Treatment

Working Title - Withheld 


Production Name - ScreamCity 


Format -  HD video using Canon 550D


Genre - Psychological


Synopsis - Phone rings and guy/girl picks up the phone but there is no answer on the receiving end, all of a sudden the guy/girl mysteriously dies. At the murder scene people are grieving and one of the grievances pick up the phone from the victim and takes it home. The guy/girl is now in their living room sitting down with the phone next to them then the phone rings at the same time as the supernatural events go on in his living room such as lights flickering etc. The guy/girl then goes into the bathroom to refresh his/herself at the same time he/she washes his/her face the phone strangely appears next to the sink and then it rings again, this time however he/she decides to answer it then as he/she does the lights go off and a figure appears behind him/her saying "turn around", then the trailer ends.


Length - 60-80 seconds.


Intended Audience -  18-24 and over


What you intend to do -  What our group is intending to do with our teaser trailer is to create suspense & intending to scare our audience, without revealing to much of the story thus engaging and enticing them to see the movie.


How will you do it - We intend to this by working together as a team and other fellow students being in the cast for our trailer also with the help of our media teachers. 

Saw Trailer Textual Analysis

SAW 3D TEASER TRAILER

Saw 3D The Final Chapter is a 2010 3D horror film directed Kevin Greutert written by Patrick Mellon It is the seventh and final saw film series and the only film in the series to be in 3D. The film focuses on a man who claims to be a Jigsaw survivor and writes a book detailing his experience, becoming a local celebrity. He soon finds himself part of a real Jigsaw game where he must ultimately save his wife

In the teaser trailer we have jigsaw’s voice narrating in a old deep croaky voice aimed to be scary and I also believe it was meant to make him sound old and wise, I believe they are tying to do an elliptical editing as this is the seventh series they want to make him sound as if he is almost at his limit and this will be the last game he pulls. As he states, “All of my work has been leading to this” indicating that all the other series where almost practice runs for this final movie.

We also hear only one piece of dialogue, which is Jigsaw narrating. Apart from that all we hear are screams after screams after screams, I believe this also makes the teaser trailer what it is, it shows the audience that this film is going to be scary and that it will be gory and bloody, it also shows some of the traps that are going to be in the movie, after many saw series with jigsaw using different methods to kill people, the audience will wonder what type of machine or trap he will use this time, I also believe the reason they gave us a sneak peak of what traps he uses is because its 3D it also gives the audience a sneak peak of how intense and dramatic the traps are going to be in 3D.

We hear a change in music when the text comes up it gets dramatic and the text will shoot at you, I also believe this was because the trailer may have been intended to be seen in 3D so its target was to make you jump when it comes out the screen.

I believe this trailer follows a lot of horror film teaser trailer conventions, such as the text every once in a while. Horror teaser trailers will also normally give you a quick sneak peak of the antagonist in film. It also has a consistent iconography when it comes to the visual arts; the colors in this trailer are black, red & green these are normally associated as evil or wrong or up to mischief.

The trailer does follow horror film conventions it allows to know what genre this film is due to the fact it captures our attention it may frighten and make us panic, but these are the things most people look for to go and watch a film, because they want to go and get scared. 


SCREAM 4 TEASER TRAILER

Scream 4 is a 2011 American slasher film, which was directed by Wes Craven and written by Kevin Willliamson who's also the writer of Scream and Scream 2. It grossed $97 million at the box office (Worldwide) with with a budget of $40 million. In addition Scream 4 is  the fourth installment in the Scream series. The film stars Neve Campbell who plays the main character Sidney.  In the film Sidney returns to her home town Woodsboro on the last stop of her book tour. Unfortunately, Sidney's appearance results in the return of the masked miller (Ghostface).  

The Conventions Of Horror

The Conventions Of Horror

In a Horror film there a number of conventions that are involved for example There’s death in the first five minutes, horror films should be scary; otherwise the audience would feel cheated. They are also made to, frighten & panic, to alarm & cause dread, captivate & entertain us, normally having a shocking & most of the time predictable ending.

The Technical Conventions

POV Shots are in important because the allow the audience to see the world from the monster’s eye. This happens roughly at the end or in the middle of typical horror film, Disturbing sounds are also very good ambient sounds like footsteps and people screaming in the back ground also non digetic sounds like heartbeats, Also setting you cant shoot a horror film on a hill with daisy’s and a rainbow the setting means a lot it tells the story with out physically saying it .

