1. THE TITLE OF THE FILM
The title of our film is ‘DEACTIVATE’. The
reason we have called our film Deactivate is
because first of all it is a short and snappy and
therefore should stick in the viewers head
and allow them to remember it. Also the
reason behind the title Deactivate is the fact
that it is psychological, it leads the viewers
feeling ambiguous and wondering what has
been deactivated and why. This links to the
genre we have chosen which is
psychological/slasher and conveys this clearly.
One of the main themes of our trailer is social media and Deactivate stands for a person
being deactivated from the main characters Facebook and symbolically being deactivated
from their lives completely.
The title of our film appears in the middle of Abbie’s murder scene towards the end of the
trailer. It appears very dramatically with a BOOM sound so that it sticks in the viewers
minds. The reason we placed it towards the end of the trailer is so that there is more
chance for the viewers to remember it because it will be one of the last things that they
will see.

2. SETTING/LOCATION
The setting and location for our horror movie trailer is in a fairly normal atmosphere and is
placed in an everyday environment. Most of the action and main scenes are filmed in a
house. The opening scene is filmed in the main protagonists bedroom and the murder
scenes are filmed in a bedroom and a dining room. We did this because one of the main
genres of our film is psychological and we want people to picture in their minds the reality
of these situations and focus on these situations as if it could also happen to them to
(more realistic). In our trailer we used a couple of establishing shots of the house to show
the whole setting to the audience so they can get a picture of the whole scene.

3. COSTUMES AND PROPS
The costumes for our characters is very normal and ‘stereotypical’ for teenagers. Due to the fact that
the main protagonists within our film trailer are teenagers we wanted them to look like most of our
audience (because the main audience for our film is teens to 20’s) so that the audience can relate to
them. Being a psychological film trailer we want the characters to look as average as possible so that it
can seem realistic. The general clothing would be jeans, t-shirt, baggy jumper, shorts etc.
Some of the main props we used for our trailer was the year book and the knife. The reason that they
year book is a significant prop is because the viewers will get the sense that this is one of the main
aspects of the film and will leave them feeling confused and muddled about why the book is one of
the main focuses. Also we included the knife with dripping blood on it in the last murder scene and is
one of the final frames in our trailer. The reason for including the close-up shots of the knife is because
another sub-genre of our film is slasher and we wanted to make this clear by using stock weapons
which are a key aspect of slasher films. The knife represents that it was a violent murder and drags the
viewers in to be terrified even more. We decided to have it as one of the final frames so that the
image of the bloody knife sticks in the viewers head and will hopefully lead them to want to watch the
whole film.

4. CAMERA WORK AND EDITING
We used a worms eye view When we filmed Louis’
camera shot to show the book murder scene we decided
falling off the shelf. The reason for to use a handheld camera
this is to give the viewers another style to give the shot a
aspect of the book and to add more eerie effect and to
some dimension to the trailer. It add suspense and terror
also adds a bit more shock to the to the scene and also to
viewers because it a fairly quick make it seem much more
shot meaning that it slightly realistic. We used a still-
makes the viewer jump. For Abbie’s murder scene, we shot of Louis through the
used a slightly long bars just to get a slight
When our main protagonist, Cassie is reading distance, canted angle to film glimpse of the normality
the year book we used an over the shoulder her running in through the of him (e.g.. Typical
camera shot so that the viewers can see the doors. This gives us a view of clothes and playing the x
main character but also have a glimpse of the whole setting and adds box) and to add to the
what she is reading in the year book. some dimension to the trailer. suspense.

5. TITLE FONT AND STYLE
The type of font we decided to use for our
title, is font that looks like an old-
fashioned type-writer. The reason for using
this is because we wanted the writing to
look as if it has been typed by somebody
to link with the whole social
network/online theme. The text we used
helps us to achieve that as it looks like the
type of text some of us might use on the
internet to talk to each other.
We also used a black background along with white writing. We feel that this leads our title
to stand out and also adds to the horror theme (black being symbolic of danger, death,
darkness.) The white writing appears very bright on the black background and therefore
will catch the viewers attention and draw them in to the title hopefully leading it to stick
in their heads.

6. STORY AND HOW THE OPENING SETS IT UP
The first few shots we used at the beginning of our trailer show the main character
searching through her bookshelf for a book. We show a book falling off the shelf and the
audience get a clear view of the words ‘year book’ written on the front cover. The book is
also red, leading it to stand out but not only that, also connoting death, danger, jealousy
and rage. The fact that we emphasize the words ‘year book’ expresses to the audience that
this will be a major aspect of the story. A ‘year book’ represents the past and days back in
school, the audience will kind of get the sense that the main character is going to focus on
the year book and hopefully see this as a main horrific device for the story.

7. GENRE & HOW THE OPENING SUGGESTS IT
The opening of our horror movie trailer gives emphasis on the slasher/psychological
genre of our film due to, first of all, one of the very first shots which is of the year book
falling. This gives a sign of the psychological aspect of the trailer because it meddles with
the viewers heads because they wonder why the year book is being used and they will
feel fairly confused. Also at the beginning, we have a flashback of Cassie (one of our main
protagonists) to when she was a little girl. This shot also adds to the suspense and
psychological horror sub genre because the audience might start becoming a little bit
terrified of what is going to happen, and terror is a major convention of a horror movie.
Also the fact that Cassie is a typical teenage girl adds to the slasher sub genre of horror
because Slasher films tend to have teenagers as the main characters. Finally, another shot
we have in the opening of our trailer is of Cassie circling names of people that she wants
to take revenge on. The audience will get the sense that something terrible is going to
happen, furthermore feeling confused (psychological aspect).

8. HOW CHARACTERS ARE INTRODUCED
The main characters on our trailer are stereotypical teenagers, thus representing the slasher
element of our trailer. The first of our characters to be introduced is Cassie (the main protagonist).
The way in which she is introduced is by using a high angle birds eye shot of her. This shot allows
the audience to see the whole of her and also see what she is doing (reading the year book) so
that the viewers can begin to relate to the main character. The second character within our trailer
is Louis, the macho, stereotypical ‘strong’ type of guy. We are introduced to him through the bars
of his bedroom (with a handheld camera) while he is playing on his x box. This creates suspense
for the audience and also allows the audience to recognise that Louis is a victim in this horror
movie and that something is going to happen to him. The third of our characters to be introduced
is Abbie who is also another victim within our trailer. The camera is at a canted angle giving a view
of the whole of the setting. We see Abbie running in through the doors in a fast paced, scared
manner. Therefore creating tension for the viewers and in anticipation of what is going to happen
next. They also get a full view of the character allowing them to relate to her and also have a
sense of her vulnerability, adding to the terrifying atmosphere.

9. SPECIAL EFFECTS
One of the main special effects we used is the distorted flashing throughout the
flashback shot. The flashback is already quite frightening because of the
seriousness of the little girls face and the emotions that are shown throughout, and
adding in these special effects add s to the uncertainty and fear of this shot. It
foreshadows what is going to happen and emphasises that it will be something bad
because it’s as if the film is broken and old. Also, it may further puzzle the viewers
even more because it may lead them to think that this distorted effect is on their
own screen in which they are looking at, meaning that their head is being messed
with (psychological aspect) and they will feel that something bad is going to
happen to them. It draws them in and should lead them to want to watch the film
in the cinema.