Trailer Conventions
To understand exactly what needed to be incorporated in my trailer, I analysed 3 films of different genres to gage all the conventions used and observe the variations between genres.
Poster Conventions
Firstly, I researched film posters to observe their conventions and general formats to make sure that I have all the typical criteria for when I create mine. I chose to look at the Paranormal Activity 3 poster as it is a highly grossing horror franchise and as the newest of the films, I thought this would give me a successful insight into current conventions (therefore avoiding any changes that developed over time).
Website Conventions
The website for Paranormal Activity 3 presents a scene with two young girls asleep in bed as the background. This demonstrates the stereotypical format for the films in the franchise, with a date and time at the bottom to reinforce the documentary style and an eerie blue colour scheme to illustrate camera screen lighting and supernatural happenings. There is also an occasional flashing item and camera glitch whilst on the website, which adds to the ghostly themes and genre conveyed in the film. The horror genre is very prominent in this website as a result of these conventions incorporated. The inclusion of children portrays them as the victims in the film and further enhances the believability and creepiness of the plot.
The website has some significant features which encourage interactivity from the target audience. Firstly, as you load the website, the trailer pops up and needs to be closed if the audience don't wish to see it. Also, intertextual reference is used as the viewers are given the option to download an app called 'Demon Summoner'. Furthermore there are tickets and show times to persuade audiences to watch the film, therefore increasing their sales. There is an area where website visitors can enter their e-mail address to register for updates. This enhances the film's marketing campaign because those registered, will receive updates and will probably tell their friends the interesting bits of information that the general public don't get, therefore spreading free publicity.
The Trailer
The trailer begins with a static intervention presenting a stereotypical glitch that may occur when turning on technology. Then the audience are shown a family, through the camera in a home-video format, the use of this style makes the characters more personal and relatable, hence the conscious choice to employ unknown actors. As the trailer progresses, fear is instilled in the audience as another issue or glitch on the camera flicks the happy shots of 'Katie' to a creepy girl crawling towards the camera. The use of dark lighting here is key to creating an unnerving feeling amongst the audience and the blue tinge gives it an ethereal/supernatural glow, which the title indicates anyway. Furthermore, throughout the trailer there are many filming discrepancies flicking between the fun, cheery scenes to eerie, terrifying scenes of unforeseen villains - essentially conveying the storyline through no real narration from titles or a voiceover.
Empire - Empireonline.com
Published by Bauer Media, Empire is a well established film magazine. As the masthead suggests, it has a lot of market share due to its commercial and mass market stance. This makes it the most popular film magazine in terms of sales volume at present.
In this magazine cover, the focus is mainly on new films as it is a 2011 preview cover and so its primary purpose is to inform the audience about new, upcoming films. Use of key actors, both name mentions and images (Johnny Depp) are significant as many members of the audience watch or are persuaded to watch films by the actors within. The title is large and emboldened to fully stand out on a magazine shelf in a shop which demonstrates that they are aware of how contextual factors such as shop placement, can affect their sales.
Frequently, Empire place their models in front of the masthead which ultimately references their reputation and recognisability amongst their audience, as sometimes certain letters within are not visible, such as in the Sherlock Holmes cover:
In this issue there use the same font type and a similar hierarchy of text strategy to maintain brand identity with the well established theme of previous editions. However, the pictures and further arrangements (other than the '+' section) vary with issue. For example, for this edition, the main focus is Sherlock Holmes and Robert Downey Jr, the character and actor, he is positioned at the very front of the page, shown in a mid shot to convey is expression. Conversely, the Pirates of the Caribbean issue shows Johnny Depp in a long shot, presented in costume to fully portray his character, Captain Jack Sparrow.
The website is well organised for ease of consumer navigation. There are well placed offers along the top, following the typical audience eye-line ('Z' formation) and then tabs that take the consumer to their preferred category. Furthermore there is a search bar for quicker navigation and specifics.
Total Film - totalfilm.com
The name of this magazine brand, 'Total Film' suggests that the magazine incorporates all aspects of film and the industry and perhaps all of the ones within the current market. Its closest rival is Empire as it also tries to incorporate many films in the same sort of format and style - therefore they are effectively competing for the same target market. To further appeal to their audience, Total Film includes many links to new technologies which involve the readers first hand and increases their loyalty to the brand as they are aware of it through many mediums (social networking, personal phones etc.) This magazine is obviously a mass-market, commercial magazine as it incorporates all the newest films from many different genres so that their audience can get a significant insight into all the best/newest films.
