Evaluation of research

How has our research benefited all of our ideas & how do we intend to implement it?

All the research and analysis we have done has allowed us to firmly know the codes and conventions of horror movies, products and trailers. This will help in our planning and producing our actual products. For example, The Silence of the Lambs poster allowed me to understand that having black shadows and light on one side of the poster can help to create part of the narrative. If we use this idea and input it into our final products then we will gain an active audience as they will try and figure out the narrative of the movie through the poster before they watch it.

The sound analyses have enabled me to think of a wide range of sounds and effects that I can use in my radio trailer. For example, the sounds of chimes and wheels whilst adding an echoing effect on top. This creates a chilling and tense effect.

How To Portray Our Character (individual research)

How to show a character has personality disorder, making it seem like a psychological horror movie:

Our narrative of the story raised concerns for our group on how to portray our movie as psychological. I've decided to do some research in order to find out how we can use some techniques that they use in the movies to make our character seem like she is
psychologically damaged.

In 'A Beautiful Mind', a patient with schizophrenia sees delusional visions and is shown being harassed by several other characters with who look the same but have weird personalities. We could use this in our product to show that our character too has a problem, just not schizophrenia. We could use the idea that they see delusional visions, but maybe as a nightmare instead of while they are awake. This will allow our target audience to recognise that there s something wrong with our character.

Another example is in the movie 'Split' (trailer below).
The main character (or shall I say 'characters') has several different personalities, thinking that they are someone else after some time. One even pretends to be a 7 year old child. We could use the idea of pseudo identity in our movie because our character will not realise that she has killed her bullies until she sees something that makes her realise it was her, perhaps some news on the television with CCTV footage of her running away from the crime scene, but she will hae no memory of this.

How 'The Blair Witch Project' creates a campaign (Part 3)

The Blair Witch Project (TBWP) has one of the best viral marketing campaigns.
The main theme was to create uncertainty among the public and target audience. They started to hand out leaflets with pictures of people saying that they are missing. They also started rumours that a groups of students went missing here and there, creating the campaign through word of mouth, and spreading it so that more people can be interested and watch the movie. Additionally, they started to post things on online chat rooms to keep the word-of-mouth going, but online. This created more rumours.


Haxan Films, the production company built a website as part of their campaign for TBWP. the website was www.blairwitch.com which went online in 1998, just before the movie was released in 1999. The website shows the history of the Blair Witch from 1785 to when the movie was created in 1999. When they 'discovered footage' in October 1997, they released them to the families of the missing filmmakers. They then asked Haxan Films to piece together the story for them.
There is a section on the website with autobiographies from these students and photos and other materials of evidence which the police found when they were searching for the students.
There are also snippets of the film from the recovered tapes and Heather’s (one of the filmmaker students) journal. All of these increases the belief that it’s based on true events.

In addition to their website for their viral marketing, they shot a few trailers on low budget costs. This way they saved money. In one of the trailers (part 2 of this post) you hear Heather begging for forgiveness while she cries, and this gives a chilling and scary sense of feeling to the audience. The ads were mainly shown in college campuses. The team also tried to avoid cinema advertisements which saved their money and also made audiences believe that they had discovered this project by themselves. Also, in the opening weekend in July 1999, Artisan took out a full-page advert in 'Variety Magazine' which also featured TBWP website.

The publicity campaign for The Blair Witch Project was a successful campaign which was also scaring their target audience. It was one of the most creative campaigns in film history. One of the reasons for it's success was that it was the first film to be marketed online. This brings in web 2.0 where people can interact and engage in the production and teasers of the movie.
The pictures and interviews that they posted online created the fear that the movie was based on a true story.
The time this film was created was when fake documentaries didn't really exist, so it was new for people who didn't have a clue of what type of movie this would  be. This is another reason for its success; it created a feeling of uncertainty in their target audience. People did not know if this story was true, and if the project was real and if the people in the film actually existed. Also, back then it was difficult for people to check if the movie was real as they didn't have a developed web 2.0 whereas now they do, and people can find out easily if it was based on a real story or not.

How can I create a campaign for my product?
I could take the idea of a website and create one where fans / the target audience could try and solve murder mysteries and guess who the killer is. Games like this can also be introduced as part of a campaign, this way, people who play the game will want to watch the movie, increasing our viewers. Now that there is web 2.0, people can engage activities and interact online.

How 'The Blair Witch Project' creates a campaign (Part 2)

The trailer starts off with the logo of the production team 'Artisan entertainment'. Suddenly a woman is talking to us as if she is about to die. From this the audience can tell that the trailer is for a horror movie.  She is crying and breathing really heavily which usually happens in a psychological horror movie; this makes it a sort of convention. The screen is still black which connotes darkness and death, so people are definitely being killed in this movie. The woman is whispering which connotes that if she speaks loudly, then the thing she is hiding from will find her and kill her. The fact that she is apologising to her mother connotes that she's on her deathbed as she knows she will be killed eventually and there's no hope for survival. She says that this was her project in and that it's all her fault, which connotes that there were other people with her when she decided to carry out this project. The woman's voice stops and white text appears, giving information to the target audience to understand what the project and movie is about.


Footage in black and white appears of a high angle, handheld shot of someone holding the camera. It looks like the autumn season as all the leaves are on the ground. There is a voiceover of a man from the news trying tell people about what they have discovered. It dissolved into a low angle shot of the trees with a woman's voice from the news. This connotes that they were on earth before (their souls, as they show the ground full of leaves) and now that they have died and may have gone to Heaven, which is a common belief for many religions.
The voice is back to the male in the news report but there a clips dissolving and fading in, one after the other of the evidence that they found in the woods / forest. They found cameras, books and more and it looks like they are displaying it for people to see the history of this great project. This allows the audience to feel anticipation to watch the film and think that if there really was a museum for this, then they would go and see the evidence.
The trailer ends with a woman saying that she is 'so scared' and she is crying, as if she is about to die. There is screaming and then the camera follows someone running through the woods / forest through a handheld shot. This creates realism and a sense of fear.

