Horror Magazine Cover

Our horror magazine is called 'Invasion Magazine' we thought this name would invoke the feeling of horror to the magazine and will also stand out amongst other names.

Our cover isn't very colorful and sticks to using shades of white, black, grey and red to add to the feeling of horror as scary emotions and fear are not represented with bright colours such as blues, yellows and greens.

In this issue we have included the 'Top 10 Horror Movies of the Decade' to further attract our audience to purchase this magazine. There is also another method to attract a wider audience by including 5 free posters.

In the center of the cover is the blood runner text and the same blood splatter used in the film poster. i did this so it will be easily recognizable by people who had already seem the poster and would attract them to the purchase to find out more about the film since the poster tells so little.

At the bottom of the magazine cover tells the audience that inside there is an interview from the directors (myself and Samson). I think people will be interested to read this as we are so young and we have directed a produced a horror film.

And finally there is a promotion tactic to create a bigger buzz around the film as it says blood runner is tipped to be the best film of the year.

Film Poster

This poster faced controversy as some thought it wasn't enough detail, while others thought the simplicity yet creativeness within it was great. I like it because i feel it will stand out compared to others where there are low resolution images, this one is different. As me and Samson didn't have a high quality photograph from the trailer we thought i poster wouldn't have the 'high end' look so we went for the simple but strong blood splatter design.

Filming Issues

The first time we filmed the footage, we returned to school to discover that the footage we had filmed was too dark an essentially useless when processed on the computer.

After this we filmed again at an earlier time however there was a malfunction with the camera we were given where the footage was only showing on half of the screen and the other half of the screen remained pixellated, this was another setback.

Eventually, we filmed for a third time there was nothing particularly wrong with this take besides camera steadiness as the tripod was very stiff so when it was rotated the whole camera would jerk so it would look unprofessional.

Film Certificates

After reading the guidelines set for age certification. It is only right that we set our film at certificate 18. This is due to the gore and constant use of murders with a large knife.

Costumes

Our killer will be wearing a mask similar to Jasons from 'Freddy Vs. Jason', along with a grey hooded jumper to show he is also youth and a friend of his victims. He will also be wearing gloves to hide any evidence.

Location

As this is a horror trailer, we will conform to the conventions of horror and film in the night. Part of the filming is on the street and other scenes take place indoors (both very isolated locations). this will liken our trailer to more professionals created ones and will help us reach out to our target audience. We filmed in a house because we have seen it before in other films such as Scream, so we are confident that it will appeal to our audience.

Research into Killers

As you can see, none of the killers seem to be regular people but weird alterations of humans who seem to be possessed. The character of a killer is usually started by a person looking for revenge upon a person or a community, or a lonely outcast from society.

Risk Assesment

Health & safety

Legal advice on health and safety issues when filming.
Producers should ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons working with and for them are not exposed to risks to their health and safety. An example of what may be considered reasonably practicable would be if location filming was taking place in a warehouse with poor lighting. It would be appropriate to ensure that extra lighting is used and that all sharp or otherwise hazardous equipment is made safe.

You should have at least one experienced member of the crew who is aware of health and safety issues.

Some genres may pose more risks than others i.e. horror or action films or scenes involving animals. The production team should discuss safety issues before filming begins and take steps to avoid or reduce the risks identified.

Target Audience

This is a visual assessment of the target audience that my horror movie will be aimed at, as you can see; the illustration clearly outlines the interest of those who we are targettin out film at.

What 'Horror' Means to My Target Audience

Q1:) When you watch a horror film/trailer, what do want or expect to get from it?

When i watch a horror film or trailer i expect it to be clear what the film is about, but at the same time not giving too much. i also like to see the main protagonists and antagonists in action, so i know what to expect from their characters.

Q2:) How far do film posters motivate you to go and watch a film?

Film posters do not motivate to see a film as much as film trailers do, but a hard hitting or mysterious film poster (especially in the horror genre) will motivate me to go and see the film.

