Magazine Front Covers

As I know I will be using the horror genre, I will be producing a magazine front cover as part of my marketing campaign. I will firstly need to see different horror publications to get an idea of the different cover lines, colour schemes and other details that will appear. I will them do some more research into mainstream magazines and see I could combine them both.

The first horror magazine I will be looking at is 'Fangoria'.

- The masthead is in a colour associated with horror, maybe signifying blood.

- In the cover line, two words directly references the genre.

- The main cover line links to the image, and references well-known horror film.

- The images on the side are of promotion for other horror films, e.g. 'My Bloody Valentine' and 'Underworld'.

- Lots of red is used on the poster, a colour associated with the genre.

- The dominant central image is of a well-known character holding a prop, wearing a creepy mask, his clothes are dull and look damp, giving an eerie and scary look to the audience.

The second horror magazine is 'Shivers'.

- The masthead again say red and looks like it has been scratched on.

- Colour scheme is very dull and degraded.

- Dominant central image is of a girl who looks drained and deathly, a woman is a typical victim in the genre

- Red and yellow are used throughout in both covers

- References another horror film

- Banner that has been shaped in a dramatically jaggered way, perhaps indicating genre

- The font on the poster looks as if they have been scratched on, possibly relating to the film referenced in the main coverline

  

To possibly link my horror genre to a mainstream magazine, I have chosen to find patterns for these 'Empire' magazines. 

  

Each one of the three 'Empire' magazines follow the same conventions:

- Bold, clear dominant central image of the main character from the film edition for each magazine. 

- Mastheads follow the same colour scheme as the overall film storyline, e.g. 'Hellboy 2' has a hell-like figure, therefore there are flames coming out of the masthead to reflect the character and Mise-en-scene of the film. 

- The film make is clearly printed 

- Banners relating to the same/feature films

- Main cover line linking the edition

- Banners also entire the audience to furthermore read

After looking at these two types of magazine covers, I have decided I will be linking my horror film to a 'special edition' mainstream magazine. 

Poster Questionnaire

To gather more in-depth research regarding genre, I will create an open answered questionnaire to hand out regarding audience, looking at their expectations in genre, and conventions of media texts.

1) What type of images would you see on the Poster?

2) Would you expect large fonts / and in what style?

3) Would a poster sell the film to you?

4) Do you want to see the stars of the film on the poster?

5) What type of colour scheme would you expect?

6) How much text would you expect to see?

7) Would you expect any merchandise advertised to do with the film?

8) In the horror genre, what would you expect to see?

9) If the poster was to have a dominant central image, who / what would that be?

10) Would you expect any references from magazines, reviews or critics?

11) Would the director's name be relevant for you?

12) If there were social media links, would you use them?

Certificate For My Film (2)

After reading the BBFC website about the different age brackets, I have decided that my film will be a 15 Certificate.

Reasons why it would not be an 18 are as follows:

- I will not have sexual activity
- Discriminatory language or sexual violence

In the 15, they allow 'strong violence', although more brief and verbal.
The differences that make mine a 15 are to the extent of the violence, if I was to make more extreme cases of sexual violence, language and gore then I would have to consider making my film an 18.

Certificate Of My FIlm

Often you find ratings on film posters, therefore I will look at The BBFC (British  to see the differences between the certificates that are given to films. All of the horror films that I have analysed have been either 15 or 18 certificates. I will analyse the difference between the two, before deciding which certificate will be most appropriate for my film.

18 Certificate

very strong violence

frequent strong language (eg 'f***') and/or very strong language (eg ‘c***’)

strong portrayals of sexual activity

scenes of sexual violence

strong horror

strong blood and gore

real sex (in some circumstances)

discriminatory language and behaviour

15 Certificate

strong violence

frequent strong language (eg 'f***').

portrayals of sexual activity

strong verbal references to sex

sexual nudity

brief scenes of sexual violence or verbal references to sexual violence

discriminatory language or behaviour

drug taking

My Created Credits

 

After researching all the different crew members from several films in my genre, I was able to collate a cast and crew who would be appropriate for my film. I used a variety of films from my genre to find the correct crew and created my own billing with imaginary actors who will star in my film.

 

Here are my credits:

 

 

 

 

 

Cast & Crew Biography

To create my own billing, I will use existing crew members from my genre to make my credits seem as authentic as a genuine movie production. I have already decided which production companies will be making my film, now I need to research and find out more about the remaining crew.

