Narrative
Before we started working on our trailer we watched quite a few different horror films and trailers, such as The Crazies and Halloween, to see what type of narrative structure they followed. This really helped when we were deciding on the narrative structure for our trailer as it gave us the opportunity to see a lot of options for different types of narrative structures, like the classic realist/classic Hollywood structure.
Watching different films and trailers also helped us decide that we wanted to loosely follow Todorov's narrative theory. However, we don't show every part of Todorov's theory as it is only a trailer and we wanted to make sure there was suspense and tension, we didn't want to give away all the story so we chose not to include a new equilibrium, this also gives the people watching it a chance to imagine what actually happens for themselves.
We wanted to introduce the main settings and characters quite early on in the trailer so the opening shots are happy shots of the family in their house, which is the main setting we used for our trailer. However, throughout the trailer the mood/atmosphere changes and becomes a lot darker as we introduce the villain of the story. It also starts off quite slow and calm but speeds up towards the end with lots of fast cuts, which are all in a jumbled up order so nothing is given away about the plot, this is when the disruption part of our narrative structure is introduced and then it carries on to show the recognition of the disruption. Following this structure gave us the opportunity to make what seemed like quite a happy trailer turn into something a lot darker and different from what it began as.
Genre Conventions
Throughout our research we developed a firm understanding on what impacts conventions have on the horror genre and what is produced as a result of this. When considering how genre conventions influenced our ideas, we tried to stray from the usual conventions, such as the expected locations and settings that you would usually connote fear and horror. Instead, we took normal, everyday locations and used them effectively in an attempt to evoke horror in an unconventional way. For example, our plot is centered on a stalker targeting a 'broken' family, of whom he watches from a distance in their local supermarket. However, we used a house to film other aspects of our trailer which do conform to the conventions of the horror genre. When considering Todorov's theory of the series events that take place within a media text, we used the setting of a normal home to represent the horror genre, with long shots used at the beginning to establish the equilibrium before using POV shots, over the shoulder shots and tracking shots to build tension throughout the disequilibrium. To add to this, we also filmed these scenes without a tripod when doing critical shots to create uncertainty and to build anticipation. For iconography we included a young girl as one of the main characters, as she connotes innocence and vulnerability, of which we expect to see from children in the horror genre. Additionally, we used different props to add to the iconography, including weapons and other objects such as tape and rope, which were used to restrain the victims. For the disequilibrium we shot with dark lighting to add to the mise en scene and to represent the horror genre, as well as building suspense and anticipation.
Audiences and Institutions
In order to make our film as successful as possible, we had to consider the most appropriate audience and how we would tailor our trailer to appeal to them. As our trailer includes violent scenes, but nothing too explicit, we decided on a 15. From extensive research we discovered that the target audience for horror films is teenagers and young adults, and most horror films which are similar to ours are of the same age rating. By making it a 15 we are allowing a younger audience to view the film, but with this we will ensure that there are no explicit scenes of murder or violence and all language used is mild. However, this also ensures that a wide range of different audiences will still be able to view the film, because it is still a horror film and we have used a well-known actress for the main character which broadens the target audience.
After researching the most effective times for horror films to be released, we established that films typically do worse in the box office in the 'dump months' which include January and February. However, just one month before, in December, is thought to be the perfect time for new films to be released in the cinema. Statistics show that films released in December make on average around $1.2 billion, while films released in the dump months make an estimated $300-$600 million. As a result of this, we decided that in an attempt to make the film a success, it would be released in December.
Representation
Whilst developing our trailer we have considered relevant theories in terms of representation.
Beginning with the ideas of Jeremy Tunstall. He stated that women within media texts are shown as Domestic, Sexual, Marital and Consumers. Our female lead is a married to a man therefore showing a heteronormative representation and conveying her marital status. She is clearly shown as a consumer of products as we show her shopping and buying products within a supermarket environment. She is also shown seen as domestic as we portray her cooking dinner for her family (implied by the over the shoulder shot and the dad stating “mmm smells delicious honey” and caring for her child by cooking the dinner, etc.
Within the horror genre it is a convention that women are shown to be unable to defend themselves against a dominating male role. In a way this is true with the mother in our story as within the trailer we see a shot of her being hit with an object by the male psychopath and being tied up. However, with our younger female character the daughter, we see her within the trailer numerous times being caught by the man however we also see a shot of her running away from the house which could imply that she escapes from the man and fights back?
We have also considered Laura Mulvey’s male gaze theory when discussing shot types of the female characters. We have strong emphasis that the woman is in danger and vulnerable as she is unknowingly being watched. We have uses certain close up shots to rectify this male gaze idea.
In ‘Men Women and Chainsaws by Carol Clover she states there is a repressed sexuality of the murderer. In some ways this is evident within our trailer, our main character has had an isolated upbringing and has an overwhelming desire to be loved, therefore attaches himself to a family who he presumes to be single parent, therefore he can complete the family unit and finally feel loved. However outbursts in a violent tangent when he discovers that the family unit is complete without him.
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