Genre

Genre is French for ‘type’. Genre is important for the film industry because it can then gage its target audience, which would in turn then help make the package for the prospected film. Audiences in turn find genre appealing because it allows them to know their expectations of a film. The genre for our film trailer that we will make will be mainly in the horror genre. However it will be more of a hybrid genre as we intend to have elements of comedy in our trailer and will thus be horror/comedy like the film Shaun of the Dead.

The key characteristics of a horror film are to depict, address or explore the audience’s hidden fears, nightmares and phobias. Horror tends to evoke emotions such as panic, fear, disgust or shock through the actions of an evil force, whether it is natural or supernatural. Like the slasher film franchise Friday the 13^th, these films focus on an evil person Jason who kills people systematically and without remorse for revenge of what happened to him. This plays on people’s nightmares as it looks to cause fear and panic in the audience about the methods he uses to target and kill his victims. It also focuses on blood and gore content to further emphasise this fear and shock. The Friday the 13^th films are very similar to what our film trailer will be like as it’s about a masked villain hunting down and killing people in a cold unremorseful manner.

Another horror film but is of a completely different nature to the Friday the 13^th films is the Paranormal Activity films which focuses on the psychological aspects of fear rather than being graphic. This also fits in with our trailer as the masked villain psychologically harasses his victims as he stalks them. This would also put the audience on edge as coupled with creepy sound effects would put the audience very much on edge as the trailer plays out.

My understanding of the horror genre will impact my decisions of how I will develop my coursework as I will try to keep true to the horror genre. However it is to be noted that I will add a bit of comedy to the trailer so that we could try to get a different angle and to try and surprise the audience by giving an element they might not expect. The initial ideas for our trailer is that a masked villain would stalk a group of friends taking a short cut through a field or wooded area home and how he systematically kills them one by one and to try and shock the audience by the methods of how he does this. This would coincide with both of the discussed movies above as it would use blood and gore like a slasher film would portray coupled with the psychological horror of them being stalked in an isolated dark area. However at the start of the trailer there would be an element of comedy to surprise and show the audience how their night has gone from being quite happy and innocent to being tortuous and a nightmare.

Genre Video

In this video, we are to describe to you what 'Genre' is, and lightly inform of our plans and ideas for our project.

Shaun of the Dead Trailer

Here is the Shaun of the Dead trailer. We have chosen to use this film because it is a horror/comedy, which is of a similar hybrid genre as we intend to use some comedy in our trailer.

Shaun of the Dead's style is mainly focused on the comedic effect rather than horror. That said it starts off very seriously and like a horror film but when the main characters are introduced and on the screen the comedy takes effect, whereas when they're not on the screen it is like any other horror zombie film. This would be similar for the start of our trailer when the characters are joking around but as our trailer continues the comedy would have all but wore off due to the seriousness of the film and the situation the characters are in.




Here's a screenshot of part of the trailer. This shot is used early on at 0:06 seconds to show the confusion and chaos that the start of trailer tries to convey before showing the characters which signifies it is a horror/comedy.




The music also starts off quite dark and serious however like said above, when the two main characters (Shaun and Ed) are on the screen the music turns all upbeat, silly and stupid to match in with the film itself. Our music will be quite eery and have a paranormal effect due to the fact that what is happening to the characters is surprising and a nightmare. There is a sound test of what we might do later in our blog. The stars of the film aren't huge Hollywood actors as it is a British made film with American financial backing. Simon Pegg and Nick Frost who play Shaun and Ed respectively however were known to the British public as they had appeared in the TV series 'Spaced' beforehand.

The plot follows quite a similar narrative for a zombie related film, where a zombie apocalypse is threatening mankind as a virus spread by monkey's is spreading across the country, and if you are bit by an infected zombie you eventually turn into one. This is vastly different to our plot as our trailer and film doesn't feature zombies as it is the comedy that we would like to try and recreate. The editing is quite fast paced to try and emphasise the chaos and confusion along with the comedy to get the full effect of the film. Our trailer will also feature fast paced editing as it is a horror film and we intend to create tension and suspense for the audience for when the antagonist is around our main characters.