Production Companies

Dimension Films & Hammer present A Ghost House Production.

Film Title

'Fractured'

Stars

Kate Dean (mum)

An actor and producer known as much for her versatility, breath-taking looks and professional style.  Golden Globe-winning actor Kate Dean is most widely recognized role may be Jenifer Fey in the Game (2000). But her portrayals of Bonny Tyler in 12 Dates (2011), also loom large in her filmography.

Jude Freeman (dad)

After his uncle got him a small part in a feature film, Freeman began to pursue acting. His first major role was on the sitcom Sitters  (1984) as TV choice. More roles soon followed, including Adam Rayman, the handsome action hero in  Get 'Em (1990); and Detective James Walker in The Clue  (2001). Freeman had his breakthrough when he was cast as Dougie Rouge in the award-winning blockbuster Man Down, and has now won an Oscar.

Lisa Hill (girl murdered)

New to the scene, A Los Angeles native, Lisa Hill received her BA in Theatre from OxbyUniversity. In the Autumn of 2009, she played "Ellie" opposite Cyra Turner in a Jenny Man production. Since then has been offered a variety of film offers and will be a potential A-Lister in the near future.

Ryan Willis (son)

 Casting Director

 Annie McCarthy

Annie has appeared in 124 credits, including recent film 'The Conjuring', and 'Insidious'. Not only has she been in film, Annie has casted in TV movies and co-produced films such as 'On The Doll'. Adding to this she has been referenced twice as a short, special thanks.

Annie as my main casting director would be magnificent. She is well established in the genre and has a lot of experience under her belt.

Music

Joseph Bishara

Joseph has composed sinister music for many recent horror productions. Most known for his work in 'The Conjuring', 'Insidious' and 'Repo!'. He has been credited for many music soundtracks and been referenced for appraisal twice. As john has had recent experience in modern horrors, he will be perfect to reference in my own credits.

Director

James Wan

James is a known director, and had directed the famous film 'Saw' back in 2004. He produced all of the 'Saw' franchise and has written and edited several productions. James has had many references in film credits, therefore he would fit appropriately into my genre and be my director. He has directed 'Death Sentence', 'Insidious 2' and 'The Conjuring'.

Cinematographer

Dan Laustsen

Dan has been the director of photography for 50 productions. Some of those horror - 'Darkness Falls', 'The Possession' and 'Silent Hill'. As he has been in the industry for a long time and has been referenced 50 times, Dan will be my cinematographer.

Writers

Scott Derrickson

Scott has written and produced films in the past. Most known for his previous storyline of 'Sinister' and 'The Exorcism of Emily Rose '. He has won an award for 'Best Film' in 2007 for 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'.'

My co-writer will be James DeMonaco. Who wrote 'The Purge' and has been nominated for two awards.

Producers

Kim Sherman

Kim is a fairly new producer, and bee extremely busy producing recent films such as 'You're Next', 'A Horrible Way To Die', and 'A Teacher'. She has also been nominated for 'Best Film' in 2009. As she has produced three well known horrors, I will include her in my production.

Bill Bannerman

Bill is best known for producing 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2', 'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse', and 'The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1'. He has produced and assistant directed in over 30 productions. And also won Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Motion Pictures. 

Exec Producer

Vincent Maraval

Will be my Exec producer, as previously being involved with 'City of God', 'The Wrestler', 'Only God Forgives', 'Piranha 3D'. He has produced over 35 credits and had a special thanks several times.

Costume Designer

Mary E. McLeod

Nominated for Best Achievement in Costume Design twice, and costume designed for 45 credits - Including, 'Texas Chainsaw 3D'.

My Film - Production Companies

After researching into different Horror production companies, I have decided to combine two main companies as I have noticed Horror films are often are co produced by studios associated with the genre rather than mainstream Hollywood studios.

I have decided to have :

 Dimension Films & Hammer present A Ghost House Pictures Production.

Dimension was founded by Bob Weinstein for the distribution of horror films. After expanding they started to release a wider range of genres, thanks to the purchase of Miramax and Walt Disney. Films such as 'Spy Kids', 'Scary Movie 3', and 'The Amityville Horror' have founded Dimensions success.
Anchor Bay Entertainment and now their biggest producer, with budgets rising up to $20million.

For Dimensions to be the main producer of my imaginary film will fit the purpose, as I am not producing a Hollywood production, but yet not a low budget film.

