Classifications and Conventions of Trailers

In class, we researched the conventions of trailers, and explored the BBFC to find out more about who they are and what they do.

BBFC: British Board of Film Classification

The BBFC is an independent, self-financing media content regulator. They operate transparent, consistent and trusted co-regulatory and self-regulatory classification, as well as labelling systems in the UK.

Their aim is to:

- Protect he public, especially children, from content which may have the possibility of raising risks
- Empower the public, especially parents, in order to make informed viewing choices
- Recognise and respect adult freedom of choice within the law
- Respond to and reflect changing social attitudes towards media content through proactive public consultation and research
- Provide a cost-effective, efficient classification service within our statutory remit

- Work in partnership with the industry to develop innovative service models to provide content advise which support emerging media delivery systems


After researching this, my group and I decided that we will target the audience of 18+

Horror Movie Title Questionnaire - The Results

I had kept the survey open for a week or so, which gave people enough time to fill it out, as I was advertising it on different websites. My group and I then got together to caluclate the results from the survey.

From these results, it indicates that it was a tie between 'Domination' and 'Damnation,' as they had the most votes. We allowed them to choose more than one answer, due to the variety of titles we had. However, we also printed off the questionnaire to give to peole to fill out by hand, which 20 people filled out, leaving us with a total of 39 responses. This then balanced out the tie we had before, making 'Damnation' the most popular one, which we then finalised as our horror movie title.

Horror Movie Title - Questionnaire

We thought that the best way to decide which title to use for our film would be by getting feedback from other people to see what they think of the names, and whether they think it would be appropriate to use. Looking at the response I got back from my previous questionnaire which was about horror movies in general, my group and I decided that it would be best to create another survey for the title ideas. Once again, I used http://www.surveymonkey.com/ to create this survey. They then gave me the link for the survey, which was http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Q7NSSGN.

I used social networking in order to advertise the questionnaire, so that people could fill it out in a simpler form. I did this through my twitter account, and by posting it on my BBM status.

Horror Movie Title Ideas

After creating our plot summary, my group and I then had to give a name to our horror film, which obviously had to be based on the overall narrative. Seeing as we all had different ideas, we decided to pick 10 names which we thought would be suitable, and then we would narrow it down to one last one. Also, we searched some words online to see if we could better the ones we already had. We decided to just stick to one word as the title, as we thought that this would get the message across more clearly and would be more effective, as we will also have a tag line. The 10 names are listed below:

• Domination
• Repression
• Condemnation
• Abomination
• Perdition
• Damnation
• Destruction
• Absolution
• Profanity
• Malediciton

As you can tell from the names above, most of them have religious connotations to them. We done this on purpose as the film itself is based on religion, and the outcomes if you rebel against it; hence, we decided to use this as the main topic for the names.

Plot Summary

My group and I were given the task to create the overview narrative of the horror film while our trailer will be based on. This was faily easy as we all had many thoughts and ideas about what we wanted to base our story on, and therefore, we combined our ideas together to come up with one final storyline. We had done a brainstorm of ideas beforehand, which made it easier for us as we were able link different ideas with each other. Below is the final plot summary.

Beginning

In South -East London, England, a teenage girl named Angela is mysteriously looking at a church. A flashback of her at a younger age is shown where she is constantly going to church with her mother. Suddenly, her mother disrupts the flashback and we return to the present stage and her mother asks if she is going inside the church. She then states that she will come into the church within a few moments and hence her mum goes in without her. She continues to stare at the church but suddenly sees her friends across the street and a smile is illustrated on her face. They quickly greet and Sammie states that they are going to Freddie’s house to watch a movie; she then states that she is going with them and therefore ditches the idea of going to church. She looks back at the church worryingly but soon forgets about her betrayal to her religion when she converses with her friends.

Once inside Freddie’s house they settle down and begin to watch the film. They then begin to watch a horror film and she is reminded of her betrayal to the church in which this makes her feel uneasy. Then, some religious connotations are portrayed within the film and she begins to panic as she thinks about her own deception. Her friends try to snap her out of her madness and once calm, suggest that she should go home and rest and she follows this advice.