How 'The Blair Witch Project' creates a campaign (Part 1)

TBW poster mainly black which is a convention. Black connotes darkness and death so it will foreshadow that there will be some deaths. We could use this in our products as well. Also since there are binary opposites in the poster. For example the lighting comes from the top and also the bottom, however the lighting at the top is natural lighting which hits the trees to show us that the movie is set in a forest or wherever they are. The lighting at the bottom is artificial lighting because it is obvious it is from a torch that he is holding from the bottom. Since he is holding it from the bottom it could connote that he is scared to move to even shift it at a better angle. As only the top half of this person’s head is showing we can guess that perhaps he is trying to hide. We don’t know if this person is a man or a woman, but maybe it is a woman. One more thing on the lighting, the light brings out the colour of the person’s eyes which is like a green or grey colour. It’s the only thing that is bright in the poster, other than the red and white text, which connotes that since this is a quote “project” then this must be a bright student who is going on this investigation. The light is only really hitting mainly the right side of his eye which connotes that they have managed to collect their evidence sufficient for their project, or as the poster proposes that someone has found their evidence, because in the middle in white text it says “a year later their footage was found”.

Not sure what the red star represents near the top middle for the poster but I guess this creates an enigma code for the audience to watch it and find out. Instead of looking at it as a star maybe it could be like a little childish drawing of a red person? But I don’t know… also the only other red thing on the poster is the websites listed right at the bottom, which could connote that if this is real, the people can go on the websites to look at it for more information.

The poster has like a little short blurb on it / plotline in this case which gives the audience some idea of what the movie is going to be abou.t ultimately they would have to watch the movie in order to find out exactly what went on, because from the poster, all they know is that some students went in the woods to shoot a documentary.

Credits and logos in white at the bottom. Everything has the same font on it which looks like Times New Roman font but then again it could be something similar, as if the producers wanted this to make it come out like a news story.

Timeline development of my sub-genre

Instructions:
Timeglider is an online timeline software. I used this to show the development of my sub-genre. To move between the years, hover your mouse over the timeline, click, and drag left or right depending on which year you want to look at (Starts in the 1930's). Alternatively, you can use the arrow buttons on the right side of the screen.

 To View more information, click on the name of the movie. For example, if you clicked on 'Cat People', there would be a little pop up box of description. There will be a tiny box at the bottom right corner with the work "link" written in blue. If there is, click on the word "link". To exit the movie, press the 'x' button on the top right corner.

For the exact year the movie was released, hover over the name of the movie and a little pop down will appear.






To zoom in or zoom out, use the '+' and '-' buttons on the right.





The Black Cat 1934 - 'The Black Cat' was one of the first films to be recognised as a psychological horror film. It is about American people who are on a honeymoon in Hungary and get trapped with a satan-worshipping priest.
In my opinion, the narrative and plotline in this film is enough to suit the horror genre. This would have to follow the BBFC regulations in order to be shown in the cinema.
A lot has developed from the creation of this movie to the ones we have now, such as Paranormal Activity 2. For example, the CGI and editing, camera work and also the colours in the film. There are now also better quality in the sounds.

Cap People 1942 - This horror film is about an American man who marries an immigrant who is scared she will turn into the cat people.
The quality of this film is similar t that of The Black Cat as it was made after but it is better as technology and camera work is slowly developing.

Repulsion 1965 - This film contains violence so is suitable for older audiences.
Carol, begins to become deranged and dangerous and begins to hallucinate. This film is psychological because she starts to act crazy as well.

Rosemary's Baby 1968 -A couple move into a new apartment and the woman becomes pregnant somehow. Chaos happens when she has paranoia over the safety of her unborn child and this begins controlling her life.  The house the couple move to has it's history, just like any other psychological horror. This is one of the conventions of psychological horror.

The Shining 1980 - This is a famous psychological horror film. It was produced by Warner Bros. Pictures. It is about a family  who go to an isolated hotel for the winter where an evil and spiritual presence influences the father into violence, while his psychic son sees horrific things from the past and of the future.
The trailer for this horror movie was what caught the audience's attention the most. It allowed the audience to feel a range of different feelings and moods and also created excitement within them, which is what lead them to watch the film, allowing a Domestic Total Gross of $44,017,374 with only a budget of $19 million.

Angel Heart 1987 - This film follows man conventions of the psychological horror genre, For example, murder and spirits. The twist in this movie is that as the detective gets closer to realising who the murderer is, he finally realises it is himself, a shocking and disturbing end that makes this most definitely a psychological horror. I didn't know about this movie but I just found out that it is very similar to our intended product.

'Session 9' 2001 - This film was produced by USA Films, Scout Productions.
The narrative / plot line of this film is of a cleaning crew who work in an abandoned mental hospital with a horrific past that seems to be coming back.
The editing compared to the 'Black Cat' is much more improved as technology has improved over the years. This movie also has a better trailer and poster as it's ancillary products to support the creation of the film.

Insidious 2010 - Insidious is a series of American horror films created by Leigh Whannell. It is part of four series: Insidious, Insidious Chapter 2, 3 and 'The Last Key'. This is a psychological horror it improved editing, camera work, quality and sound. As editing and digital technologies have improved over the years, it appeals to audience satisfaction more.
They can also recognise it as the horror genre easily, which links to John Corner who says that, familiarity with the genre can lead the audience to predict events in the genre.

Textual analysis: 'Stalked'

The short film starts off with the thumbnail of the video. The title is placed on the top right corner of the screen. The font is in a straightforward and easy to read font and is also white, which connotes that a person who is 'good' and 'pure' is the one being stalked. This is because the colour white connotes goodness and pureness. The picture of a couple is slightly off the middle, breaking the rule of thirds, so perhaps these two people are the main victims of the film. Since, the photo is in the rubbish bin, in the dark, next to a toilet roll an cotton bud, it could connote that the villain is trying to get rid of them like they are  piece of trash.

The first sound we hear is a non diegetic sound of a telephone ringing and then it goes to voicemail. This connotes that maybe someone has been attacked and so couldn't answer the phone, and that there was no one there to help the victim. The camera does a 90 degree shot of the house, which shows a girl washing her face in the bathroom. There is the non diegetic sound of the voice message continuing of this shot. It is of a girl leaving a voice message to someone, which connotes that the girl is either the girl who is in the currently scene, or maybe one of her friends / relatives.
The fact that the film started off with a voicemail can link to Barthes symbolic code as the phone in this film may be significant in making the narrative fit to the horror genre.