1934, a comedian and businessman had registered his film company in Regent Street, London. The name 'Hammer Horror' came from his stage name, Will Hammer which was taken from London - where he lived.
The BFI forced Hammer into bankruptcy in 1937, from there purchased a leasehold in Wardour Street and continued distributing films by other companies. Three famous British films were produced by Hammer:

'The Curse Of Frankenstein', 'Dracula', and 'The Mummy'.

By combining Hammer and Dimensions, I will have two different types of producers, focusing on different aspects of the film.

Ghost house will be the main producer out of my three, they are more specialised in development and release of Horror films. By having Dimensions and Hammer produce the film will have more names and help for the production process of my film.

My Potential Taglines

After researching tag lines in my genre, I have come up with potential tag lines which will be put forward to a focus group to see which is the most popular and then decide if it would suit my genre and film narrative.

He's coming for you. You could be next
You can't escape him
He's back
A real personality is born
He's closer to home
He's the one that's hurt
Don't cross the line
Love. Loss. Leave
The ice has now broken
Round 2
Which is the real him?
Father. Friend. Foe

Out of all my potential taglines, the one that adds the most emphasis and associates itself with the genre:
Father. Friend. Foe

Billing On Posters

As I will have credits on my own poster, I am looking at film posters of my genre to find out what is said, and the order they are in.

Here are the credits from 'Insidious'

These are credits of '1303'

Having analysed these credits, I now know who helps create and produce the film; roughly how many producers and editors contribute in the production proccess. The order of where they appear is now apparent and follows a similar pattern. From this I will be able to take my findings on who, and where these creditors will appear on my own billing to make it look as authentic as possible.

Potention Production Distributiom Companys For My Film

I'm producing a horror film, therefore I am going to look for different production company's for the genre to note what films they have made and what their logo's are.

Ghost House
Dimensions
Hammer
Blumhouse
Solana
Troma Entertainment
Anchor Bay

Ghost House was formed by Mandate Pictures, Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, creatimg a label dedicated to finance, development and release of Horror Thrillers. They have produced films such as: 'Evil Dead', 'The Possession' and 'The Grudge'.

Dimensions was a major American film production company, formally owned by Walt Disney Productions. Now owned by the Weinstein Company, production genre films.
They have produced films such as: 'Sin City', 'Wild Oats', 'Horns', and 'Piranha 3D'.



Hammer is a UK based production company founded in 1934, and are best known for their 'Gothic' Hammer films - as well as science fiction, thrillers and comedies. Hammer had worldwide distribution thanks to a partnership with Warner Bros. Their latest films include: ' The Quiet Ones' and 'Gaslight'. As well as 'The Hammer House Of Horror' in the 80's.

Blumhouse produces  low-budget genre movies such as -  Paranormal Activity, Insidious and the Sinister franchises. Whilst also producing their latest film 'The Purge 2'.


Solana films worked purely on the  'Paranormal Activity' franchise.

Troma is an American Independent film production and distribution company founded in 1974. They have produced 'Mondo Art', 'Mutent Blast', 'Doomsday County' and 'Grim'.

A home American production company, joined with Starz who own 75% of The Weinstein Company. Anchor Bay's filmography include: 'Small time' 'Scored' and 'Champion'.

Taglines On Posters

I'm going to need taglines on both my poster, and teaser trailer that are typical of the genre I am currently researching. To get an idea of the different types of taglines, and any patterns that are found, I am going to look at many different films from the horror genre and note the similarities and differences between them.

These are the films I will be looking at:

- 'Carrie'   You will never know her name

- 'Amityville Horror   I just wanted someone to believe me

- 'The Bay'   Panic feeds on fear 

- 'Insidious'   It's not the house that's haunted

- 'Lord Of Salem'   We've been waiting...We've always been waiting

- 'Mama'   A mothers love is forever

- 'Maniac'   I warned you not to go out tonight

- 'Possession'   Darkness lives inside

- 'Sinister'   Once you see him, nothing can save you

- 'You're Next'   Did you remember to lock your door

- 'Saw 3D'   The traps come alive

- 'Friday The 13th'   Welcome to crystal lake

- 'The Orphanage'   No secret stay locked away forever

- 'Psycho'   Check in. Relax. Take a shower

- 'The Purge'     One night a year. All crime is legal

- 'Alien 3'   This time it's hiding in the most terrifying place of all

- 'Paranormal Activity 4'   It's closer than you think

- 'Evil Dead'   The most terrifying film you will ever experience

- 'Haunter'   Trapped by an evil from her past

- '6 Souls'   Evil will rise

-' No One Lives'   Everyone runs. Everyone hides 

Having looked at all these tag lines, there are a number of conventions that seem to come up frequently:

- Direct reference to the audience with the use of the word 'you'

- Short and punchy

- Reference to genre 'haunted' 'evil' 'darkness' 'terrifying'

- They often contain a sense of threat

- Sense of mystery

- Reference to other worldly features

Having spotted these conventions, I'm going to try to include them in my own potential taglines which will appear on my poster and teaser trailer.

