Stereotypical Horror Fan

Stereotypical Horror Fan

This is an insight into what a stereotypical horror fan of the gory genre would look like. A person named John, 24 years old working at his local music shop. Known for playing the guitar and playing Football. His favourite horror film would be the Human Centipede. He is a fan of the mainstream horror films and would fit into the C1 category when looking at his social class. Overall, he is a mainstreamer.

 He is the kind of guy who enjoys going out with friends to their local Pub, but would also like to sit around and play Video Games. Studied Media Studies at College and passed with a B having a knowledge of the subject. Used to Microvwave dinners to save time cooking, generally laid back and lazy person.

From doing this exercise, I've now got a better idea at the kind of person that I am aiming the chosen trailer at. This lets me know their interests in the film, best places to advertise when pinpointing this certain group and what they would want in the trailer in ways of Gore.

Halloween (Rob Zombie, 2007) Trailer Analysis

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Halloween
Year Released - 2007
Genre of Trailer - Horror
My overall review - 8/10

Brief outline of the trailer - To begin, we are introduced to our main antagonist in the film. A serial killer who is currently in jail and well known for wearing a mask. The action immediately kicks off as he kills all of the guards escorting him and leaves the area to continue his rampage. The main part of the trailer is the key scenes shown giving it an overall look of being a highlights trailer.

Positive Aspects - I particularly liked the editing and title screens in this. They are iconic to the genre and seem to give off a suspenseful look to them. I also liked many of the highlights within the trailer as it didn't ruin the story but gave an insight into what the film will be about. The sound used was good as it was a suspenseful calm tone which could change at any moment.

Negative Aspects - Some of the things that I didn't like in this trailer were the narration. It didn't fit in well with what was happening and seemed to just annoy you. I wasn't too fond of the fact that there wasn't any gore shown in the trailer. For a horror trailer, there should be a specific amount of gore to give the audience an insight into what is happening.


Saw (James Wan, 2004) Trailer Analysis

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Saw
Year Released - 2004
Genre of Trailer - Crime Mystery Horror
My overall review - 7/10

Brief outline of the trailer - In the trailer, we see many of the key points throughout the film. We start out with what seems to be a detective analysing a house. Within 30 seconds we've got a jump scare after a laugh that would put a person off slightly. We enter the main area of the film and meet a few of the survivors, after being given hints as to what they'll be doing. There are quite a few cuts of people still investigating the case as others are stuck in this dungeon.

Positive Aspects - Some of the things that I found interesting in this trailer were the use of jump scares. We get multiple of them throughout the trailer and they are to portray one of the main villains in the film. I also particularly liked the sound as it has a suspenseful effect to it leaving the audience wondering when any jumps will happen.

Negative Aspects - A few things that I didn't enjoy in the trailer is that we don't get a good look at the main villain. This leaves us wondering who it is and gives no hints as to why they're doing this. Also, for a horror trailer there is no gore involved in the trailer and this is what Saw is mainly known for.

ENSFC Health and Safety

This is my Health and Safety report. I have made this so I know of all the possible risks that have been pre-planned and how I can avoid them. From this, I now know when to be careful when filming compared sto scenes where I won't need to worry. Many of the problems will come from possible use of real props, which could be switched out later on to reduce the overall risk of getting injured.



ENSFC Props List

This Props List helps me see what items I have already obtained for my trailer and what I still need to get. I haven't done the Group Member planning as we'll be splitting it out amongst us. The current required items will fit into the £20 budget, allowing me to collect everything I need for cheap.

 

 



Horror Storyboard - Lamp Shade Killer

For this exercise, we were told to make a 6 shot scene of a horror film. For our idea, we have got a woman working at her local store, rummaging through a set of drawers who is stabbed by a man with a lamp shade on his head. We chose to do this as it is an original idea of having a slasher murderer, yet the lampshade gives it a slightly comical element to it. The overall time for this would be less than 15 seconds, meaning it is a very short sequence.

Horror Mood Board - Flickr Analysis

This is my Mood Board which is mainly linked in with the chosen trailer "Butchered". Many of the images here are either effects that woe would like to use or things that can link in with our idea. The Mood Board has been analysed on Flickr and is linked in with the image.

