Mood Board for Horror.

The reason for creating my mood board is to explore what kind of images are linked with the genre horror. The pictures express the genre horror and what it is about. As you can see on the pictures the facial expressions on their faces either convey fear or suggests that they are the killer. When creating the mood board it gave me an insight on what I need to have in my trailer such as, elements of fear, blood and sterotypical colors such as black,red and grey. The pictures also show me what is stereotypically linked with horror. For example the black cat. Overall, through this mood board, I have a clear idea of what to include in my trailer and images that how I will make sure that I meet my target audiences requitments and needs. 

Other AS Horror Trailer's

Here are some Horror Trailers that have been created by different AS media students. This shows our planning stages and what we want from a horror trailer. Additionally, we are able to see what they thought attracted their audience and how effective it was.

1.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owmbZDNPYgA&feature=related
2. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzLw5gwPVR0&feature=related
3. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GuBfK2oqTFs&feature=related

Trailers for horror films

On children and Horror

Evil Kids  In Horror: Why Do They Scare Us So Much?

 For many years, we have had horror films created with young children as playing as the protaganist. One of the main reasons children are included in horror films is that there seen as "pure and innocent", which is then contrasted when they become "evil" or fighting evil. For examples, the three films above have children becoming evil but are shown at the begining of the film to be "angelic" and "uncorrupet".

Childhood represents the ultimate good, the corruption/destruction of that good is the most extreme form of evil that most of us can imagine. Which scares the audience even more as children are meant to be protected and cared and not supposed to be put through nasty things. But when they are it then becomes more unpleasent for the audience especialy if the child is being tortured like the film Martyrs (2008). 

However, people keep watching horror films with young children in and why?

Because it really engages the audience as they are interested in what is happening and there is an extra level of uncomfort when you are dealing with children in vulnerable settings. It evokes strong emotions from the audience and creates empathy. This can be called gratification theory or affective needs,  as the target audience seek a fulfilment in what they watching.

Modern Horror Time Line, for the 2000's.

2000

• American Psycho (2000)
• Final Destination (2000)
• 28 Days Later (2002)
• The Grudge (2004)
• Exorcism of Emily Rose (2002)
• The Descent (2005)
• Hostel (2005)
• Wolf Creek (2005)
• Slither (2006)
• The Host (2006)
• The Orphanage (2007)
• Grindhouse (2007)
• The Mist (2007)

Horror Time Line

Time Line for Horror films:

• Cabinet of Dr Caligain (1919)
• The Golem (1920)
• Nosferatu (1922
• Dracula (1931)
• Frankenstein (1931) 
• Freaks (1932)
• The Mummy (1932)
• King Kong (1933)
• Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
• Invasion of a body snatcher (1956)
• Plan from outer space (1956)
• Space (1956)
• The Tingler(1959) 
• Psycho (1960)
• The Birds (1963)
• Night Of The Dead (1968)
• Rosemary's baby (1968)
• The Exorcist (1973)
• The Stepford Wives (1975)
• Jaws (1975)
• Carrie (1976)
• The Omen (1976)
• Halloween (1978)
• The Evil Dead (1981) 
• The Thing (1982)
• Evil Dead 2 (1982)
• The Hitcher (1986)
• Childs Play (1988)

199O's

Film	Year	Director	Country	Plot
Silence of the Lambs	1991	Jonathan Demme	USA	Fledgling FBI agent tries to track down trophy hunting serial killer with the aid of jailed psychopath. Stylish and disturbing, with two Oscar-winning performances from its leads
Man Bites Dog	1992	Rèmy Belvaux	Belgium	Documentary crew follow day-to-day life of serial killer as he goes about his business. Black comedy, but very thought provoking. The best thing ever to come out of Belgium.
Trauma	1993	Dario Argento	Italy/USA	Anorexic girl tries to figure out why some hooded guy decapitated her parents... and keeps on decapitating her neighbours. Tame for Argento, but nonetheless a bloody and brutal film, with a fascinating riddle at its heart.
Kalifornia	1993	Dominic Sena	USA	A writer and photographer get more than they bargained for as they research a book on serial killers and get exposed to the real thing. Similar themes to NBK, good performances, but lacks Stone's flair with images.
Natural Born Killers	1994	Oliver Stone	USA	The definitive serial killer couple movie follows the fortunes of Mickey and Mallory as they slash their way across the Mid-West. Distasteful, excessively violent, morally vacuous - a sharp satire on the cult of the serial killer.
Se7en	1995	David Fincher	USA	Perhaps the most gripping serial killer movie ever made
Copycat	1995	Jon Amiel	USA	A psychiatrist is trapped at home by agoraphobia, and must pursue the killer who threatens her via her computer. The killer's MO involves imitations of 'Famous Serial Killers from History'
American Psycho	2000	Mary Harron	USA	Patrick Bateman, folk hero of our times, stalks the upper echelons of New York society. Or does he?

