Focus Group Findings

The Focus Group allowed us to show a rough cut of LIVE: STREAM to our classmates. From this, we worked out what we needed to improve about our trailer. After this, we made some last minute changes to improve it. Here are all of the comments we collected from the focus group.

“Live: Stream” Focus Group

Things that people liked about the trailer:

- short engaging text
- good gore x2
- overall story x3
- music fits well x5
- good pace to the trailer x3
- bag over the heads x2
- setting is good x3
- acting is believable
- 3,2,1 works well
- realistic
- good editing, angles looked good x2
- good body horror
- liked the quotes from the magazine
- text and music builds up tension well
- text is very sinister


Things that people believed could be improved:

- too much of the story given away
- one victim tortured
- improve the text x3
- perhaps improve some gore shots
- change pacing for the 3,2,1 part
- built up ending
- add an ending to make you jump
- more sound effects x2
- scary ending to be added
- the last shot needs to be more dramatic and contain more gore x2
- change background used
- more blood for chainsaw scene
- shot at the end is a repeat of another one
- arm wound needed


Average overall score out of 10: 7.7/10

Task: Still Image Analyses

Dawn of the Dead (2004) Image Analysis

This is a scene for Dawn of the Dead (2004), the remake of the original version. In this scene we see the group of survivors in an elevator escaping from zombies. Collision cutting is used here as it goes from a very quick set of shots before to a slow single shot. There is also relaxed elevator music which can be seen as parallel as the chase has ended and there is no danger, albeit only for a few moments. However, it can also be seen as contrapuntal as they are ultimately in an extremely dangerous situation, with fast moving zombies within the mall. We also hear the character in the back left (C.J) of the shot tell a joke about the song, to add humour to the situation. Ana, the female character in the middle at the front also appears to be taking control of the situation. Sexism is defeated in this scene and it goes against cultural dominant ideology. The mise-en-scene of this scene feels quite relaxed compared to the rest of the scenes which surround it. The mid/long shot used here is also very effective, allowing the viewer to see all the characters and all their reactions to the moment.

In this scene from Dawn of the Dead (2004), we see the female hero kill a zombie by stabbing her through the eye. This shows that she is stronger than the other characters. It could be seen as a phallic symbol even though she is a female. Again, this whole image goes against the cultural dominant ideology of women being weak when we can clearly see here that she is not. This is a common generic feature of horror movies, to have a powerful “final girl” stereotype. Horror is quite forward thinking in this way. A lot of body horror is also used in this scene to help create a stronger mise-en-scene. A lots of quick paced shots are edited together to make the whole scene feel more hectic and the sound is parallel with the scene. This zombie is also extremely fast so the quick shots and parallel sound compliment the pace of the zombie well. Quick zombies were needed for this version as slow moving zombies were too predictable and not as intense. Audiences were quite desensitised compared to how they used to be in earlier times. The audience now demands quicker and more graphic horrors.

In this scene taken from Dawn of the Dead (2004), we can see two black men having a conversation in the bathroom. These characters are extremely different from each other. One is a thief while the other is a policeman. This connotes that even though they are both extremely different people they essentially are both good guys in this film and both have a limited amount of respect for each other. Really, Kenneth is the main hero of the film. It also shows them both in a bathroom, this could perhaps connote racism saying that because they are that skin colour they have to go to the bathroom to talk. It is strange for a film to have a hero with black skin in mainstream films, but horror movies try to get away from that idea and select people as heroes who you may not suspect. Having two strong black males is not a strange thing to see in a horror movie. The original Dawn of the Dead is another good example of having a black hero in the film who survives until the end.

Dawn of the Dead (1979) Image Analysis

In this scene from Dawn of the Dead (1979), we see a zombies head being shot off. We see a huge amount of graphic body horror here. We can see an explosion of blood and brains which would cause the audience to cringe. The shot was fired by a white racist character and the victim is a coloured man, which shows racism. This reflects the auteur influence of Romero and he hated racism, partly because of his half Cuban roots. Shots are edited together to create a quick montage to confuse and excite the viewer. The lighting is of quite a high key to allow us to see how harsh the gore really is. A medium close up shot is used so all of the gore can fit into the frame and even fill the whole shot to make the gore seem bigger and harsher. The Hays Code had completely deteriorated when this film was made so a lot of harsh and shocking gore was allowed to be used, although the level of Tom Savini’s effects menat that it was initially released as “Unrated” in the USA.