She arrives home only to find her mother extremely angry with her missing out on church. The two argue until the mother hits her and states that she should repent her sins. She runs to her room, cries and then falls asleep. Once awoken from her slumber, she realises the time, 3am however, decides her mother was right and that she should go and repent. She gets her coat and walks silently out the house, trying not to awake her mother. She walks to the church reciting versus’ from the Bible. Once in the church, she kneels by the alter and starts praying. Suddenly, the door opens but she cannot see anyone there, she then decides to hide away in fear thinking that God has arrived in the room. It turns out to be a thief trying to steal ornaments from the alter including a Bible, a cross and some money from the offering. Angela then beings to become more and more scared and then hear voices within her mind telling her to kill. The voices then begin to get louder and before she can control herself she beats him to death with a candle holder. She then stops and realises what she has done and runs to the bathroom to try and wash away the blood. She then looks in the mirror once, thinking that something is behind her. She then looks again in which her eyes go red and the scene fades to black.

A mysterious person who has witnessed the event goes to Angela’s mother and tells her about the event that happened within the church. Thinking that this person is wild, she refuses to believe the story and tells the person to get out of her house. The person tells her to beware of Angela, and then runs out of the house whilst Angela’s mum is left bewildered.

Later her mum is sitting in her chair and waiting for Angela to arrive. The doorbell rings and her mum slowly approach the door, baring in mind what the witness has said about Angela. She slowly opens the door to find Angela with her head held down and her clothes ripped. She then goes to touch Angela’s head but Angela then quickly raises her head and her mother realises that she has glowing red eyes. Her mum runs away in fear but Angela catches up with her. She then stabs Angela in the stomach but Angela laughs and then takes the knife out showing that it has had no effect. The scene then ends with Angela going towards the camera but at an audience’s point of view coming towards the camera.

Middle

The next morning, Leyla and Sammie arrive to Angela's house to pick her up for school. After ringing the doorbell and waiting for a couple of minutes they soon find that the door is open and decide to go in. They search around the house and fail to find Angela. As soon as they are about to leave, Angela jumps from nowhere and Leyla and Sammie scream. Angela laughs, greets her friends and they all go off to school.

After school, Freddie and Angela walk to Freddie's house to do their English project together. Soon after arriving at Freddie's house, Angela gets restless and tries to kiss Freddie. Freddie backs away and states that he does not want to kiss Angela and that she should leave. Angela gets angry and Freddie then states that he'll find another partner for the project. Angela then transforms from normal Angela in to evil Angela and then passes the curse onto Freddie. Angela leaves the house when she hears Freddie's parents arriving back to the house. Freddie's mum asks if he is okay and Freddie does not reply and instead passes the curse onto his parents. The scene ends with the family laughing manically.

 Clips of Angela and Freddie killing and cursing people are then shown. Even a clip of Mason is seen with Angela stating that he'll have fun before giving killing him and sending him to hell. The whole of South East London are then told about the violent attacks through different media texts.

Sammie wonders why all of this is happening and decides to do some much needed research. We see clips of her reading books, searching the internet and find out what Angela is and how the curse is spreading. Suddenly, Angela calls Sammie and states that Sammie should stop what she is doing whilst Sammie is confused and then the two argue on the phone. Sammie throws the book and holds her head with her hands.

A couple of weeks later and Leyla and Sammie are sitting in Leyla's front room pondering about all the attacks. There is a new curfew of 5pm for children and 6pm for young adults and 7pm for adults in order to ensure everyone's safety. Sammie then states that no one is safe and the two then share stories about the kind of attacks they've heard. Suddenly they hear glass shattering from the other room and scream only to find out that Leyla's mum had accidentally dropped her glass of water and then begins to cry. The two girls comfort the mother until she is calm again. They smile and then Leyla's mother then goes upstairs to rest. Leyla states that she has become this way because of all the attacks and they return back to the front room.

