The document discusses pitching a horror film trailer to Warner Bros. It argues that the film fits Warner Bros' popular horror genres like supernatural and slasher films. It also notes that Warner Bros' large scale will help successfully promote and distribute the film to its target 15-25 year old audience in both the UK and elsewhere. The document then describes how primary research methods like questionnaires, focus groups, and audience responses were used to design a trailer that will appeal to this target demographic by including genre and formal conventions common to horror films and trailers.

1. PITCH Emma Collins , COWA

2. Why my product is suitable for warner
bros.
My horror film is suitable for warner brothers
pictures as it fits into the popular genre’s of
horror films the company has produced before,
for example The conjuring, The exorcist and
Friday the 13th . Two of these are placed in the
supernatural sub-genre, as does my own horror
film. Warner bros pictures, is part of a chain of
warner brothers subsidiaries, and by choosing
warner brothers the scale and popularity of the
company means that my horror film will be
successfully promoted to my target
demographic. My product is very much suited
to the company as it follows the conventions
and forms of the previous films produced by the
company. Warner brothers is also a
conglomerate and is part of the big six,
meaning it will be shown to a wide audience,
not only in the UK.

3. How does it appeal to the audience?
My target audience:
o Male and Female.
o Between the ages 15-25.
o They enjoy spending time with friends.
o Have regular hobbies such as shopping, football etc.
o People who enjoy horrors and enjoy the thrill of being scared.
My target demographic is the usual demographic for horror
audiences, it is also my demographic as the characters in my
film will be roughly around the same age as the audience, this
makes the film appeal to them more as they will be able to relate
with the characters, If my film was to include older characters
and had more mystery and drama, the age range would extend
to an older demographic.

4. How have I appealed to the audience?
I have used three techniques to appeal to my target audience.
Questionnaire, Focus group and audience response. The questionnaire
was given to people within the target audience, it ask simple question
such as what people would/wouldn’t want to see in a horror trailer.
The focus group allowed me to ask people what they thought about an
existing trailer, and what they liked disliked about it. And finally the
audience response allowed me to talk first hand with people in my
target audience and see their individual responses to horror trailers,
and their experiences and expectations of them.
By using these three primary research techniques I have been able to
create a product that I know will appel to my target audience as I have
considered the ideas and listened to the expectations they have when it
comes to a horror film/trailer.
I have also used secondary research online to look more closely at the
cinema demographics in the UK and seen what the overall cinema
audience will go see in the cinema .

5. My product follows the regular genre conventions when it comes to a horror
film. I have ensured that I understood the conventions through secondary and
primary research.
Conventions I included in my product:
Mise en scene:
o Use of Low key lighting
o Iconography/props: A knife is used.
o Ripped , regular clothing. To provide normality, but to show a struggle.
o Set in a suburban area/ family home
Sound:
o Use of diegetic and non-diegetic sound to create tension
o Includes ‘stab’s and ‘stings’ in the music to create tension
Cinematography:
o Extreme close ups used to show reactions
o High/Low angle shots to connotate power and innocence
Editing:
o Fast paced editing
o Fade to black
Using conventions will allow me to grab the attention of my target
demographic. It also makes it easier for the production company to market the
idea to the audience, and let them see it easily identifiable as a horror film.

6. Not only to genre conventions apply to draw in my target
audience, conventions of form does as well.
The conventions of form in my trailer:
Cinematography:
o Various use of genre conventional camera angles/shots to
show the characters reactions and some of the action taking
place.
Sound:
o Uses the same type of non-diegetic sound throughout to keep
with continuity
o Small use of dialogue to introduce characters and some of the
story
o Amplified Dietetic sounds
Editing:
o Fade to black helps the trailer fade together, it also helps draw
the audience in with pieces of text
o Fast paced editing to quickly introduce the story.

7. How my product will use conventions.
After researching deeply into conventions in both genre
and form , I have seen many different variations of
conventions in mise-en-scene, cinematography, sound and
editing. I will use conventional settings such as a family
home, to suggest normality, making the story seem
realistic. I will use low-key lighting and effective iconic
props such as a bloody knife to help create tension and
suspense. I will use various different camera shots and
angles to show a wide range of cinematography which will
keep the trailer interesting to watch. With this I will also use
fast paced editing to keep the audience entertained, and to
create suspense and give only a little bit of a story away
enough to draw the audience in. The sound used will
include amplified diegetic sounds such as breathing and
heart beating, there will also be use of an ominous non-diegetic
soundtrack that will help create suspense and add
to the feeling of abnormality.