Research-Trailers

The Unleashed

This trailer is called the unleashed, it is a Canadian film which i assume is about a group of friends that have done a Ouija Board in a house that they believe to be haunted, and they are suffering the consequences, the main character as you can see is a woman, and she is suffering from paranormal issues, like seeing things etc.

A similar sound effect is used almost the whole way through, you an never not hear a sound effect in a gap of at least 10 seconds, i think this is good because the sound effect is scary and keeps that tone throughout the trailer, however it an get a little repetitive.

The main scene of the film seems to be around this haunted house, at the begging the actress try's to address the fact its haunted by saying 'do you think it still haunted' After the woman coming through the door and looking for 'Maddison' you hear nothing but the one sound effect for about 18 seconds, this is a good way to keep up a scary atmosphere. As the sound effect is there you can see scary images also. For example 'The man sees a ghost in the back f his car, and the woman who is getting dragged upstairs, we have no idea what is doing/ causing this and if creates questioning in your mind.

The next scene is where you see the group of people ( they don't seem to be friends because of the age difference) doing a Ouija Board, and then invite something in with them, when this happens the thing they are holding there fingers on jumps, and they all take there hands off. You then hear a woman say 'communication with the other side should not be attempted if you have no experience, which immediately tells you that they have caused trouble.

After they have done the Ouija Board this is when things start to go wrong, you see grey hands on the board which are supposed to be ghosts, and then the sound effects come back on whilst the scary scenes are appearing, for example the girl crawling up the stairs, and she seems to be going crazy because she sees all her friends as ghosts or something.

I thought this trailer was the worst out of the trailers that i have looked at because i found it a little annoying more than exciting, due the repetitiveness of the sound effects and i thought that it didn't look very realistic, i also think that the ghosts look unreal because they were almost a silver colour, the eyes of the friends we like light bulbs and i really didn't feel scared r shocked.

Research - Trailers

Paranormal Activity 3

Paranormal Activity 3 is a major hitting horror film based on a 'Demon' who has been following the same family for a very long time; This trailer is the 3rd film released, i decided not to look at the other two trailers because it would be pointless as they are practically about the same thing and the same family, so if i was to analyse the other i would be simply wasting my time as they are all very very similar. i chose the 3rd film because i haven't yet seen it and i would like to get a feel as to why i would watch it, i think if you analyse films you have seen, you don't understand what the trailer is putting across because you know the whole content.

The introduction of the film uses similar characteristics to any others, it stars like a happy family; children on the trampoline saying hi to the camera, the occasional camera twitch is incorporated to make you feel a little tense at these points, and it makes the younger girl a little creepy when she is avoiding saying hi, making the situation more tense. It then uses flashes from the other films 1&2 with loud sound effects, preparing you feel anxious about the rest of the trailer.

The film then goes into how we will find out about how it all began, and you see more clips or the previous films, and significant objects from previous films also, for example the picture thetas burnt around the edges or one daughter. We occasionally we flashes of what this film is about but not many, until we get to the two sisters in the bathroom, they say bloody Mary 3times and the bigger sister scares the other, because the film makers have made you go so silent ad stare at the screen, when she does scream, you really get a shock, when the girls leave, you just see a figure in the bathroom ad a really loud sound effect similar to a scream, this makes the audience think 'OH MY GOD' what is that?! Its always good to try and reach for a reaction.

The camera often goes to night vision throughout the trailer, but it looks really good because it gets you prepared to be shocked because the audience know that its night time.

I think this trailer works really well, it doesn't give too much away, other than what we already know from the first two films, this is a brilliant way for a film maker to set up the 3rd film, without letting the audience know too much about it. I think that the mystery behind it makes it a must watch, and watching this trailer now, i think I'm actually going to watch, which is the reaction that all trailers should receive from an audience.

Research - Trailers.

       Exorcismus



This trailer is a family paranormal/supernatural and includes aspects of emotion not just horror, it is about a family member ( a sister/daughter), who appears t have something wrong with her, the family must this it is something psychiatric because they send her to a hospital and perform tests on her, however this appears not not to be working, she seems to think its some evil force, and gets in contact with a priest, this thing inside her seems to be destroying family life.