End

Sammie then gets a strange call from someone calling from unknown. She picks up and the person is frantically telling her to stay away from Angela as she is spreading the curse. The mysterious person is then revealed to be connected to Angela’s past. Sammie listens but then demands for evidence and the mysterious person tells her to look outside her window. Leyla hearing the conversation then looks outside the window to find the "evil Angela" grinning. Sammie drops the phone and the two decide to run upstairs into Leyla's room. Angela breaks down the door and stops Leyla from going up the stairs. Leyla is crying and shouts to Sammie to save herself. Sammie then tries to save Leyla but is flung to the dining room door. Leyla is then taken to the front room where Angela blocks the door. Leyla screams in agony whilst Angela laughs. Sammie screams and runs outside.

After giving Leyla the curse, Angela then tracks down Sammie and finds her at an abandoned house. Sammie screams and short dialogue is spoken between the two. There is then a final standoff between Angela and Sammie. Sammie then tries to run away but Angela drags her by feet to her previous position. Sammie frantically looks around to find something to kill Angela and comes across a knife. As soon as Angela tries to possess her, Sammie stabs Angela in the heart and Angela screams in agony. She says her last words then drops to the floor and returns back to the "normal" Angela. Sammie remembers that Angela had been possessed; this drives her to call an ambulance. Sammie then runs back to Leyla's house to find a "normal" Leyla. The scene is left with the two of them hugging.

The narrative ends with Angela missing and Sammie, Leyla and Freddie laying flowers for Mason.

Heavily influenced by 'Carrie'

Potential Ideas for Horror Movie

Once we were put into our groups of three, we then had to brainstorm different ideas that could be used for our horror movie, through which we could then base our trailer on. My group and I began to list possible ideas and features that could be included in our movie, so that we could then create our final narrative. It was essential to bare in mind the reasons why individuals decide to watch a horror movie, whether it be at the cinema or even at home, as these reasons will then be adapted in our trailer, conveying the key conventions of a horror movie.

Ideas

• Supernatural - human being possessed 
• A sense of possession - causes paranoia 
• Being possessed by the devil
• Link to Ed Gein 
• Suspense of characters
• Teenager - classic overprotective mother
• Open events - occurring everywhere
• Something happens when gazing upon the killer
• Non conclusive - mysterious ending
• Music - gradually build music whilst narrative continues
• Based on a real life event
• Domestic setting
• Religious connotations
• Psychopath - schizophrenic protagonist 
• Protagonist has powers - passes it onto others

My group and I combined all the results from our horror movie questionnaire's that we created, and took the overall outcome into consideration, which also helped us brainstorm more ideas, as listed above. Also, we compared results and then highlighted the main similarities we all found from our individual questionnaires and decided that these aspects will be our main focus in order to target our audience.

• Targeting at 15 - 25 year olds
• Focus more on storyline - limited use of blood and gore
• Include shocking and jumpy suspense
• Suspense music
• Fast shots and editing
• Flashbacks

We decided to focus on the 'Final Girl Theory,' as this then links to a monstrous feminine. 

Horror Movie Questionnaire - The Results

I kept the survey for my questionnaire open for roughly around two weeks, giving people enough time to fill it out, as I was regularly advertising it as mentioned in my previous post. I then closed the survey in order to analyse the overall results that were collected from those who filled it out. As well as using http://www.surveymonkey.com, I decided to transfer the data into Excel, as I could create pie charts for each question, making it easier for myself to understand the final results.

1) What gender are you? 

I chose to have this as the first question to my survey, as it starts off by giving me some information about the person who is filling it out. Furthermore, its helpful for me as I am able to see which type of gender is more likely to watch horror movies, and looking at the results, it turns out that its actually females. This then automatically links with the other results from all the other questions. 

2) How old are you?

This is also similar to the first question as it gives me an insight to how old the person is, once again linking in with the other results. Also, I thought this would be an appropriate question to include as I will then be able to decide on the age rating for my horror movie. It turns out that its usually 16 - 20 year olds who watch horror movies regularly, so therefore, this will be my target audience. However, I will also take into consideration all the other ages present as well, as I don't want to have some sort of restriction towards the viewers. 

3) How often do you watch a horror movie?

Again, I inserted this question as it allows me to find out more about my target audience. Horror movies are being released frequently nowadays, meaning that theres a variety of different horror movies to watch in the cinema, as well as on DVD. Therefore, the answers to this question allows me to understand if people frequently watch horror movies, or whether they watch one once in a while, and by looking at the results, it appears that its somewhat in between, as majority of the people tend to watch it every two months. 

