We have created this questionnaire to enable us to find the most suitable name for our teaser trailer. The genre for trailer we will create is horror; furthermore we have come up with a selection of original names to give our film teaser trailer.
Dare Devil, Truth or Dare, Dead or Alive, Game Over, Assessment, Dead Silent, Time Out, Disconnected.
These were all of the options that we came up with, Game Over was the winning name as 6 people out of the 14 we questioned thought that it would be the best.
We also found out that 13 out of the 14 people we questioned thought our location was appropriate for our horror teaser trailer.
We have created a questionnaire to try and decide what title we am going to give to our film. We will be giving the questionnaire to the film’s target audience so that we can guarantee that our feedback is suitable and reliable. We will also show the images of our selected location and see what feedback we get.
We have been searching for a location to film our teaser trailer. We had found a perfect Manor house in a quiet village, which would have been ideal. However due to unexpected circumstances, it will not be available to film in. So we therefore had to find another location, we decided that we would want the film to either be set within a large house or a very derelict abandoned house. We tried to find a suitable location by going to look in surrounding areas; we came across a small empty run down cottage in the village of Charwelton, however again the owner of the land had recently sold the property and said it would be unsafe to film inside, once again it was not appropriate and we were unable to get any footage. We had visited a friends house and remembered how eerie it was so we asked if we could film some footage inside and out, and we were told that it would be fine; it’s a large cottage with winding pathways across the front garden, and inside lots of strange rooms and long thin corridors leading to dead ends. We both feel that this house is perfect for what we want to create, and have taken some images from the out side of the house. We am planning on filming in the evening so that my trailer will feel authentic. Here are some images of the locations which we am using:
We have also decided that we will be using a second location; this is a small wooded forest. There we will be filming various shots that achieve a more authentic feel for a horror trailer.
There is an immediate voice over as the production teams logo appears. The voice uses a rhetorical devise, which is aimed directly at the audience: “why do bad things happen to good people?” During this there is background music that is eerie; this begins to set the tone straight away.Immediately the film is seen to have horror elements due to the voice over and the background music.
The first shot that is shown, is an aerial view across a normal looking American neighbourhood; there is then a blackout and there is white bold writing which indicates where this neighbourhood is: Northern Connecticut. Then the shot changes to show houses, however the camera is on a fast moving dolly and moving left to right across the screen. We then see a lady in a car and realise that this is the woman's voice in the voice over. Again the shot changes to show the woman pulling up at an old looking house, and an old man putting up a for sale sign; the eerie stringed music continues. There is another blackout and the music changes slightly, there are another set of bod white words that tells the audience that this film is based on a true story.
There is a long shot of the house and we hear a woman talking, however this time we know it is supposed to be the woman in the house, as the voice has an echoed effect. As she talks the shot changes to inside the house, it is a medium shot of two people talking about how the house is ‘perfect’. The speaking continues, however the shot and music changes, it shows the outside of the house zooming out; the music changes to serene music as if somebody is humming, this is a complete contrast to the previous music.
The shot changes again to show a medium shot of two boys running by a car parked outside the house; again the speech continues, and the man is explaining how the house has a ‘history’ the shot changes to show two boys racing each other up the stairs inside the house.It becomes clear that the film is based around this house and the family have brought it and are moving in.
The shots become quicker showing different shots of the family exploring the house; the focal point is of a teenage boy who wants to have his space in the basement.
There is a mysterious tone of the music by now and the camera angles and speech begins to hint to the audience that there could be poltergeists living in the house.
