Research into representation

Representation refers to how media represents certain social groups, particularly focusing on age, gender, social class, ethnicity, religion, disability and sexuality. Representation is ultimately how we perceive these groups. This can also apply to stereotypes in which the ultimate is the ‘blonde bimbo’ which refers to a blonde, brainless woman typically wearing revealing clothes.

Representation in media is a way of making sense of reality and without it we wouldn't have a real perception of the world, for example the news is a way of perceiving the world and without it we wouldn't have any other information other than what the media is feeding you. 

Gender is a key representation within our trailer; there are certain elements that help identify a gender, gender stereotyping comes from many different products and factors. Media can help the construction of a person’s gender often you’ll see ‘gender appropriate’ advertisements which encourage children’s understanding of gender. 

From the above images you can see that media encourages gender roles, girls are encouraged to be fragile, soft and delicate and of course love pink, whereas boys are encouraged to be more competitive and tough. 

I believe these gender conventions have been strongly adhered to with our characters, Rosie for example represents a rather weak and fragile women with a rather submissive nature, she is also a teacher which helps explore her caring nature, all of these characteristics are strongly reinforced in the media especially when looking to fairy tales in which the princess is all of the above and always reliant on a prince to rescue her. This is much alike an aspect of our trailer where we see George hugging Rosie he acts as her protection, he is dominant and tough and represents the 'appropriate behaviour' enforced by the media. 

Not only are gender characteristics enforced by the media but also aesthetics we never see a girl with short spiky hair advertising for my little pony. Or a limp and thin man advertising aftershave this is due to the fact media offers us only one option to conform to the stereotype of a thin and delicate woman or a strong and physically big man. 

However in a way we are challenging the gender representations of women, through our antagonist Evelyn who almost carries the representations of men, she is physically threatening and dominant all of which you would not expect to see in the representation of media.  

Research into Idea Mise-en-scene, Shooting and Editing Style

Looking at wide range of horror films, found that many adhere to certain conventions and techniques. I plan to focus on these conventions in terms of mise en scene, ways in which scenes are shot and editing. Following these conventions means that genre is clearly defined and thus attracts an audience.

Mise en scene

Mise en scene is the arrangement of everything that appears in the framing which includes actors, lighting, décor, props, costume – is called mise en scène, a French term that means “placing on stage”

One of the main visual aspects of horror films when looking at mise en scene is the colours used often blacks and reds are used as they connote mystery, danger and death these are the syntactic elements of the production. Often you will see red titles for example Nightmare on Elm Street use red to connote the foreboding gore.

The mise en scene denoted the genre through props such as knives and axes. The use of these props helps create an threatening atmosphere for audiences. These props are often symbolic of certain themes that denote the genre e.g. knives are symbolic of death. This can be seen in films such as Halloween.

Another horror convention displayed through mise en scene is chiaroscuro lighting. Often horror films will use a blue filter which almost washes out the colours which makes it appear darker and more mysterious, this is also a convention in many thrillers. Lighting and colours in a film are massively important as they set an unsettling atmosphere for audiences and these colour connote mystery and fear rather than using bright natural lighting which connote happiness. 

Another convention in relation to mise en scene is isolated locations, something we plan on incorporating into our trailer these isolated locations are heavily symbolic of vulnerability and make the audience feel on edge. Horror films are most likely to be set in a desolate area such as an abandoned house, creepy woods or a mental asylum. Often these locations are used to make the victim all the more vulnerable as it appears no one is around to help them thus making the antagonist all the more powerful which in return puts the audience more on edge. 

Shots

In horror films the shots are typically varied  to keep the audience on the edge of their seats and makes the scenes all the more intense. These shots range from extreme close ups, where the audience can truly see the fear in the victims face, this is demonstrated within the shower scene in Psycho. Point of view shots are also used both from the antagonists and protagonists perspective it is especially effective from the victims view as it appears as if the audience is really a victim. The effectiveness of point of view shots is demonstrated in the film Evil Dead where Ash the protagonist is chased through the house from the point of view of the killer. Long shots are used to connote a sense of foreboding it’s as if the antagonist is working it’s way up to the attack which puts audiences on edge.   

Edits

Editing is used to create suspense and fear in audiences the use of fast paced editing puts audiences on edge and creates a sense of thrill. Also audiences can never suspect when an intense scene is coming up as editors usually create a sense of complacency by making the scenes prior to it slower which makes the shock of the next scene even greater. 

