Slasher stalker horror

film trailer

Jocie, Megan and Chantelle

Romance is the one thing on every teen’s mind but little do they expect for a spark to ignite a flame.

Just like every other teenager Megan is not an exception, the only difference between those teens and Megan is that Megan is the protagonist of our horror film trailer.

Social butterfly Megan finally plans to meet her dream guy ‘Jordan’ who she has been communicating with via text.

However ‘Jordan’ isn’t everything that Megan expected.

Upon Megan meeting ‘Jordan’ at a masked party, what Megan thought would be a he turned out to be a she which ultimately leads to Megan rejecting Jordan.

With this rejection comes the suicide of Jordan and with this suicide seems to open up a new world of horror for Megan.

With a masked figure seemingly stalking Megan and terrorising her everyday life her world is turned upside down with the threat of death at every seemingly corner.

Key charactersMysterious female killer – Identity unknow, presummed to have a link to both Megan and Jordan

Megan – the main character who is a teenager, the girl who will experience abject terror, the presummed reason of Jordan’s suicide after rejecting her romantic adcvances

Jordan – the behind the scene texter, who is a teenage girl who displays romantic emotions towards Megan however kills herself upon rejection.

The name of our film will be “XOXO”

With what many would associate with romance calling our film “XOXO” creates a sense of irony as it is evidently out of place being used in a horror film almost creating a sense of sadism.

Although the use of the words “XOXO” rarely comes up in the trailer it becomes evident the importance held behind it because the audience can almost come to the conclusion that it holds some meaning to the main character and is seemingly being used as a form of mental torture.

The tagline of our film will “Some loves just won’t die”

The use of this tagline makes the suggestion that the horror the main character is experiencing is ultimately because of her rejection of Jordan who clearly had feelings for Megan.

This links in well with the trailer because although Jordan kills herself it seems as though the stalker is taking revenge because of Jordan’s rejection so although Jordan is dead her love that she held for Megan is what leads to these acts of horror.

Because we chose to use the Slasher stalker genre we looked at other trailers of the same genre.

Large inspirations for our film trailer was –

“I know what you did last summer” 1997 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EcWK0M4VMjA)

“Nightmare on Elm street” 2010 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB8XYZDu5zs)

“Halloween” 1978 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T5ke9IPTIJQ)

All these trailers were very helpful because we gained a visual representation of a professional and appealing slasher stalker trailer and we gained ideas for our own trailer such as camera work and editing techniques.

Inspirations

Target audience (demographics)

18 – 25 age groupTeenagers are most likely to feel a connection to other teenagers however because our trailer is a horror film it will be aimed at those who are of legal age to watch it in a cinema therefore the young adult age range would be most appropriate as a target audience.

•The audience will more likely feel a connection to characters of similar age.• There will need to be an age restriction because of the content that will take place in the horror trailer.

USP

- The use of one female having romantic feelings towards another female is something that rarely comes up in horror films as the main focus in horror films is usually between a hetrosexual female and male, therefore we will expanded the usual conventions of romance displayed in horror films

- In horror films the protagonist is usually seen in a favourable light dispite their actions however in our trailer we will display our “protagonist” Megan in an unfavourable light as she will be presented as the reason for an innocent girls death, Jordan.

- There will be a connection between the audience and the killer because the killer in a sense can be seen as a vigilante as they are believed to be taking revenge on Megan who is believed to have caused the death of Jordan, therefore making the killer similar to an anti- hero.

Mise – en - scene

- Setting: When reviewing our questionnaires although there were some differences in our results we decided to use the popular options of an empty street and a garage although we challenged the popular choice of a church setting as it would not fit in with our trailer as there would be no religious aspects present

- Costumes: Because our characters are teenagers their clothing would be casual to show a contraste between their normal routine life and the this abrupt change.

The killer will be dressed in a dark dress to reinforce that she is a female but the use of the dark clothing still symbolises their hidden identity.

- Props: When reviewing our questionnaire the most popular killing object was an everyday object therefore we decided we will implement this into out trailer especially as the setting will be in everyday life places making the objects seem to fit in.