Character Conventions

You have the protagonist in horror, which are normally the victim & hero. Then theirs the final girl theory this happens in horror slashers it’s the last female alive that confronts the killer, the villain is also normally a monster, freak, serial killer, zombie, you have teenagers who drink and have sex that normally die first.

Iconography

This is another type of convention that represents visual arts when it comes to horror films, like the colour that represents it e.g. colours like red, black that signify blood and evil also things like props e.g. chainsaws, knifes, guns and other things that could be used to cause troubles. The iconography of the monsters help to promote fear, disgust and terror,

Textual Analysis Of A Horror Magazine Front Cover

Three different horror films (Roshane)

Scream

Scream is a very popular and successful film (teen horror) which was released in 1996 and directed by Wes Craven. It stars Courtney Cox, Drew Barrymore and Neve Campbell whose the main character in the film playing the role of Sidney, which as a result gained her worldwide success. The film enabled Wes Craven to reach a new level of success due to its massive achievement. In 1997 Scream won MTV'S Best Movie and Neve Campbell was also nominated Best Female Performance. The budget for Scream was $15 million and it grossed $173, 046,663 worldwide once again resulting in it being a success.




A Nightmare On Elm Street 

A Nightmare On Elm Street is a classic 1984 American slasher film, which was directed and written by Wes Craven. In addition, it was also the first film of the Nightmare On Elm Street franchise. The budget of the film was $1.8 million and it grossed $26,319,961 worldwide, resulting in it being a success. The film stars Johnny Deep, who made his film debut, Amanda Wyss, Heather Langenkamp and Robert Englund, who played the fictional role of the serial killer Freddy Krueger. After starring in this film it most certainly boosted the then unknown Johnny Depp's popularity, mostly thanks to Wes Craven who discovered him.

Halloween 

Halloween is a 1978 American independent film, which was directed and produced by John Carpenter and also co written with Debra Hill. The classic film grossed $47,000,000 worldwide whilst having a budget of $325,000. This shows that the film was very successful, becoming one of the most profitable independent films. Due to Halloween's massive achievement it has been nominated for many awards. In 2004 it was was ranked #14 in Bravo's Top 100 Scariest Movie Moments. Halloween has influenced many other films, most noticeable during the 1980's. Films such as Friday The 13th and A Nightmare On Elm Street became very popular with audiences. Most of the other films success is thanks to Halloween, which they most likely got their inspiration from. Due to the success of Halloween it has resulted in an increase in the amount of slasher films being made, which is largely because of its popularity with the audiences.

My Thoughts 
As much as I enjoyed watching the three films above the film that stood out to me the most was Scream. This is because its the more recent one of the three and it was violent, bloody, gory and just simply Scream. Key elements of Graeme Burton's theory is applied to Scream. For example: The Protagonists is Sidney (final girl) and the masked killer. In addition, props such as masks and knives have become iconic in teen slasher horror films.

Textual Analysis Of A Horror Film Poster (Roshane)

Halloween is a 1978 American independent film horror film, which was directed and produced by John Carpenter and also co-written with Debra Hill. Halloween was produced on a budget of $325,000 and incredibly ended up grossing $60 million worldwide. This has resulted in Halloween becoming one of the most profitable independent films.

It's very important to have a film poster which catches the attention of the public seeing as how they're usually advertised on billboards, magazines and the internet in order to create a buzz about the film. This is also beneficial as it helps to attract people who may not be interested in horror films. This highlights why it's essential to have a a good film poster seeing as how the purpose of a film poster is to sell the film to make the audience want to go and see it.

Props are visible in Halloween's film poster as we can see the knife and mask. The mask is used to keep the audience guessing about who the killer is. Through NVC the body language of the actor appears to be tense due to him holding the knife very tight. It seems as if he's looking at someone, mostly likely his victim. Due to the shark at the end of the knife this could suggest that he's ready to kill and this is again emphasised by the lifeless look on his face. His clothing is dark which could relate to his personality, being that he's a dark and evil person. The setting appears to be in a house which is where your mostly likely to feel safe, but this isn't the case in the film poster which the film is looking to get across to the audience.

Black is the dominant colour in the film poster and it's effective because it gives a low key lighting which creates a dark feel and connotes feelings such as evilness, death and fear.  

Overall, I believe the audience will want to go and watch this film due to the mystery surrounding the masked killer. There's many hidden secrets in the film poster such as who the masked killer is looking at and why he has a knife in this hand. Also, due to the colour black connoting a sense of death and fear this will enable excitement amongst the audience to go and watch the film.

