The process of researching and creating a presentation on the key conventions of this thriller in particular was key for my research. This is because I learnt about picturing the film as a whole prior to thinking about what elements to include in the trailer. Due to this it allowed us to consider what style of thriller we will go for and then what generic features we can incorporate into our own project. These key features are found in the analysis in the link above.
Firstly it is important to note the props used, there are shots of alcohol seen throughout the trailer, such as in the club there is a mid-shot of a large bottle of spirit on the table. The connotative effect of this is that teenagers are reckless and uncontrollable.
There is high key lighting used throughout the trailer which conveys a light hearted and care free representation of the society that the teenagers live in.
The costumes used throughout the trailer are a mix between very baggy clothing which conveys the representation of a gang/violent lifestyle as this is stereotypical attire for a gang member. Contrasting with this is that there are also many shots with characters wearing little to no clothing which once again reflects a careless representation of teenagers in the trailer.
Lastly the characters in the chosen for the film are a very culturally diverse mix of race with an equal amount of white and black people. This represents teenagers as a very accepting and culturally affluent group of people.
Editing:
Fast paced editing is seen throughout the extract from the offset as soon as the titles come out with very quick cuts. This establishes a representation of energetic and dangerous of the teenagers in the extract.
Cut screens with comment about the film allow for the inference that the film gives a realistic representation of the younger generation due to the fact that it claims it is an important film.
Soundtrack:
Siren at the beginning, gives inference of crime in younger generation.
‘do you know where your children are?’ followed by heavy music, infers that the younger generation are not as the older generation view them.
Letters of ‘KIDS’ matching beat of the song, directly links their behaviour to the aggressive music.
Change back to calm music at the end to represent the outside view of youths as it is less exciting for the target audience, establshing the concept that youths are negatively looked at.
Camera:
There is a longshot in the trailer, at about 0.24 seconds, this shows two young teenagers’ umping over barriers that they are clearly not supposed to be jumping. This suggests to the audience that they are of a rebellious nature and do not follow rules. This is only the 3rd shot in the trailer; this is done to set up expectations and themes of dangerous and silly behaviour by teenagers, right from the beginning of the trailer. This is a very negative outlook to have on teenagers, this is a negative representation.
At 0.34 seconds there is a mid-shot of a boy and girl smooching, this mid shot as a result suggests to the audience that there are going to be themes of sex and potential romance in this movie. So far the representation of teenagers in this extract is too be young, rebellious free spirits. This midshot is evidence of that.
Between 0.37 and 0.40 there are various different shots including close ups, mid shots and high angle shots which show a brawl between the teenagers, this fight includes weapons and furthermore there is a close up on a man getting hit in the head with a skate board. This whole sequence of cuts emphasises the danger and violence in the film, the world shows teenagers in a very negative light. I personally disagree with this representation, the director was very clear in portraying the teenagers as reckless, they could also be seen as thugs, the is greatly in this extract and it seems that drugs, sex are valued in this world.
For research we decided it would be very valuable for us to create a moodboard from a selection of film titles from posters that are similar in respects of conventions to the style of film our project will be. Due to this we choose the following films as they the psychological thriller genre which we ourself our planning on choosing: -Ransom -The Last House On The Left -127 Hours -The Ring -Panic Room -The Fugitive -The Next Three Days
-Se7en
-The Others
-Shutter Island
-The Silence of the something
-Face Off
The moodboard is very effective as it immediately allows us to establish similar aspects each other, therefore showing us a range of stereotypical psychological thriller conventions. The first notable Resemblance between the way that all of the titles are presented, the backgrounds that they are displayed on a in dark low key lighting for the majority of them. This is a stereotypical feature as when we researched about what people are afraid of we found in a survey that 1 in 3 adults are still scared of the dark. This is due to fear of the unknown, so incorporating this into a title is an effective method of portraying danger and insinuating fear for the audience. Secondly there is also a common theme of bold sans serif titles seen throughout which is important as it immediately establishes the connotations of the words for the audience. For example in panic room they have used this sans serif style which allows for the reader to establish the genre of the psychological thriller as the word 'panic' connotes fear, a common feature of this style of film. To support this a red font colour is also used which is effective as it stands out and has the connotations of danger and blood which is another key feature, a technique also seen in 'The Last House On The Left' and 'Sin City'. We also found that the title "127 Hours" was also very effective due to how it engages the audience, having an ambiguous title like this made us want to find out more. Further to this it once again incorporates a fear of the unknown as the audience is initially unaware of this number's significance, therefore establishing tension from the outset, key for a psychological thriller. When considering these titles in terms of posters we found the mise-en-scene used was a key feature to consider when creating our own. For example the settings in 'Shutter Island' and '127 hours' are important. This is because a major factor that comes into establishing fear in the audience is isolation. A remote island and a vast expanse of wilderness create this effect very well and are both stereotypical locations for a psychological thriller, therefore will will look to incorporate something similar for our poster. Secondly in 'Panic Room' and 'The Other's' the positioning of the actors in the shot is very effective. Firstly in 'The Other's' the audience can see a woman's worried and frightened face which establishes tension and suspense for them prior to even watching anything, allowing for maximum engagement. Similarly in 'Panic Room' the way the dark figure is placed higher up and out of sight of the protagonist, it makes her look vulnerable, once again establishing a fear factor for the audience which is once again a very effective use of mise-en-scene. The key points of learning from creating this moodboard were: -Findings about the stereotypical synergy across all of the film's with regards to low key lighting. -Which Font style's and colours work most effectively. -How you can engage with an audience through the title. -How we should incorporate mise-en-scene effectively into our poster.
