This document discusses key elements the author learned about creating an effective horror trailer and film. It covers important genre conventions like using scary locations, camera work, symbols, and narrative structures. It also examines representations of gender in horror films and how Cabin in the Woods challenges conventions. The success of The Woman in Black is analyzed in terms of marketing and mass release. Audience research findings are presented that informed the design of the author's horror film project.

1. Key genre conventions
(and DISTINCT)
From learning about horror conventions, it has enabled me to understand what needs to go into making an
effective horror trailer that is going to seem professional. I learnt that the setting is key, one of the scariest
and most used locations are graveyards. They create the sense of fear because of the relation to death.
Alternatively, locations that show normality, such as a ‘normal’ house and lifestyle create another kind of
fear. This is due to the fact that it makes the audience believe it could happen to them. It creates reliability
with the characters and their situations, making the viewers feel vulnerable. Likewise, the camera work is
very important, and close-ups are a large part of making the audience feel scared, as it is closing in on the
character’s terrified emotion. Likewise, short takes creates pace and tension in the horror genre. The
iconography for the trailer was also key. The killer uses a screwdriver at the end of the trailer, to attack one of
the characters. This is a phallic symbol that connotes death and male power. Also, another convention of
horror is that the characters use a car as their method of transport. This makes them vulnerable, and trapped
in a claustrophobic space. We used this in our trailer too. I learnt that colour was a good way to imply themes
in horror. Our villain is wearing a black cloak, which connotes death and the fact that you can’t see his face
suggests the hidden identity and the unknown being something to fear. Narrative structure is important, as
we need to keep the viewer hooked with many disruptions throughout the narrative, and an initial murder
starting the film. Also, we found that it is important to leave the ending on a cliff-hanger so that it is open to
a sequel, keeping the audience hooked for longer. Character types are also important, so that the audience
can identify with the ‘good’ and the ‘bad’. Following classic stereotypes makes this easier, which we also
chose to do in our horror trailer.

2. Narrative
(Halloween and The Crazies)
From learning about the Classical Hollywood Narrative in class, I found that typically, horror films don’t follow
this structure. They often work along the bases to create tension and keep the audience hooked. For example,
horror films often begin with disruption, rather that equilibrium. This is used in both The Crazies when the
camera tracks across the burning town, and in Halloween when the young Mike Myers murders his sister. From
watching these, it made me realise that it is key to capture the audience’s engagement from the very
beginning. The fact that these movies, and other horrors, don’t conform to the typical stages make the movie
seem thrilling. This helped to shape our horror movie idea, as we began it narrative with the death of one of
the protagonist’s friends. This captures the viewer’s attention, and gives the insinuation that more death and
destruction is to come.
Likewise, I learnt that Propp’s character types usually fit in to every film. From watching these two films, the
hero and villains are easily identified. We also learnt that Levi Strauss was a French anthropologist who came
up with the theory of binary opposition. This illuminated our ideas, and enabled us to come up with some to
fit our trailer. For example: good vs. evil, known vs. unknown and safety vs. danger. These elements each
enhance the other, for instance, when there is someone incredibly evil (our hooded villain), they make the
protagonist seem really good.

3. Representation
(Cabin in the Woods)
From studying Cabin in the Woods, we looked into Jeremy Tunstall’s four character roles for women. These are:
domestic, sexual, consumer and marital. Likewise, we studies Carol Clover’s ‘final girl’ theory. This is when one
female is the only surviving character at the end of the film, and she is a more masculine female. We took on
this character theory when we created our movie, and the character of Charlie has an androgynous name, and
she is also the only female throughout the rest of the film once her friend is killed. She is shown to be more
intellectual than her friend who follows the stereotype of the ‘sexual’ female. However, Charlie does end up
dying at the end of the movie, so we challenge the classic perception of the ‘final girl’ here. Cabin in the Woods
also challenges this, as Dana isn't the only character to survive the attack, Marty (the comedic character) also
survives, and ends up dying together at the end. This is unexpected and creates a twist in the tale, keeping the
audience hooked and wanting more. The male gaze with the objectification of women is also a common
feature of horror films that we learned about. We included elements of this in our trailer, when Charlie is
running up to Hugh’s house. We use a tracking shot to follow her, then a shot from inside the house to see her
from another perspective. It makes it seem as though we are following her and watching her without her
knowing. Therefore, we become the voyeurs.

4. Audiences and institutions
(the Woman in Black)
From learning about The Woman in Black, I understand how important it is to market the films
well. This is because, it was shown to us that the wider release the film has, the more profit and
audience spectatorship it receives. I also learnt that the marketing , material for the movie must
suit the theme of the movie, giving a good sense of the tone. This impacted our trailer, as we
decided to use footage that made the genre of the movie clear. With jump scares and tense
music, the sense of horror is clear. It is certain that The Woman in Black had the amount of
success it did die to the mass release, but also the fact that Daniel Radcliff features in it. The
trailer makes it clear he is the protagonist, making all his fans more likely to watch the movie to
see him. This is an element we were interested in using, but our actors obviously weren’t
professional so don’t have the fan base that real actors do.

5. Audiences and institutions
(our product)
From our audience research, through the use of a questionnaire, we found that the target
audience for our horror film was around 15-24 year olds. These are the people more likely to get
into the complex storyline, and appreciate the aspects of horror. Likewise, the gory aspects of the
movie appeal more to young adults, whereas the older generation enjoy this horror subgenre
less. The least popular choice for horror subgenre was killer/ slasher horror. This gave us the idea
of creating a slasher character that conformed to the traits of previous popular slasher characters
like Mike Myers in Halloween. We decided to bring back this element, in the attempt to hybridise
it with psychological and gore horror. We believed this would create more mass acceptance for
the movie, as physiological horror was the most popular subgenre in our questionnaire.