In this scene of Dawn of the Dead (1979) we see the character Flyboy getting attacked by a zombie in the dark boiler room. Fly boy fits the Cultural Dominant Ideology well as he is a reporter for a news channel, and would normally fit the stereotype of the hero. We see Stephen actually being a really awful hero and he nearly gets bitten by a slow zombie before he finally manages to shoot him. The low key lighting used in this scene was essential to create a scary atmosphere that would make the audience feel uneasy due to extensive shadows. Collision cutting is used here to make the audience jump and feel confused about all the images flashing at them at a quick pace. The slow build up contrasts with the zombie suddenly jumping out and attacking Stephen. It creates excitement for the audience. Nearly every type of shot was used to create this mise-en-scene, like close ups, skewed angles, point of view, handheld camera and many others. These types of shots and editing compliment the theme well. All the shots are creating different emotions like fear and even upsetting because you feel sorry for Stephen as he is useless at defending himself. The parallel music also adds to the eerie atmosphere.

In this scene of Dawn of the Dead (1979) we see Flyboy shaking Peter’s hand while stealing money from a cash register. This links to the context of the film. During the time that it was made as shopping malls had just started to be built and become extremely popular. However, what is happening in this scene goes against the cultural dominant ideology as racism was a huge problem in this time. Here we see a white person shaking a black person’s hand showing unity between them. Peter is also the most charismatic character in the scene and movie. This scene comes along with a line of other scenes within the mall of the characters all having a good time making it a montage. The music being played during this time is parallel with the emotions that the characters are feeling, but is also contrapuntal considering the situation that these people find themselves in. The Auteur theory by Andrew S Harris (in his essay “Notes on the Auteur Theory in 1962”) is also apparent as George A. Romero was firmly against the idea of consumerism in this time. The film shows how malls played a huge part in the growth of consumerism, and how they could lead to rampant greed. Peter is definitely the most charismatic character in the scene and movie.

Psycho (1960) Image Analysis

In this scene in Psycho we see Marion
driving down a highway like road. It is raining very heavily in this scene
which connotes sadness and misery. This pathetic fallacy is enough to allow the
viewer to realise the depression, confusion and darkness of this scene. It is
also night time in this scene and low key lighting is used throughout which
also helps to enforce the idea of sadness and perhaps mystery. This all helps
add to the mise-en-scene of this part of the film. The cinematography that
Hitchcock uses throughout this scene creates an extremely powerful and
depressing atmosphere The close up on her face goes on for around a minute
allowing the audience a better view of Marion’s feelings. The montage of
thoughts that are being heard in her head throughout this scene add to the
eeriness and helps the audience identify with Marion’s confused thoughts.

This scene from Psycho is
when Norman Bates is staring at Marion through a small hole while she is
getting undressed to get into the shower. Laura Mulvey’s theory of the ‘Male
Gaze’ is relevant here, given how she analyses the way in which men stare at
women in a pleasurable way. The idea of voyeurism or scopophilia comes up here
very strongly. The close up allows us to see the way he is gazing through the
hole and then it changes to a point of view shot for the audience to see
exactly what he’s seeing. We then get a close up of his strange and perhaps
perverted reaction. The point of view shot also forces us to see through his
eyes, creating an unsettling feeling for the viewer as if we were voyeurs too.
Low key lighting is also used in the scene to help the audience to realise he
is hidden and dark, and therefore an evil and untrustworthy character. This
scene is also made up of reasonably slow editing unlike the shower scene which
is a quick montage of images which comes shortly after.

In this scene of Psycho we
see Norman Bates talking to Marion when they are sat down eating sandwiches.
Norman explains that Marion eats like a bird. Marion’s surname is Crane which
is a type of bird and also Norman enjoys stuffing birds as a hobby. This could
lead to us thinking that he see Marion as a bird and is going to kill her and
perhaps stuff her. Norman’s hobby probably goes against the CDI (Cultural
Dominant Ideology) as the idea of being a taxidermist seems slightly odd. Ed
Gein used to also cut up dead bodies, and make furniture and masks out of them.
The taxidermy thing is linking Norman to Gein, using the historical context to
maximise the impact of the film. The lighting in this scene is reasonably
bright allowing us to see that the scene is supposed to be a bit happier and
more pleasant. This helps the mystery aspect of the narrative as we don’t know
if Norman is thinking of her as just a guest which helps the final twist in the
narrative where he is surprisingly revealed to be the killer.

