My Media A2 Coursework.

1. By Cara Watling

2.  When making a horror trailer it is important to choose a specific
genre (my group picked the sub-genre of “psychological horror”)
and provide in the trailer what fans of the chosen genre would
expect/ typical horror conventions. A great deal of our
inspiration came from studying Psycho (1960) in class and
decoding the generic features of psychological horrors. This
refers back to the power of Thomas Schatz’s “Genre Theory”
where he says that fans of a particular genre of film expect and
enjoy particular films with the typical horror conventions of that
genre. We hoped that by meeting these generic expectations, we
would create a successful film.

3.  To keep to the psychological horror genre in my group’s trailer we
ensured that we had several typical horror conventions. The first
we decided on was the use of a creepy/enclosed location (a mental
institution) which emphasizes the theme of loneliness and the fear
of being trapped. In Psycho (1960) this is portrayed using the
enclosed location of the Bates Motel and the house which makes
Norman isolated in his madness and his victims. We showed this
in the psychiatric shots with most of the trailer being filmed in
the same room.
 Dawn of the Dead (the original and remake) are also based in the
enclosed location of the mall which quickly becomes a prison for
the main characters. This proved to me that enclosed location is
very important in a psychological horror film. There are also lots
of close ups of the three main characters shot from a variety of
expressionist angles. We shot from high angles with the three
main characters after they take the drug to create sympathy and
suggest that they are victimised by the drug. We also mixed in a
few canted angle shots to emphasize their madness and to further
unsettle the audience.

4.  At the beginning of the trailer we start the basic narrative with a slow
montage which is collision cut to a quick montage of the girls descending
into madness. The most famous cut from a slow to a quick scene is, once
again, in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (1960) before and then during the
shower scene. Collision cutting is also used at the end of the trailer for the
jump scare. Throughout the trailer there is parallel music flowing in the
background. All of these features are used in psychological horror trailers.
A good example of this is the famous shower scene when Marion is
stabbed.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0LLaybEuzA – The Purge (2013)
 The pacing used in our trailer is typical to most horror trailers I have
reviewed on my blog so far; it begins with a slow montage of the girls
taking the drug which is collision cut to a quick montage of the aftermath
finishing with another slow montage to then contrast with the jump scare
after the title is shown. Without a jump scare trailers can seem
incomplete/disappointing e.g. The Grudge (2004) which builds suspense
using a slow montage of the main character being watched in the shower
and by using climatic music but then cuts to the title with no jump scare.
These collision cuts and contrasts of pace and volume in my trailer create
growing suspense and shock for the audience which hopefully ensures that
it is memorable. Like The Purge (2013) trailer, we chose to alternate
between quick and slow montages and focused on the action rather than
the gore. For example, in Delirium, we see Sophie’s throat slit but not too
much blood.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bj88_yqlFMA – The Grudge (2004)

5.  Another important aspect when understanding and researching
real horror film products is the influence of auteurs and “Auteur
Theory” by Andrew Sarris, as written in his work Notes on the
Auteur Theory in 1962. This theory says that auteurs are more
influential in a film to audiences than genre theory. I was
particularly influenced by the auteur James Wan when I was
making the trailer and tried to show this influence in the final
cut. I did this by playing with the contrast in the psychiatric/crazy
shots in the middle of the trailer making them darker, more
dramatic and, by doing this, a yellow/dirty tinge. This is similar to
what James Wan has done in his films Insidious (2010) and The
Conjuring (2013) by creating a bleached effect in certain shots.
This can be seen in the spirit world sequences in Insidious and
while the washing is being hung up in The Conjuring (2013).
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLDkbzIO8KA
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAwg2UW0Se8
 I also attempted to turn Anna’s eyes black in one set of shots but
unfortunately this could not be done effectively due to the
limitations of After Effects. However, the extreme close-up and
sinister sound effect does achieve an eerier and claustrophobic
feel.

6.  When it comes down to my own auteur influence and research being
represented in Delirium, I personally like the pace of action horrors
like 30 Days of Night (2007), so after the rough cut had been shown I
edited the shots to make them shorter and with a quicker pace
overall. The flashing psychiatric shots, which intercut between the
two characters being driven insane, were also influenced by this film
(when the vampires attack the town) as it is incredibly quick during
action sequences creating a ‘flashing’ effect that alarms the viewer.
 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npxvpFAEQX4
 I think feminism has played a role in our trailer as our group is all
girls and this made us resistant to having a male hero and the
stereotypical female victim. We wanted our characters to be slightly
different from the female characters you often see in horror films eg
the female characters in Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003) and Cabin
Fever (2002). These female stereotypes are mainly due to the ‘Male
Gaze’ (theorist Laura Mulvey) as horror films mainly have male
directors and producers. This is a result of appeasing the Male-
dominated Cultural Dominant Ideology.