The person on the voicemail says "Jake cannot come anywhere near you, he has a restraining order" which connotes that she was in trouble before and harmed. This also created enigma as the audience will wonder who Jake is and why he has a restraining order, and how he harmed her. Because of this, they will carry on watching the film. This also starts to build up the narrative and allow the audience have a hint of what may happen in the film. For example, Jake may be released and ends up stalking her in real life or gets someone else to finish the job.

The next shot is of a mid close up of the girl of an Asian ethnicity. She is putting on make up, implying that she us ready to go out / to go to a party. As soon as the voice message ends with "I'll see you soon, bye" there is the non diegetic sound of a door slamming. It sounds as if someone has entered the house. She stops doing her eye makeup and jumps and breathes heavily as she is frightened.  Her hand is still in a position where she was going to apply her makeup, which connotes that she knows someone is there but is scared to move. She then shakes it off, thinking that it was all in her head. From this, the audience can tell that maybe she thought the sound of the door slamming was in her head but in fact it was in reality. This created an omniscient narrative as the audience know some parts of the narrative that the main character does not.


There is a jump cut to the next scene which is a wide shot of her choosing what to wear from her wardrobe, which is outside of her room. This is a stereotype of women as they have lots of clothes but still don't know what to wear. The fact that she is choosing her clothes could foreshadow that it is the clothes she might be attacked in.

She finally chooses what to wear, and she chooses to wear all black with red lipstick. Black connotes darkness and death,  and red connotes blood, which could foreshadow that she might be killed on this night. She sighs and still feels insecure about what she is wearing. There's a close up of when she takes her jacket off the table and  there is  letter there that says 'restraining order', and is circled. It looks like she is due for a court hearing soon. Perhaps this could connote that it might be her last day of freedom and so she is going to go out and party. However someone might be planning to attack her because of this.

There is a pull focus as she locks her house and starts to leave the building but doesn't notice that there is someone there in  grey hoodie staring at her in the back of the corridor. It focuses from the girl to the person in the hoodie really fast. This shows the audience that the person in the grey hoodie is the one who is stalking her. There are ambient sounds of the dog barking and her heels /footsteps as she walks outside and looks around to see if anyone is there. This creates verisimilitude as hearing a dog bark outside is normal, but since it is barking, it could connote that there is danger.

Throughout the film, there is a whirring/buzzing sound that only stops once she gets out of her flat. This could connote that the whirring is something that was persuading her to come out, and now tat she s outside, the real danger is about to happen. Usually in psychological horror movies there is a convention of having a whirring / buzzing sound to connote that someone is not in the right mind set, and this film has followed this convention. After the scene where she gets out of the house, daunting non diegetic music enters the scene. This carries on until she hears a phone ringing somewhere nearby.

She arrives at her destination but no-one is there, connoting that it is a trap. The phone rings somewhere but we cannot see it, nor can the character. She looks around and sees a telephone but there is also a sheet that says it is out of order. Binary opposites that occur. She then walks towards the telephone and the camera is placed at a low angled shot to look like it is what she is staring at. She comes from one side of the camera and then in to the middle, the centre. This connotes that since she is in the middle now, she has fallen right into the stalker's trap and he will do something bad to her.
There is a low angled close up shot of her face to show her emotions. She is looking down at the phone like this may be the last time she takes a call. She looks around to see if anyone is there before she picks up the phone. She picks it up and listens carefully but there are only metallic and eerie sounds that we can hear that sound like chimes. These sounds fit in with the horror genre as they are used in other movies and also make the movie scary. When she starts to gasp and run away, we as the audience know that we didn't hear at was being said at the other end of the line, which creates an enigma code. She was probably being threatened and scared away.

The phone is left dangling in the middle as she was too much in shock to put it back. This non diegetic metallic sound continues. There is tracking shot of the girl running back in the streets, running as fast as she can and half looking back to make sure there is no one thereto get her. She runs all the way down until a little corner where she coughs and catches her breath. She takes her phone out and makes a call whilst she carries on walking into the darkness whilst looking back. Suddenly someone grabs her and she screams.

The credits then appear on screen, leaving an enigma code and the audience wondering at happened to her.

Sound analysis: 'Mother'

The trailer starts off with the light sound of music coming from church organs. It slowly fades when the woman says "I wanna make a paradise". This connotes that she won't be able to make it as this subtle sounded music stopped. There would be something preventing her from doing so/ or something that destroys her dreams.
So far we hear two characters which indicates that there are two main characters; a man and a woman which creates binary opposites as they both have different views. After the man says I love you to the woman, all sounds stop and everything goes silent. This creates suspense and connotes that something will happen to them both, and that someone or something will tear their relationship apart. Without the man's support, it seems like the woman cannot fulfil her ambitions. This creates dominance among men, a common stereotype and patriarchy in society.

There is a sudden pluck of a guitar / violin which acts as a sting; a symbol which carries on playing throughout the trailer which foreshadows upcoming events. Perhaps every time this sting occurs, it connotes a new scene or a new occurrence in their lives. It could also mimic a very slow heart beat, allowing a disequilibrium to form into an equilibrium. The tension builds up after her husband / the other male lets random strangers live in his house. The speed of the plucking of the guitar grows faster and faster creating suspense and allowing the audience to feel a rush of adrenaline as they may be put into a jump scare. The sting also acts like the monitor of a heartbeat, as when someone is in danger the monitor beats faster This connotes that the people that her husband is letting into their home are dangerous and will destroy everything.

The symbolic sting falls in speed and then stops. It then uses the same sound to create a different beat, which represents the difference that has happened in the couple's lives. The gasp of the main actress is caught in between which connotes that there will be a lot of jump scares before the main equilibrium. The gasp creates an enigma code as the audience would want to find out what she gasped and caught her breath at.

The guitar plucking replaces the normal conventional sound of a squeaky violin in horror movies, thus they have challenged a convention. This still seems interesting to their target audience. The man asks "What were you doing in their luggage?" which connotes that there is something wrong with the people that have come to stay in their house. The sounds of a small maraca play which sounds like sand / rice dropping onto plastic. This creates a rattle effect which connotes that danger is amongst them. All the sound stops into silence and another character says "God help you" to break this silence. This connotes that she knows they are in danger, or that she is one of the dangers itself.