The house is shown through the trees at a full moon this particularly has its own connotations, full moon can be linked with strange happenings, and the night could suggest that something ad is going to happen. There are fast shots showing all the family asleep; apart from the teenage boy in the basement, who is shown watching the television. As the television is turned off the camera shot quickly changes to show the black television screen-which displays a person stood in the doorway. The stringed music immediately changes, it becomes considerably louder and higher in pitch the sound suggests it is metal scratching on metal. At this point the shot changes to a close up showing the boys face; there is a blackout and then a long high shot of the whole house and grounds. The next shot that is shown is a medium shot of the woman who we assume is the mother, hearing footsteps upstairs. The music has changed to a clinking piano, drawing a mellow slow tone. The next shot that is shown is a medium close up, it shows the teenage boy attempting to open a mysterious door in the basement; the shot then zooms to show his hand grasp the door handle and it burning him as soon as this happens the music changes to strings which are high pitched and the noise is uncomfortable to listen to; immediately the music changes back to the slow piano tune. The shots that are shown next are fast paced, however the speech that is accompanying it is slow and mellow toned. There is a shot showing again the teenage boy, however another child runs across him, as this happens the same sharp loud stringed music is played over the action, making the audience jump.
The family have found old-fashioned photographs under the floor boards- the next shot is a close up of the photograph, and the teenage boy suggesting to his sister he has seen one of the boys in the photograph. The tone of the music changes to a low rumble of a chello and the house is shown in a shadowed light. The audience is shown a woman biting into rotten apple, and the food in the fridge to have also gone moldy, as the food is shown the small screech of the stringed music is played, zooming into the food. There is a blackout and immediately the music changes back to the low toned rumble of the chello again and the shot changes to a close up of a flickering candle. Again the shot changes to reveal a long shot showing the teenage boy in bed, there is a dark shadow descending towards him; the stringed music creates anxiety within the audience of what will happen next. A blackout shows when the film is coming to cinemas ‘This spring’ the text is white and bold and creates a contrast against the black background; as the text is on screen the music abruptly stops. The next shot shows a medium close up of the sister, explaining about how the old residents used to try and connect to the dead. The picture suddenly flickers into black and white and the camera spins around the group, it is clear that they are looking back showing them connected to spirits.
The stringed music has connotations of fingernails scratching a chalkboard making the ‘hairs on the back of the audiences necks stand up’.The voice over is accompanied by stringed music growing louder as the houses history is revealed. The music changes to a very high pitch, we can assume made by a keyboard. Again as we look back at the happenings in the house the image flicks back into black and white, and the camera spins not allowing the audience to see the faces of the people.
The camera again shows the teenage boy in bed and a figure appear in the television set-the music changes to suggest a metal on metal type noise created by stringed instruments. The camera cuts quickly to show a man holding a small metal cross; the next cut shows a priest in the house confirming their suspicions. The shots suddenly speed up, and there is a sequence of clips suggesting there are ghosts in the house. Throughout these shots there is a voice over saying that there is something inside the house. Suddenly there is a scream and there is a sequence of images, drawing the audience in. The shots slow and the music subsides, the clips begin again unexpected making the audience jump and the cuts become extremely fast showing the son being captured. After the montage there is another blackout and words (“the fear”) come across the stage.
You see something snap shut and this is the entrance for another set of images, we see the silhouette of birds flying in the house and the teenage boy with writing carved into his skin, there is a follow on from the previous words; there is a blackout and “is real” comes across the stage. The audience are now in suspense after being told this is based on a true story, the music and authenticity of the film really draws the viewer in. The shots speed up and the eerie stringed music becomes louder and louder building to a climax, at this point the audience are on the edge of their seats. Suddenly the music cuts out to allow a small amount of dialogue, the music then comes in louder than before; and we see a car crash involving the priest as he has realised that they are trying to kill the teenage boy.
The stringed music gets louder and louder in between cuts to allow dialogue, again it is bringing the action to a climax as the climax invites the denouement, and the stringed high pitched music gets louder almost unbearably high and suddenly cuts to show the title of the film “The Haunting in Connecticut” shown in a dark room with window pouring light through it. The music changes to a simple low toned piano tune, which is a contrast to the high pitched stringed music played prior in the trailer. There is then a small scene at the end showing the teenage boy looking into the mirror, his reflect changes abruptly and the stringed music cuts in small and sharp in a very high pitch tone making the audience jump. This last sequence has drawn the audience in and made them more inclined to go and see the film.
