Evaluation Activity 1

In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products? (i.e. of teaser trailers/poster/magazines)



The introduction shot of the haunted house in the Woman in Black



Tilt shot of Alcott Manor



This is one of the early shots in our teaser trailer. It is introduced by a low to high angle shot. This is typical of a horror trailer because it sets the scene for the audience. The audience will be able to recognise this is a horror film because of its location, a grand, and seemingly unoccupied house, which is constantly repeated convention in horror films. By using this location, it encourages audiences to watch the trailer because it is repeating enough of the genre for the audience to be familiar with, but the story could offer some difference for viewers. The low to high angle tilt gives the fictional 'Alcott Manor' an empowering feel because the audience is forced to look up at it. This helps set the genre of the film because the style of the house is often this way in stereotypical horrors, for example, the size of the house, the turrets and grand entrance. This is a similar style to the Woman in Black (2012) because of how it introduces the house with a panning shot, but we decided to use a tilt. It is edited to be playing whilst there is a voiceover from a character. This is adhering to horror genre as this is evident in many trailers. It allows the audience to put two and two together; hear the story whilst seeing where it will take place. Other trailers which use a voiceover is Babycall (2012) and Cabin in the Woods (2012) and once again Woman In Black (2012).

 

 

 

This shot shows the characters descovering the grave of 'Elizabeth Wilman'; could this be
the ghost?

The second screen shot is the introduction of the main antagonist character in the film, although not in full. The camera shot is a simple mid shot, this is because it can show enough to focus on without there being too much to take in and distorting the audience's concentration. For example, the simple location of the sparse woods means that audiences are focused on the characters and the suspicious looking gravestone. This shot in the trailer sets the story up when the characters are intrigued by who the grave stone belongs to. Digetic dialogue says it is the grave of 'Elizabeth Wilman', and following the voiceover from the early shots, audiences can link the two and begin to wonder if the dead girl in the bathtub is Elizabeth Wilman. The narrative can be associated with in this shot, because of repetitive horror films, the audience know that the group of friends will have to try to escape the grounds and kill the ghost. This shot is edited in after one of the friends dares the others to stay at 'Alcott Manor', which allows the audience to see that the friends have accepted the challenge without wasting time in the trailer showing them say yes.

 

The third screen shot is an inter title which is shown around 55 seconds into the trailer. By this time, the story and characters have been vaguely told or seen. The use of the inter title, is to fill in the blanks for the audience as well as introduce an element of uncertainty for the characters. For the audience, they feel the need for the characters to feel safe and survive, or at least see one escape (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs theory), although the nature of the film may forbid this, challenging the audiences expectations. This shot is edited in using the fade-in effect on Adobe, this added suspense to the audience as it took time to appear on screen so the audience were not sure as to what was coming. This style of tag line 'No Soul Is Safe' almost implies a difference to horror films because it is showing that no character will have preference to another and that everyone is a target. This is different to the first three Scream films, when virgins were safe and wouldn't be killed by ghostface.

 

One character is taken by surprise; challenging the
audience's need to survive (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs)

The fourth screen shot shows one character being grabbed the ghost. This shot is a mid to close shot which allows the characters emotion to be seen but it also adds mystery to why was she taken and not the others. The genre is suggested in this shot by the typical lone girl who is then targeted because of her vulnerability. The setting also helps suggest this as, through the montage, the location has been shown as a continuing, vast area of land which the girls are unfamiliar with; which further adds to them being easy targets. The target audience for a horror film is 16-24 males; a young girl getting captured could help prove Laura Malvey's Male Gaze theory. This shot continues on from a sequence of the same girl running from something with the audience hoping that once she hides she'll be safe - but then she is caught; which adds to tension and unsuspecting narrative of the trailer.

Two protagonists run away from an unseen threat -
What is it?
Where will they go?
This keeps the audience interested and
want to watch the film to find out.

The next shot shows two of the characters running from something or someone. Although the characters have not been fully introduced, you can tell they are scared. The audience will empathise with them as they will most likely feel the same if they were placed in a similar situation. Viewers could watch this film as a form of escapism and therefore need to be reassured that one of the characters will survive. This will help the film generate revenue because the audience will want to see which characters survive - if any do. Narrative is clearly shown through this shot, as the characters are running from something and they are clearly just trying to survive. The body language of the characters highlights this, as they are continually looking over their shoulder and seeing if they are being pursued.

The first full body introduction of the ghost

The introduction of the ghost is placed in the middle of the montage, and a quick flash makes it hard to determine although the audience, having seen the characters several times, will know that she is not one of them. The high angle shot highlights the fact that she is in control and that the friends are obviously not. The setting is also a new one, which demonstrates that the ghost knows her way around the grounds, once again handicapping the group of friends as they could end up lost, another threat to their safety. We used a special effect on Adobe, which darkens the image and grained it in black and white. This also helps show that the ghost is not of their age and the difference in shot could mean that she is not to be trusted.

The over the shoulder shot gives the
ghost the dominance in the frame

The seventh screen shot is a high angle, over the shoulder shot of the ghost looking down on one of the friends, a possible target. This frame has several effects and conveys the genre of the film well. The high angle gives the ghost the power of the shot, reiterating older shots with the variety of surroundings, suggesting that the friends are the targets and weaker; with the ghost being more dominant. The over the shoulder shot almost gives the audience the chance to see from the ghost's perspective, which makes the audience uneasy because they want to see the story from the girl's side. This shot in the montage is quite long as the friend walks a while before noticing the ghost, which implies that they are less in control, which stops the audience feeling the need for the character to survive (Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs). The genre of horror is easily identifiable in this shot because you do not fully see the ghost, which makes the audience nerved and unsure about who or what the friends are being a threatened by.

The same two shots but with a difference; the hands can be seen but then disappear,
this is repetitive of a horror film because it is creepy and suspenseful

The final two frames are from before the inter title of the film's name 'Lost Soul' and 'Coming Soon'. These two shots challenge each other and are very typical style of shots in a horror trailer. The first frame shows the arms of a someone slowly emerging from a bath outside, adhering to the earlier story told by the character of a woman dying in a bath tub which is now left outside. The slow movement is creepy and adds suspense to the audience. To them, this shot signals that the ghost is obviously free and haunting the friends. The second shot, when the hands retract back into the bath. This challenges the first shot because the audience think that the ghost is out, but in fact she has gone back into hiding, which once again throws the audience back into the unknown. Both shots are edited close together so that the audience do not forget the first. Those who are big fans of supernatural horror films could associate the bath as a way to kill the ghost due to the emphasis on the character emerging and disappearing the same way. The prop of the bath was actually on location and we used this to base our story around, as like most haunting in horror films, the ghost or spirit must start from somewhere or something, this narrative would be explored further in the actual film, but because it is a trailer the main plot is vague. These shots are repetitive of the horror genre because of the slow and suspenseful revealing of the hands and then they suddenly disappear, which echos Cabin in the Woods (2012).