Research into Nightmare on Elm Street

Nightmare on Elm Street

Survivors of undead serial killer Freddy Krueger; who stalks his victims (children of the members of the lynch mob that killed him) in their dreams learn to take control of their own dreams in order to fight back. We believe this is an ideal film to analyse considering its themes are related to ours we can draw inspiration from the many techniques (setting, lighting, cuts, music etc.) used to make this film so successful.

The Poster

Trailer



The nightmare on Elm street trailer has many concepts that are identical to ours, although we may not have the equipment to produce a trailer of this standard we can draw inspiration from the many techniques used.

The first technique used to imply the genre is setting: here we see a desolate house in a run down area. The setting fits the horror convention of an isolated location which gives it an eerie atmospheric feeling to the scene. It seems there is a blue filter being used here which helps create a ghostly atmosphere. The fact the building is so isolated makes it seem all the more threatening and menacing. We plan to replicate aspects of this scene by having our location also isolated.

Another key aspect of both trailers is the theme of nightmares, we aim to have this implied in many ways. Alike the nightmare on elm street trailer we have a protagonist suffering from nightmares and the idea of them being so torturous they almost seem real and haunt them in day to day life. There is an extreme close up used here in both trailers to symbolise distress in this trailer, however in our trailer it is used to show curiosity that ultimately leads to danger. One of the key aspects we our drawing from this trailer is the way in which the line between reality and nightmares is blurred, we want our audience to be unaware of what is real and whats not.

Shadows is a key convention in thrillers; heavily used throughout the trailer it again creates a ghostly atmosphere as if you don't know what's lurking in the shadows (sense of mystery.) In literature shadows are metaphorically linked to death. The darkness also acts as tool to connote secrets and danger.

Another feature we intend to employ is the way in which we never see Freddie Kruger fully, showing only parts of him intensifies he scariest features e.g. the hand. Similarly in our trailer we intend to only show parts of the antagonist using close ups to focus on her prominent features for example her long creepy hair and her unnerving idiosyncrasies. 

Titles used here again connote the horror genre the red blood splatters imply images of death whilst the serif font demonstrate that this film is for an older audience. The colour red connotes images of danger, death and horror so considering all this it is likely we will incorporate red within our titles in order to have a similar effect.

Domestic Summary

Opening Weekend:	$32,902,299
% of Total Gross:	52.2%

(#1 rank, 3,332 theaters, $9,875 average)

Initial Ideas

Brainstorming ideas is a way of initially planning out your film. When watching a video of Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg carrying out the initial plans for their film 'Hot Fuzz' we saw they came up with all possible details of each character/situation.For the actors and crew to have this information set means not only the actors are able to play the character as realistic as possible but the crew have a clear and direct vision of how it should be played.

 We decided to use a technique involving flip charts, as they did. Doing this enabled us to get everything out quickly and creatively and help us think of each and every possible outcome this meant delving into a characters home life, hobbies, characteristics etc. We wanted to draw on a real life experience to make our trailer more relatable and realistic. The premise was based on a group members experience of seeing another version of herself in a dream like state.

Using this idea to develop a trailer we went on to explore the life and characteristics of the protagonist.Our characters focused on the theme of binary oppositions which is common among horrors the idea of good vs. evil is something prevalent in the majority of horror films. Focusing mainly at each characters appearance we were able to incorporate the theme of good vs. evil, for example the antagonist will be dressed in a manner that makes her unnerving and menacing, a creepy ribbon, long straggly hair and pale skin enforce her evil nature.

Contemporary Media Landscape and Exhibition

There are several ways in which we could promote our film. Promoting a film is imperative as it ensures as many people as possible know about your film there are many ways in which to do this. You firstly have to consider your target audience, for our group that is teenagers therefore it would be smart to advertise where they are most active. This often means creating a twitter and facebook page, This is an excellent way of promoting your film at a very low cost, as teenagers interact virtually now it is more likely to be seen on the internet than it is say, on a poster inside. 

An example of successful promotion through the media is The Hunger Games;

official twitter page for the hunger games

Peoples comments on the films

The internet allows for promotion through the use of hash tags, official pages. 

Internet

• Creates a virtual relationship with audiences and the media
• Allows audiences to now view movies online on websites such as movie.com
• Trailers may appear as an advertisement on popular websites such as youtube thus encouraging audiences to not only view the advert but to watch the film 
• Viral marketing: trailers are freely distributed through movie orientated websites or perhaps even blogs made by fans to employ free promotion and often rating the trailer which in turn acts as a method of promotion
• Social media marketing.