The conventions of horror film teaser trailers (Roshane)

The main purpose of a teaser trailer is to tease the audience as it builds up tension and suspense, so that it will make them more likely to go and watch the film. In addition, it advertises the film that the film will show out in a couple months 

• They can't give away too much information about the film they must leave the audience wanting to know more 
• They don't follow the narrative, it's usually not chronological in sequence. They usually use a non-linear structure 
• You might not see any actual characters in it 
• A teaser trailer might not contain any footage in the film  
• Shorter than theatrical trailers 

Length- They're usually between 50 and 1 min 47 seconds long. 

Music- The music usually builds up tension, which is very common in a horror genre. 

Location- Graveyard, house, forest etc.. Location such as these are very similar in other trailers of this genre.  

Blood- Blood is usually expected to appear in order to excite the audience.  

Screaming- Usually at the end a girl will scream to create suspense. This is very common in horror films.  

Narrative text- This is very common within trailers, it gives the audience a vague idea of what the film is about. 

This is an example of a Teaser Trailer from the film Scream 4. It last 1 minute and 24 seconds and features Sidney (main character) who you can see in the picture. Blood and screaming featured in the teaser trailer which is beneficial in order to excite the audience. In addition, the music used in the teaser trailer creates tension and suspense. I was even on the edge of my seat! 

Textual Analysis; Film Poster (Dominic)

I Saw the Devil

I Saw the Devil is a South Korean film directed by Kim Ji-woon and written by Park Hoon-jung. The film premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and had a limited U.S theatrical release.

Film posters are advertised prominently on billboards, film theatres, in magazines, the internet, and most commonly the side of buses however this would not been the case for I Saw the Devil. The purpose of a film poster is to sell the film to make an audience want to go see it, in order to do this certain devises are used for persuasion.

Firstly, the film poster takes a orthodox format and layout as it is portrait with a linear structure, the film details such as the production, distribution and cast etc. are all at the bottom.

The main colours used in this poster are low key such as black for the background with a dark red overlay and a dark turquoise transparent mix, along with some white text which provides the contrast. The mixes of these colours provide a macabre sight which would signal to the audience that this is a horror film or another type related to that genre.

The dominant colour on the screen is black which is a conventional horror appearance, it denotes a variety of different ideologies provides effects and evokes response from the audience. One of the effects black gives is a low key of lighting this creates a dark feel and connotes feelings such as death, fear of the unknown and evil etc. the black background leaves the chance for the two actor’s faces to be hidden and consumed by the background. The transparent red overlay doesn’t conflict with the background presumably because it is dark. The dark red and the splatter given to it suggests blood and interprets pain, suffering and agony and not just gore because the splatter emphasise a fair amount of blood but not a huge amount which would have been understood if there was a smear, wipe or bucket effect. The turquoise mix doesn’t reveal the actors skin colour which may have disturbed the dark horror/ thriller mood of the poster because the audience is familiar with nature (natural skin colour) but unfamiliar with the unnatural which would and to the unknown, fear factor convention of horror also the mix make the poster aesthetically pleasing and not to boring to look at as it provides a fair amount of colour, not limiting the purpose of engaging the audience. The white font is the only contrast of the page but it is not too contrasting to harm the view of the poster. The font is not dark so therefore it doesn’t have to fight with the background which is good as the title of the movie is important as it gives out arguably the most essential information of the film which is the title, so the individual purpose of the font is successful as the visibility is good. The chalk/paint effect with a smear accentuates the horror energy given off.

The actors NVC is also beneficial, it is a close up so there non verbal communication is key and they have achieved the purpose as their NVC connotes a lifeless/emotionless feel as it is neither happy nor sad, crazy or sane etc. this would add to the unknown nature that the film poster imposes. The slogan in red text below “Abandon All Compassion” further accentuates the murderous vibe given by the blood colour effect/look.

Overall, I believe this poster accomplishes the main purpose of persuading an audience to want to watch the film. This is done through various techniques such as the anonymous and ambiguity portrayed which has told and given clues about the film but not revealed it which will enticed and draw its target audience in.