Q4:) Do you read/buy film magazines? If yes why and what attracts you to read/buy it?

The look of the magazine such as the colours, fonts and things and other things like that attract me to a magazine, and most likely the way its formatted, the genre and content.

'What I learnt from this'...

From asking these questions, I have learnt that it is very important that i focus on my trailer because it is a preview of the film and no matter what the poster looks like it is the trailer which will give the consumer the push to go and watch the film or not. I also think horror trailers have to be more worked on then trailers from other genres in order to make them stand out from being just another horror movie.

Synopsis

Blood runner - SYNOPSIS

Everybody loves Dylan. The story is set in the urban inner city area of Islington, North London. Popular college kid Dylan is known for his athleticism but also knows what it feels like to go through hardships (his mother was raped before his eyes when he was twelve); he is looked up to by all his peers and especially liked by the females at his local community `college.

Late one night the keen runner was training with his running partner on a running track for a race he was going to part take in the following week. As his running partner leaves earlier on Dylan is left alone training intensely. In the late hours later he makes his way home passing through the woods. As he makes his way down regents canal, he is faced with an issue that alters his life. He is stunned and caught in the cross fire to which he believes a woman being sexually abused. Being Dylan he rushing and plays hero by attacking this guy but surprisingly does not stop. He ends up brutally killing the rapist as if to make up for his mothers death and attends to the frail victim. They are met with a dilemma what to do with the body. As Dylan realises what he has done they begin to panic but the Becka suggests they get rid of the body as they. Dylan makes an attempt to put the past behind him and falls to his bed, as the sun rises he is met with a random Face book message. It is a badly distorted video of him killing. In his attempt he panics and calls Becka but it goes straight to voicemail, so he pays a visit to her only to find coroners and police at her house, Becka has been murdered.

Faced with the unexpected death he panics and runs home and decides to do run away. But in the middle of his rant his thoughts change and he begins to think of his father and friends, so he goes into his garage to say goodbye to his dad only to find him being held hostage by the same person he called his best friend.

Film titles

Film titles give the audience information about what is going to occur within the movie. With the reference of blood on the image and the mysterious coloured background we can immediately make a reference to a horror, but the main striking fact is that with title and image together you can tell that it makes a reference to vampires. From Dracula movies to the current True blood series we are stilled faced with the passed down made up custom of vampires having to be invited in.

Samson and i almost instantly thought of the name of the trailer. we came up with 'Blood Runner' as the main character is an athlete. 'Blood Runner' fits into horror conventions instantly especially with the word 'Blood' and the word runner is a play on words as the main character (Dylan) is an athlete as well as being on the run from this masked villain.

Research: Stock Characters

The Wanderer

There is always a wanderer in horror movies that stupidly puts themselves in risky situations which sometimes turn out to be fatal or in which they narrowly escape death. The stock character would often uses the typical phrase off 'let's spilt up' or is generally the weak link within the group of main characters. i this case i have used Ron Weasley from Harry Potter as he is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

The Popular Girl

The 'Popular Girl' is often smart, stuck up , two faced and sought over by most of the male characters but is in a relationship with the male who plays the main role of the 'Jock' . in some horror films the popular girl is perused by the killer, this is seen a punishment for her behavior towards others.

The Jock

'The Jock' is the most popular male character who is also the leader of the most prominent sports team within the high school. He dates the popular girl, has a group of loyal followers and often bullies other males who have a lower level of social status. The Jock is also a regular target for the murderer in horror films.

The Final Girl

'The Final Girl' is often the survivor in a horror film, the girl who manages to slay the murderer and is the only person left standing from the original set of main characters. when there is a sequel to the film there final girl is often the main character as a killer seeks revenge on her as she survived in the previous film.

The Pervert

The pervert is often the boy from school who is too frisky and puts himself in fatal situations because he would do anything to sleep with a girl. He is often killed off very early during the film. Perhaps this could be a message no to live such a life as he died early.

Pandora

Pandora is the part of the film where something important of mysterious happens. For example when the final girl discovers why the murders has been happening which allows her to defeat the murderer, making her the final girl.