There are smashing and gasping sounds to create verisimilitude and then a beat which sounds like a machine is broken. There are hushing sounds which sound like edited wind to make it sound scary. The main actress panics and cries. Her voice repeats when she says "you're insane" like it is recorded, which connotes these strangers have been keeping an eye on her, and that they are trying to make her go insane instead.
The man says all he was trying to do was create new ideas and "open the door to these people" whilst there is a faint sound of ambulances and police sirens in the background. The plucking noise plays rapidly connoting how fast things changed for the couple. The main actress screams "get out of my house!" in fear which then follows by an equilibrium of all the sounds put together to create a sense of fear and panic and 'get out of my head' sensation. The trailer ends with the conventional scream but she is screaming "no" which makes her sound possessed. The last thing we hear is the rapid sound of the plucking coming to and end, which creates an enigma code because we don't know if the strangers left their house or if the lives of the couple has ended.

I chose to analyse this trailer as it is different unique, and recent, because the movie is coming out very soon.

Textual analysis: 'I Heard It Too'

I Heard It Too - Award Winning Short Horror from Matt Sears

The short film starts with the sound of chimes to create the sense of fear among the audience. This is a convention in horror movies as usually chimes and pianos are used to create effect. The titles come on screen, with the production company being the first context. The use of font is unique as it looks like a child's handwriting, written with chalk, connoting that there is a child involved this short film. The text says it is created by Matt, allowing the audience to identify with the producers and creators of the film.

The sound plays into the first scene of the mother carrying her child to bed. The mother comforts her child and sings to her to make her fall asleep. Usually this is a convention in horror films. A mother singing to her child connotes her nurturing characteristics to make her child  feel comfortable. There is an over shoulder shot of the little girl while the mother finishes singing "mommy's going to buy you a mocking bird". The child smiles which connotes that she is going to be in danger and that smile is going to be wiped off soon.
Whilst she sings, there are handheld shots of photo frames and a toy, connoting that the toy belongs to the little girl. Since the shot of the toy breaks the rule of thirds, it connotes that this toy is significant to the little girl in this short film.
The mother switches the lights off and the child tries to sleep. The switching off of lights connotes that something is about to get her. Children are stereotypically afraid of the dark, and think that a monster will get them so this is creating verisimilitude.

The screen goes black and the sound goes silent. This creates suspense,  and allows the audience to think that something will attack the little girl. there is a muffled voice of a lady called the little girl "Bethany? Bethany?" as if she is looking for her. This sound is kind of familiar with the audience as they do not recognise the voice of the lady but think it is her mother. However, it is not her mother, as her mother just put her to sleep. This sounds as if someone is trying to lure the little girl into danger.
Bethany hears the woman calling her and wakes up to the sound. She think its is her mother and calls after her. There is a conversation shot of her looking at the door, expecting her mother to come inside.  As she doesn't hear anything else, she goes outside to check what it is. It is dark, which connotes something is leaking in the dark to get her.

There is a close up of Bethany's face as she hugs her teddy, which connotes that she is scared and believes her teddy will keep her safe. Since she is holding it so tightly, it could connote that the teddy is symbolic in the short film. She slowly checking outside to see if someone is there but the voice is still calling her. There is long shot of her walking down the corridor to see who is there, followed by a low angled shot of the staircase, to connote that the muffled voice might be coming from downstairs. Suddenly something comes out of the room and grabs her by her mouth, pulling her in. At this moment the audience get very tensed. Something might happen to this little girl.

We see that the girl is safe, she is with her mother telling her that she "heard it too". A very light piano type of non diegetic music plays. This connotes that there will be an equilibrium where the suspense will build up and something will happen. The mother reassures her child and tells her to hide as they can hear the voice coming closer to them.
The monster / zombie says "ready or not, here I come" whilst there is a close up of the mother's ear. This connotes that since she heard her saying she's coming, she will act quickly to try and save her child and herself.
She hides her in the wardrobe and goes to look for the monster with scissors in her hand. The close up of the scissors in her hand, and the fact that her hands are shaking vigorously connotes that she us scared but is only being brave for her daughter. It also connotes that her weapon will not be strong enough to defeat the demon. Since there is no one there, it connotes and foreshadows that the demon somehow invisibly got into their room. This is a typical convention of the horror genre. when she comes back, Bethany is not there. She looks under the bed and finds her, whilst Bethany tells her that she "saw her". Once her mother says "saw who?" we as the audience automatically can see that she is about to be attacked / killed off by the monster.

We see the close up of the zombie's feet with the guess that she is wearing something white which looks like hospital patients clothes. She attacks Bethany's mother first, which builds up the suspense, telling us that the little girl Bethany is the next victim. Before this, Bethany drops her teddy, which is significant as it connotes that she is no longer safe and nothing can protect her. In a way, the teddy symbolised her mother as soft, loving and warm and welcome but now that she is gone (and the teddy is dropped), she has no one to comfort or save her.
They used CGI (computer generated imagery) to create the effect of the zombie / monster at the end.

Analysis of radio trailer: 'The Suffering'

Analysis of sound for this trailer for my radio trailer because there are no radio trailers.



The trailer begins with glass breaking to represent the production company.
There is silence to connote that the actual trailer is about to start which creates suspense. There is a repetitive sound of clinking/ metal sounds as if someone is trying to make something. This could connote that this is what they do in everyday lives, or that they are making some type of weapon.
There is eerie music in the back layout of the sound with the wind howling. This could have been made during post-production. At first the wind sounded like a police siren which connotes that there is danger and someone needs rescuing, but once the audience figure out that it is the wind, it could connote that someone is alone with something that is torturing them and there is no way for them to get any help.

The wind starts to sound like a whizzing sound and metal chipping sounds continue. This connotes that there is no one there but this person who is making these sounds. There is a sudden bang of what sounds like a steel door / soft metal door which creates a little jump scare to scare the audience. The metal chipping sounds continue as the entrance of two men's voices talk to each other. Now the audience know that they are not alone.

One man says 'even I don't know everything about this place', which connotes that they are in a place that they have not been before / that they do not belong to and it foreshadows that there is maybe something there that has been keeping an eye on them, or that they are not alone and will soon be suffering. The continuous sound of the metal connotes that they are doing something to survive.
The eerie music continues and fades into silence for a few seconds which connotes that we (the audience) are about to be scared. Again it sounds as if a metal door has been shut really loudly and at the same time, the conventional scream  of a girl is heard. This connotes danger and something has attacked her. It is weird because we do not know who the girl is, and we have just been introduced to get through her scream. Perhaps she will be the villain who takes and suffocates the two men.