The Shining (Stanley Kubrick, 1980) Trailer Analysis

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - The Shining
Year Released - 1980
Genre of Trailer - Mystery Horror
My overall review - 7/10

Brief outline of the trailer - Throughout the trailer, we can see our three main characters, who have been offered to stay in an old hotel for the weekend. It starts out to be quite a normal vacation, until our main male character is shown to be the main villain through psychological problems. Throughout the trailer we get to see multiple shots from different points in time. We see this when he is breing offered the vacation, him and his family doing some activities at the hotel and the attemptive murder of his family.

Positive Analysis - The things that I particuarly liked is that we get the storyline given to us from multiple different points in time which are randomised. This gives us the idea that the overall story is a complete mix up and also links us back to their previous events instead of just running through the whole story.

Negative Analysis - The only thing I found bad in this trailer was that it was a rather slow trailer. For a horror, we were given no gore which is what is expected in trailers. It seemed to have quite a lot of slow points throughout it which didn't draw you in completely and left you there waiting for the next big thing.

Evil Dead (Fede Alvarez, 2013) Trailer Review

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Evil Dead
Year Released - 2013
Genre of Trailer - Gory Horror
My overall review - 8/10

Brief outline of the trailer - In this trailer, we start out with getting a look at the cabin that it is mainly set in, we then cut to a scene of two characters talking which builds suspense around what is going on in this film. We get multiple text titles, giving as an overview of what a narrator would say without having a cheesy talk over which cuts to a shot of the book of the dead. We experience some gore shots with insights into the plot, giving the audience expectations into what to expect in this film, when the final title seems to be breaking apart which could symbolise what is going on in their minds whilst these events are happening. The final scene is one of the most gory as the main villain slits open her tounge and proceeds to kiss one of the main characters.

Positive Aspects - The things that I liked in this trailer are that it didn't ruin the plot, it just gave hints. It had a beat that seemed to drag you into it. Throughout the trailer, there were no real slow scenes and we got a good amount of gore which is what fans of the genre would expect in a trailer.

Negative Aspects - The only thing that I would improve in this, would be to make the gore more accurate. This is through the use of the orange blood that the main villain throws up at one point in the trailer. This would make the trailer more realistic. 

Cloverfield (Matt Reeves, 2008) Trailer Review

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Cloverfield
Year Released - 2008
Genre of Trailer - Action Horror
My overall review - 8/10

Brief outline of the trailer - In this trailer, we see our main character at his farewell party with his friends in an apartment building. The film has been done on a handheld camera which puts us in the shoes of someone at the party. As everything is going well, an apparant earthquake happens, causing everyone to move to the roof to go to the roof to see what is happening. Its at this point, that a building off in the distance explodes causing panic. As everyone moves outside, we see the head of the statue of liberty fly into a building and into the street next to where they are. At this point, everything cuts to black.

Positive Aspects - I particularly liked the fact that we can see this trough the point of view of one of the characters, giving the feeling that we are there with them. The special effects in this trailer were done very well alongside with the editing. One of the best parts would have to be the dramatic irony in the last scene where we see someone saying about how amazing this night will be, after we have seen all of this happen.

Negative Aspects - Some of the points I didn't like in this trailer are that it gave no real insight into the plot, we didnt even get told the title of the film so it leaves the audience questioning even though we're given a date and that there wasn't any horror shown at all.

Dawn of the Dead (Zack Snyder, 2004) Trailer Review

Trailer Analysis
Name of Film - Dawn of the Dead
Year Released - 2004
Genre of Trailer - Action Horror
My overall review - 8/10

Brief outline of the trailer - In the trailer, we see Ana (Female surivor) leading her normal life. It starts out with a slow montage of clips of her leading a normal life which then has an immediate pace change when all the action breaks out. Throughout the rest of the trailer, we see some of the best moments of the film and get a slight insight into the plot, whilst leaving a lot of unanswered questions about what the outcome may be.

Positive Aspects - I liked the piece where the film appeared to pause, break down and then burn. This is because it gives us a look into what this film symbolises about society and how it is broken down through this outbreak. Another great part is how the text titles link iin with the main film when it shows us the dawn of the day, giving links to the title. The trailer gives an insight into most of the characters and lets the audience get a slight idea into who they like and dislike.