4) How do horror movies make you feel?

Different horror movies have different aims when it comes to giving the audience a sense of emotion. Some want to terrify the audience, whereas others may have different agendas. However, it is possible that a person encounters numerous feelings when watching a horror movie. With this question, I allowed my target audience to answer more than one emotion, due to the fact that there could simply be more than one, as well as having the chance to write down their own answers, which gives me a larger range of answers, so that I know what I would want my audience to feel when watching my trailer. By looking at the results, it seems to be that people get some sort of excitement while watching a horror movie. Furthermore, 4 people wrote down their own answers, which mainly consisted of 'amused,' meaning that they find a sense of humour within the movie. 

5) Who do you like to watch a horror movie with?

Some people have different preferences when it comes to who to watch a horror film with, which is something that I personally find interesting, as it immediately gives an idea of what the person is like. For example, if they are able to watch an entire horror movie by themselves, then its most likely that they aren't the type to get afraid. Therefore, I simply chose this question to once again, find out more about my target audience. However, a large number of people said they they like to watch a horror movie with their friends, possibly a group of friends, which then makes it more exciting and scary for all of them. Therefore, I will ensure that my trailer appeals to groups of friends, making sure that its something that they would want to watch together.

6) What kinds of settings frighten you the most in a horror movie?

This question was included to help me with ideas of locations to use in my actual trailer. I listed down the settings which you will usually find in a horror movie, such as a domestic setting, to see whether this appeals to my target audience, and if they get frightened by it. By looking at the results, it seems as if they do get scared when a domestic setting is included in a horror movie; therefore I will take this into account by showing this location within my trailer.

7) Does a horror movie appeal to you more when it's based on a real life event?

There are some horror movies that are based on a real life event, which frightens individuals more, as it personally does for me. This is why I decided to include this question to see whether this type of movie would appeal to my target audience more, or whether it doesn't really have an overall affect on them, which was the case for majority of the people who took part in the survey. When it comes to creating my trailer, I will discuss this aspect with the rest of my group and see whether we should base our trailer on a real life event or not. 

8) Do gruesome aspects within a horror movie frighten you? (E.g. blood, gore, weapons etc)

Not everyone gets frightened by blood and gore etc within horror movies, which is what this question proves. Therefore, I will keep these aspects limited in my trailer, due to the fact that it doesn't appeal to everyone. 

9) What do you expect to see in a horror movie trailer?

When it comes to watching a horror movie trailer, people have various ideas on what they want to see in the trailer, which is why I thought it was necessary to have this question on the survey. With this question, I didn't write down any specific options for the audience to choose fro, but instead, I allowed them to write down any feedback they wanted to give in relation to this specific question. I narrowed down the most common answers and included this in the pie chart above. All of the answers that were given are typical features which are present in a horror movie, which is something I will take into account when it comes to creating my trailer.

10) When watching a horror movie trailer, do you prefer to discover the whole storyline?

People do not always want to find out the whole storyline when watching a trailer, which is why I thought it would be important to ask this question, as I wouldn't want to give away too much information, as it then wouldn't exactly appeal to my target audience. Consequently, it turns out that most people do not like to know the complete storyline; therefore, I will make sure not to reveal too much within the trailer, but instead, have a sufficient amount which will make them want to watch it.

I will take all the answers that I received very seriously when it comes to the final creation of my horror movie trailer, as the feedback given is vital for me to follow in order for the trailer to be successful, and for it to have the conventions of a horror movie. 

Horror Movie Questionnaire - The Process

I decided to use www.surveymonkey.com to create my survey, which meant that people could directly go onto the link and fill out the questionnaire there themselves. It was a very simple and easy process, as the survey was created within a few minutes, which meant that I could then get people to fill it out as soon as possible. The link for the questionnaire is www.surveymonkey.com/s/RXZ567T. As it was an online survey, I used social networking to advertise the link, via Blackberry Messenger, as well as my Twitter account.

In total, 31 people filled out the survey, which is a good amount, as it gave me various results from a wide range of people, making the questionnaire more valid and reliable. 