The trailer starts very dramatic because we immediately see her cutting her hand, and making signs with the blood, making a trailer this intense at the beginning is a brilliant was to keep your audience interested, we cannot really make out what the sign is or says, but its not exactly normal to see this sign in everyday life, so we know that she has though of it and drawn it from her imagination with her own blood.

Emma ( the girl from the film then has a fit and has foam coming out of her mouth, and falls to the floor, her dad appears very concerned and we (the audience) want to know what is wrong with her. 'a quote then pops up saying 'somethign is happening to Emma Evans' this statement is clearly obvious and you feel like you need/ want to find out what is wrong her (this is why plain text can be very effective in a trailer)

 

We see her going through her treatments and clearly her 'promlem' is not being figured out by doctors, so we still cannot manage to figure out her problem,  the scene suddenly turns into Ouija  Board, which means she is connecting with the spirits for some reason, making you start to think she is possessed or something along these lines, but her family are in dis belief of the devil.

 

A sudden scream is let out making you jump and you see a toilet full of cockroaches, however you can sort of distinguish the difference between real life and imagination at this point, you hear her say 'somethign entered me that night' you assume she means the Ouija Board night, and 'they want her to.....to what' and we don't find out the rest of the quote, this creates more questioning for the viewer, making them carry on watching due to confusion. The slow scene up to the door is frightening because you don't know what to expect at this point.

The end of the trailer seems to be where they call professionals, with lots of equipment, you can see a 'thing' by the boys bed and you have no idea what it could be because the trailer doesn't tell you, the clicking comes on again, and she announces that its the boy that haunted, and they want to fix him, the older lady seems to be the miracle in the situation and she provides the family with help.

About half way into the film they say her only hope is one man, which is her uncle as we find out in the trailer, he appears to be feared and people think he is 'wierd', a young man says to Emma, after what he did, your family shouldn't have let him any where near you, this makes us think that he has done something wrong, but we don't know what, it looks like something to do with another 'exorcism' or some sort.

As the trailer ends, it gets louder and you see more scenes or horror, like holding her dad with her legs and going crazy, the bigger the ending the more impact it has on the viewer, this seems to be the largest trend in all of the research i have done so far.

My view upon this trailer was good, however there was something about it that didn't work, and i cant really think what it was, maybe it was the fact her uncle was clearly disliked and had done something, so why would you let him back? Apart from this the trailer was very frightening and i loved the techniques they used to get the attention they did.

Research- Trailers.

Insidious



This trailer is a family paranormal/supernatural and involves aspects of emotion not just scare, it is about a family, in a new house or something along these lines, and they seem to be very content with life, things start to get odd in the house and they must think that it is the house that is creating all this mysterious activity, however as we find out in the film its actually the young boy who is 'haunted' and they need to try and get whatever it is inside him, out.

With a simple 'Are you ready' and the ticking of the machine, prepares you for a dramatic trailer, the click creates tension and in turn makes the viewers excited. The clicking continues for a while, when the camera takes shots of the house and the family, they seem content and happy at the beginning, and the boy falling off the ladder somewhat disturbers this atmosphere.

The boy is then in hospital, we are unsure as to why and what happened because he is in a coma, the happy vibe at the beginning is down the drain at this point, this is when the family become very sad and strange things happen, with the simple movement of the house and the confusion of the woman immediately changes the view of the trailer.

The scene where the boy shuts his door very slowly is haunting because we have no idea what he is trying to hide from, could it be the noise we hear through the baby monitor? The idea to create a voice through a baby monitor is original and brilliant, as soon as you hear the 'NOW' she runs to the baby room and its crying, which makes a tense atmosphere and packs a punch in terms of locking in your interest.

The end of the trailer seems to be where they call professionals, with lots of equipment, you can see a 'thing' by the boys bed and you have no idea what it could be because the trailer doesn't tell you, the clicking comes on again, and she announces that its the boy that haunted, and they want to fix him, the older lady seems to be the miracle in the situation and she provides the family with help.