Negative Aspects - I didn't like the fact that the slow motion on some parts seemed to make it look more dull. It didn't work for the scenes that were chosen. We also got no look into what horror was in the film, which we can see when Ana's daughter bites her husband. Throughout the trailer, we don't get as much of the plot as we could want, showing that the film hasn't been delivered to the audience as well as it could have been.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image Analysis - Ana on the Boat

 

At this point near the end of Dawn of the Dead (2004) we can see a close up of Ana standing next to the American Flag. This is important as it gives off the effect that America is against the world in this outbreak. We can also use this to show that America is a more powerful country when it links back to the theory that the outbreak started in the Middle East which links back to the 9/11 attacks in 2001, just three years before the release of this film. Reviewing this allows the audience to get an overall analysis of how America is displayed as being powerful. At this point in the film, we have Ana, Kenneth and Nicole which is unconventional as we have a black person as the male hero, a final girl with blonde hair and a final girl with red hair. It is quite unique that Kenneth is our male hero as we can link it in with George Romero's auteur theory by the fact of he prefers to have a black male hero. We can see this in Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Night of the Living Dead (1968) where both heroes are black. This film was good for horror fans/ fans of George Romero's films as it had a sentimental feeling to it by bringing back nostalgia of the previous versions of his films.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image Analysis - Steven's Death

Within this scene, we see Ana finally killing off Steven. This links into an earlier point of the film where Ana says she’ll kill Steven if he turns. At this point, we can see that Ana has more power over Steven with her phallic weapon. We could link Steven’s death with that of the Female Victim as he has had sex before he dies. This gives Ana more power over Steven and makes her the more likable character. When looking at Ana in this scene, we see that she has blonde hair which is conventional to our female victim. Although we know Ana is the final girl, she breaks conventions by having her hair in a ponytail which gives her another point into the final girl category. If Ana had her hair down instead of bunched up, it would probably give off a much larger sense of her being the female victim. We can compare this with K-Mart (Spencer Locke) from Resident Evil: Afterlife (2004) who also has blonde hair but is a female survivor. Although K-Mart is different from Ana as she has her hair down instead of bunched.

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image Analysis - Monica's Death

In this scene, we see our Female Victim  dying after coming near to escaping in the fortified van. It is quite iconic that Monica dies as she is the person who has sex most recently with Steven, which fits into the standard conventions of the Female Victim. You could also notice that the Chainsaw was used earlier as a phallic weapon when Michael shows Ana what he’s created. In this scene it gives Glen power he didn't want. If we compare this to the original Dawn of the Dead (1978) we can see that there would have been a high chance of this being cut out with the Hays Code, showing the development of films over time. When looking at the institution context (industries point of view) we can see that the industry has tried to keep all of the standard conventions of Dawn of the Dead, whilst the historical context seems to have a similar look to the original Dawn of the Dead (1978) and Night of the Living Dead (1968).  With this scene, it is edited very quickly to not show as much gore to the audience. This shows us that it is an action horror displayed through the amount of time used on this quick montage. We can compare this horror with the Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) which has its horror dragged out for a longer period of time, compared to Dawn of the Dead's quick montage death scene.
 

Dawn of the Dead (1978) Image Analysis - Fran and Peter

In this scene, we see Fran and Peter at the end escaping the mall. From this, we see our archetypal Final Girl and Male Hero who challenge their conventional appearances. This is because we have a Blonde woman who is pregnant and a black man. In the time of release, this would have been seen as uncommon, although we can link this into George Romero’s auteur style through the fact of he is anti-racist. We can compare this with George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) where Ben (Duane Johnson) has also had his role flipped around and is the male hero. At the time, this would have been frowned upon by the American audience who weren't fond of the idea of a black person having more power than a white person. This scene is iconic as we see the last survivors and leaves the audience on edge for a possible sequel. We also get the idea of an open ending as the last scene shows that they are low on fuel, leaving many possibilities as to what could happen. The close up allows us to see their emotions, and their expressions show that the characters have become tougher due to getting over their losses.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) Image Analysis - Mall Overview

Here, we see the zombies roaming the mall which is meant to display the thought that they are clinging onto human, consumerist aspects of their previous lives. We can link this in because this was around the time that America was adding a load of Malls, from which a lot of people wanted to go there. We can see links into George Romero's opinions on this as he shows it as a place that people are clinging to when he in fact wasn't fond of the idea of Malls. This is why they have such a desire to be in the mall. The use of sound in this is a joking piece of music and its sound effects that make the zombies seem like a joke. This is through the use of contrapuntal music where it has a reverse role on the shot. This is useful to use as it allows people to laugh about something that would be seen as serious, this gives it a slight unsettling feeling as it is a matter that wouldn't be joked about, but after viewing it you find it quite funny. The use of the long shot here also allows us to get an overview of the mall and get an insight into how many of them are currently entering the mall.