Market Research - Horror Movie Questionnaire

Over the half term, I conducted a survey which consisted of questions which would then be beneficial to me when it comes to making my final trailer, as I would then be able to take the results from this survey into account.
The purpose of creating this questionnaire was so that I could find out more about which age range I will be targeting my trailer at, and how they feel whilst watching a horror movie, as well as what frightens them the most. Paul Well's theory illustrated that the younger generation are more harder to shock, as they are aware of artificiality.
I chose 10 questions which I believe are all necessary for my research, and these questions are presented below.

1) What gender are you?

• Male 
• Female

2) How old are you?

• 10 - 15 years old
• 16 - 20 years old
• 21 - 25 years old
• 26 - 30 years old
• 30 +

3) How often do you watch a horror movie?

• Every week
• Every month
• Every two months
• Other (please specify)

4) How do horror movies make you feel?

• Scared
• Excited
• Nervous
• Anxious
• Disgusted
• Confused
• Other (please specify)

5) Who do you like to watch a horror movie with?

• Alone
• Parents
• Siblings
• Friends
• Partner

6) What kinds of settings frighten you the most in a horror movie?

• A domestic setting
• A haunted house
• Forests
• Isolated outdoor locations
• Other (please specify)

7) Does a horror movie appeal more to you when its based on a real life event?

• Yes
• No
• To an extent

8) Do gruesome aspects within a horror movie frighten you? (E.g. blood, gore, weapons etc)

• Yes
• No
• To an extent 

9) What do you expect to see in a horror movie trailer?

10) When watching a horror movie trailer, do you prefer to discover the whole storyline? 

• Yes
• No 
• To an extent 

Research Methods

Different research methods
There are different ways of doing research, the main ones being a questionnaire, interviewing someone, and experimenting with various ideas.

We were asked to research the best possible way to approach our target audience, in relation to our horror movie trailer, with the help of http://www.ngfl-cymru.org.uk/vtc/ngfl/psychology/learn_train/research_methods/, which was a very helpful website as it gave advantages and disadvantages for each research method.

After visiting the website, I decided that the best method would be to conduct a questionnaire.

Advantages:

- Produce large amounts of standardised data

- Data can be collected quickly and conveniently 

- Replicable and usually easy to analyse

- Wide-ranging sample possible

- New ideas for research can be suggested

- Good for research on socially sensitive matters as people tend to disclose more

I decided to use http://www.surveymonkey.com to create this survey.

The 'Final Girl Theory

The 'Final Girl' is a horror and thriller movie, which specifically refers to the last girl or woman alive, to confront the killer, and to present the rest of the story to the audience. The 'Final Girl' has been observed in several films, including 'Halloween,' 'Friday the 13th,' 'A Nightmare on Elm Street,' 'Scream,' 'Final Destination,' 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre,' alongside many more. The term was created by Carol J Clover, in her book 'Men, Women and Chainsaws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film.' In this, Clover implies that in these films, the audience begins by sharing the perspective of the killer, but experiences a shift in identification to the 'Final Girl' partway through the film. According to Clover, the girl is usually a virgin, therefore, making her unavailable sexually, which then leads her to avoid the vices of the victims, for example, sex. Furthermore, she can also have a unisex name, such as Teddy, Billie, Georgie or Sidney. Sometimes, she will have a shared history with the killer, which then makes the killer inclined towards her in particular. An example of this can be found in 'Halloween II,' as Michael Myers is found to be Laurie Strode's brother. The 'Final Girl' is the 'investigating consciousness' of the film, making the narrative move forward. 

 

Information taken from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Final_girl 

The Copycat Theory

In relation to my previous post, my media class had to pair up and focus on one theory in particular, and create a presentation which we could then feedback to the rest of the class. My partner and I were given 'The Copycat Theory,' which I was excited about, as the name itself sounds interesting. The presentation we created is shown below.

The copycat Theory

View more presentations from Rosheen-29

My peers had to research on different theories, so that we could all have an insight and understanding to other theories, as well as our own. Whilst watching their presentations, I did learn more about the variety of audience theories, which made me realise more how the audience are affected in relation to the media.