The men sound confused and don't know what is going on. The same metal clanking sound plays but this time it sounds as if it is a broken clock/some machine that is trying to work. This could connote that since the usual sound is getting distorted, they are about to be attacked and not live their normal lives.

One of the men say "I don't know what's happening here" followed by a lady saying "you sound tired" as if it is coming through some speaker. This sounds like they are being followed and watched. He replies with "I am" before she says "I love you henry" and keeps repeating it like she is a robot, or a toy that doesn't stop talking when it is broken. Since her voice is replaying these four words, it could foreshadow that at one point she will stop saying it and perhaps she is a victim. It could also foreshadow that the metal noise will stop as well, since he voice repeats asynchronously with the main sound.

There is the sound of fire burning followed by a door creaking open which connotes that something s about to get them. The eerie music plays and the trailer ends with another sound of the metal door shutting. The fact that it shut three times could connote that the story does have a beginning, a middle and the end, and that the audience should watch the movie if they want to find out what the end is. This creates a cliff-hanger.

Analysis of radio trailer: 'The Butterfly Room'

I analysed the sound track of this trailer because there are no radio trailers for horror movies.



The trailer starts of with sounds scary echoes, perhaps of something moving fairly quickly or an insect which just flew off. This connotes that it is something that is happening in the dark. The first word we hear is "mum?" as question from a little girl, connoting that she cannot fin her mum/she is looking for her mother. This could foreshadow that the little girl is either lost, or trapped somewhere.

The screech of a microphone is recorded to create the effect of a gate that is either opening / closing. This is supposed to create a tense feeling amongst the audience. It could also foreshadow that perhaps the girl is being trapped somewhere, and so far the mother has not responded to her, so maybe the mother is the reason she is going to get hurt.

A woman enters and asks "Julie, what's the matter?" in a British accent whilst the little girl 'Julie' replies back with an American accent. This could connote that either she is adopted or that the woman who entered is not related to her, therefore it can't be her mother. It could also suggest that the movie was being made in synergy between two co-operations which could be from two different countries; the US and the UK. this creates an enigma code.

Julie says she locked herself out and the woman invites her inside her home. From this we can guess that maybe she is her neighbour. The woman asks if she would like to see her butterflies. This could be a stereotype as mostly females / girls are interested in butterflies because they are 'beautiful'. However there is an eerie sound which strikes after she says this, which connotes that maybe seeing these 'butterflies' is a danger.

Julie's mother comes back and there is people shouting 'surprise!' as if it is a surprise birthday party. The mother has to g out again and asks the first lady to look after her again. The lady agrees as if she little girl is about to face some danger. The eerie sound strikes again.

We find out the lady who looked after Julie is called Anne as Julie's mother praises her. Anne says that she knows she lost her daughter. This can get the audience to think maybe she is looking after Julie because she misses her own daughter, or that since it is a horror movie, maybe she is the one who killed her own daughter and is planning to do the same to Julie. This would create and active audience a they would start to think how the lady is getting closer to them.

Anne says that Julie's mother told her a lot of lies then a rushed shout is heard when she says "Julie! I told you never to go in that room". This connotes that she is hiding something from Julie that will put her at danger. There is also a convention in this scene for horrors/psychological as it is set in the house. We know this because of Julie being locked out, and Anne looking after her in her house.

Echoing and hushing sounds are inserted before Anne says for Julie to never touch that door because it is the butterfly room. Thrushes of sounds are heard to connote that something will happen the Julie very quickly.
In the next 5 seconds Julie's mother asks if Anne has done anything bad to her and Julie responds with "she doesn't lie to me like you", which connotes that Anne has manipulated her in a way, and that a mother is about to lose her daughter. Perhaps she opened the butterfly room already and is somewhat possessed.
We then hear Julie's mother and Anne arguing, and the sound goes silent. This is to create the effect of tension amongst the audience and also to maybe foreshadow a jump scare that is about to come up in an equilibrium.

The mother goes searching for Julie and finally finds her, telling her "mother, look". This connotes that she found the butterflies. The very slow beat of a heart plays which connotes that it is about to become a scary moment and the beat of the heart will get faster. Julie or her mother is slowly maybe 'dying'. The beats stop, again silence is used for effect. Anne's distorted voice appears to says 'I'm your mummy now' which is a little jump scare, followed by the conventional scream to leave the audience wondering what happens next. A man asks 'what have you done?' which answers our question to whether Anne is evil or not.

Textual analysis: 'Bus Baby'

Bus Baby - People's choice winner 2010 from Virgin Media Shorts


The scene starts with a jump from a black screen, which is a conventions of horror movies to start with a black screen. There is then an angled wide shot of the street with the bus stopping. We know that the bus has just stopped as the hissing sound commences and it slowly moves down to lower it's height so that the passengers can get on board and off. There are ambient sounds of the bus stopping and other cars driving past. This creates verisimilitude as people using public transport does occur in everyday life. However since there is verisimilitude at the beginning of the short film, it could foreshadow that something weird will take place soon. The girl goes on board with her baby in the pushchair.

The camera break the rule of thirds as it moves from one side to another, showing a mid shot of the girl getting on board. She struggles to move the pram with the baby across so she stays near the door. The costume shows that she is a school child which connotes that she is a teenage mum and will be finding things difficult, specially if the baby annoys her. The fact that her tie is purple and black connotes that she is trying to achieve and do well in school, but the black connotes that she cannot get further in education as the baby is stopping her from doing so. This tells the audience that perhaps she took the baby into school or is about to take it into school so that she can learn and look after the baby at the same time. This could also suggest that there is no one willing to look after the baby while she goes to get educated.

There is a long shot as she settles into the bus. The seats and layout of the bus indicate that the film is set in London.

All the passengers look at her whilst the baby coos but when she looks up they look away. There's then a man's voice that says "oi, everyone's looking at you". The audience start to wonder where the voice is coming from and who's voice it is. She wanders around at who it is until it says "down here", which tells the audience that it is in fact the baby that's talking. There is then a close up of the baby's face. It is someone's face edited onto the actual baby to make it look like it's got a man's face and a man's voice.