Horror Magazine Film Analysis

Horror Movie Magazine Analysis 

Masthead

The masthead follows the conventions of a magazine by the position as its placed at the top of the magazine. The color attracts the target audiences eyes and catches their attention with the bold font. The use of yellow contrasts well with the red/black background and makes it stand out well.The use of red and black again follows the conventions of the horror genre. The use of contrasting the two colors is seen mainly in horror magazine as it stands out and is subversive like the horror genre. Here are example of Mastheads that contrast with the background and font titles that link clearly with the horror genre: 

Costume

The costume of this character is a stereotypical costume that you would see on a horror genre. The first thing that the target audience see's is the pig head which has been replaced with a human's head. This evidently follows the conventions of horror as it makes the audience want to find out why this character looks like this and what has happened to him. Additionally, it creates suspense and fear for the audience as they are kept in the dark on who the person is. The pig head in the magazine also follows the horror genre as its unusual and out of the ordinary to see something like this.  The characters costume connotes that he could be a farmer from his overalls and the shirt. This creates suspense for the target audience as it them piece of the plot but does not reveal the rest of the plot. The shot used in the magazine is long shot. The reason for using the long shot is to show the whole body of the character as it focuses on the prop (saw) and focuses on the pig head. This creates uncertainty in the audience again, as they cant figure out what they are looking at.

Below are pictures of the main character on a horror magazine which follows the same conventions: 

The shot used on this magazine is a close up to show the facial expression of the victim, the blood which is focused in the center and focuses on the metal pole going through his head. 

 The shot used in this magazine is another close up to focus on the facial expression of the character and the blood which the audience would be repulsed by as it's used on the majority of the character. 

The shot used in this magazine is a close up. The close up focuses on the facial expression of the character. It gives the impression that the character is staring straight into the audiences eyes. This again creates fear in the audience and suspense. 

Prop

The prop used in the horror magazine follows the conventions of the horror genre. When the killer is used on the front cover, the prop used clearly shows the audience who the person is and what he plays within the film. The prop used is a stereotypical prop used in horror and makes the audience understand clearly that it is a horror magazine. The blood is dribbled down on the saw which could indicate to the audience that the character has just killed someone. The use of red is significant within the prop as it clearly shows that it is sticking to the conventions of horror. Below are some examples of weapons used in the front page of horror magazines: 

Barcode:

The barcode is positioned on the bottom of the magazine which is follows the convention of magazine front cover. 

Below are barcodes on the bottom of the magazine:

Tagline:

The tagline which is positioned underneath the masthead, again follows the conventions of a magazine front cover.

Below are magazines that have the tagline underneath the masthead: 

The Omen (1976 and 2006 posters)

The Omen is a 2006 remake of Richard Donner's The Omen of 1976. The fact that the film is a remake of a 1976 film shows that they are trying to re-create the old version of the film and targeting it at a new generation.

When you look at the original poster for the film you can see that the newer version(2006) looks more sinister and fits more with our perception of horror in the 21st generation. 

The Omen (1976 and 2006)

The first thing that attracts the audience attention is the red bold title, which has been purposely used to connote the genre - ‘horror’. The audience can relate the color to death and evil, and suggests the theme of ‘demonic’ elements within the film. The use of black is significant as it also suggests ‘evil’ and clearly shows the audience that it is a horror film. Additionally, the basic use of the two colours shows how strong these colours are and suggests how powerful the colours really are, especially when horror films were developing. The second significant colour that’s being used is ‘white’ which makes the red colour stand out more. This could of purposely been used to make the red colour more significant. 

The 2006 poster of ‘The omen’ uses more  of a blue colour. It doesn’t stick to the convention ‘red and black’ but uses dark colours in a different way. The majority colour used in the poster is a blue/grey colour. As a modern generation, the audience know that these colours suggest ‘horror’ and that we can tell that the film is a horror genre, by just looking at the main picture. Unlike the older version were you rely on the colours to outline the genre. 

The title is in black bold writing, again showing the targeted audience that it is a horror, however the audience are focused on the picture which takes up the majority of the poster. Unlike the original poster where the picture sits on top left of the poster and does not hold much significance. 

