Key decisions

My group are currently beginning the planning phase of our horror action film trailer. During the research phase I have made some very important decisions which are key to the creation of our trailer.

My biggest inspiration
The film series that was my biggest inspiration is the Friday the 13th series. This is because it is arguably the most famous Slasher film series of all time and Jason Voorhees is one of the most iconic horror villains in movie history. The main things that I took inspiration from was they way how the films create tensions to make scenes more scary. For example in my trailer analysis of the 2009 reboot I talk about how the trailer uses the fear of the unknown by rarely showing Jason on screen so that the audience questions what he is going to look like  which makes them imagine the worse possible idea which makes them fear him even more despite not knowing what he looks like because of this the tension increases in the trailer which helps create more of an impact when the scary scenes occur.

Most inspirational era of horror/action
The most inspirational era for me was the 1980's as this was the decade where the horror action genre first started to appear and become mainstream with many revolutionary horror action films being released during this time such as Friday the 13th and The Evil Dead. The main conventions that I took inspiration from this era mainly comes from the Slasher genre because of the diverse variety of horror villains that stem from this genre ranging from large relentless killers to intelligent but deranged sociopaths. This has helped me create a villain for our trailer as I could pick and mix different elements from a variety of different characters for example would our villain wear a mask like Micheal Myers, are they going to be shown as being unnaturally strong like the Predator and are they a supernatural being like Freddy Krueger.

The soundtrack
The soundtrack that we will be having in the clip will correlate with what is happening on screen so that it helps create a better atmosphere in the trailer. For example during a scene where one of the protagonist is being chased by the villain the music would be playing loud and fast making the scene more intense as the villain starts to gain on the protagonist. In my groups trailer we will be using a max of 5 songs as if we were to use anymore songs it would start to distract from the rest of the trailer as you would start to notice the songs frequently changing. The type of music which we are going to use in our film is going to be conventional to both genres. What I mean by this is that in the horror genre string instruments such as a violin are commonly used as they are able to create loud high pitched sounds which can scare the audience as these sounds can be made very suddenly taking the form of a sting that catches the audience off guard. In contrast in action films the music is much louder and more intense sounding with a variety of different instruments being used such as a drum as it can create a beat which replicates the sound of a human heart beat so the audience start to believe that they are listening to their heartbeat so when the drum gets faster the audiences think their hearts are beating faster making them start to feel the adrenaline which hypes up the audience.

Are we having dialogue in our trailer
We will be having dialogue in throughout our trailer mainly during parts of the film where there is no music and only an ambient silence this so that when the characters do speak they can be clearly heard by the entire audience. The dialogue in the trailer will mainly be diegetic however a non diegetic piece of dialogue I would like to add is having a radio broadcast which bridges over to other scenes in the trailer talking about the villain and how many people have been disappearing lately to help build tension within the trailer. Also while the villain won't speak you will hear his diegetic laughter throughout the trailer similar to how Jason only says 'Ki Ki Ki Ma Ma Ma' in his films.

What information is important to appear in the trailer
The information that will appear in the text will be informative for the audience as it will tell them important things about the trailer such as its release date in theatres and links to the films official social media pages so that the audience can become more involved in the films production. Another important piece of information that will appear in the trailer is the title of the film which is usually followed by a short tag line which helps attract a larger audience for example Texas Chainsaw Massacre's (1974) tag line was 'Who will survive and what will be left of them?' Another important piece of information that should appear in the trailer is what type of format the trailer is going to be. We have chosen to have the trailer be in the IMAX format as it will provide the audience a better experience as it will make the film and sound quality much more better. This is important as it could be used to attract a larger audience to see the film as they would to enjoy the IMAX experience.

Which characters will appear in the trailer
In our trailer all of the characters who are important to the films plot such as the protagonists and the antagonists. These characters usually conform with the character archetypes created by Propp as the protagonist would become the hero who ultimately defeats the villain. Another reason we are going to be basing our characters on Propp's archetypes is because it will make it easier for the audience to point out who is who. For example when watching the trailer if the audience see a character who is brave, fearless and fighting off criminals they will instantly recognise them as the hero of the film and when they see a mysterious, shady character the audience will assume they are the villain. These characters are also important to have in the trailer as it allows the audience to immediately recognise what the genre as you only ever see Propp's archetypes in action films which makes it convenient to the audience. However, we will not be following these archetypes 100% as otherwise the characters will become to predictable as they would have to abide to the archetype they represent so the hero could never be shown in a weak state as it goes against what Propp has stated.

Representations in the trailer
In our trailer the main representation that we are going to have is the representation of gender as unlike many other male characters in the action/horror genre they are not going to be the overly muscled manly warrior who shown with god like strength and no weaknesses. Instead of this our characters are going to subvert from this stereotype and be much more realistic which will allow the audience to relate to them more we will be doing this by having the main characters be normal college students with no special powers which creates a David and Goliath scenario as there should be no way that they can possibly fight against the villain.

Key Iconography (Mise-en-scene)
Costumes
There is going to be variety of different costumes for are characters for example the main characters who are meant to be average college students so there costume would be jeans, T-shirt/hoodie and other clothes that students commonly wear. In contrast, the villain will be dark, mysterious clothing that are meant to hide their face as so that they remain unknown. At this moment we are not planning on having make-up but that could change in time.
Settings
The setting for our film is going to be the new school building as it contains many long corridors and alleyways which will be useful for creating more scary scenes such as having the villain chase the protagonists through it to create tension
Props
The main props for the trailer will belong to the villain as it will many be things such as their costume such as their mask and a murder weapon. Also, we may use fake blood to make scenes more intense.
Lighting
We will be mainly using low key lighting as it will make scenes more sinister as it will help hide the villains face creating a fear of the unknown effect.

Narrative style
The narrative style for our trailer is going to be linear as that is the narrative that is commonly used for film trailers as it will show many scenes from the film with no links to each other this so that the audience can get a clear idea of what the genre the film is going to be which will interest them into going to see the film while not spoiling the film by giving away any key plot points.

Typical camerawork
The camerawork in the trailer will also be very conventional to both the horror and the action genre. This is because in the horror genre camerawork can be used to make scenes more scary for example having a high angle shot looking down on the main character as suggests that something is looking down on them which also shows that it is more powerful than them. Another way that camerawork in the horror genre is used to make scenes more scary is by using P.O.V shots as it places the audience in the shoes of the characters giving them a first person perspective of what is happening this is usually used not long before a jump scare occurs as it will help to scare the audience.

In addition, the camerawork in action films is usually used to make scenes more intense and action packed this especially noticeable in fight sequences in action films as the camera angles constantly change to make the fights look more interesting. For example a low angle in a action can be used in a fight when one of the characters is injured and knocked to the ground and looks up at his combatant who is looking down on him.

Style of editing
The editing in our trailer will start of slow paced as it will help build tension at first which can scare the audience we are also starting the editing slow paced as it is conventional in both the action and horror genre as it starts to get faster when more intense scenes occur so that they excite/scare audiences. The tension will be increased by editing in music stings to catch the characters off guard in the trailer this means that when the stings happen the audience will also be scared as they would not be expecting them while the trailer is slowly moving along. However when the villain first appears the editing will start to be more fast paced as the action slowly starts to build and when the fighting the editing will become much more similar to the action genre using many jump cuts to show different perspectives of the fight to make it look more intense.