Here's another screenshot of Shaun of the Dead. In this clip Shaun is defending himself from zombies with a cricket bat. This is comedic due to the obscure object he's defending himself with instead of using a conventional weapon like a gun for example. There's also horror in this because of the zombie threat, thus fitting in with the horror/comedy aspect.



This trailer represents the working class 'manchild' where Shaun and Ed (the two main characters) are in their twenties and are effectively still acting like kids where Ed has no jobs and plays the PS2 all day and how Shaun is still doing his job he was doing when he was in college. This fits in perfectly with the slacker stereotype of person who is afraid of more adult responsibilities. This is in stark contrast to ours as our three main characters are all of the same age but are all middle class 'go getters' and for their age are fairly successful compared to Shaun and Ed.

The graphics features a little comic blood to emphasise that it is not a serious horror film. It would be quite similar to our trailer where there will not be a great deal of blood if any.






As you can see, there is blood in the trailer but it is very limited and comic like to emphasize it's a horror/comedy.








Now it is to note that our project will NOT feature comedy bedded with horror together, for it'll be difficult to follow and produce. However, it's comedy aspect will help us for we have planned that the start of our trailer will consist of a little comedy. We decided this just so the audience will connect to the characters better, whilst help to bring tension when they watch the characters they've come to like, are in danger.

Friday the 13th Trailer

Here's a screenshot of the teenagers/ young adults laughing and enjoying themselves.












Here's another screenshot of Jason about to kill another victim

Blair Witch Project Trailer

Blair Witch was one our first choices for our horror film trailers. Besides the psychological element, Blair Witch is a good movie to base our trailer round because in the trailer, viewers can't see whats chasing the students. Horror is about the unknown, and that people are afraid of the unknown, which therefore made the Blair Witch movie, a good one to base ours on. The only difference we see is the type of narrative, for we confirmed that third person was a better idea (since it has the advantage of creating various camera shots and POV shots, particularly of the antagonist.)

The style because of it being from a POV style is typical and jerky. Because it is supposedly found footage, there is no special effects, no real editing and no music as all the sounds are diegetic as it has been filmed from a POV perspective. The editing will be very similar to our trailer for the camera will be quite jerky to emphasize the horror and chaos. The music and sound however will be different for we will add eery and suspenseful music and sound to highlight the horror of the film. Due to the fact there are no special effects in this film, unlike Blair Witch there will be special effects in our trailer but at a bare minimum due to the fact that we are thinking of using night vision around the antagonist to further scare the audience.

The plot is all about three students trying to find out about more of the local Blair Witch legend and go to the nearby woods to find it. However supernatural events plague them and eventually they all go missing. Then a year later, their footage was found in a bag under a 100 year abandoned house.

The characters are also quite relevant to our characters as ours will be middle class go getters like these three students. The theme will also be very similar due to the fact that the students have no idea whatsoever why they're getting chased and hunted down by an unknown antagonist which will be the same theme in our trailer.



Here is a screenshot of the trailer explaining the film to the audience

This is a screenshot from the actual film itself. Note there is no special effects as it is supposedly all found footage.

Second Lesson

In our second lesson, to begin with, Matt and Jake have joined the group. In total, theres now four of us, which should generally give us some major advantages since me and Sam can split the work load out more evenly. We discussed together the initial plans we already set up, and further developed them by adding little spices here and there.
We have set roles specifically for each person to focus on, primarily something they like or are willing to do. Alice is in charge of the writing and the art, since she approached this role enthusiastically, and gave many ideas to the group on what the horror (/part comedy) will tell. Matt is given the role of 'camera-man', who focuses on the filming, decisions of shot types and a slice of editing. He was given this role for he showed immediate interest with the camera shots, and discussed with Alice as to how the story will be shown through the eye of lens. Matt is in charge of props and costumes, whilst also conducting research on the conventions of basic horror exterior (what makes them scary?). Sam is able to supply a 'hockey mack' which Alice asked to bring in next week for the group to look at. Now finally, Jake has been given the heavy role of music/sound production or editing. Before Jake joined the group, Alice and Sam found it difficult as to how the music will be made since they had no real access to musical instruments and software. Sound is one the primary elements to making a horror, and since Jake said he has access to a keyboard and has some knowledge of the subject, he was given the role immediately.