Fonts On Teaser Trailers

As my font on my teaser trailer will be the same for my poster, I will have to research a cluster of fonts from different categories on the website 'dafont'. To make sure I will be choosing the correct font, I will then do a focus group and decide which font would be appropriate for my campaign.

Here are my chosen fonts:

- Bad Grunge
- 28 Days Later
- Defused
- Plane Crash
- Crackvetica
- Scorched Earth
- Variety Killer *
- Skyfall Done
- Uranium Mafia
- Portmanteau **
- Last Years Youth
- The Blood Shack
- A Bite
- Broken Detroit
- Heroin 07
- The Dead Are Coming

The find I have chosen will be Portmanteau

Horror Film Trailer Analysis Finale

Having looked at range of different trailers, these are the conventions relating to genre that I have noticed have popped up time and time again.

These are the re-occurring conventions:

- Certificate
- Some production company logo's
- Cuts to black
- Fast pace editing
- Lots of impact sounds
- Blood and violence
- Release date
- Connotations to genre from tagline
- Screams
- Bleak, dark, gloomy Mise-en-scene
- Sinister music
- Ugly, disturbing and scary looking characters
- Muted colour schemes
- Female victims
- Ghostly activity

Horror Film Trailer Analysis (8)

My eighth film is '1303'



- Production company logo
- Establishing shot of setting
- Build up of storyline
- Contrapuntal sound contrast with what's happening sets up suspense
- Cuts to black
- Impact sounds
- Child pops up, looking innocence
- Creepy music
- Female victim
- Screams
- Fast pace editing
- Weapons and violence
- Signs of strange activity
- Release date

Horror Film Trailer Analysis (7)

My seventh film is 'Paranormal Activity 5'



- Certificate
- Past date
- Storyline clues
- Shots through hand held cam to add emphasis on their panic and state of mind
- Release date
- Signs of ghostly activity
- Eerie night sounds
- Enhanced impact sounds
- Cuts to activity
- Can sense panic
- Screams
- Glass shattering
- Less camera movement

Horror Film Trailer Analysis (6)

My sixth film is 'The Purge'



- Certificate
- Slow music
- Depressing facts on society (Could relate to storyline)
- Impact sounds
- Tagline built up
- Screams for help
- Camera still, quick past editing
- Fades to black
- Reference to other horror
- Impact sounds
- Creepy music
- Violence slows
- Tagline shows genre

Horror Film Trailer Analysis (5)

My fifth film is 'Inbred'



- Sinister music
- Font in red - colour associated with danger
- Sat nav warnings could signify something's wrong
- Introducing setting (house)
- Tense music to build tension
- Rural Mise-en-scene
- Muted, dull colour scheme
- Cloudy weather (pathetic fallacy)
- Flashes to red
- Impact sounds
- Ugly characters (pig heads)
- Violent scenes in quick pace
- Blood, violence
- Movement towards the camera (just pans) with fast pace editing to show panic and fear

Horror Film Trailer Analysis (4)

My forth film is 'Innkeepers'



- Certificate
- Voiceover insinuating death
- Images of haunted looking house (Mise-en-scene)
- Creepy music
- Storyline built up
- Hotel setting - relates to film name
- Ghostly activity
- Piano playing - sinister sound
- Impact sounds
- Creaky door clips
- Menacing 'ghostly' character appears
- Tagline
- Jump cut to the door - could signify importance
- Screams
- Blood

Horror Film Trailer Analysis (3)

My third film is 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'



- Certificate
- Production company related with horror
- Slow music
- Characters stating a setting (giving storyline)
- Creepy, sinister house (Mise-en-scene)
- Girl sees someone in the mirror
- Cuts to everyone looking around
- Cuts to black with a date from the past
-  Loud chainsaw sounds (relates to title)
- Quick pace editing
- Flashing images
- Blood in a dirty sink (Mise-en-scene is grimy)
- Lots of impact sounds
- Prop - Chainsaw
- Release date
- Faster editing
- Screams, more chainsaw
- Female victim