The baby points out all the negative things that connotes this is what she is also thinking. For example he says "why are we still at grandma's place?" and "How's your GCSEs going?". This connotes that she is failing / under-performing because of being a young mum and that she won't get the grades. If she doesn't get the grades then she wont get a job, ad so she can't get a job to get money and buy a house for herself and the baby.

The baby is saying all the things that the girl is uncomfortable about like having an ugly stomach after she gave birth and that she won't find anyone else.
The baby repeats what she has to do for a baby annoyingly while there are close ups of her face. She is sad and looks like she is about to cry because she is being bullied by her own baby. There is a ringing sound that increases in volume as the baby keeps repeating "day after day after day".

The editing then makes the camera shake slightly, connoting that she is panicked and stressed about what other people think about her. During the film no-one looks a her as a young mum.
She eventually gets fed up and lashes out, telling the baby to "shut up!" The people of the public finally do stare at her in shock and think negatively of her and think she cannot handle her own baby, and the baby starts to cry.
The whole short film was just the horror of handling a baby at a young age.

Practitioner interview 2 with session singer, voice-over artist and sound technician.

I introduced our product ideas to Callum Mcintosh who is a session singer and voice-over artist and sound technician. We asked him a few questions about our product (audio below).

What I learnt:
Tips on making a professional radio trailer:
- The narrator should be the main voice in the trailer and should sound confident.
- Music should be included as it builds tension
- Good quality audio should be used.
- The voice should tell a story without any tone of voice.
- Voices are stereotypically low male voices.

The equipment that should be used when making a radio trailer:
-Q base, logic, Apple Mac System Software.
-Condenser microphone, keyboards
- Omnidirectional microphones instead of unidirectional microphones as we want to pick up the closest sounds.
- We should use a pop shield which softens the voice

Editing tips
- Short and snappy.
-Direct.

How I will implement it into my production process:
As there is stereotypical male voice-over, we can try and include a female in our radio trailer.
I can use the software called Logic Pro X to edit and record my radio trailer on. Our radio trailer should try and tell a story but not give away the whole narrative.
We have a condenser microphone and pop shield so we can use this to record our voice-overs. ---->

Textual Analysis: 'The Black Hole'

The title is introduced with a digital effect of the scene being revealed through a circle. The title doesn't match the image at this point, as the title is 'The Black Hole', but here we see a coloured hole with black edges. This could foreshadow that maybe there is something in the black hole that is looking out of the hole, whereas if someone was outside of the hole, the hole would actually be a black colour. This creates anticipation amongst the audience and they would want to see if it is a magical hole or not.

The scene is revealed which slowly zooms into a man at the side of the screen who looks like he is bored, tired and exhausted. We can tell from his dull face as he has eye bags, which connotes that he hasn't had enough sleep. Also, the clock on the wall says that is 3' o'clock. We as the audience don't know if it is 3am or 3 pm, but as there is no one else in the office, we can tell that is 3am in the night. This allows an active audience to think what he is doing all by himself at 3am in his office. He is slowly brought to the middle of the screen, fixing the rule of thirds that he broke on the screen about 2 seconds ago. This connotes that he is the important character in this short film as he is in the centre of the screen. He does a loud sigh as the camera does a mid close up of his shoulders and above. This connotes that he is frustrated and tired.

He vigorously presses the photocopier and kicks it as it is not working. In a small horror convention, usually nothing works right before an incident happens, so this could foreshadow that something bad is about to happen, and no-one can help him as he is alone. The camera shows a close up of the photocopier printing  a black hole, but little does he know that it is actually a black hole. After he drinks his water, he tries to place on the black hole but it falls inside the printer instead. This is how we know it is some time of magical printer/ magical black hole, and it lets you go through things.
A wide shot of the man is shown putting his hands inside the hole whilst there is a whizzing sound to connote that this sheet of paper is different and alien like. He tries this with the vending machine and is able to get himself a snickers bar, which tells the audience that the hole will let you go through anything.


He then has the idea to steal the money from the safe. We can see that he unlocks the door from inside with the help of the magical black hole. Once he finds the money, he tries to reach for more in the safe. By his facial expression, the audience can tell that something is going to go wrong. He is trying to look for more money which foreshadow that he himself will go through inside the black hole to get the money and then try to come out but he won't be successful And this is exactly what happens, as the paper with the black hole on it falls to the ground, and he gets stuck in the safe in the dark.

The fact that he tried to go for the money connotes that he is of a working class background, as normally the working class have office type of jobs and they have less money, so he was probably trying to get the money and try and be rich so he doesn't have to work extra hours in the office.


In this short film, there is hardly any sound. This is to create the effect of loneliness, as he is by himself in his workplace. All you can hear is him sighing or giving a little chuckle after he is able to get the money, and you can hear the machine printing. This connotes a dull and boring life and job, and could suggest that he is working extra hours because he needs the money.

 The beginning of the film also shows verisimilitude, which most psychological horror films try and start off with, showing that the main character has a job or lives their everyday normal life, and then something comes in and disrupts this balance. This supports Todorov's equilibrium theory as the film starts off with an equilibrium, then a disequilibrium, however we do not see another equilibrium at the end.
At the end of the short film the last sound is of the photocopying machine, which connotes that the machine is evil. This leaves the audience with an enigma code wondering what happened to the man after he was eaten by the machine and no one could get him out.

Textual analysis: 'Sprokett'

Sprockett (Virgin Media Shorts 2012 shortlist) from Virgin Media Shorts on Vimeo.

The film starts off with a black background with bronze effect / brown writing of the Title of the film and who it was produced by. The brown could connote that the film is of a horror genre. The non diegetic music plays at the back; it sounds spooky. It also sounds mysterious and can be recognised that there are children involved in the film, because soft tones are used. The name of the producer is there to show his importance and so that the audience can recognize him using the uses and gratifications theory.

There are two boys against another, which looks like they are either telling scary stories in the dark or that they are bullying him to go into this scary place. The boy says that "he will cut you open" which implies that it's supposed to be a horror film, and since it's a little boy who says it, it connotes that the movie is aimed at a younger audience. This makes the other boy scared but as he is being forced to go, he faces his fears. The boy who is going in breaks the rule of thirds on the screen. This connotes that he is special and not like the others.

