taken through a POV shot to increase the anxiety of the audience as the idea of walking through a completely dark corridor with no vision creates fear of the unseen. The filming technique of the whole trailer is very effective as it starts off very slow introducing a normal suburban family and steadily increases in speed and action.

The trailer for 'Insidious' represents a middle class family of various ages and genders from a young boy to parents to grandparents. The casting of this film is very clever in terms of how it uses a child as the main character who becomes consumed by greater evil. The dominant ideology of young children is that they are very sweet and innocent there the film effectively challenges this and brings fear to its audience by showing evil can come from the least unlikely things. Horror Films consistently play on things society would class to be "safe" such as children's dolls as shown in the film  Chuckie. This takes them out of their comfort film and raises the tension.

The reason why we have chosen this film is because of how it manages to manipulate the audience's emotions and reactions which leaves them constantly wanting to know more. The fact that it challenges vary dominant ideologies as previously stated, leaves the audience on the edges of their seats which is something as a group we will work towards  in order to make our trailer engaging and thrilling.

THE CONJURING TRAILER ANALYSIS

The Conjuring is a 2013 American supernatural horror film. As a group we were particularly interested in doing background research of this film because of the way it was skilfully created in order to appeal to its targeted audience.

The film tells the true story of Ed and Lorraine Warren (Patrick Wilson, Vera Farmiga), world renowned paranormal investigators, who were called to help a family terrorised by a dark presence in a secluded farmhouse. Forced to confront a powerful demonic entity, the Warrens find themselves caught in the most horrifying case of their lives. The film introduces the plot  with a shot showing two paranormal investigators doing the job, straight away the horror genre is conveyed as the audience are shown various dark and terrifying images. This sets the scene as opening titles such as "based on a true story" and "one so disturbing" entices the audience to want to know more. In terms of the mis en scene, the film is shot in a very deserted setting to emphasise the vulnerability of the characters living in the haunted house. A blue tinted filter and low lighting are also used, once again emphasising the horror genre. Many shots are taken in complete darkness or very low lighting as evil is often associated with darkness and intensifies the impact of the scenes. Many horror films use this same technique because if a film was shot in complete daylight for example, the audience wouldn't feel the need to be afraid as the mood is uplifted by the bright lighting, however in darkness, there is a sense of mystery of the unseen.

Long shots are used to set the scene and introduce the audience to the characters. Along with that, close up shots become more frequent as the trailer progressively becomes more fast paced. This is so the audience pay extra attention to certain parts of scenes, or characters' facial expressions. Additionally, POV shots are very popular in this trailer. POV shots are extremely effective as they allow the audience to experience the action through the eyes of the characters. presenting the feeling that they are actually in the moment. Sound is also a very important part in the trailer as it ultimately narrates it, and sets the mood through the rhythm and pace. In the trailer the sound progressively speeds up to match the racing beat of the audience in order to keep us gripped throughout. In addition, diegetic sound of screams and bangs are particularly effective in in this film in terms of increasing the anticipation and tension. Furthermore the transitions in the film were often created with a black fade out or a cut. This is to once again emphasise darkness and raise the tension. Throughout the trailer  effectively plays on society's fears, it does this constantly firstly through the location, as the house is in a very dark and secluded rural area, therefore it sets the idea of the characters being unable to run away from their fears. Secondly, various scenes in the trailer are set in the dark, for example the attic when one the character becomes trapped. This is instantly very terrifying as people generally fear what they cant see or when their not in control of a situation.

The trailer for 'The Conjuring' represents a middle-aged upper class couple who are investigators. This profession is seen to be extremely open-minded and strong-willed, which challenges the usual conventions of film trailers presenting the protagonists as being fairly naive and not having knowledge in scary situations.

The various elements used in the trailer are very effective and will be taken into consideration when making our trailer. One of the main things we found effective was the use of the opening titles which slowly ease the audience into the film and increase their anticipation to find out more.

TRAILERS

A trailer is an advertisement for a film that is typically shown at a cinema theatre. Its purpose is to promote a film and attract an audience for financial profit, supporting the budget making of the film. It uses clips and extracts from the film itself, with additional voice-overs, effects and a form of narrative to explain the movie's general synopsis without revealing the full plot. Movie trailers are now also featured as part of DVDs and on the Internet and mobile devices. Of some ten billion videos watched online annually, film trailers rank third, after news and user-created video. The format of the trailer may produce different effects. For example, if a horror-type genre trailer is shown in low lighting, on a big screen in a cinema in 3D, it is more likely going to scare the audience more as it appears realistic, life-size and the audience feels more vulnerable with the fear of darkness. However, if the viewer was watching in an ambient lighting set, on a mobile phone, it would not give the same dramatic effect.


Teaser trailers are usually shown further in advance of the film's theatrical release. As it may still be in production or editing stages, there is usually less content to provide, creating a shorter duration. The teaser will not reveal as much of the plot to the audience. A Teaser trailer is desgined to entice its audience and raise their anticiption for the movie's release date. hence the title "Teaser". Many film use teaser trailers to give the public an insight into the movie but not enough to completely give away the plot or the "juicy" bits.

We will be making a horror trailer to advertise the upcoming horror film which will be shown in the cinema. We will select the most dramatic scenes and extracts from our film in order to entice the audience and increase excitment film. This will gain a large audience for our film and help in making our advertisment successful. 

PRODUCTION MEETING #1

Today is the first day we worked as a group and started to get our ideas prepared. One of the first things we did was set out our goals and what we hope to achieve through team effort. Along with this, We created our blog and chose the production name of PHM which is effectively the first letters of our names combined. This idea was brought forward by Paul who also designed the logo for our group. We also managed to start appointing ourselves roles with Maria being appointed the job of designing the blog and Holly starting to do research of trailers we can use for examples.

Progressively through the lesson we also started to contribute ideas for our own trailer. Through this we managed to agree on the genre, characters  plot and a setting. Overall as a group we made great progress for our first lesson.