Research: Locations & Settings

Horror films are often easily identified by their location and setting. horror films are usually shot at night in abandoned derelict locations

Conventions Of Horror

These conventions as well as many others are clear to identify in almost every horror movie ever made. Conventions are what goes into the formula to create the genre.

The Concept Of Horror

Images VS Words

In the SALT film cover the image seem o be more informing as the word salt couldn't really help to tie my attention to any specific genre. But with the image of Angelina Jolie, her eyes seem very strong and appear to be the focal point of the poster, along with the only colours on the entire poster being different shades of black and white immediately gives the film a serious tone which makes you instantly feel that it will be an Action/Adventure

With the 'Friday' film, if you just heard by word of mouth about it, i would most probably assume that it was a horror film because of friday having associations with the horror film genre with dates such as Friday the 13th. But by seeing the font and colour of the text 'friday' can conclude that if anything it could range from being a comedy movie of a family film.

I feel that perhaps images are more important than words because although the fonts, colours and connections we have with words may carry a meaning, there is nothing clearer to us than when we see an image to let us know what the film is about, like the one above. So yes, pictures can be used to convey certain things, but not all. Because it would be hard to convey to someone what you feel the meaning of life is with only a picture as depending on that persons experiences is what they will understand from the picture, but on the other hand with words it will be made very clear.

Analysis of Horror Film Posters

You can instantly tell that saw is a horror movie from the poster without much analysis. However if i was unsure there are some factors that would confirm my suspicions. For example The font looks very raw with jagged edges which is very familiar in the horror film genre. The letter are also in capital white letters to draw your attention and the word saw isn't orientated normally, but rotated anti-clockwise giving the feeling of distortion and that something isnt right. So at this point we have established that Saw is a horror film and from the name of the film we assume that a saw will me the major murder weapon used in this film, we also assume that the film we be very gory especially if a saw is the featured murder weapon.

The next piece of text we notice is 'OPENING WIDE THIS HALLOWEEN'. it also helps to confirm that its a horror by the fact that the film had a Halloween release date. And the line 'OPENING WIDE THIS HALLOWEEN' is a pun on the background image. The background image shows and image of a mouth with dentist utensils in it, and the teeth appear to have been forcefully removed.

At the top of the Devil promotional film poster it reads 'FIVE STRANGERS TRAPPED, ONE OF THEM IS NOT WHAT THEY SEEM'. The second sentence gets your attention because without the twist of one of the passengers not being what they seem the film would have no unique selling point. Directly below that is an image of the elevator at floor '6' i can make connotations from the number 6 as it is known as having connections with the devil, and i am sure it was not randomly chosen as the elevator number. There is also a what appears to be a line of fire breaking through the elevator doors and below it in the shape of a cross with the point of the line directly fitting symmetrically into the 'V' of the word 'DEVIL' below which is very noticeable in big white letters on a black background the letter also appear to be double spaced. The fire bursting through the elevator doors could indicate that hell is beyond those doors which most definitely classifies this film to be a horror.

Film Synopsis: Devil (2010)

The film begins with a person committing suicide by jumping from a building narrated by Ramirez (Jacob Vargas) who mentions that his mother tells him stories of the Devil roaming the earth, and it always begins with a suicide. Detective Bowden (Chris Messina) is called to the scene to aid in the investigation. Bowden is a recovering alcoholic devastated by the death of his wife and child in a hit-and-run accident by a driver who was never caught. As this is happening, five strangers, who have committed various crimes in the past, step onto an elevator located within the same building where the suicide has taken place.

The five strangers include Ben (Bokeem Woodbine), a temp security guard with a violent past; an elderly woman (Jenny O'Hara) who is a compulsive thief; Vince (Geoffrey Arend), a mattress salesman who moonlights as a con artist; Tony (Logan Marshall-Green), a former mechanic who served in the U.S. military during the War in Afghanistan who is now seeking employment within the building; and Sarah (Bojana Novakovic), a greed encompassed heiress meeting with her lawyer in the building.