Dawn of the Dead (1978) Image Analysis - Stephen and Roger

In this scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979), we can see Roger and Stephen near the beginning of their trip to the mall. This scene is very important as we can see Roger having the use of a phallic weapon being his gun, which is symbolically more powerful than Stephen’s. From doing this, we learn that Stephen is the weaker of the two and is given the overall impression of being less of a man than Roger. This also gives the audience a look into the characters’ overall abilities and it lets the audience choose who they like the most. We can also see that Roger can be viewed as your stereotypical male hero which is then shown as false later on. This scene is also quite interesting as it flips character stereotypes. We see this by looking at the difference in Stephen, who is a TV producer and is classed as "good looking" compared to Roger, who is just working with the military, doesn't have the best of looks and is looked down upon. This could be seen as one of George Romero's auteur theories as he is well known for flipping characters overall roles (shown with Peter).

Psycho (1960) Image Analysis - Norman as "Mother"

When looking at this scene, we can see a difference in the zeitgeist of when this was made. This is illustrated through the fact that Norman is dressed in women’s clothes, and transvestites weren’t very commonly acknowledged in 1960. We also see links in with Ed Gein, giving this a clear historical context. Ed Gein would dress up as a woman, kill his victims and even make a suit out of their skin, giving a slight comparison which is what Hitchcock was aiming for. At the time, this scene would have been more powerful to the audience who aren't used to transvestites. This could also be noted through the references to Ed Gein, which was a recent event in America so it would have been the first thing that anyone watching this at the time would think of. This scene has low key lighting to start with, but jumps in with some ambient lighting revealing Norman as the killer. This lets us see a variety of lighting techniques used simultaneously. With this scene, we start out with Lila looking for Mrs Bates. We see slight collision cutting here as it is very tense with her walking up to Mrs Bates, then cuts to a sudden scream and dramatic music of Norman coming around the corner.

Psycho (1960) Image Analysis - Hole in the Wall

In this scene, we see Norman spying on Marion who is getting ready to shower. We can see a hole in the wall which is behind the painting of the Rape of Lucretia. It is ironic that this painting describes Norman’s feelings. When looking through this scene, we can see a lot of resemblance as to how Hitchcock chooses the women for his film. Hitchcock was always interested in the blonde women, which links in with his auteur theory. This is because he had many blonde haired victims usually with blue eyes, from which he would play practical jokes on them (cold water on Marion in the shower scene) and when we look at this, we can see how Marion fits into his stereotypical female victim part. This scene can also be linked in with Laura Mulvey’s theory on the Male Gaze (“Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema”), seen through using women in films to be seen as a pleasurable image to men. We can see how this theory is correct as Marion is a figure that Norman gets pleasure from watching.

Psycho (1960) Image Analysis - Birds of Prey

In this scene from Psycho (1960), we see Marion and Norman in the back office of the Bates Motel. This scene gives the audience an insight into what could happen and develops the idea that Norman would kill his victims and use his taxidermy on them leaving the audience to predict the future of Marion. When looking at the Birds of Prey in the background of the mise-en-scene, we can see that they are directed at Marion, which gives hints to us that she is the target of Norman. When reviewing the sound on this scene, it’s a quiet and tense echo, an example of subtle parallel music. Behind Norman, we can see the painting of the Rape of Lucretia (a famous historical painting). This is important as it is the painting that covers the spy-hole that is used to spy on Marion. It connotes sexuality and links in with what Norman is thinking regarding his sexual feelings for Marion.

Favourite Image Analysis - Resident Evil Afterlife (2012)

My favourite choice of scene from all of my horror research is from Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010). In this scene, we see Alice (Milla Jovovich) as the main protagonist conforming to the overall stereotype for female survivors. We see this through the use of her short, brown hair, tomboyish dress sense, lack of interest in make-up and her overall attitude. From this screenshot, we can see an empty emotionless expression which tells the audience that she isn't afraid of what may happen giving her a tougher outlook than most other females in the film. The use of her guns could be seen as her phallic symbols, which are kept on her at all times and give her the symbolic power of males. This is also quite useful as later on in the scene, she is thrown the weapons when defenceless by K-Mart (Spencer Locke) who is portrayed as being a weaker character, but develops male strength throughout the series. The fact that both of them help to deal with Bennett (Kim Coates), a person displayed to be your ideologically “slime-ball” villain shows that there is a much stronger picture of female empowerment throughout these films.