The colour scheme incorporated on the majority of Total Film cover suggests that their chosen primary audience is males as they utilise hard colours like blue, black and red that connote danger or masculinity. This cover shows the actors of King Kong, presenting their characters therefore using the plot to promote the film rather than the 'big names' associated. The positioning of Naomi Watts and Adrien Brody on the front cover shows the female character as weak and perhaps vulnerable, whereas the male protectively holds her whilst maintaining an expression of steely determination. This once more highlights the male orientation of the magazine. 
The website, similarly to Empire's has easy navigation with tabs along the top, search bars and further interaction is encouraged with links to new media and technologies - Facebook, Twitter, iPhone
Sight and Sound is a very different type of film magazine. It conveys mainly factual information about films rather than entertaining their niche audience who must subscribe to purchase the magazine. Also, although the magazine does target world cinema, so the audience gain larger insight than the would in 'Empire' and 'Total Film', the magazine is not very widely renown probably due to the exclusivity of distribution.
This cover is a 'Gangsters Special' and is therefore dedicated to a specific genre of film which may isolate some consumers who are perhaps, not interested in that particular type of film. The image of Johnny Depp from 'Public Enemies' suggests that this issue is possibly actor driven rather than the film, although the key coverline would suggest otherwise.
The website for Sight and Sound is one of the more boring amongst the other magazines. Just like the magazine itself, the website seems to be directed at giving information to consumers and therefore lacks any 'Pizzazz' or even colour. It is easily navigable (for those with good eyesight due to the small font) but again doesn't really 'show off' their magazine to the audience.
SFX -
This cover has the key image with the actors in character, a typical feature of movie magazines. One of the characters has a prominent position in the image which establishes him as perhaps the lead or key character either in the series or an upcoming special. The masthead here also contributes the main theme as it incorporates blood which the audience may pragmatically understand as the characters from 'Being Human' are Vampires and Werewolves. The hierarchy of text on this cover is a little misleading, as although the key cover line is a different colour and one of the largest on the cover, another cover line '2010' is seemingly a similar size. The colour scheme is consistent throughout - mainly blue white and red, which is stereotypical convention.
This cover is a little more 'busy' in terms space available on the page. The image is prominent on the page, placed in front of the masthead which again is styled to reflect and convey the themes of the main article. The actress is in character and facing the camera, eye contact is key on magazine covers to drawing attention from consumers during retail. Both magazines distinctly reference their distributer - Future Publishing which, in a bright red logo, effectively stands out and promotes their brand.
This cover has the key image with the actors in character, a typical feature of movie magazines. One of the characters has a prominent position in the image which establishes him as perhaps the lead or key character either in the series or an upcoming special. The masthead here also contributes the main theme as it incorporates blood which the audience may pragmatically understand as the characters from 'Being Human' are Vampires and Werewolves. The hierarchy of text on this cover is a little misleading, as although the key cover line is a different colour and one of the largest on the cover, another cover line '2010' is seemingly a similar size. The colour scheme is consistent throughout - mainly blue white and red, which is stereotypical convention.
This cover is a little more 'busy' in terms space available on the page. The image is prominent on the page, placed in front of the masthead which again is styled to reflect and convey the themes of the main article. The actress is in character and facing the camera, eye contact is key on magazine covers to drawing attention from consumers during retail. Both magazines distinctly reference their distributer - Future Publishing which, in a bright red logo, effectively stands out and promotes their brand.
Little White Lies
This magazine uses magazine covers very differently to other brands of magazine. Firstly, their masthead is small, quirky and surrounded by a white circle which makes it easily readable for consumers and effectively makes it stand out against the bright backgrounds used. The barcode, a standard convention employed, is rounded and placed prominently above the masthead, along with the issue number and price. The slogan of the magazine is placed just below the masthead 'Truth and movies' and a short and catchy phrase.
The main selling point of this unique magazine is the large hand-drawn image that details of a specific film character in a close-up shot. They include vibrant colours and name the issue after the particular film that's featured, leaving the audience to buy the magazine on that alone, as they are not provided it any other information on what is included inside.
This issue of the magazine, follows the that Little White Lies are renowned for, with the close up, drawn image, vibrant colours, and specific film issue. However, this one does include other coverlines to give the audience some insight as to features within. 