The end of the trailer also has lots of flashed images similar to the other trailers i have analysed, you see flashes of material you cant make up but you know are scary, and the flashes of the word INSIDIOUS IS, IS INSIDIOUS get faster and faster and louder and louder, this pushes and pushes the fear higher and higher making the audience more tense and tense, the final flash is someone running at the camera as fast as they can, which leaves the trailer with a bang, and effectively leaves a mark in your head.

I think this trailer gives away a little too much information and should give you more shocking scenes, i feel that it should start with a bang and end with a bigger bang, i found the start better than the finish personally.

Research-Trailers.

The Devil Inside

This trailer is a different kind of 'Paranormal/Supernatural' genre, this trailer is about a a daughter who wants to find out why her mother committed several murders, and she trys to figure it out by similar experiences and close encounters with her mothers story, this is supernatural because the woman is not 'herself' and something is possessing her so it seems. The story of a mother and daughter is also an emotional connection and makes the film trigger of all sorts of emotion, which makes an audience more involved in the drama.

I love how at the beginning they use a 911 call and she is speaking in very disturbing voice, saying she murdered 3 men, and it just goes blank, this technique is a brilliant way to dramatically begin a trailer because we have no idea how they died, and the where abouts of the murderer.

The daughter is going to see her mum in the film and she is very worried in case she will inherit similar characteristics, her mother is now in what is seems to be a psychopath hospital, in Rome. When facing her mother, she performs these acts which are so frightening for someone to watch, which makes you feel so uneasy and tense, especially when showing her the cuts, and she is saying speech really fast that is unable to be made out. She then screams with so much passion, and the reaction in terrifying, the way the film maker has captured the attention and the fear of people this early in the trailer is so effective.

The daughter decides to get a better insight to her mothers problems and she gets involved in exorcisms, the one you see with the twisted human is ultimately shocking and it completely works in the trailer, the click of her bones made me flinch, this silence and focus on the person creates massive drama and gives the viewer a wide eye to keep your focus on the whole trailer.

We find out her mum is possessed in the trailer and the perform some sort of operation on her what could be another exorcism, and when she screams again, the trailer used a sound effect that pierces the atmosphere of the person watching it. When the nursery rhyme comes on, it continues to play for while, helping the trailer to remain on a high tension level.

As the trailer ends it ends very dramatic, similar to other trailers i have looked at, this is a great way to keep impact after the trailer is finished, the camera sometimes goes distorted and makes a screech making the viewer feel uneasy due to the switch from image to image.

Overall the trailer was very effective and successfully got across its point by using many different techniques. I cant think of any negatives for this trailer because i believe that the makers of the film added so much variation and scenes i was always satisfied with what i saw, and it left a lasting impression, my friends also thought the same.

Research- Trailers

Atrocious

This trailer is about a group (3 as far as you can tell) that study Urban Legends (which are often paranormal) and they have been asked by family to stay in the building that we see throughout the trailer. There were 'the most horrific murders there in ten years' the police found the groups camera in the house, and this is how we see the trailer as someones documentary almost; the quote from the trailer i used prepares you for an action packed movie.

The begging of the trailer is really effective and the words used as you can see, are very powerful and create a massive impact on the person who reads them, this immediately makes you feel anxious, further more, i wanted to keep watching, especially when you see the word evil on its own with the black background.

The trailer has a voice over and subtitles throughout, personally i didn't find this an issue because it was very action packed and i thought it worked  well because when you read something you initially pay more attention to it, and you tend to internalise it and then you become more infatuated with the trailer.

During the trailer you see random flashes of scenes that are frightening and the sound effect used makes you jump. The group seem to know the house and must have past experiences or family knows about it, when they explore the grounds they find a padlocked gate, which immediately makes you want to know, are they going to go through it? But you don't really find out. Then the camera man is walking through a maze saying things like i wouldn't want to get lost at night, signifying something to do with night will happen.