Audience Research

In order to get the best audience research we did a number of things in class. We created our own posters in class of an idea that we thought was good. Then we showed the rest of the group our piece and they said what they liked and what they didn't like about it. We could then use these points to grasp our audiences attention in the best way. We also looked at a number of real film trailers as a class. We then rated them snd said what we thought was good and bad about them. Using this information we could see what people would like to see in a trailer. We then had an evaluation screening of our trailer with a focus group. We allowed everyone to say what they liked and what they did'nt like about our trailer and using this information we could really get across to our target audience in a more affective way.

The age range that would suit our trailer in 18-35 year olds. This is because of the style of the film which would include havily violent scenes like SAW (2004). This film is likely to be more for the male gender, however females will also enjoy it if they are into gorey horror films. Our type of horror film is most certainly gore.

However, there are always problems with audience research, especially when they come to horror films. People who are into horror films are very difficult to please all at the same time. For example, in SAW (2004) some people had to hide from the gore where as others really liked that part of the film and thought it was cool. This is known as polysemy. Horror trailers/films nearlly always attract reformers and outsiders so we could never figure out exactly what the audience would want to see. In my own trailer, people wanted to see the arm come off when the chainsaw strikes, however my group wanted to see that in the actually film and wanted to save it for the whole film.

Ancillary Products Research

History Of Horror Movies

Ghosts, zombies, satanism and your family

View more presentations from spearce12.

Task: Horror Film Reviews

Film Review: Paranormal Activity

Film Title: Paranormal Activity

Year of Production: 2007-2009

Director: Oren Peli

Genre/Genres: Supernatural Horror

Brief Plot Outline: Two young adults Katie and Micah move into a home together. Katie claims that she is being haunted. The pair decide to film their bedroom and paranormal activity is caught on film. The hauntings then become more physical and the couple become very distressed.

Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why?

The first scene which impressed me the most was when Katie gets out of bed and stares at Micah. The timer in the bottom right corner goes by very quickly. This could be seen as collision cutting as the time is going slowly and we are just seeing the pair asleep up until that point. The she goes down stairs. The reason why i liked this so much is because of how eerie and strange it is. It makes you feel very uncomfortable. This is due to the lever manipulation and contrast of quickly moving time, yet a slowly moving character. The second scene I was very impressed with was when Katie slowly dragged out of bed and then dragged away. The sounds are parallel with the scene and no sound is actually added to the scene. This creates an emotion of suffering and the viewer wanting to help.

How has watching the film helped you understand this genre of film making? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How?

Watching this film has helped me to understand that lots of special effects and expensive editing/producing isn’t necessary. The film has a psycho killer, female screaming victim and a male hero all integrated into just two characters. Low key lighting was used which created shadows around the corners of the frame making the viewer feel un easy as they can’t see everything in the shot. Restricted narration is also used as we know no more than they do. The reason behind this is because it has all been captured on a video camera which they set up. This creates a creepy, enclosed location. Slow editing and collision cutting are both used to change our heart beat and make us feel on edge. For example, when Micah is thrown at the camera at the end of the film. The expressionist skewed angles used also help add to this effect. The fact that the whole film is shot on a hand held camera is important as it puts us right in the action. Violence, unhappy endings and sadism are al used as well as we can see that Katie enjoys hurting Micah. The room, the edit and the demon all add to the fear factor.

Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? Why? I would like to include the idea of the supernatural and ghost in my own trailer. The idea is very simple but extremely effective and can be far scarier than excessive body horror. The low key lighting and montage was also extremely effective. The slow to quick edits creates strong collision cutting which makes us jump. Restricted narration also appears to be extremely useful. I like the idea of the viewer only knowing as much as the people in the film do, as it effectively maintains both realism and suspense.

Which aspects of the film would you like to avoid in your own trailer? Why?

I would like to avoid the use of the handheld shots. They don’t present as much of an atmosphere as it would like. Lots of movies use this technique now and it is almost becoming predictable. At the start of a movie it works well but then can grow boring and even irritating as the film goes on. I would also like to avoid the idea of just using a house because it isn’t as creepy as it could potentially be. If it were in the woods it would be scarier as a viewer can relate to the woods being scary s they are normally stereotyped in that way.

What was the best/more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you create this in your own film? How? I really like he part when Katie is dragged out of bed. It’s shocking and frightening. This would be extremely difficult to use in my film as what is pulling Katie is invisible and special effects and editing was used to get this effect. However something similar could be done without the ghost necessarily being invisible. A rope could be used hidden under covers and mise-en-scene could be taken into account.