Strange things start to occur beginning with the elevator becoming stuck between floors. Then, after the lights go out, Sarah is inexplicably wounded on her back. The remaining occupants of the elevator quickly begin to suspect Vince of having committed the assault. Slowly, one by one, the five strangers start to die. First, Vince is killed by a shard of glass from a mirror which slices his jugular vein. Detective Bowden, sensing a connection between this and the man who earlier committed suicide in the same building, is compelled to further investigate. Checking the building's guest log, Bowden finds that only four people have missed their scheduled appointments that day: Sarah, Vince, Ben, and Janecowski. The investigators misinterpret the latter as Jane Cowski and assume this is the old womans name, leaving Bowden suspicious of Tony who appears to be the only undocumented occupant.

With the help of the buildings security team, Bowden examines security footage and discovers that the old woman had stolen a wallet prior to entering the elevator. The office building's repairman is sent down the elevator shaft to fix it, but plummets to his death. During a power outage, the old woman is found hanging by the neck from an electrical cord and presumed dead. Sarah and Ben turn on Tony, while Bowden begins to suspect that Sarah's husband has hired Ben to kill her.

A security guard inspects the basement and electrocutes himself attempting to secure a hot fallen wire. The lights go out again and Ben is dead with his neck completely twisted around. Each thinking the other must be responsible for the murders, Tony and Sarah prepare to fight each other with broken glass, but Bowden seemingly manages to calm them. As Sarah prepares to take out a shard of glass hidden in her back pocket, the lights once again go out and her throat is slashed. The mystery seems solved, when a tattooed woman arrives and informs Bowden that Tony is her fiance, and was at the building for a job interview. Only then is his full name revealed to be Tony Janecowski.

The old woman suddenly rises and appears behind Tony. It is now apparent that she is the Devil who has taken a human form. Having dispensed of the others, The Devil tells Tony its his turn to die. Detective Bowden watches through the CCTV as Tony confesses to killing two people in a drunken hit-and-run accident. Tony had been trying to grab another beer while driving and had not seen where was going. Tony says "I'm so sorry." and Bowden had a car wash coupon that says "I'm so sorry" on the back. At which point the Devil is forced to spare him (as he confessed his sin and apologized for it) and disappears as the firemen finish breaking into the elevator. Detective Bowden realizes Tony is the one who killed his wife and son, but expresses his forgiveness en route to the police station following his arrest.

The film ends with Ramirez telling the audience that his mother always reassured him at the end of her stories, "If the Devil is real, God must also be real."

Applying Recognisable Conventions of Trailers

In groups we conducted a task where in groups of three we had to illustrate a story board for a a trailer of a horror film called bloodshed high. I was in a group with Jack and dolly. As a group we decided that our rendition of bloodshed high would be a film about the teaching staff at the school being infected with a malicious disease and spreading it throughout the students so eventually it would be spread through the whole town, meanwhile there are a group of brave friends who decide they will not allow this to happen and play hero, at their own risk.

As a group we discussed the USP which is essential for the marketting of a film, we asked ourselves what aspect of our film makes it different from other teen horrors

we had to ensure thatWe discussed the USP (UNIQUE SELLING POINT)which is essential in the marketing of film. we asked ourselves what made our film different from the rest?we had to make sure there were relevant actors that were known to the audience we could have a sense of familiarity with the audience.

Analyzing Film Trailers: Brooklyn's Finest

After watching the 'Brooklyn's Finest' trailer, it was fairly easy to deconstruct what type of film it would be. It is a movie that focusses around the new york police department trying to fight the drug world within the slums of new york, particularly in Brooklyn, very similarly to the Television series The Wire however The Wire is set in Baltimore. Brooklyn's finest even go as far as to use some of the notable actors from the wire for example Michael K. Williams who played Omar.

