Below is my 9 frame "Art of the Title Sequence" where the 9 frames obtained as still images from the trailer represent the teaser trailer as a whole. Below is the 9 frames and an analysis of each one
Frame 1 – Frame 1 is the title of the film. The title has to be used effectively in the teaser trailer because the title is one of the main forms of promoting the film. When people see the title of the film, in the newspaper for example, and what the teaser needs to have done is made a clear establishment that the title “Ready or Not” will be instantly associated with the trailer, in other words there needs to be a clear link of the film to its title.
The title is actually used differently in the film and in the ancillary tasks, because with the poster the title is used within the photo i.e. its self formed from the picture and no text or software is used to make it (the title is the lipstick drawn on to the mirror as shown below. This is different in the teaser trailer as I used a special text effect called “Lorem Ipsum” where the text flashes when it appears and then disappears. I feel this text effect worked a lot better than just a simple fade-in/fade-out effect.
With the colour of the text a black backdrop is used with flashing white text, these two colours the black clearly portrays darkness and horror which are key aspects of my film and the white represents absence and in some cultures like the Asian culture it represents death. Absence and death again are two key aspects of my film. But it wasn’t just the representativeness that directed me to choose black and white but it was how both the colour agree with each other and really work together well creating a dark mood which I was looking to present.
Frame 2 – Frame 2 is the location of my filming, it is a 19th century (parts of the house are also early 20th century) household located in Bishop’s Stortford, Hertfordshire.
This house in particular was perfect for my filming as it was old, spooky, and looked fairly run-down in parts and carried conventions of houses usually seen in horror films. For example below(left) is the picture of the house I used and below(right) is a picture of the house used in the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, you can see similar characteristics such as size and its age.
The outside was never actually shown in the film however I did plan for an establishing shot to be used, although I never included it in my film. Below is the establishing shot that I shot but never made it into my teaser trailer, this is because it was hard to get the body of the house in because of bushes in the way and because of its width.
Although the outside of the house was never used the inside was. The locations of the teaser included the basement/cellar area, the main house and the corridor. These 3 areas were all instrumental in the making of my film. The cellar and the house were similar in that they were old and fitted the conventions of a horror movie.
Below are pictures of the corridor and the cellar.
The corridor
To begin with, materials. Firstly I used mascara, eyeliner and other makeup items to dress up the female character. The makeup used enhanced the scariness of the girl and I feel without these materials the girl would look very ordinary and would not contribute to the horror genre as the girl alone would not scare the audience. An image below shows the different makeup items I used on the girl to make her more scary.
Secondly there was Costumes. The costumes were a significant part of both my film and ancillary tasks. I feel that costumes really gave my actor and actress character and a convetonal horror image. For the male actor I used an old shirt which I ripped up and smeared ketchup on. Then I let the shirt dry so it was easier to wear without making a mess. Below is a picture of the shirt once finished. By adding the ketchup and the tears it gave the male character a roughed up look which again conventonally fitted my horror teaser.
The females costume was more simple. It consisted of dominantly black to give the girl a gothic, disturbed and darkened image. A picture of her costume is shown below.The conventions of the female character match the conventions of the teaser itself expressing both darkness and
A prop is an object used in a film or in my case a trailer used to enhance and add character to a performance. In my case I have used props such as a baseball bat, a baby doll and a torch, and all 3 items were used for 3 very different reasons.
Firstly the baseball bat was used in a scene where the male character was seemingly scared and preparing himself for the wrath the girl is about to bring. I decided to use the baseball bat to add effect and show that the character was scared. What the baseball bat showed was that the male character was using it as a form of protection sharing with the audience that there is need for this protection and it leaves them asking protection from what? In what form? Will the male overcome the female character?
Another prop I used was the baby doll. This was used to try and portray control and power which the girl has over the male character. This is shown as the doll is used as like a voodoo doll where she is telling him that she will "find him" and "kill him slowly". Like a high angle shot it shows dominance and power.
The final prop I used was the torch, this was used for a completely different reason than the baseball bat and the baby doll. The purpose of the torch was that it was used to cut to the next takes. The torch was flashed in to the camera and as soon as the light from the torch reached the shot of the camera it would switch to the next scene/take. This technique has also been used in the trailer of Friday the 13th where the torch is used consecutively to cut to the next scenes.
Frame 4 - The 4th frame is about camerawork and editing. In this particular shot it was a point-of-view shot where the camera is held and when walking about with it or in this case down the stairs it acts as a 1st person shot where its as if you are the one walking down the stairs. The effectiveness of this is that it involves the audience and makes it feel like they are the character, they are the person walking down the stairs and it adds to the tension created in that moment.
The other most effective type of shot I used was an extreme close up of the girl when the light comes on. Furthermore, this shot was enhanced by editing. The editing wasn't however of the clip it was of the soundtrack (saw movie instrumental). By editing the soundtrack I was a able to make the trailer slow down just before the clip when the lights off, then the track would pick up and becuase of the louder, liver noise the clip becomes more scary and that is what the target audience of horror fanatics are looking for, a movie that will scare them.
Frame 5 - Frame 5 concerns the titles and texts size and font. All pieces of text were a size 80 and the font was Times New Roman. I kept it fairly simple for the text with the font and fairly large size and plain white colour. At the start however for the the few textual references I used an overlay of some dark smoke because I felt it looked a touch too plain. However with the exception of the title where I used a special effect there was once piece of text which I altered from the others and this was the date of which the film is released and this is the image in the frame. For this I used the same font and size but I changed the colour to red. This shows the significance of this paricular textual reference and that is its date of release. This needs to successful as if the audience find the trailer appealing then they want to know when it is and this shot does exactly that.
Frame 6 - Frame 6 involves the story and how its set up. The story revolves around the two main characters Eleanor and George (the young scary girl and the haunted older male). The trailers aim is to appeal to the audience without giving too much of the story away and my trailer does this by doing what all conventional horror trailers do, and that is to show the build up points, when its just about to become scary and when its very tense. Perhaps followed by 1 key point from the movie but given that, its essential nothing too major is revealed. One way I did this was by seperating the two characters and showing them individually with the exception of one scene nearer the end.
Frame 7 - The next frame is of the male character being haunted by the little girl. One key aspect of this frame and a real convention of horror teaser trailers is that it is pre-dominantly shot in low-key lighting. One way I managed the lighting is by using my curtains. They worked conveniently well as all I had to do was draw them up to make it more light and down to let in less light.
My teaser is shot througout in relatively low-key lighting and this is one of many conventions I have followed. I have also followed conventions such as spooky and gloomy locations (with the cellar and the house having similar characteristics of many locaions in horror movies).
Frame 8 - Frame 8 involves the introduction of characters and in my teaser trailer this is done within seconds with the male character entering the house to the low deep sound of the music. This edited synchronisation of the music track and the entrance of the character who will be haunted my the young female character. George is introduced through the front door of the household. The female character on the other hand is introduced very differently and in a much scarier way. The female is introduced at one of the scary points within my trailer so that the audience are aware that she is the main villain and threat within the trailer and therefore the film.
Frame 9 - The final frame is of the young girl at the end with one of the props (baby doll) and is singing a rhyme of "Ready or nor, here I come, Im going to find you, and kill you slowly". The nursery rhyme was seen in a handful of teaser trailers that I watched and researched, for example in the teaser trailer of "The Orphan" Esther, the main character, sings a short nursery ryhme at the end and it worked well in that its creepy, so after researching this I decided to add one into mine at the end as a sort of send off. However this did extend my trailer to just over a minute which was unplanned. I initially wanted my trailer to last 45 seconds or so but this was not a major problem.
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