Textual Analysis ; Teaser Trailer (Dominic)

Insidious

The teaser trailer I have watched and chosen to analyse is ‘Insidious’, written by Leigh Whannell and directed by James Wan, who also was involved in other popular horror titles such as Saw and Paranormal Activity. The genre of the film is a physiological horror with the synopsis of this film being a couple whose son inexplicably enters a comatose state and becomes a vessel for ghosts in an astral dimension. The film was distributed by a variety of companies but was more heavily pushed by FilmDistrict, it was released in theaters on April 1, 2011. In terms of cost-to-gross ratio, it was the most profitable film of 2011 so far.

The teaser trailer lasts for 52 seconds; beginning with the distribution company logo of FilmDistrict combined with a low non diegetic sound, a conventional start to any film trailer reguardless of genre.

Then a black fade transition occurs with new garage looking background with a red smear denoting blood, which vaguely gives you an impression of the film genre. The white writing emerges on the background saying “From the makers of Paranormal Activity and Saw” as this happens match on action takes place with the low anonymous non diegetic sound returning. This instant reveals the genre of the film and lets the audience know and also possible fans of the Paranormal Activity and Saw films.

A quick close up shot of a young boy happens with low key lighting. Young children are a convention of horror and especially the psychological sub genre, this could be because children are seen as innocent in society thus causing a disturbance or fright in the audience when they see them evil which is against the norm. Ethnical issues such as abusing children come into play as well as the majority of western societies find it hard to harm children, so it adds to the fear factor of the child antagonist being unstoppable.

A variety of different quick cuts occur with high exposure giving of a scary X-Ray effect, very popular in horror films when seeing ghost or possessed life forms; flash of light blinding the audience from seeing the complete image of the subject

After the quick cuts a 2 second pause of a black transition happens, then a close up of the boy appears with medical attachments attached to him, giving the impression that there is something wrong with him possibly an illness. Dialogue happens with a close up of the boy’s mother by his bedside talking she has a worried NVC which gives a distressing tone. The garage background returns with the writing “comes a phenomenon for a new generation”, helping the narrative to develop and keeps a consistent pace to the trailer which will create suspense for the audience.

The non diegetic sound returns as the background fades an establishing shot of a house appears and the close up of a man, presumably the father, connoting a family unit which would further drive the fear factor, as the ideology of a family unit is love and comfort but this looks far from the ideology as the problem facing this family seems to have destroyed this positive view and vibe of a family, this is emphasised as the mother cries “I wanna leave this house” the noise of the low diegetic sound increases which speeds up the narrative. Quick cuts then occur follow the music with the mother dropping the phone suggesting that she has seen something horrifying, then the father’s eyes appear on the screen, another convention of horror; extreme close up shot of the eyes.

The garage background appears with the the writing “beyond your dreams” the quick cuts happen with effects such as the high exposure take place again and a woman dressed in white, also a typical horror convention. Then the background returns with the writing “beyond your imagination and your control”, then a repeat of quick cuts which speed up the tempo of the narrative with the shots ending with a screaming woman, all this suspense gives the audience a perception that the climax of the trailer is close.

Another black transition happens of a 2 second pause with the house hallway fading back into the screen, with low key lighting, then a woman’s voice is heard saying “it’s not the house that’s haunted it’s your son”, the woman’s face is then seen, she is older than the mother 50s and her lexis she uses “your son” suggesting that she does not know the family, making her position in the film unknown. Quick cuts then occur again, with non diegetic sound of a ghostly scream happening as the captions quickly run through. Then the loud non diegetic sound end with the film title Insidious taking up the majority of the screen with the grungy iconic background still there. The informative writing at the end revealing the release date “everywhere april 1”, gives the impression of a world wide spread of the problem that faced the son in the movie.

Insidious Teaser Trailer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vfxpvRRpyzE

Our ProductionTeam Logo

This is the our production team logo that we decided to go with it was made by our group graphic design Dominic Marshall, we decide to go with screamcity because we had to an horror film trailer, so we thought to do a horror film production team name. Screamcity because it sounds scary a place where nothing but bad things happen.

About us

ScreamCity Productions Team



Roshane Thomas is the production manager, he is in charge of organising the team; giving deadlines and making sure everybody is up to date with their task. Roshane will also be helping with keeping the blog up to date.   

Dominic Marshall is the graphic designer he will be in charge of making the film poster, production logo, magazine front cover and any other asthetically pleasing design features.










Akin Shokunbi is the director he will be filming and directing. Akin will be in charge of the camera shots and angles we will be planning to use in our teaser trailer, Akin will also be making sure the editing is up to standard.