This issue is different again, as the image includes a futuristic, holographic sort of effect on his face, giving a technological effect to it. This conveys the science fiction theme of the film and give it a nice effect.
Marketing Campaign for the Saw franchise
In the interest of keeping this blog original and not monotonous, I have chosen to analyse the Saw franchise for this next section in the style of Movie Marketing Madness.
The films, released every year on the Friday before Halloween since 2003, have certainly seemed to captivate audiences for several years, regardless of the similar story-lines and gruesome content. Many bloodthirsty fans, flock to the nearest cinema for the newest instalment of the franchise to discover what new twists and traps the series creators, Wan and Whannel, have developed.
Brief Synopsis of Saw 1 (main analysis on):
The films are based around a terminally ill cancer patient John Kraemer (Tobin Bell). Kraemer kidnaps 'bad' people and traps them in a series of fatal games which they must try and survive. His aim is to give them a new thirst for life, (should they escape) just like he found after a failed suicide attempt.
The Posters
This is the poster for the first Saw film. As you can see, the posters are fairly stark and bare. There's a plain white back ground with a slightly dirty, offset saw at the top to illustrate the title of the film. The centre of the poster is a severed limb which gives the audience into the plot of the film and certainly conveys the horror genre of the movie. The title is written in a blood red colour and is not a conventional text, representing perhaps, the non-stereotypical aspects of the film. The 'W' is also made to look like finger marks or someone possibly trying to gain some purchase on the bloody floor.
As the films continue, the posters follow the same sort of format. This poster, for Saw 3 contains the same image of the saw at the top and has the text in the same font and colour for continuity. The picture however, varies. This poster shows three teeth being dangled on string to represent the number sequel within the franchise. This is not made explicitly apparent to audiences although it is rather obvious. The teeth could also give some insight into the plot line of the film, perhaps illustrating that one of Jigsaw's traps may involve unwanted dentistry.
Saw 4 demonstrates a slightly different format. As in all the others, the image is used to portray the film plot and also tell the audiences which sequel it is (if they don't follow the franchise). Here, roman numerals have been used and certain 'tools' blatantly used for Kraemer's sinister purposes are utilised to 'spell' it out. The metal tray, typically used to contain such instruments is the background for the poster, in antithesis to the previous 3 where there was a dirty white background with a saw at the top. The break in continuity throughout the franchise's posters gives the audience reason to believe a different/fresh approach has been taken leaving the film memorable in their minds and could possibly entice new audiences.
It is important that trailers for horror films scare viewers whilst retaining enigma and convey the genre effectively.
The trailer for 'Saw' meets this criteria.
It starts with what becomes a 'catchphrase' of Jigsaw, 'I want to play a game'. Following this, certain clips from the film are shown to effectively create a narrative for the audience so that they can grasp the concept of the film within the 1 minute video. This narrative, in conjunction with the text in between clips, 'It's his game', helps to retain the enigma throughout. The text also aids the storytelling in the trailer. The pace is important in the trailer also. As it begins, the pace is slow as the film is being established and the themes are being introduced to the audience. However, as the trailer proceeds the pace increases to show varied horror clips from the film in rapid motion, coupled with diegetic screaming to fully convey the plot line to viewers. The music throughout is generally eerie, especially at the end when the title appears, although this trailer is dominated by diegetic sound. The trailer ends with Jigsaw saying 'Live or Die. It's your choice' once again reiterating Kraemer's twisted mindset and concepts within the film.
Overall the trailer is fairly good and would entice people to go and see it. The film is not hung on actors performances as there are no particularly big names in this franchise, hence the lack of emphasis on anything but the genre and plot in the trailer.
Online (Saw 6 Website)
As you enter the website, there is darkness. A small red line appears which you inevitably focus on. Then the website is fully revealed to a spooky voice saying 'I want to play a game with you'. The trailer then automatically loads on a small window at the forefront of the screen, requiring audience interaction to close or watch. On the main page, the most obvious feature is a large image of a pair of boxing gloves made from human hands, referencing a scene from the movie perhaps. In the top right corner, there is a small red wheel around which the words 'Play the Death carousel game' are repeated. This references a scene and trap from the film and invites interaction from the viewers of the website. Also, this works with the tagline on the title below 'The game comes full circle.'