Film Review: The Others

Film Title: The Others
Year of Production: 2001
Director: Alejandro Amena’bar
Genre: Psychological Horror



Brief plot outline: A mother looks after her 2 children on her own while the father is at war. She must protect her children from sunlight in a strange old house, along with the help of some strange servant’s. They begin to believe their home is haunted, that that isn’t the case.

Which two scenes impressed you the most? Why? The first scene which impressed me the most was when they wake up and that that all of their curtains blocking the sun have been ripped down. This scene feels extremely desperate and scary. This was emphasised by the quick editing showing the sunlight glaring through the windows. Another scene that I was very impressed with was the one when the mother sees her daughter playing in a brides dress when she sees her face she’s old and horrible. Body horror was used to make her seem really horrific. This was very strange and would confuse and scare the viewer.

How has watching this film helped you understand this genre of film making? Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? When? How? Low-key lighting was used throughout the whole of the film and it is used very effectively. It emphasises the feeling of loneliness and isolation, and it also add to the creepy dark setting. An open ending is also used to make the viewer wonder what happens to the family after the people leave. No gore was used during this film, but I feel as if the use of gore would have ruined the effectiveness of this super natural horror. The use of restricted narration is vital to the viewer’s understanding of The Others. Skewed angles and close ups were also used throughout this film, especially when quick paced action styled scenes are taking place. For example, the scene when all of the curtains have been ripped down and has just been discovered by the mother. The idea of a creepy location was also apparent here along with the use of parallel sound which was used in nearly every scene though out the film. The sounds were harsh or quick stabs when the house is being haunted, especially when the old lady opens the cupboard door revealing the children.



Which aspects of the film would you like to include in your own trailer? Why? I would like to include the idea of the big manor house location in my trailer. So many different horror film aspects could be carried out in this one enclosed location making it very diverse. I would also like to use the idea of the young girl’s face seeming old and decaying. This is extremely scary, creepy and maybe even disturbing for the viewer. Even though finding doing the effect and finding the location will be very difficult, it will be worth the time finding it in the end if we do find a good location.

Which aspects would you like to avoid in your own trailer? I find it extremely difficult to think of an aspect that I would like to avoid using in my own film trailer. Everything about the film was extremely tense and gripping. Perhaps, the lighting was a little too low key. Throughout making it difficult to see what was happening at times. But other than that all aspects thought out the film will be taken into consideration when shooting my horror trailer.

What was he best/more enjoyable moment in the film? Why? Can you recreate this in your own film? How? The ending where it changes to seeing then not being able to see the family is my favourite part of the film. It uses collision cutting very well. This would be able to be created in my own film. It would involve a very large amount of shots of the same area taking people in and out of the shot while keeping the others in the same place. It would take a very long time to do successfully and effectively. However I feel as if it will be worth it in the end.

Task: Trailer Reviews

Solo Trailer Review: The Others

The Others

Released in 2001

Horror

My mark after viewing was 7/10

In this trailer we really get a very in depth outline of the story and actually see a lot of the major parts of the film. The trailer, like most of horror movie trailers, starts of slowly and then picks up speed becoming more intense. It also has a last scare/strange ending to the trailer.

Points that i would like to try and include from this trailer in my own is definitely the last minute scare. I believe that that is essential for having a good horror movie trailer. I also like the way that it makes the story clear so viewers will definitely know what kind of film they are going to see and what they can expect from the movie. I also liked the music and the way it was edited together in the order of the events in the film.

Points that I would consider avoiding are the fact that it really does pull most of the important parts of the film out and puts them in this trailer. The viewer will know what’s coming in the film and what to expect and will therefore not be as scared while watching the movie. It could lose some of its affect.

Solo Trailer Review: Paranormal Activity

Parnormal Activity

Released in 2007

Horror

My Mark After Viewing was 7/10

In this trailer we see an audience watching the film for the first time and we get to see their reaction to the film. Its starts off slowly and quite relax but the then the trailer picks up in speed and in intensity. We pick up what the story is going to be roughly about quickly and we also get to see some quotes from magazines and websites.

Points that I would definitely consider for using in my trailer is the way the film picks up its pace and intensity. I also really like the idea of seeing the crowd’s reaction but that would be difficult to get right and be effective. The dramatic stabs of sound and shaking of the text helps to pick the viewers heart beat up making them become nervous but interested in the film. Even though no real gore is shown in this trailer it still feels like an exceptionally dark and scary trailer.

However, there are a few points that I will not be using in my trailer. The start showing the queue into the cinema was not very effective and i feel as if it was too much in the preparation of this trailer.