- Cultivation Theory - Concerned with the effects of television programming on the attitudes and behaviour of American public - findings suggest that those that watch more television (heavy viewers), perceive the real world as it is portrayed on the television. (The mean world syndrome)



- The Copycat Theory - (E.g. Simon says) It relates to how something is publicised in the media, and findings suggest that the public naturally copy what they see, to gain the qualities etc, of those that appear on screen, such as copycat murders etc.

- The Hypodermic Syringe Model - The audience passively receive information transmitted via a media text, without any attempt on their part to process or challenge data etc.



- Desensitisation Theory - The overexpose to violent behaviour on screen makes the audience immune to this, and thus, harder to shock. As a result, the effects are generally more widely spread. 

Audience Theory

'The media are responsible for a range of social problems'

The quote above is rather effective, as it reveals a lot about what is being said about the media in todays society. There are different methods in which the media affects audience subconsciously; therefore, it is agreeable to say that individuals have been affected by what they see via media texts, such as movies, TV programmes etc.
We researched the different effects models in relation to media audience theory. The methods we came across are listed below:

- Hypodermic Syringe Theory
- Desensitisation
- Cultivation Theory
- Copycat Theory
- Uses and Gratifications
- Reception Theory.

One of the most popular theories is the 'Hypodermic Syringe Theory.' When researching this theory, I came across many facts which made my understanding of this specific theory, clearer. This is what I found out:

- The 'Hypodermic Syringe Theory' is a model of communication, making sure that a message is received.
- It wasn't based on experimental results derived from research. It was a response to the German fascists, and then it later applied to the American society.
- The concept of the theory is that the media were injected into the thoughts of the audience, who accepted the attitudes, opinions and beliefs expressed by others, without questioning them.
- This theory can work; however, it may not be as effective as the media would like it to be, as people can be affected in different ways by the media, such as films, advertising, newspapers, television etc. Therefore, this can have a negative effect on the audience.

Psycho vs Texas Chainsaw Massacre

Horror movies tend to use similar conventions, some more than others. This can be because there are key techniques which makes a movie a horror; therefore, it's essential to include these qualities within horror movies. During one of our lessons, we closely analysed the similarities and differences which are presented in 'Psycho' (1960) and 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' (1973).

Similarities: 

- Both have human killers - male 

- Inspired by Ed Gein 

- Both consist of a domestic setting (house / room etc)
- Killers dress up as women when killing
- Child like elements - dominated by parents
- Female protagonists
- Two strong women who escape
- Multi killings
- Editing is fast
- Date and time specified

Differences:

- Norman Bates comes across as a normal character
- Leatherface wears mask whereas Norman wears a wig
- 'Psycho' is in black and white, whereas 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is in colour
- 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is more gruesome - blood and gore
- One killer has bee caught ('Psycho') and another has been set free ('Texas Chainsaw Massacre')
- 'Psycho' has more of a build up to the killings. 'Texas chainsaw Massacre' consists of sudden killings
- 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre' has more use of weapons

The Male Gaze

'Film has been called an instrument of the male gaze, producing representations of women, the good life, and sexual fantasy from a male point of view' - Jonathan Schroeder (1998)

It is regularly questioned as to why women are presented sexually within the media, especially focusing on TV and films, which can have a negative affect on women, due to the way they are being portrayed, as it sending the wrong message across in relation to femininity.
We researched this particular issue in class, and found out that this is in fact called 'The Male Gaze Theory.' Laura Mulvey is a British feminist film theorist, who wrote a very influential essay, 'Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema' in 1975, in which she used the theories of Freud, a famous philosopher. Within this particular essay, Mulvey suggests that the way women are viewed in cinema is 'unequal.' the camera necessarily presents women as 'sexualised', for the pleasure of men.
Mulvey has three types of 'looking,' which is shown in the diagram below.

'The presence of women is an indispensable element of spectacles in normal narrative film, yet her visual presence tends to work against the development of a storyline, to freeze the flow of action in moment of erotic contemplation.' 


This theory clearly illustrates why women are depicted sexually, which makes the stereotype more noticeable. As an audience, we are more focused on females, as they appear to be more vulnerable, regardless of the fact that their body may be on show, due to them wearing revealing clothes. Therefore, this entices the male population to an extent, which could be one of the reasons they enjoy watching movies, especially action or horror, as these types of genre do consist of a stereotypical woman, in a sexual manner.