He enters the shop / workplace and moves slowly in order to find this monster that will tear him apart. Moving slowly an creeping in a place is a convention of a horror movie as usually people movie slowly to see if something dangerous is there.
The camera follows him through a tracking shot as well as over the shoulder shot to show that there is noting in front of him. This makes the viewers feel as if they are snaking inside with him.
The low lighting inside as well as outside connotes that something bad may happen to them in the dark, as there is usually no one in the dark to save them, whereas there would be plenty of people in the daylight.


As he moves closer, the music gets louder and more vibrant, to connote that there will be something scary coming up next. This creates tense and suspense. The man says "don't move", comes closer and says "well, well, well, what have we here?" and  shouts "I was just about to get hungry". This creates fear for the young audience, as they are scared that something bad will happen to the boy, especially after they see the mid shot of the man with a hook instead of a hand. This follows the convention of a fairy tale almost. For example, in 'Peter Pan', a children's movie, there is a villain called 'Captain Hook' solely because his hand is a hook. This relates to the children's horror genre.

The little boy is captured in a mid shot at the middle of the screen to show that he is at the centre of attention, the main target for something bad happening to him. This creates and equilibrium. The old man breaks the rule of thirds to show he is the important and 'scary' character, but there is something different about him.

However, a binary opposite occurs, as the man is not scary at all. In fact, there is a long shot as he helps the child to become stronger and prove to his friends that he is not afraid, by pretending to scream and beat the old man up, while the other two hide at the bottom of the gates.

Analysis of film trailer in my genre: 'THE HORROR'

The first image that fades in is of the filmmaking company - MOONDOG MEDIA. The fact that it is the first thing that fades into the screen from back, connotes it's importance in the making of the film. If they were not there, the film would simply not have ben made.

The sound at this point is not eerie, it seems like a fantasy type of non diegetic music. There is a voiceover of a man that starts as soon as the image of a girl in a car is shown. We can recognise that she is a girl because of her long hair waving in the wind as it rushes again the car which is driving at a high speed. This could foreshadow that the child is being dropped off somewhere urgently. As she stares out of the window in an over shoulder shot of herself, the voiceover says "it waits for me beyond those trees" which could connote that they are arriving very close to something that is about to attack them. This can also create an active audience as they will think who is this man's voiceover that is talking about himself in first person, as the image on the screen does not match the voice. The next shot is of a man who is wearing glasses who looks into the mirror of the car. Perhaps this is the man who's voiceover is being used. Perhaps he is related to the little girl somehow.

The man says "it wants to hear me scream" as there is a tracking shot of the trees whilst the car drives past them. From this the audience can figure out that he is probably talking about the villain that is waiting for him at the home that they are travelling to. The phrase could also connote that the creature loves to torture him. It is like a diary entry, which connotes that the narrative is about his experiences with this villain / evil demon. He continues to say what he has been through/ what the demon wants.


The screen turns black as he says "all the audacity of dreams". This connotes that he does not have any dreams, but in fact he has nightmares, because black connotes darkness and death, and perhaps something was trying to kill him. This creates suspense and tension to an equilibrium, as we don't know what will pop up on the screen next. It could be a jump scare, but we don't know.

Slowly, some light starts to enter the screen. The camera moves to show that is a window on top of a door inside a house. There is a growling sound which connote that there is danger, and that something is in the house. The light is right at the back which shows this is the only way out, but something is there so the people can't make it out.

Something moves and we can figure out that it is probably the man in the voiceover. He says that his nightmares gather at the sounds. The trailer sounds like it is a poem written by the victim, which shows what he has been through.
Gradually we see that it is the man that we saw a glimpse of in the car. Something flutter away like a bug / something moves and he turns towards the camera to check what it is. After this, he stops talking and the title of the movie is put on the screen.

The typography of the title of the film looks like a conventional font for a horror movie. These are shown in real life examples, for example, Annabelle and The Exorcist. Therefore it fits with the genre.

Analysis of film trailer in my genre: 'The Snare'

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K1m6D8o3tQ




The first shot of the trailer is of a radial blurred screen of a road with a dark gloomy sky. The image is grey-toned, connoting that it is set in a dark mood. Usually grey tones in horror movies connote that the characters are living in a dull and gloomy life, or that their lives have been turned upside down. There is eerie non diegetic music playing which gradually gets louder; this creates suspense and allows the audience to have a feeling of fear. The fact that the clouds are grey too connotes it is about to rain, and rain connotes sadness and despair, meaning a person's life will be destroyed. The fact that the camera is doing a dolly shot of the road connotes that this  is about a victim who is on their own; they will have to face the dangers of whatever happens in this movie, and the fact that the camera is moving a great speed connotes that all the events in this film happen very quickly.

The fact that the woman is the first person shown in an over shoulder shot connotes that she is the main character, and that whatever happens to her will mainly affect her. She looks as if she is suspicious about something, and that something is not quite right. The next shot is of another character who is laughing and asking where they are going. This creates binary oppositions as she is not laughing like he is, and also that they are both different genders. However it seems like he is in a relationship as he links arms and laughs with another blonde woman. The audience can think how do these people relate to each other? And this creates an active audience. However the fact that the blonde woman is the one who is deciding where to go, 'somewhere quiet by the sea' connotes that perhaps she is the reason to why they will get in trouble. Also, she says that the place is "quiet" which is a convention of horror movies as mostly all the attacks happen in a quiet atmosphere.

Clips are shown of a house/residence with a grey hue and slow panning motions. This could mean that the house may look empty but actually there is someone there. As the actress walks in slowly to look around, her voice plays and then a sharp sound FX occurs in sync to her eye opening. The pupil turns smaller which could connote that she saw something like a demon or is going to be possessed. She saw something inside the room that scared her. She carries on to say that she thought there was something in her room. This is a convention of psychological horror as mostly they are based inside a house. She also looked like she was pretending to have fun in the next scene.

There are a lot of jump cuts to connote that the trip they are going on isn't a normal trip and something bad will happen. This is reinforced by the multiple fade ins from black. The next clips are of everyone sleeping but it looks like the brunette can't sleep. She talks to the blonde and suddenly the audience are face with a jump scare which is in sync with a typical horrific scream. The brunette is having nightmares of being attacked by a scary blonde woman and cannot sleep. The jump scare can please the audience through the uses and gratifications theory, as they are watching this horror movie to be scared and entertained.

Another sound FX occurs as a zapping sound to reveal Bohemian Pictures. This helps the audience to identify what company it is produced by, and shows its importance in the making of this film.