Initial Story Boarding and Camera Shots,
Today, the group went through the details of what and how the trailer will be produced. A new location on Hayling island has been suggested, which comprises of a double field and a dark graveyard next to it (see the photos on the photos page). And then we discussed camera editing, and how we can make something ordinary into something supernatural by playing with the camera editing. We suggested the idea of the antagonist standing the field for a while, but in the trailer, the video could be sped up so the figure is standing there in a fidgety way. Theres also the idea of the antagonist suddenly appearing in different locations without seeing him move- almost like he's teleporting. Alice is able to supply a camera that works with night vision. Later, a video will be uploaded to show a screen test of this, to see if the night vision looks durable or not.

Actors,
Now the main problem we are facing at the moment is the sheer worry of getting the right actors for the roles. With no budget, we're restricted to asking our friends, but were worried they're not going to take it seriously enough. We guess were going to have to deal with it at the moment.
The antagonist will have to be someone tall and thin.
The protagonists will be easier to find. One note to spare, were sticking with the whole, couple + best mate idea. The couple will attract a feminine audience, the boyfriend will be the 'alpha male', and the best friend will just be the stupid character who always gets killed first. He could be the one who suggested the shortcut.

First Lesson

Today, we started off with some basic notes. We started throwing random ideas onto some pages and suggested our hybrid genre is going to be horror, for its the easiest genre to follow. However, we are walking on stilts here for we've also decided to include comedy into the movie. Producing comedy will be a tough one, but it's not impossible. We've watched various sitcoms, films and TV that involve comedy, for example, 30 rock, Friends, Seinfeld, Anchor Man, The big bang theory, and much more. The tough part is to find some example horror trailers and movies that share the same genre conventions, with maybe a little joke/laugh here and there. We're going to watch some trailers tonight, specifically Scream and Saw (for we haven't seen these films yet) and also, I'm going to watch Anchor Man since Sam wants the comedy to be of a similar style.

After a few minutes chatting and sharing opinions, we've come down to some conclusions, suggesting that our characters will compose of a female and two males. We haven't specifically chosen names yet but we're coming up to that. We've shared the confirmed idea of them exiting a pub and taking a shortcut back to their house in the middle of the night. We haven't set a confirmed location yet, but we have suggested filming this in the middle of a field at dawn.

Possible filming locations:

• West Lane, Hayling Island
• Rowlands castle forest

Now the villain of every horror is what makes the horror. He's got be frightening in a way that intrigues, and scares the audience. At the very start of the lesson, we proposed an inspirational aspect from the legend of 'Slender Man'. Its a no-name man who wears a black suit, tie and a white mask that stalks the far ends of the black night. His primary targets are young females, however he can chase leading males. The slender man is a our basic idea of the villain at the moment. On the other hand, since theres already a film coming later in halloween about the slender man, we've decided to make it our inspiration and create our own villain who dresses formally and probably wears a hockey mask to hide his identity. The hockey mask can be provided by Sam.

Either way, we're still working on it. We have decided that Alice can be the camera person, for she wanted to plan and film most of the camera shots. 

One other thing to note down, is that we're looking for software that provides the production of good music. Sound is the most important aspect to every horror trailer. If you go on youtube and watch 'lets plays' game videos that support the horror genre, its always the sound that warns the audience that something horrific is about to happen. 

A useful book we read today: 'The secrets to writing great comedy'

What makes a good horror movie?

This is a podcast discussing the horror movie genre.