In Cinemas

• Often trailers are shown in cinemas before movie screenings. They aim to entice the audience by showing their trailer in a fashion that will aim to gain the attention and interest of the audience
• Film posters

 TV and radio

• TV is used to attract a wider audience (perhaps those who don't use social media) Not only would the trailer be screened but interviews with the actors and directors may be shown on certain entertainment channels for example 4music help create a buzz over the film
• Behind the scenes documentary style shows again add to the allure of the film, audiences feel as if they are somewhat involved as they are so well informed over the film, these methods of promation create a certain loyalty to the film within audiences

Target audience research

In order to understand our target audience we asked 15 people a series of questions to determine what type of genre, characters etc. we should be incorporating in our trailer. We aimed to get an equal mix of boys and girls answering our survey, that way it is easier to generalise to the whole potential audience. We also wanted to target a certain age (our target audience) as that means we are identifying our audiences likes and catering to them accordingly.  

One of the questions we felt was crucial was the question regarding the gender of the antagonist. The majority of people wanted a male villain. Although this went against the idea of our original premise we decided to stick to it as often women can be the scarier sex in films; this is because the females in horror/thriller films go against social conventions (often expected to be subservient and frightened) therefore when they are villainous it has a bigger impact and is more frightening. We found that due to the fact our villain will be played by a female our audience will be predominantly female. 

Another question asked what kind of protagonist our audience would prefer, this side of the questionnaire fits  perfectly with our premise as we aim to have our antagonist female too. Females tended to vote for a female protagonist and the majority of the boys weren't bothered which means we are able to go ahead with our original character ideas.

From the graph below we see mostly people between the ages of 15-25 are interested in the horror genre. Having this knowledge allows us to market our film in a certain way in order to attract this audience.

From these results we can conclude that we will be targeting both males and females between the ages of 15 and 25 however mainly females. This works in our favour as the cast is predominantly female therefore the audience is able to connect with them. 

I searched the internet for similar films. using IMDB I was able to find the user demographic for two films of the same genre in which the users give the film a rating our of ten, IDMB splits up the users into particular demographics.

Dead Silence

Looking at dead silence we can see we would have a similar audience, with both males and females having a preference for horrors. Dead silence's target audience age is also similar to ours this means we can observe aspects of their advertisement and use them to make our film also a success. 

The Conjuring 

Again the audience for all the trailers is identical which allows us to use methods they've employed to make our production of the highest quality.

Questionnaire

In order to determine a target audience for our film we created a questionnaire and asked a sample of people to fill it out.  This allowed us to see what types of people enjoy which key features of a thriller production.  These are the questions we included:

1.  How old are you?

Under 15

15-25

25+

2. Gender

Male

Female

3. Would you prefer a male or female villain?

Male

Female

Not bothered

4. Would you prefer a male or female hero?

Male

Female

Not bothered

5. What is your favourite genre of the ones listed?

Horror

Thriller

New Genre

After deliberating the group decided we should now opt for the horror genre, the main aim of which is to elicit terror from audiences by playing on their fears. They often have themes of the supernatural and fantasy genres. Often you’ll see aspects of thrillers merged in as the two contain similar conventions and themes.

Often they orientate around the theme of an evil force (the supernatural) such as poltergeists, demons, elderly haunted women and zombies. We plan on focusing on this fear of the unknown which is prevalent in most horrors.  

Genre Conventions

The importance of genre

Identifying the genre of a film is imperative for both the audience and producers, as it allows producers to engage a specific type of audience (target audience) and ensure they are interested and engaged with the genre. Genre's help facilitate the categorisation of films. Often certain social stereotypes are linked with certain genres e.g. girls are more likely to watch romantic comedy's.

Denis McQuail, a theorist, talks of the commercial and industrial significance of genres and suggested that genre helps target an audience of producers to capitalise on the success of previous films as they may choose to see a film based on the genre. Identifying genres means you are then able to target your specific audience and try to cater to their likes, rather than being general you are able to understand your market to the full and incorporate aspects the audience will enjoy for example, fans of horror may prefer to see gore and blood. "Difference between genres means that different audiences could be identified and catered to."-Christine Gledhill

The Thriller Genre

There are many generic conventions that gives an audience an insight into the genre of a film, for example a tense soundtrack, low key lighting, shadows and quick cuts suggest that a film is going to be a thriller. The aim of a thriller is to keep the audience on the edge of their seats as the plot builds to it's climax. Audience's often stay gripped due to tension arising from the protagonist (often isolated, secretive but moral) being put in a compromising situation that could result in a dangerous outcome or their fatality.