Paul Well's Research (2000)

In class, we have been researching different theorists in relation to horror audience, and the different ways of how we as individuals, analyse audience theories. We studied Paul Well's research theory, which consisted of a small group from various ages, which carefully focused on the relationship between audiences and the horror genre. He had categorised the age groups, as well as years, making it rather specific. He asked them what was the earliest horror movie they watched, and then the latest one, illustrating the difference between movies over the years.

From the table above, it shows that relationship to being frightened changes with age and relates to broader factors, such as life experiences. Also, young audiences are aware of artificiality, therefore, becoming harder to shock. 

Propp's Character Theory

Recently, we researched Vladimir Propp who was a Russian soviet formalist scholar. He found 8 different roles in folktales, showing that characters can be combined with each other. His theory of narratives appear to be focused on a male orientated environment.

Propp's Character Types

Camera Angles

There are many different types of camera angles and shots that used within horror movies. Each shot has its own reason for being used; nevertheless, they are all rather effective. Below is a image that I found on which clearly illustrates the types of camera angles and shots which can be used. 

Horror Movies - Similarities & Differences

Many horror movies do consist of the same conventions; however, they are interpreted in different ways, which makes the audience interested in the movie. Therefore, I chose 3 horror movies that I have recently watched, and highlighted the key similarities and differences between them. The movies I chose to analyse are: The Exorcism of Emily Rose, Paranormal Activity and Orphan.

Similarities:
- One similarity between each of these movies is that each one consists of a some sort.
- Characters are portrayed in similar ways. For example, the killer will usually have an iconic weapon, which they use, such as a knife, which is shown frequently in 'Emily Rose' and 'Orphan.'
- The protagonists usually have some sort of link with the killer, mainly from the past, which is the case in 'Paranormal Activity.' This aspect makes the movie much more exciting, as the audience wonders how this past relation was formed in the first place.
- The usage of sound and music is vital, as movies from the horror genre share similar techniques. Also, they tend to include silence a lot too, which is implemented in 'Paranormal Activity,' as theres no non-diegetic music involved.
- Music is also used during important scenes, as this indicates that something major is about to occur. At this point, the music is usually fast and upbeat, which creates tension.
- Horror movies tend to focus on a selective number of locations, mostly which are isolated. The most common one would be someones house, which doesn't exactly look ordinary from the outside or inside. This is shown regularly in 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Orphan.' In 'Paranormal Activity,' the whole movie is shot inside a house, which shows how congested they are, indicating the fact that theres no escape from the killer.
- Camera angles and editing are also essential in horror movies. The main similarity between these 3 movies when it comes to camera work is that they tend to zoom into the characters facial expressions, certain objects or settings, enabling the audience to see things much clearer, illustrating its importance.
- When action is involved, the pace of the camera quickens, building on the tension of the scene. Furthermore, cuts are used within difference scenes, or even the same ones, but showing it in different angles.

Differences:
- When it comes to the killers of these 3 movies, the difference is that the killer of 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Emily Rose' are male, whereas in 'Orphan,' its a female child. This also shows that the age of the killer varies too, as well as the gender.
- 'Paranormal Activity' is a movie which is handheld, as it makes it seem more realistic and effective. 'Emily Rose' and 'Orphan' aren't portrayed in the same manor; however, some scenes may have been handheld for the same reasons, emphasising on the overall effect.
- The killers don't always have to be physically presented on screen, which is what happens in 'Paranormal Activity' and 'Emily Rose.'

First Post :)

Welcome to my blog, which has been created for my Media Studies A level coursework. For this particular course, my group and I have to create a horror trailer as well as a magazine cover and a poster, in relation to the movie.
In class, we have been looking at different conventions which are used within a horror movie, and why certain things are included and what sort of impact they have on the audience. We have also been looking at various clips from several horror movies, all the way from the 60's to the latest ones. Below are some of the movies we've looked at:

• Nosferatu (1922)
• Dracula (1931)
• Psycho (1960)
• Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
• Carrie (1976)
• Faculty (1998)
• Let The Right One In (2008)
• Case 39 (2009)