Research

Trailer Analysis- Jennifer's Body

A teaser trailer is a short 30-second trailer giving a brief insight into a film. Teaser Trailers are usually introduced months before a movie is actually released building up anticipation for a film. The trailer I looked at is for teenage horror ‘Jennifer‘s body‘; The trailer starts with the 20th century fox production logo, this fades into a long shot of someone swimming in a lake. The trailer then cuts into a mid shot and we see it is a woman in the lake, whilst this is going on the audience can hear creepy music playing in the background making us wonder if the girl is in danger. It then cuts to a close up of the girls face, this allows us to see a sinister expression making us think perhaps she isn’t the films victim. The trailer uses a mix of clips from the film and short sentences to help the reader understand the films basic plot. These are interspersed within each other with the clip usually relating to what the viewer has read on screen. This finally ends with the words “would die for” denoting that the girl we initially thought was the victim is actually the killer.

The trailer uses typical horror movie conventions to connote the idea it is part of the horror genre. These conventions are made oblivious toward the middle of the trailer when it is clear to us who the films killer is. Her eyes change colour and the entire feel of the trailer becomes extremely dark. The remainder of shots shown are mainly set at night and the colour red, connoting blood is used when we see her shadow change into a inhuman character. The trailer then switches to show another part of the storyline showing a teenage girl trying to take down the killer. This is connoted by the change in music becoming more fast paced, like an action film.

The trailer then ends with the movies name ‘Jennifer’s Body’ and the films release date. Telling audiences when they can see the film. This is typical of movie trailers as it forces people to watch the entire trailer before they can know its name.

Production Logo's

WARNER BROS. PICTURES
Clouds in the background connote the idea that Warner Bros. usually produces light-hearted comedies or family films. This is also denoted in the colour scheme used in the logo as primary colours like blue and yellow are usually used when trying to target a younger audience as they attract the eye. The actual Warner Bros. logo is representive of medallion connoting a police badge or idea that perhaps they produce mostly action, drama contrasting with the idea of a very family orientated company.

UNITED ARTIST
By mixing a silver font with a dark black background the united artist production logo connotes the idea that perhaps they’re quite a dark company. Also because the typography is written in silver contrasted with the black creates an almost sci-fi look connoting that the company specialises in the sci-fi genre, which is also denoted in the bold font.

Questionnaire

We gave a questionnaire to twenty 15-19 year olds to gain a better understanding on what attracts them to the horror genre. We asked;

-What attracts you to a horror film?
-What is your favourite (slasher) horror film?
-What type of iconic weapons would a villain have in a slasher film?
-What defines a slasher horror for you?
-What is your favourite horror soundtrack?
-Who is your all time favourite horror villain?
-What real life situations make you scared?
-How often do you see a horror film?
-What type of thing attracts you in a film poster?

The main feedback received was that are age group were mainly attracted by movie trailers and posters rather then reviews in magazines. The group also wrote that they were heavily influenced by viral campaigns and advertisements on the internet, social networking sites and television. We also asked people what they looked for in a horror villain. From this we found out that the audience preferred masked killers as they create a sense of mystery. Because of this we decided to make our villain completely masked throughout the film. We also asked about the real life situations that really scared our audience. Most of the group said that they were more scared of the idea of escaped villain or metal patients then anything else.

Film Publicity- Borat

Since its release date borat has grossed over $260 million worldwide, the film was also nominated for numerous awards including a golden globe and Academy award.

The film's success is somewhat due to the help of clever publicity stunts building up the movies reputation. Sacha Baron Cohen's character Borat was seen around popular tourist destinations months before the film's release, even trying to give George Bush an invite to the movies premier whilst on a trip to the white house. Cohen's stunt was timed to coincide with the official vistis by the Kazakh President, who was scheduled to meet with BUsh at the time. Cohen was also seen in Cannes wearing a green mankini before his film was shown at the Cannes film festival creating an idea on what the movie was going to be like. Borat was also previewed at the Comic-Con International in San Diego, California.