We decided to do some collaborative research in class for film trailers to help us identify more thriller trailer conventions which would allow us to see common thriller elements as we know what conventions we have already found in other trailers. These are some of the thriller conventions we identified and felt were effective in engaging the audience and conveying narrative to them: -Firstly we identify the use of setting for thriller mise-en-scene conventions as they used familiar settings. This was seen in the fairground setting as the target demographic for the film are all likely to have visited a fairground. This familiar setting we found created a false sense of security which they heightened the fear when the latter thrilling events. -Low Key lighting is another convention we found worked well as it is used throughout the trailer, it created an eerie and scary setting even in common locations like fairgrounds. Due to the dark settings it also creates a fear of the unknown which we know is a common feature for audiences. -The use of music greatly contributed towards the thriller genre as it the use of non-digetic eeire music had us an an audience on edge, essentially building tension and suspense for the audience which is needed in a thriller trailer as it creates the atmostphere needed. -There is a clear use of non-chronological editing which helps to create a adrenaline filled atmosphere and of mystery to keep the audience engaged. A feature seen in many trailers not just thrillers as it excites the audience, however specifically for thriller trailers it unsettles the audience.
Oujia is an American made supernatural horror film directed by Stiles White. Oujia was written by a pair of writers who had previously created another popular American horror film called "The Possession" meaning they have experience in incorporating horror conventions into their films. Whilst Oujia was also a box office success grossing over $102 million on a $5 million budget, we felt this would be a great film to analyse to work our what contributed to the success of the film.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_T1Jj1inE8M
Plot
The film follows a narrative based around the investigation into the sudden and shocking suicide of a girl, by her best friend. After beginning the investigation alone she decides to seek help from other friends who are also curious about what happened for their friend to kill herself and they begin to unravel the mystery of the death. The investigation leads them to realise that the Oujia board that they have been using was evidently the cause for their friends unexplainable suicide. At this point the plot begins to incorporate supernatural horror elements as unexplainable events begin to occur and they have to figure our how to overcome the board before it comes for them.
We know that the element of shock is a major factor when making a successful thriller/horror trailer because it is a useful tool to grasp the audiences attention within a short time. Therefore this stereotypical feature is used within the first 26 seconds of the trailer as we see the death of the girl who committed suicide, usefully this also conveys the narrative to viewers that aren't already aware of the cause for the investigation. Having such a shocking low angle shot early on in the trailer is effective as it has the audience intrigued with what else is going to happen if something to this extent happens in the first 26 seconds.
We also see a similar feature before this which builds up to the death. It is simply a mid shot of a girl with a focus pull onto a door opening. However it invokes a "fear factor" for the audience as it is unclear of what caused this to happen, emphasising a fear of the unknown for the audience. This conveys the fact that something is quite right from very early on and essentially reflects the genre of this horror film in the trailer.
The production company logo is also seen directly after the shock of the girl hanging herself. This is a typical feature to have in a trailer however the fact it is directly placed after that shot in particular links the company with having strong horror links. This is important because Universal work with a wide variety of genres and having this link suggested it is the right production company for the film. Further to this due to the extent of Universal's work they have a very large fan base, therefore showing the production company logo in a prominent position is going to be more clear to the audience and hopefully attract a larger audience and gain a larger consumer rate than they might otherwise have.
After the shot of the girl hanging the use of very quick cuts between several pictures are used as seen below. This effect is used on 3 several occasions and this is the example of one of them. As you can see the images are all black and white which conveys their old origins, interestingly this often insinuates a fear in the audience as the old is essentially using a fear of the unknown. The shots are also based around the Oujia board as seen below. The fact this is showing they game has been around for so long only further heightens the fear for the audience as it creates a sense of realism is this supernatural and dangerous cult game.
There is also a good use of intertitles as seen below which also work off the basis of incorporating fear in the audience, using the Oujia board as a catalyst for this. For example as discussed the fact the game has been around for years shown from the photos is also emphasised by the intertitle which says it has "existed for centuries", once again using this fear of the unknown. Further to this the intertitles are effective because of their post-production editing as they have used a fade between to different shots, the second being a dark background which essentially reflects the importance of the text, for me as an audience this furthered my engagement in the trailer.
The true focus on the whole trailer is on the Oujia board which is important when using no well known actors like in this film, which will be the case for our trailer as well. This is because they can't use the star power that other trailer use which is showing lots of shots of a famous actor, a technique that often attracts large audiences. However it is clear in the trailer that the film's focus is on the Oujia board and this is important for the trailer to convey.
Similar to a large majority of other trailers from all genres Oujia have conformed to the stereotypical convention of having the last shot as the film title, which in this case takes up the whole screen. I found this effective as it is the last thing to see from the trailer therefore making it most prominent in your mind, essentially you need your audience to remember your title therefore this is a great technique to do so.