The rest of the trailer mainly shows both of the girls being attacked by a spirit with more slashing sound FX and that they are trying to hide away. Again the Bohemian Pictures shows which connotes it's importance throughout the film. Finally the title of the film is shown to the audience so they can identify it's name and watch it in the cinemas or on DVD when it does come out. The last image of the trailer contains the credits and actors which connotes their importance, and also, if an audience member recognises someone's name, then they are more likely to watch it, which means that the movie would gain more viewers.
The title of the film is in a font which looks like it has history behind it, and so it could connote that the house the people go to has a history of an evil spirit in it and tries to kill whoever goes there.

Title & sound analysis: opening sequence of 'Orphan'

Orphan is similar to our intended product as both the villains are psychological killers.
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYmHzocOfkU




In the first 5 seconds of the opening sequence the titles start to fade in from black, which immediately connotes that this is a dark and scary horror film, since black presents darkness and death. Along with the blackness of the image, there is eerie type of non diegetic music playing on the screen. It also sounds as if there are wheels rolling along a squeaky floor in the beginning 5 seconds. This allows the audience to feel a sense of fear and panic, whilst also getting them ready to watch the movie.

The first colours we see after the darkness is a grey screen with red writing on displayed at the middle at the bottom of the screen, which gradually floats upwards whilst there is a tracking shot of moving upwards with the camera. The text says 'Warner bros. picture present', which connotes that they are a very famous entertainment company, and it promotes their hierarchy in the film sector of the media, while the text moves upwards. It connotes that they are very important, as without their help of production and distribution, the movie would not be what it is today. This shows their substantial power as they are the first words that appear on the screen. The audience can identify the companies with the use of the uses and gratifications theory.
Moving on from what the text says, the colour is a dark toned red which connotes blood, death and danger, and this is a common conventional colour to identify this product as a horror movie. It is also slanted in italics which connotes also connotes their importance, as a regular world in a regular font would not be in italics unless it is an emphasised or important word.

The next text that appears is "in association with dark castle..."after there is a slowly the increase of blood coming from the left corner of the screen. Again the text is also red like the blood. Since there is a spilling of blood this definitely connotes that there is going do be some people killed in this horror movie, and also the blood again identifies is as the horror genre, whilst there is squeaky, eerie and whispered non diegetic music playing. The fact that the text break the rule of thirds on the screen shows that the entertainment company is different and is also important as their name comes second after the Warner Bros. The image that is shown on the screen as the first layer is a picture of tiles. The tiles look very dirty and kind of muddy whilst the blood come in from the left corner. This connotes that it is based within a home, and once the villain enters the home, it destroys it and makes it dirty, as it was pure and clean before.

The blood droops down the tiles to clear away the text and the next scene is of a house. This denotation shows where the movie is going to be based. Normally a convention of psychological horror movies is that it is based inside a home / with a family, therefore it is following the conventions. However there is a splat of blood in the bottom right corner of the screen, which connotes that once the villain reaches the victim's home, things will go wrong instantly. The blood can link the Barthes symbolic code as blood connotes death, an death may be a significant factor in this movie, which conforms to horror codes and conventions as there is always if not mostly deaths in horror movies. The right side of the screen should connote what will come in the future, therefore, with this analysis, we can get a hint of what is going to happen. Furthermore, we can see snow on a blurred branch, and the sky is dull and gloomy which connotes that the movie is a seasonal movie and is based in the winter.


As the splat of blood increases in size the name of the director fades in. This helps the audience identify who the director is (uses and gratifications theory), and if the movie is appealing to them, they will want to know who the director is to make this movie amazing and also watch other movies directed by the same director and production company. Additionally, the blood increasing in sixe could connote that there is more and more deaths happening as the movie goes along. This shows disequilibrium.

There are whispering and hushing sounds which play over the mysterious non-diegetic music. This allows the audience to recognise (using the uses and gratification theory) that it belongs to the horror genre.

The next scene gives credit to the screen play: David, whilst there is the chains of a swing swinging. This could connote that there is children involved in the movie, as children play on swings in the park, and it could connote that an incident will happen in the park with a villain.

While each scene changes, there is a transition sound of a fast movement / slicing sound which connotes that weapons like the knife are used in the movie.
Just as the director of photography is mentioned, the picture of the villain is shows as a happy and smiling girl while there is blood at the corner. The text is synchronous with the images shown on the screen. The audience might think this is a victim at first since she is smiling and there is blood, which connotes that the villain could kill a happy child playing with her dolls, however they could also interpret her as the villain because in common scenarios, the villains are always the ones who look happy.

The same girl looks older and angry like a villain in the next photo shown, so the audience will now think that this girl that looks like a evil child is the villain. Since there are hands swapping between photos, this could connote that there are people investigating who she is. Again the text is in red, allowing us the believe the theme colour is red, black and grey toned. This also shows binary opposition as in one picture she is happy and smiling, and in the next she looks like she has just killed someone and her mentality is not straight. This shows that she tries to act like a good person but in reality she is a villain, which allows the audience to gain a slighter insight into the narrative before the movie proceeds.

One of the main protagonists is shown screaming; this could be in pain or in fear. However the continuous non-diegetic music is playing and sounds like the music is more significant over her screaming. This connotes that perhaps she is trying to reach out for help from different people but people don't believe her or that she can't get to them for help. It connotes that the 'orphan' is keeping her trapped. This creates an enigma code as the audience will keep on watching to find out why she is screaming.

The executive producer is then mentioned at the bottom left corner, again the text breaks the rule of thirds which connotes that he is also an important person in the making of the video. It is 43 seconds into the opening sequence and the actual title of the movie has not shown, as most of the credits are beings displayed as to the hints in the images being shown. The opening sequence slowly starts to get scarier. The story credits are shown under a picture of a scary woman. Then finally, the orphan's face is shown in action and she looks like she is screaming / crying. This connotes that she is very angry and she is not getting what she wants, and therefore acts upon her emotions, leading her to do evil things.

As there is a scary woman above the story credits, this could connote that the girl isn't actually a girl, but she has a mind of a lady/ a lady controls her/ she is actually a woman instead of a child.
At the end when the title is finally shown, there is non diegetic sound FX of glass breaking whilst the letters pop up on screen one by one. This connotes that the orphan is the one who is the villain, and the one who destroys the home.