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