Thriller conventions include:

• Protagonist and antagonist 

• Binary oppositions (good vs. evil)
• Murder or crime
• Dreary, creepy soundtrack
• Low key lighting

• Staple characteristics e.g. mysterious
• Enigma codes  

How we aim to incorporate the thriller genre

We aim to incorporate this genre through many different techniques, the first being binary oppositions in which we will have a girl embodying both the good and evil fighting against each other. With lighting, we want mainly scenes with dim and atmospheric lighting to create an eerie effect, again we aim to reinforce the genre with a haunting soundtrack.

An aspect of horror

Our story does consist of many horror conventions, often I find conventions in horror are a lot more obvious, for example setting is often the biggest giveaway with horror films most likely set in a desolate area e.g. an abandoned house, creepy woods, a mental asylum, a highway, countryside, an underground dungeon etc. High angle shots often are used to connote fear/power something we aim to incorporate in our trailer. POV shots are often used so we see the film from the antagonists eyes (evil dead has an extremely long POV shot when chasing Ash the hero through the house) Lighting within a horror is often expressive an non naturalistic with low key lighting that helps create shadowy images and unknown figures in the darkness. Like a thriller there are staple characters within a horror, however in a horror they are often a lot more exaggerated and obvious, with antagonists often being supernatural beings and the protagonist a strong hero with the conventional characteristics e.g. muscles and good intentions.

Black Swan- Trailer Analysis

Trailer Conventions

A trailer is a montage of clips in a non chronological order in which we see a fragmented plot that shows often the most exciting/gripping clips from the film in order to attract the audience. They are informative in the sense we are made aware of the release date, the producers and main cast members. There is often a voice over used alongside a soundtrack and dialogue to add to the attraction of the film. A trailer must be under two minutes and thirty seconds.

The main purpose of a trailer is to entice the audience into seeing the film. There are many methods company's use to do so.

Conventions of a trailer

-highlights showing the best bits of the film; often funny, action packed etc.
-a climactic ending leaving the audience wondering
-voice overs used to tell the story
-soundtrack to create a certain atmosphere
-stars to attract audience
-conversations between characters
-special effects
-credits on screen- producers/famous actors may be used to entice the audience
-titles
-social networking sites advertised to inform audience more about the film (creates synergy)
-fast paced editing in order to excite the audience
-certificate specifying the minimum age required to watch the film

Vladimir Propp’s key characters will often appear in trailers these characters comprise of a hero, a villain, a helper, a prize etc.

 An example of a voice-over being used effectively is in the 500 days of summer trailer at the start of the trailer. Voice-overs are a script that appears over the trailer often by a specialist actor who has a voice in which attracts audiences, for example an action trailer may use a booming voice to adhere to the theme. Voice-overs often help piece together the story line and create a sense of continuity to give the audience a more fuller insight into the storyline.

 

Every single trailer will adhere to these conventions take for example the Skyfall trailer as it is an action movie it contains a range of shots from close ups to extreme ariel shots these excite the audience and keep them interested.

Schedule

Dates – week beginning	Plan
1/9/14	Research into trailers, conventions and textual analysis (make powerpoint for black swan)
8/9/14	Audience research-make questionnaires in order to draw conclusions as to who are target audience are
15/9/14	Secondary audience research and research into products- look into similar films e.g. nightmare on elm street
22/9/14	Production Planning and ideas- brainstorm of initial ideas, casting, synopsis, character profiling
29/9/14 – 13/10/14	Script writing and redrafting
20/10/14	Location Recce and risk assessment
20/10/14	Call Sheets and shot lists
27/10/14 – 31/10/14	HALF TERM – Further research
5/11/14	Filming the school scene- finding a suitable classroom and seeking teachers permission ensure no children look at the camera
12/11/14	Filming at the house and the alleyway.
3/12/14	Remaining shots at the house preferably at night time
8/12/14	Reviewing footage, importing footage begin editing
15/12/14	Editing and researching music. – Rough cut due review what needs to be done to the film in terms of editing and sound effects
22/12/14 – 5/1/15	Christmas
5/1/15 – 9/2/15	Finish the edit (Final cut due), Creating plans for the poster and magazine cover. Creation of the poster and magazine cover on Photoshop.
16/02/15	HALF TERM – Further research
23/02/15 – 29/03/15	Evaluation of production work.

Introduction to A2 Coursework

My name is Francesca Roncoli and in this blog I aim to create a promotion package for a new film, I plan on including in this package a teaser trailer paired with a website for the film alongside a poster to advertise the film. I will be working in a group of three with Alexia and Rosie.