The Saw 6 website also incorporates intertextuality to encourage further involvement in the franchise. Links to social networking - outlets that the target audience spend most of their time using. This website, as it is for a fairly old film, also incorporates images of the Blu-Ray and DVD copies to persuade their audience to purchase them.
The tabs along the bottom also reference other things within the franchise such as the ride at Thorpe Park, the e-poster for the movie (moving images) and the game of the film by Konami. Again, these encourage interactivity from viewers in not only the Saw 6 and the other films, but the whole franchise.
Advertising and Cross Promotions
The Saw franchise is mainly advertised in the standard way that films are promoted, through use of billboards and TV trailers. However, for the release of Saw 2, the producers of Saw created a comic book prequel to the first film entitle Saw: Rebirth, which told the story of Kraemer. These events were then disregarded and the story was retold in Saw 4.
Saw has many diverse attractions based on the films. Thorpe park has a rollercoaster named Saw: The Ride; Universal Studios, Warner Bros. Movie World and Circus Circus Las Vegas all devised temporary Saw themed mazes based on traps from the films for 'Fright Nights'. These attractions all contributed considerably to promoting the franchise to new audiences and certainly established it as a best-selling septology.
Media and Publicity
Saw's main publicity probably comes from word of mouth more than anything because although there are the stereotypical means of advertising and creating a 'buzz', it's the fans who've seen it and recommend it that create the real hype in the market and the media today. As mention on Launchingfilm.tv, audiences' opinions on films can make or break its success as they spread and share these views with other potential customers, effectively persuading or discouraging their will to see a film. Within the Saw franchise, it's the similarity of the plots in conjunction with new narratives, traps and plots twists that entice more than just the loyal fan base to watch the newest sequel. Interest into the new methods etc. is what starts the craze, as well as the success of prequels, which are bound to have significant influence as to whether the viewers want to pay to see another film. Finally, reviews and celebrity 'raves' about films through use of the radio, television etc. definitely helps spread awareness for a new film like Saw 3D.
Overall, the whole media campaign of the franchise is very effective in enticing new audiences to watch the films, as well as keep current fans interested. The posters, trailers and website certainly encompass their ideal audience by promoting interactivity with the carousel game etc. The whole franchise is highly successful in terms of sales and marketing the film.
Institutional Research
To gain further insight into the movie industry, I analysed the film distribution aspects.
Here, I made lists of the important things mentioned in the informational videos on Launching film such as the steps a film producer and distributor takes before releasing the film; the usual tasks a distributor undergoes and what to consider when marketing the poster and trailer. Learning these points helped me gain further insight into the movie industry and know how to aim my poster and trailer at the target audience I choose.
This is an image I found which I believe represents the relationships and financial flow within movie distribution.
I also researched the Film Distributors' Association (FDA) through Launchingfilm.tv to discover their protocol and procedures, who they are and learn about film release trailers and marketing. This enabled me to access any further knowledge of distribution to, again, ensure my trailer and poster are as accurate and successful as possible.
As a rule, 'A-list' celebrities aren't really associated with the Horror genre much. The films mainly rely on the twisted concepts and gore/psychoanalysis to sell the film. However, there are of course many exceptions such as Matthew McConaughey in Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Christian Bale in American Psycho etc. In the trailers I analysed, there were no stars named and it was the concept and plot that effectively enticed audiences to go and see it. Therefore, for my trailer I do not intend to incorporate actors names.
Cinema choice
In the Macclesfield area, there is a small, local and independent cinema that shows some large 'films of the moment' as well as some older titles. Favoured by those without transport and perhaps with a smaller budget, this is ideal for a cheeky film night.
However, there is a multiplex cinema in Parrs Wood, Didsbury which is fairly close. As a part of the Cineworld chain all over the UK it offers viewing of the big 'Blockbusters' for a variety of audiences (Families to strictly 18s+). To further entice spending, they sell within via the bar, restaurant and many snacks.
Similarly to other films of the Horror genre, I would release my 'film' in a cinema like this, amongst other films of varying storylines and genres. My film is definitely a mainstream kind of movie, rather than a quirky, artistic one.