The killer and Jordan will both share a mask which will suggest the connection between jordan and the killer while also being used to hide the killer’s identity

Use of fake blood and makeup to create bruises to show the violence taking place

Sound effects

After viewing various popular results in our questionnaires we decided to have a mix between –

• sounds you wouldn’t hear in your everyday life (heavy breathing)

• sounds you would hear in everyday life (heartbeat and wind)

We decided that we will mainly use sounds that you would hear in everyday life this would be most appropraite as the settings that will be used in the trailer are all considered to be part of normality. However because it is a horror trailer the use of background music will be strategically used to create suspence throughout which would effectively suggest an enigma as the music will build up to something thereofre linking in to the slasher stalker sub – genre.

Editing

After evaluating our questionnaire results the most popular option was the use of vast shots we decided that this will be a most used option in our trailer because it insinuates a dramatic series of events unfolding before the audience

• Majority of cuts will be fast• Will use a montage• Fade ins and outs• Flashing from one scene to the next

These sorts of editing within the trailer will make it seem intense and will in turn have the audience “on the edge of their seats”.

Camera work

We decided that the use of a steady camera would be most appropriate especially because we felt if we used a hand camera it would suggest that the trailer was a found footage film giving it an ameteur look

With the use of specially selected shots such as close ups we will be able to manipulate the audience into creating a link from what they see to what they think is going

- Establishing shots to allow the audience to familiarise themselves with the surrounding

- Close ups to see character reactions- Long shots to see what is taking place around the characters- Panning to view what is around the character while still

focusing on the character- Tracking to smoothly move from one focus to the next in the

same scene

The audience will connect with the horror trailer because of the use of realistic scenerios such as suicide.

Another reason the audience will connect with the trailer is because they are also vulnerable to the fear of rejected and being different.

the audience have some form of connection will add extra fear because these are quite common events that they could be expossed to and for those not expossed to it there is the shock of seeing it.

“Final girl” theory

We will challenge the theory by using the unisex name for the girl who appears to set of a chain reaction with her suicide, ‘Jordan’ this is because we want to reinforce through her name that she is unaccepted and does not appear to fit in with the main character Megan.

We will implement the idea of the character and the killer having a history because of the use of the mask that will be seen before the events of horror take place and after

We will see parts of change in the main charater to keep the narrative moving therefore implementing a challenge to Lura Mulvey’s “The male gaze” theory where it is actually the male who keeps the narrative moving usually.

Poster Jocie-Leigh Bayliss

Poster

MISE-EN-SCENE

The poster is set in the killers ex-girlfriends bedroom a stereotypical girly bedroom

The killer is the main focus in this poster being positioned in the middle.

Positioned to the back right of the killer will be the villains victim (ex-girlfriend) lying asleep in her bed with her new fiancé also asleep in their bedroom.

Positioned to the back left of the killer will be a full length body mirror. Unfortunately for the killer the mirror positioned behind her reflects the murder weapon held in her hand.

SKETCH:

Poster

LIGHTING

The lighting will be dim and dark as it is night time hence why the victim is sleeping, but also darkness adds tension and things usually go wrong in the dark. From the villain there will be a butterfly lighting effect as they are the main focus in this poster. The weapon is a knife and will glisten in the mirror reflection again to reflect its importance.

EXAMPLE:

Poster

FONT

The title ‘Forever and Always’ is what the two characters say to each other, just like they end there texts with ‘xoxo’

Title has ambiguity to the meaning, saying ‘forever and always to each other means to the killer that no matter what she will be with her girlfriend forever and always- hence why she is coming back to kill her girlfriend, so the other girl will be dad to and they will thus be together forever and always.

The tag line will be in a font that looks like it is handwritten as the tagline is ‘XOXO’ which is usually hand written at the end of a card or letter- in this case the end of their life.

Despite the feedback I have received for the type of font I have given exapmles of and which font to use for the title of the poster; now I have an idea of what the storyline of my film will be I think a different type of font will be more appropriate. The font I have chosen is formal looking and bold. The look of the blood dripping down suggests that there will be a lot of blood in the movie. The writing with blood is the same idea as the writing of ‘xoxo’ in blood but in a different way.