Solo Trailer Review: The Woman In Black

The Woman In Black (Remake)

Released in 2012

Horror

My mark after viewing was 8/10

In this trailer we get a rough idea of what the story is all about. There is also a creepy child’s voice singing a poem to some quiet, music box like music. We see images of toys coming up very often along with some very dramatic flash images and some strange longer cuts showing the eeriness of the setting. Like the other trailers, its starts off slowly and then gets quicker throughout.

Points that I would consider using in my film are the creepy music in the background. That for me, made the trailer as powerful as it is. The rest of the sound is mainly muted and we just hear the quiet eerie song with images that should be loud and distressing. Contrapuntal music is used extremely effectively here. I also like the simplicity of the trailer. It’s not too complicated and doesn’t give too much away but still allows the viewer to understand what kind of film they are going to see.

Points that I would avoid is the voice over, in the case a child’s. Even though it is exceptionally effective and appropriate for this film, as it’s about children being killed in strange ways, it would not work for my trailer. I feel as if it would ruin the atmosphere I am trying to create for the viewer.

Martyrs: Class Trailer Review

Martyrs
Released in 2008/09
Horror
My mark after viewing was 8/10

In the trailer we see a lot of different images coming up slowly and then beginning to pick up pace. Letters spelling the movie also come up getting faster as the trailer progresses. We see a woman running in this trailer who looks like she's in a lot of pain. We also see a lot of torture and blood.

Points that I found positive and would consider using in my film trailer would be the slow to quick paced style of the edit. This is a classic use of collision cutting. This is the classic trailer style which works very well. There are also some really nice sounds effects throughout the trailer which adds to its whole effect. It also gives the audience a good idea of what the film is going to be about which some other trailers fail to do. We can see it is going to be about torture, violence and death due to the gore and blood shown. In my opinion it seems like a dark and gritty trailer.

There are, however, a few points that I would not like to include. It's hard to tell which girl is which in the trailer. I wasn't sure who was evil and who was trying to escape at times. Other than that I can't fault the trailer, personally, and scored it 8/10. I think I want to explore a similarly violent horror movie in my own trailer.

As a class this trailer received a 7/10. The fast pace I thought was very good but I learnt this could be confusing to a general audience.

Pusher Trilogy: Class Trailer Review

The Pusher Trilogy
Released in 1997-2005
Crime/Horror
My mark after viewing was 8/10

In this trailer we see flashes showing parts of the movie which are all to do with drugs and crime. So it lets the audience know exactly what the film is about.

Points which I would like to think about including in my trailer include the quick montage of shots throughout. It excites the viewer into wanting to see the movie. Good sound and music is also in this trailer which gives it a very classy feel. We also get to see quick shots of the quality aspects of the film so we can see it's potential to be a great series of films.

The trailer also cleverly includes quotes from leading magazines saying how incredible it is and saying how it has to be seen. The text and font was also very good, giving a classy feel while helping to add to the feel of the trailer.

With my own trailer, I would like to avoid the "wobbley" shots, as it was quite difficult to follow what was going on in the trailer at times. On top of that, the movies weren're really explained very well by this trailer. We get an idea that the films are about drugs and violence, but they could give more detail on the narrative.

As a class this trailer scored and 8/10

Day of the Dead (1985): Class Trailer Review

Day of the Dead
Released in 1985
Horror
My mark after viewing was 3/10

In this trailer we see a group of people in a theatre watching Day of the Dead on the big screen, we also see a zombie sat in the cinema with the people. The viewer also gets to see some different parts of the movie which help to explain the plot.

There were some positives when watching this trailer. I liked the part when the news paper blows up against the bins as I think thats quite a clever idea. It also had some good shots like panning through the movie theatre. It also shows off the plot as you can see and have been told in the trailer that the humans are out numbered 400000 to 1. There is also a single good zombie body horror effect in this trailer at 53 seconds with the razor.

However, there are also some aspects which I am going to avoid while making my trailer. There is a random zombie in the theatre watching the movie which was more funny than scary. There is also a ver bad voice over making the film trailer seem cheesey and makes the whole trailer far less effective. There is no gore in the whole trailer and we don't get to make any connection with any of the characters as we have no idea who is who. The trailer makes this film seem like a comedy horror when it really isn't, this trailer is definitely miss selling the film.

As a class this trailer scored a 3 1/2 out of 10 mainly due to the way it miss leads the audience. It was an important trailer in working out what our target audience didn't want to watch.