The main picture in the original poster shows that it is a horror genre, by the expressions on the “parents” faces and focuses on them, unlike the 2006 poster, where it focuses on the child. This could suggest something about the political context of the film and how horror was perceived then.

The tagline on the 1976 poster is at the top, which follows the conventions of film posters. However, the tagline (“You have been warned”)  makes the audience more involved with the poster, as it sounds as though it is aimed at the target audience. In contrast the tagline on the 2006 poster is more sinister and edgy making the audience want to watch the film as well. The facial expression of the mother and father on the 1976 poster shows that they are fearful of something that is dark and sinister. 

The layout on both of the posters are quite similar and follow the stereotypical conventions for example, as you have the titles both at the bottom of the posters. This could have been done to show that they are the same film, although its been remade for a newer generation and audience. Furthermore, this ties in with technology developing throughout the years and it shows what attracts the more modern generation.

Finally, I think that both of the posters do attract its target audience through the ways that they have presented the posters. Even though the older version of the film has different stars and settings it would still of attracted its target audience during the late 1970’s.

Analysis of Horror poster (edit if have time)

APOLLO 18

Apollo is one of the newest horror films out and was released on the 2nd of September 2011, in the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada . When you look at the poster on the right the first element your able to notice is the Title, which is in a clear white font, which contrasts the dark background. The fact that ‘Apollo’ has been presented in a white font, suggests that its not just horror, otherwise they could of just picked a title that clearly presents the theme ‘horror’, for example has blood dripping around the title. However, the audience are able to tell that the sub-genre is Sci-fi by the use of the ‘White’ font. The colour ‘white’ connoted purity and innocence, which could relate to the genre of sci-fi, as its more fact than fiction. Next you can see that the number ’18’ has been outlined with ‘fire’ which suggests to the audience that it will have themes of danger and reminds them that it is a horror film too.

Beside the title, the audience then gets attracted to the image which is placed in the centre of the poster to attract the audiences attention. The audience can see that the picture evidently relates to the sub-genre sci-fi. The audience can see that the picture is a human’ foot print and beside it is a ‘monster/creatures’ footprint. This already shows the audience what the main context of the film will be about and gives a hint to the film. Additionally, the audience can see that the footprints is on something that represents the Moon.  This suggest where the main location of the film will be and where the action will take place.

Stereotypically, the colours on the poster follows the convention of horror films using dark colours, which clearly demonstrates to the audience the genre of the film.  

The significance use of the colour ‘black’ represents the theme of death and evil.( more to speak about colour)

The tagline, which sits at the top of the poster also follows the stereotypical conventions of a film poster. The tagline normally either sits at the top or bottom of the poster. ‘There’s a reason we’ve never gone back to the moon’, this questions the audience and makes them interesting in wanting to go watch the film and adds mystery to the film. Again this is stereotypical of horror films, as there taglines always leave the audience questioning or wanting more.

The layout of the poster is quite stereotypical and follows the conventions of horror posters. The picture is in the middle like other horror posters and the main area that attracts the audience is the ‘title’ which is of course significant then the picture. The picture is the main thing that the audience can see and is the largest on the poster. This suggests that the ‘footprints’ and the ‘moon’ are the most important parts of the film and gives away the plot of the film. 
Here are example of other horror poster/layouts:

Finally, the poster attracts its targeted audience well, either it be aimed at a mass audience or niche audience. The poster attracts a mass audience as a lot of people are into horror films as it is a popular genre. However, it can be seen to be aimed at a niche audience too, from the sub-genre, sci-fi. Furthermore, I think that the poster would attract more of a male audience as horror’s are seen to be quite masculine and the fact that there is no femine colours on the poster, suggest even more that it is targeted at a male audience.  

Levi Strauss

`Every novel has a beginning, a middle and an end. But not necessarily in that order.'

http://www.selectedworks.co.uk/structuralism.html

Levi Strauss said that story elements which give meaning will usually appear in pairs. For example a story will typically be organised into binary opposites such as: hero/ villain, rich/ poor etc.

1)Applying Levi-Strauss to the opening of ‘Pale Rider’ (Eastwood-1985)

Peaceful setting vs. loud horse riders
Still shot of town vs. tracking shot of riders
Innocent town people vs. evil horse riders
Light vs. dark
Slow paced editing vs. Fast paced editing
Town vs. country
Sun vs. snow
High angles to low angles
Innocence vs. violence
Calm vs. fierce
Survival vs. death
Miracle- Clint Eastwood
Prayer vs. miracle
Supernatural vs. everyday

Applying Levi Strauss theories to my work/ trailer, will be important because I need to outline the contrast or opposites within my trailer. For example, the audience need to be able to see clearly who the evil character is and who the innocent ones are. This is mainly important to the horror genre, as we need the opposites so the audience epathise with the innocence and is becomes scared by the "evil" element within the horror trailer.