EXAMPLE:

Poster

KEY CHARACTERS

My questionnaire results show the vast majority of viewers would rather see the killer on the poster with the next option being the weapon so I have decided to incorporate the two. I have also decided to add the victims into the poster to show that the result of the killer and the knife being together will lead to their death

The title ‘Till Death do us Part’ has ambiguity to the meaning, the killer and the victim were once married; as ‘till death do us part’ are what couples say as their wedding vowels now the couple have split up (now part) according to the vowels the took the only way this would happen is if one of both of them died- this is what is to come in the film.

EXAMPLE:

Innocent looking teenage girl who is the victim/ ex girlfriend

The girlfriend who is bullied and soon to

be killer

Poster

POSITIONING AND CAMERA ANGLE

The killer will have a plain silver mask on and will be standing upright with her head slightly bent downwards looking towards the camera giving the illusion of looking directly at those looking at the poster,

one of her arms will be draping down beside her whilst the other arm is folded behind her back hiding the weapon behind.

The camera angle used for the killer will be a medium long shot with a slight low angle conveying that the killer is being looked up to as he has power of the situation.

EXAMPLES:

Magazine Jocie-Leigh Bayliss

Magazine

MISE-EN-SCENE (CAMERA ANGLES & LIGHTING)

On the cover of the magazine will be the killer with her mask on and her eyes looking directly into the camera. This will be a medium close up of the silver mask which if possible I would like to reflect the wife of her mask as the mask is mirrored. The magazine cover will be mostly dark but the silver mask will be shining and the killers eyes big and staring at the readers. The shot will be a close-up at eye-level with the villain.

EXAMPLE:

Magazine

FONT

For the magazine I have decided to use the font that was most popular for the poster. I have chosen to do this as I will no longer be using this font on the poster and it seemed popular so I believe this will appeal to the audience. I will be using this font for the title of the film as until I see it on the product I do not think this font is right for a heading of a magazine.

what it makes you feel. For the title of the film I am thinking of

using this font as I think it conveys a message of its own. This will also be a distinctive font for people to pick out from a magazine shelf.

As for the sub-headings I have not found the exact font I want to use yet but I want it to be serif as it is not the main feature of the cover but can still be bold enough to make an impact.

EXAMPLE:

Magazine

TITLE

Due to the results of my questionnaire the title ‘Fright’ seems to be the most popular title to use so I have chosen this title as it have been proven that it is more likely to appeal to the audience. This title also coincides with the horror genre and what it makes you feel.

EXAMPLE:

Layout

The magazine cover to the right was proven the most popular in my questionnaire. This layout is rather plain and organised but the feature image taking all of the attention. I am thinking of doing something similar to this layout in the sense that it is plain yet affective.

I also like the use of different shapes that I could incorporate into my front cover to fill any gaps.

EXAMPLE:

Chantelle BuckhornMy ancillary tasks

Poster

Mise – en – scene - Setting: My poster will have

a plain black background to capture the horror convention of fear in the dark

- Prop: The main image will be of the mask prop used by the killer creating a direct link between the two products

- Make – up : Blood will be across the mask to reinforce the horror genre

Poster

Mask will be at the centre of the poster because the image is of the main focus and is one of the main elements of the poster that directly links it with the trailer

The blood on the mask will be written as “XOXO” which will be used as a mast head therefore also at the poster centre attention as it identifies the film

The credits will be placed at the bottom of the poster because this is usually where conventional film posters place their credits

I will have a critic quote at the top away from the rest of the film information, another film poster convetion

I will place the tagline under the main image and title, another film poster conventional layout

At the very bottom will be the release date

Inspiration and my sketch for poster

Website

- For my film website I will have a plain black background

- Will place an image taken from the film and a image of the poster at each side of the page

- I will include multiple pages such as “Home” and “About”

- I will include social network links- The film trailer will automatically play- Film title and tagline- Release date

Website

I will place the navigation buttons at the top above everything because this is a convention of websites

I will place the social network links next to the navigations because they all lead to different pages

I will place the tagline under the links, I will place the masthead under the tagline, the release data above the trailer all are conventions of websites

The trailer will be placed at the centre because it will be the pages main focus

The critic quotes will be at the bottom because they are not as important as the other aspects on the website

Inspiration and my sketch for website

http://www.cabininthewoodsmovie.co.uk/