The trailer has a voiceover that easily lets me know what the film is a NY street cops drama without giving me too much information, All of the main characters featured in the trailer appear to have a different motive through the film to achieve different personal goals. The shots last no longer than around 5 seconds and always seem to fade out to black before the next shot is brought in with a string hit from a loud instrument. Theres seems to be a lot of betrayal and money seems to play a big roll in the film both from the drug market to police corruption. However these seems like very typical cop and criminal stereotypes where the characters are caught up in a dead-end situation which makes the film feel obvious.

The name of the film is shown 5 seconds before the end of the trailer, this was probably done to keep watchers engaged and to ensure viewers would have to watch the whole trailer in order to find out the name of the trailer.

We are told who is starring in this film by their names being written in the trailer, the cast in this film are well known in the own right all though they are not an all-star cast. we were told the names of the actors so that existing fans of the actors would be attracted to the film and would promote it further.

We see a lot of gun action in the trailer mainly from police raids and gang affiliation.

The trailer has backing music of the song 'Run This Town' by Jay-Z, Kanye West & Rihanna which is a heavy hitting hip hop song, as well as music played by strings that sounds orchestral when action is shown in the trailer.

The shots are very fast and do not last any longer than 5 seconds and all have the sound of a string hit when thy change as well as a fade out on the shot so the next shot comes in more hard hitting. however the shots towards the end of the trailer seem to last a few seconds longer.

In the very last frame of the trailer it says "COMING SOON'. this is good because we do not know a date for the film therefore we will have to keep doing research and checking up on it in order to know the release date which will generate more awareness and promotion.

The trailer is more effective in making me want to see the film because although the picture does give me and idea of what the film could be about, the trailer actually tells me the genre and other important information about the film.

Film Title Deconstruction: Piranha 3D

The first film title i chose to deconstruct was Piranha 3D. When i see the name of the film i instantly feel as if it is and action/adventure or horror film as it is in 3D and those genres of film are usually put in 3D as opposed to comedy's and romances. Also from my prior knowledge i know that a Piranha is a feared and deadly fish, so i started to think it could be a horror film.

After seeing the font in which the film is written in, my thoughts were confirmed, that in fact this was a action horror film, the font in which 'Piranha 3D' is written is in block capitals and coloured red which in media we know can represent danger. The letters have also been stretched leaving an after effect on the font as if the text is bleeding in the water which could be a hint as to what is to happen in the film. However i think what will be features in the film is obvious with such vicious images of the piranhas on the cover. And a woman unknowingly relaxing on the water above them shows that the was the piranhas will attack has an element off surprise.

After watching the Trailer for PIRANHA 3D, i have seen that it is very bloody and graphic with images such as these:

So my suspicions were confirmed in what i first thought when i saw the name of the film and the typography in the font used. Also in the trailer every time words popped up they were always in the colour red with a wav effect going through the letters which could symbolize blood in water.

Introduction

I started my year 13 horror blog off by setting up a new blogger account. In this blog I will be speaking about my process into making my horror movie trailer.

Stating the blog is a helpful way of planning, pointing down and evaluating the construction of the horror movie trailer that I am creating.

We will be working in groups of 5 to produce this trailer.

In a recent lesson with Mr Rosen, we worked in independent groups to film a s short trailer scene for a film called 'the meeting', it was a good practical taster of what was to come in year 13.

In my group of four we made our meeting about a infected student in a high school that would not kill but infect other pupils to make them also possessed by the same demon. Production wise my groups trailer could have been sharpen the sense of the shots being put together better and more continuously and put together better and more professionally but i think it was still at a good level and one of the better trailers in the class.

We also had a visit from Pete Frasier who is a media specialist he showed us how far we could stretch our blogspot page to achieve higher, by showing us a really good constructed blog site by a past year 13 pupil at his college. Pete also showed us programs we could use such as prezzi which is used to put presentations on our blogspots.

We also did a group activity where everyone in the class was given a sheet of A3 paper i was told to draw their experience over the year 12 media course as if it were on an island, this was a good activity as we had a chance to assess and compare each other experiences in a fun less formal way