The camera also switches from normal vision to night vision, its normal when they are exploring the grounds, but at parts that are filled with tension, e.g. in the dark, the dog barking at something we cant identify. The transitions from normal to scary prepare you to be scared, creating massive tensions for the viewers. It goes clear again when they look for the dog, and suddenly, it turns into night vision with a massive scream, this actually shocked me, and i wanted to turn away but watch at the same time. From here onwards its a lot of night vision, and the panting from the actors/essees gives the audience a sense of panic.

This trailer is very effective, it starts off a little slow, but dramatically creates tension, the end is fantastic with the girl having her mouth covered and bangs that are very frightening, leave a lasting impression in your mind. I think the fact it is an foreign trailer with subtitles doesn't really effect the trailer, i think it makes it better and increases tension. This is also more mysterious in terms of what is creating the terrors, which makes me want to watch the movie.

Research - Trailers.

Grave Encounters

This is a trailer which is obviously an episode of a television series of some sort, and the footage has never been released to the public until now. The way they portray this at the beginning immediately captures attention from the audience it is aimed at (Older Teens).

The setting of the trailer is in an abandoned hospital where families 'Dumped embarrassing family members' and is 'considered to be the most haunted building in North America'. This setting makes a good base to trailer because a hospital assumes pain and death, and the quotes i used were directly from the trailer, making the viewers read, In turn makes them think, and to get the viewers thinking creates a sense of attention to the trailer and getting them more involved, creeping them out with quotes.

There are commentators in the trailer, which include the episode presenter, the older lady and the caretaker. The presenter is in the film the whole way through as it seems in the trailer and is one of the main characters, he seems to 'exagerate' everything to make the episode look better, however as the trailer continues he seems to be genuinely frightened, considering the he is a professional, and the fact he has become scared makes the viewers feel more tense.
The older lady seems to know things about the Hospital and she looks mysterious, having someones point of view other than the presenter lets the audience feel like its more realistic.
The Caretaker as it seems, locks up the or used to lock up the Hospital, and describes situations he found himself in, like the window opening and closing, again.

The camera crew have amazing equipment to search for the 'ghosts' and the high tech equipment reinforces the fact that it's more realistic, other props used are thrown and pushed over by the entities, which is rather scary, and you can see the film will be jumpy and exciting.

The camera is night vision occasionally, sometimes black and white and you can also see normal camera, the transition from each of these effects helps you distinguish what you see, for example the the normal camera is used outside and when its a more calm environment, the black and white was used to show clips of the hospitalised people in the past, and the night vision was usually used in scary parts, such as the 'ghost' that walked across the hallway, the transition of these effects helps the audience distinguish between moods, and its a great way to create a sense of tension.

Overall i believe this trailer successfully delivers its purpose, it made me want to watch it so it was a winner for me, the only negative i  would have on trailer is that it might give a little to much away, and you can almost guess whats going to happen and it doesn't leave much of a question in my mind, however it does have an impact after you watch it.

Evaluation of Questionaire.

The 20 respondents have given me a good insight as to what the modern generation like to see in 'Horror' movies, the questionnaire i handed out has told me that 15-18 year olds (due to age restriction) like mysterious movies that involve supernatural/paranormal entities, which are jumpy and give people lots of thrills.

The theme i am now wanting for my trailer is more paranormal, i think i would have liked to do this kind of movie given a choice, i am going to aim for more suspense and jumpy moments to keep the audience on the 'edge of their seat'

The research i think i am going to have to do is on horror movies with the aspect of high suspense and that involve supernatural and paranormal feeling/presence.

Questionaire Results.

Horror Questionnaire

Highlight the following of your choice

Gender?

Male                Female

 10       10

Age?

15-17                     18

   8                          12

Out of these horror genre’s which would you prefer?

Supernatural       Psychological       Paranormal       Haunting       Cutting Edge

    6                             2                              7                         4                        1

Which one of these movies do you think was the best?

Paranormal Activity      Shutter Island       The Fourth Kind      The Amityville Horror

              9                              5                              2                                  4

Which would be the best setting for a horror movie?

Cave/outdoors       House/Mansion      School/College       Hospital/Hostel

          5                              7                            5                               3

Which word/phrase sounds better in a title?

