Genre Aspects: Part One

WHAT GENRE ASPECTS SHOULD I INCLUDE ON MY BLOG: part one 

I always believe that it is important to research and plan before I start my trailer. I have looked at many different horror trailers and picked up on the key horror conventions that make trailers stand out. I have categorised into sections what I am going to include in my own trailer and then giving statements as to why they are important for the development of my horror knowledge.

CHARACTERS AND REPRESENTATIONS: 

PSYCHO SERIAL KILLER: I have chosen to do a psychological horror trailer and therefor it is a necessity for me to have a psycho serial killer. I believe that by using this particular character will appeal to many people who don't particularly like the gore side of horror and prefer the more psychological types. My character is going to be a young childlike girl with long black hair and a pale white face. I believe that this particular type of killer will really stand out and bring the creepy affect that horror fans thrive from.

FEMALE SURVIVOR  (LAST GIRL): For many observers who love horror they get drawn to a particular character, for me I normally feel compassion for the 'final girl' and therefor feel it to be a necessity to have a female survivor. I also think it challenges the stereotypical female and therefor makes us more interested in the character and the film in general.

MISE-EN-SCENE: 

BLOOD AND GORE: I am going to include some minor aspects of blood and gore within my trailer, however my trailer is only a 15, and therefor I am going to have to be careful of the amount I add in. I think its important to only have a few shots of blood and gore, to make audiences aware that its present however also make it clear that it is not dominated by it.

RESTRICTED NARRATION: Restricted narration is going to be a very fun mise-en-scene aspect to play around with. This particular aspect allows the audience to use their own imagination and also doesn't give all of the story line away.

CREEPY LOCATION: A good creepy location is vital for the impact of the trailer and therefore I won't be settling for anything less than exceptional. I am looking to film inside a house, however would like shots of a forest and a creepy destination to help set the scene.

LOW KEY LIGHTING: I am going to have mostly low key lighting to connote lack of hope and the darkness to represent enclosure. Low key lighting is used in most horror trailers to show that there is no sign of escaping the new equilibrium that they have entered.

EDITING:

QUICK MONTAGE AND SLOW MONTAGE: I have selected both of these editing techniques to go together simply because I believe that they compliment each other well. A slow montage is used to introduce the story and topic and therefore is vital for introducing our context. The fast paced montage is a necessity and no horror trailer would work without it. It allows up to see quick snippets of the trailer and helps to create an unnerving feeling.

CINEMATOGRAPHY:  

CLOSE UPS: Close ups are a very important part of the trailer, intact when i researched into this topic i  found out that the majority of successful trailer have at least 20 close ups throughout the trailer and some have many more. The close ups allow us to see facial expressions and help us to feel the emotions of the characters.

CANTED ANGLE: Canted angles give a feeling of disorientation and therefor work perfectly for our horror topic! horror needs to have canted angles to show confusion, and helps to show that the characters are scared. Horrors aren't going to go smoothly, and therefor this camera technique doesn't either! I am going to use this in my own trailer to increase the tension of each shot, and make the observers feel on edge.

HAND HELD: I believe that hand held cameras work really well, however I also think its important to notice that there should be other cameras used throughout as well. I like the idea of the hand held camera, due to the fact its being filmed from the characters in the story and therefore we feel like we are experiencing this journey with them.

POINT OF VIEW SHOT: Point of view shots are probably one of my favourites when capturing the psycho character, due to the fact we see things from the character eyes and therefore feel as though we are the character. This camera shot creates panic for us, and works well at making her heart race and wanting to know what is going to happen next.