Horror Film Trailer Analysis (2)

My second trailer is 'Saw 7'



- Certificate
- Slow pace
- Impact sounds
- Taglines
- Bold font
- Fades to black
- Creepy voiceover carrying on storyline from the sequel
- 3D elements
- 3D tagline
- Editing gets faster with music
- Pace slows for editing
- Cuts from significant parts
- Tagline directed at 'you'

Horror Film Trailer Analysis (1)

As I have decided on the horror genre, I will look more closely for trailers for horror films to see the ways that genre is presented in the trailers. I have chosen to look at trailers from the following films:

- 'Apocalypse'
- 'Saw 7'
- 'Texas Chainsaw Massacre'
- 'Innkeepers'
- 'Inbred'
- 'The Purge'
- 'Paranormal Activity 5'
- '1303'

My first trailer is the Apocalypse



These are the conventions found:

- Impact Sounds
- Cuts to black
- Hand held cam used - this will show panic and state of mind
- Fast pace editing
- Gory looking characters
- Violence
- Screams
- Dark Setting
- Fear on characters facial expressions
- Tagline directs at you - suggesting threat & danger
- Film name slowly appears
- Manic noise slows towards end
- Muted colour scheme
- Creepy music played

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (11)

'You're Next'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (10)

'The Bay'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (9)

'The Amityville Horror'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (8)

'Sinister'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (7)

'The Possession'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (6)

'Maniac'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (5)

'Mama'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (4)

'The Lords Of Salem'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (3)

'Insidious'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (2)

My second poster is 'The Haunting In Connecticut'.

Analysis Of Horror Film Posters (1)

This is the poster for 'Apartment 1303'.

Horror Film Posters

Now that I have chosen my genre, I have gathered a selection of posters to annotate and find any patterns in terms of genre. I have chosen 11 posters from horrors from the past few years with as much detail on as possible. After analysing these posters, I will have a greater understanding of the conventions found and can put these findings to my own poster.

Here are my posters:

My Genre - Horror (2)

From more research, I have found that there are lots of different sub genres in the over all horror category.

Here is my list of sub genres from Sub-Genres

Supernatural

Can include anything weird and creepy that cannot be found in the world, for instance - ghosts, monsters and zombies.

Dark Fantasy

Fantasy elements with a horror feel, often with a fantastical setting.

Sci-Fi Horror

A mix of horror and science fiction, usually including aliens, robots and space travel. For example the movie 'Alien' - the name gives it away.

Psychological Horror

Driven by a characters point of view, like their fear. Focusing on the psychological dread - like a murder.

Gothic

Has terror in romantic settings, including mysteries, castles, ghosts, madness and death.

Splatter-punk Horror

More of a horror extreme, has gory and graphic scenes intended to creep you out. For example the film 'Hostel'.

Satanic/Religious/Occult

Horror from certain beliefs and systems, normally involving demon positions and the darker side of pagan religions.

Erotic/Paranormal Romance

Horrifying situations with plenty of erotica and the supernatural/paranormal romance.

Suspense/Thriller

No supernatural aspects, just real life situations generating horror through serial killers

Weird Fiction

Fiction and blended the supernatural, mythical, and even scientific into stories that were ultimately strange, uncanny, or unreal in nature.

Speculative Fiction

 No a subgenre but an umbrella term encompassing science fiction, fantasy, horror, superhero fiction, utopian/dystopian fiction, apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history literature

My Genre - Horror

I have now decided to use the Horror genre for my teaser trailer and magazine front cover. Before starting my campaign I need to do some in-depth research into the genre, this will make me have a complete understanding and will benefit the realism of my campaign.

I have look at a website called filmsite.org to find some key information.

Film Site

According to filmsite the Horror genre make audiences feel:

- Unsettled
- Frightened
- Panicked
- Cause alarm
- Invoke our hidden fears (often terrifying & shocking)

Horror films tend to enter a dark side of life - the forbidden and the unknown. Dealing with our fears, nightmares, vulnerability, alienation, death and the fear of the unknown.

Sketched Magazine Covers

Looking at many magazine front covers, I have sketched out 5 covers from different magazines to help me when it comes to creating my own, making sure audiences are able to tell which film  is being advertised.

Sketched Posters (4)

Sketched Posters (3)

Sketched Posters (2)