Trapped       Let Me Out      Encounters       Abandon      The Haunting

        2                     5                      5                     6                       2

Which would you prefer?

Quick/Rushed/Bang movies.           Slow/Creepy/Weird movies.

                13                                                      7

Which would you prefer?

Voice over/Speech Analysis         Words/Phrases

                7                                             13

Who would make a better main presence in the film?

Teens        Children       Adults       Single Female      Single Male

     8                8                  1                    3                           0

What kinds of colours make a trailer effective?

Normal      Black     Red     Night Vision    

    3               7           1              9

How many characters should be featured in the film?

1 or 2     5-7     10 or more

    9        10              1

Should characters have express they voices in the trailer?

Yes     No

 11      9

Should Sound effects be used?

Yes     No

 14  6

Several Respondents.

These are only 2 replies however i have received them all, i cannot manage to get them all on the page,  all 20 respondents answered the questionnaire and i am going to post the results to figure out which type of trailers i will be researching. The red sections are how i have clarified its my work and  the information is real.

Certificate Research.

While i am, waiting for my questionnaire to come back from the people i emailed, i will then start the research on the trailers themselves, however i need to think of what would be a reasonable certificate to give a horror movie.

Recent years have been more lenient on horror movies and a lot are now 15/18 cert, however the 15 being more popular, the 18 cert is used for very bloody and sexual nature in terms of horror (e.g. rape scenes).

These are the following classifications that the BBFC currently;y have in place to certificate films.

I highly doubt that any horror movie would be under any classification under 15.
U (unclassified)-this is normally animations, lots of Disney films and films with proper language and appropriate behaviour.
PG (Parental guidance)- Similar to U however can contain scenes of unease or tension.
12- This is usually films that have scenes of high action, sometimes death but not directly seen, and some soft core violence.
12A- This is often used in cinema's to allow a parent over 18 to allow there son/daughter to watch it.
15- Films that are 15 have death in, and scares, also killings and some sex scenes, films usually are horror, contain some gore and blood, but these are intent to scare. Sometimes involves action of a strong nature, explosions ect.
18- This usually contain strong language, strong sexual references, lots of blood/gore and lots of action.
R18- Usually explicit material.

I think i will choose the 15 cert;

Suitable only for 15 years and over

No one younger than 15 may see a ‘15’ film in a cinema. No one younger than 15 may rent or buy a ‘15’ rated video work.

Discrimination

The work as a whole must not endorse discriminatory language or behaviour.

Drugs

Drug taking may be shown but the film as a whole must not promote or encourage drug misuse. The misuse of easily accessible and highly dangerous substances (for example, aerosols or solvents) is unlikely to be acceptable.

Horror

Strong threat and menace are permitted unless sadistic or sexualised.

Imitable behaviour

Dangerous behaviour (for example, hanging, suicide and self-harming) should not dwell on detail which could be copied. Easily accessible weapons should not be glamorised.

Language

There may be frequent use of strong language (for example, ‘fuck’). The strongest  terms (for example, ‘cunt’) may be acceptable if justified by the context. Aggressive or repeated use of the strongest language is unlikely to be acceptable.

Nudity

Nudity may be allowed in a sexual context but without strong detail. There are no constraints on nudity in a non-sexual or educational context.

Sex

Sexual activity may be portrayed without strong detail. There may be strong verbal references to sexual behaviour, but the strongest references are unlikely to be acceptable unless justified by context. Works whose primary purpose is sexual arousal or stimulation are unlikely to be acceptable.

Theme

No theme is prohibited, provided the treatment is appropriate for 15 year olds.

Violence

Violence may be strong but should not dwell on the infliction of pain or injury. The strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable. Strong sadistic or sexualised violence is also unlikely to be acceptable. There may be detailed verbal references to sexual violence but any portrayal of sexual violence must be discreet and have a strong contextual justification.
(http://www.bbfc.co.uk/classification/guidelines/15-2/)

I chose this because i cant have strong sexual scenes in a trailer and racist comments, i can do this moderately at a push e.g. kissing and fighting (verbal) but i cannot ask people to do what they feel uncomfortable with.