Tzvetan Todorov's Theory

TZVETAN TODOROV - Todorov suggested that stories

begin with an equilibrium or status quo where any potentially opposing forces

are in balance. This is disrupted by some event, setting in chain a series of

events. Problems are solved so that order can be restored to the world of the

fiction. 

http://asanda2mediastudies.blogspot.com/2007/11/todorovs-theory-of-narrative.html

http://www.scribd.com/doc/8332523/Narrative-theory-notes

Vladimor Propp's Theory

Propp's analysis

Russian Vladimir Propp (1895-1970) analyzed many of his country's folk tales and identified common themes within them. He broke down the stories into morphemes (analyzable chunks) and identified 31 narratemes (narrative units) that comprised the structure of many of the stories.

Folk stories around the world form a web of connections and the same or similar stories can be found in many places. These old stories also have formed the basis of many more stories since and hence Propp's morphology is useful not only in understanding Russian folk tales but pretty much any other stories.

Propp has been both lauded for his structural approach and criticized for his lack of sensitivity to subtle story elements such as mood and deeper context. Nevertheless, his analysis provides a useful tool in understanding stories ancient and modern and, after early influence on such luminaries as Claude Lévi-Strauss and Roland Barthes, has become a classic of folklore and structuralist analysis.

He identified that “Five categories of elements define not only the construction of a tale, but the tale as a whole.”:

1. Functions of dramatis personae (see below)
2. Conjuctive elements (ex machina, announcement of misfortune, chance disclosure – mother calls hero loudly, etc.)
3. Motivations (reasons and aims of personages)
4. Forms of appearance of dramatis personae (the flying arrival of dragon, chance meeting with donor)
5. Attributive elements or accessories (witch’s hut or her clay leg)

Whilst not all stories will contain all of Propp's narratemes, it is surprising to find stories that contain none, and many modern books and movies fit nicely into his categories.

The 31 Narratemes

Here are the 31 elements of stories that Propp identified, plus their symbol, interpretations and discussion. Note that some of these functions generally occur in pairs, such as departure and return. They may also be repeated.

Few stories contain all elements, but where they do contain elements, they will very largely occur in the sequence given here.

• 0. Initial situation

1st Sphere: Introduction

Steps 1 to 7 introduces the situation and most of the main characters, setting the scene for subsequent adventure.

• 1. Absentation: Someone goes missing
• 2. Interdiction: Hero is warned
• 3. Violation of interdiction
• 4. Reconnaissance: Villain seeks something
• 5. Delivery: The villain gains information
• 6. Trickery: Villain attempts to deceive victim
• 7. Complicity: Unwitting helping of the enemy

2nd Sphere: The Body of the story

The main story starts here and extends to the departure of the hero on the main quest.

• 8. Villainy and lack: The need is identified

• 9. Mediation: Hero discovers the lack
• 10. Counteraction: Hero chooses positive action
• 11. Departure: Hero leave on mission

3rd Sphere: The Donor Sequence

In the third sphere, the hero goes in search of a method by which the solution may be reached, gaining the magical agent from the Donor. Note that this in itself may be a complete story.

• 12. Testing: Hero is challenged to prove heroic qualities
• 13. Reaction: Hero responds to test
• 14. Acquisition: Hero gains magical item
• 15. Guidance: Hero reaches destination
• 16. Struggle: Hero and villain do battle
• 17. Branding: Hero is branded
• 18. Victory: Villain is defeated
• 19. Resolution: Initial misfortune or lack is resolved

4th Sphere: The Hero’s return

In the final (and often optional) phase of the storyline, the hero returns home, hopefully uneventfully and to a hero's welcome, although this may not always be the case.

• 20. Return: Hero sets out for home
• 21. Pursuit: Hero is chased
• 22. Rescue: pursuit ends
• 23. Arrival: Hero arrives unrecognised
• 24. Claim: False hero makes unfounded claims
• 25. Task: Difficult task proposed to the hero
• 26. Solution: Task is resolved
• 27. Recognition: Hero is recognised
• 28. Exposure: False hero is exposed
• 29. Transfiguration: Hero is given a new appearance
• 30. Punishment: Villain is punished
• 31. Wedding: Hero marries and ascends the throne

http://changingminds.org/disciplines/storytelling/plots/propp/propp.htm