The trailer begins with low toned music during the initial production credits are shown; with the music already setting an eerietone to the film the opening image appears to show a contrast from the music. The film initially suggests a romantic “chick flick” this is due to the words that appear on screen and the images that go with it, a mother and her son, and the a father figure in the next clip.However there is the music from the beginning is still quietly playing in the background. As more words come across the screen it is clear that there is monetary problem within this ‘ideal’ family; along with this the music becomes slightly louder and the tone appears to become lower. There is a clip that is looking through a peephole in the door, as this scene appears the musicbecomes very high pitched and set another creepy tone to the film and the audience sees that this film is far from a romance as the film develops showing it to be a horror. Then the camera zoomed in to show a box lying on the door steps, this begins to suggest tension within the film; and the next set of words that flash on screen are accompanied by a loud deep rumbling tone. The screen goes black and there a diegetic sound of a doorbell, the next scene shows us a point of view shot showing-whom we know as the main female opening the door. We then see an old looking man, and as he turns suddenly there are white flashing lights to reveal a deep scar across his face, and the shot changes. There seems to be an apparent beat in the background suggesting a pulse or heartbeat; the camera keeps showing close-ups of the box to allow the audience to keep questioning what it is. As the man at door tells them about the box, there are clips showing what he is saying, and in between each shots there is a bright flash of white light.
As the tension builds the pace of the cuts becomes faster. The music becomes louder from the initial underlying tone. As the family finds out the consequences of the box the tension builds and the tone of the film changes to a horror and it becomes a race against time. As the story begins to unravel the clips still getting slightly faster at each cut, and there is a deep voice over, however we know it is included in the film, and is not just over the top of the trailer. The music builds to a climax and cut out as does the film and the screen becomes black; and there is a voice with fear in its tone, and the clips begin playing again. The shots speed up and there is brief speech to draw the audience in, as the production team flash on screen along with the names of the actors. As the climax builds the music becomes louder, drawing the audience in. the name of the film flashes up and the screen goes black and the music stops.The next clip then goes back to the one of the beginning shots. The date 10.30 comes up and then it ends.
The initial sequence of this trailer is very effective straight away going into detail of the specific genre of the film.Being the sixth film of the saw movies, it immediately goes in with the voice that was associated with all six films, therefore it straightaway captures the attention of those people who know the films and are fans of the films.
The trailer starts by capturing the audience with the sound, before they seed the first image.The way they are using still images I think is effective, and the way that the still images develop into a background colour and show text.
The over lay of the voice over also is very effective. I feel that by doing this they have contradicted the sound with the image, as the voice over is calm contrasting the fear that the audience are seeing on screen. When seeing the man who is speaking the pace speeds up, and the music becomes faster mirroring the panic of the characters.
The transition between each clip I think is also very effective in this trailer, it is clear that they have chosen to focus each effect upon a camera flashing or taking a picture and I feel that this is very effective. Straight away there are effects applied in the opening footage; they have used a flashing light effect and as it flashes the camera moves to show different images in between each shot. There is a contrast between the faster actions in some of the shots against slower action in others.
The end of the trailer uses the typical music that the audience associate with the saw films, and it is only until the end that the audience is told that their suspicions are correct and that it is another saw film. However it is emphasised twice in the trailer that it will be out Halloween 2009.
We have decided that we want to create a trailer with horror as my genre. we want to do this as we feel that we can do a lot of different shots; we have a small vision of what sort of film we want to create, however we will look into other existing movie trailers, to get a more define idea of what are the most common shots in horror trailers.
I am currently a year 13 Sixth form student and I am creating this blog as I'm required to make a note of all of my research for my media coursework. I feel that this is the best way to note down everything i find out. I have also set up this blog to learn what others think about work I have produced.