Accessibility
For audiences, it is important that the film they want to see is fairly close so that travel costs and organisation is not an issue and so that perhaps they can frequent the venue on a semi-regular basis. For mainstream films, like many in the horror genre, this can potentially restrict and isolate some audiences as they may not be able to access the larger, multiplex cinemas that present them. This means that the significant promotional campaigns must be highly prominent and influential so that people outside the target demographic will make an effort and therefore increase the companies' revenue and profit. The use of other close attractions such as an array of restaurants, shops and activities (Bowling, Laser Quest), further persuades consumers to make the journey as it constitutes as a 'day out' and so is seemingly worth it.Multiplex cinemas often advertise via their consumers, relying on them to convey their experiences at the cinema, as acquaintances always ask the location of the cinema they saw the film in. Typically, they rely on the consumers' pragmatic knowledge when seeing a trailer they enjoy, is that they should see it at their preferred venue. However, promotions such as the massively popular 'Orange Wednesdays' that provides a '2 for 1' deal, brings huge increases in demand levels for films and the cinema and so means that the company itself (Cineworld/Odeon etc.) don't need to explicitly advertise.
Genre Research
To research genre, I thought about what I believe to be stereotypical Horror conventions and found images to represent these features and aspects. I presented these in a moodboard format:
This allowed me to effectively understand how concepts are displayed in films within the same genre I'm choosing, so as to make my trailer successful. The villains and victims were key in this as I need to effectively direct my actors so that they convey the typical sadistic villains and the overly curious, defenceless victims. Within this we decided to use an all-girl cast, challenging the stereotype that males are the dominant, strong killers. The plot also follows Carol Clover's idea of 'last person' or 'sole survivor', which is indicated in the trailer, but the audience are positioned so that no character looks favourable for this. In conjunction with this, we distorted Strauss' theory of binary opposites in that we wanted all girl characters to balance the strength and make it a fairer, less predictable struggle throughout. Also, the setting is important to consider. Although they vary with each sub-genre of Horror, the reasoning remains similar. It is important that I choose places that compliment the genre and the concept of my film.
It was important that I researched some significant directors from this genre just to analyse their work or perhaps franchise. However, although horror films seem to notoriously have the most sequels attached to an original, many new directors undertake these and so it is difficult to find a director that specialises in the genre and/or franchise. The most notable perhaps is Wes Craven, creator of the Scream blockbusters. After grossing $600million worldwide, it is safe to say that his technique within each of the 4 slasher movies as well as employing some key actors (unusually for horror films) is a successful one.
Audience Research
To research my target consumer, I created a questionnaire to effectively gain knowledge from them about preferences and what they believe to be typical conventions within the Horror genre.
Results:
This shows that my questionnaire was answered mostly by females therefore my further questions will result in the most popular answers being perhaps geared towards that gender. However, the questions are opinion based and so should not create any gender bias.
To gain reasoning behind this, I asked the audience why they prefer said camera style. Those in favour of the handheld effect divulged the following: 'As if you're there', 'Personal feel, enhances scariness', 'More real and believable' If I choose to use this style, these opinions will be useful in making sure it is effective. For those in favour of standard filming: 'I like to be able to see the film clearly' 'Prefer the professional look to the authentic look'. This presents a common opinion that utilising a handheld camera style may perhaps distort the perspective and understanding of the film.
The most popular films by a streak, are Saw and Paranormal which are fairly different films. Saw involves quite a lot of explicit gore as well as some psychological play, possibly a winning combination. Although the innovative Paranormal Activity franchise is a popular choice here, the idea is similar to the Blair Witch Project meaning that perhaps if I was to choose this style it would not be as effective as it must be well done to 'work'.
Overall, the questionnaire has given me a good insight into how I should execute and present my film trailer to make it effective and enjoyable for my target audience.
Preliminary task
To gage the skills involved with using PremierPro - an unfamiliar software - we completed two preliminary tasks that helped us learn camera usage and how to get the most effective shots and furthermore, editing.
Firstly there was Village of Shadow. We watched and briefly analysed the trailer of this French horror film, and then as a class, proceeded to film all the scenes presented.
This is the teaser trailer we looked at. As you can see, none of the shots linger for very long and so when recreating these scenes, it's difficult to convey the emotion and feeling of the situation.
We employed 3 class members as actors within the bus to try and convey this storyline to the audience and make an effective piece. By watching our technical specialist, Tim, use the camera and give us tips, it allowed me to understand the most complex aspects and gain a further insight into conventions of a trailer. After some significant editing on PremierPro, and little master classes on editing the software, I created this:
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