The Return of The Repressed.
Is a theory by Sigmund Freud which stated that human beings who have been subject to mistreatment and torment at a young age can bottle up in the unconscious mind and then spill out at a later point in life. This is often seen in horror films where antagonists can seem relatively normal up until their feelings that have been repressed are unleashed turning them into a monster.
Showing posts with label D. Appendix 1: Research for main product. Show all posts
Showing posts with label D. Appendix 1: Research for main product. Show all posts
Thursday, 29 March 2012
Sunday, 4 March 2012
The Role Of The Distributor
According to Lord Puttnam CBE (President of film distributors' association) a key role of many for the distributor is to identify and deliver the largest possible audience for every film, by targeting the core audience to get them to see the film but also to expand the films appeal to those that may not be directly part of the targeted audience. He goes on to say that this is no small task especially with the wide variety of entertainment options now available to the consumer both inside and outside of the home. There are on average 500+ titles released in UK cinemas every year meaning that there is bound to be fierce competition to capture the largest audience, this combined with the fact that most cinema goers know in advance what they going to see this is due to the "behind the scenes" job done by the distributor their sole objective is to promote interest in the title they are in charge of. They will come up with a stream lined, audience focused, tailor made distribution plan in order to exploit the rapidly changing elements of the entertainment industry.
The distributor will work on items for example, who shows the film, how long for and the release date (how many films are being released at the same time and can how big of an impact will this have on the revenue our film makes) Distributors have to work extremely hard to get their film into the spotlight and talked about this doesn't just happen by accident. They have to create plans and partnerships to build this interest and awareness, they aim to then convert this interest into cinema visits. The distributor takes delivery of the master print of the finished film this is then presented to exhibitors and they negotiate a bilateral agreement to have it shown.
This is when the distributor's marketing campaign comes into effect as it creates a "want to see" attitude amongst the target audience.
Ways to effectively market a film is via:
- Word of Mouth - Social recommendation is key as people are more likely to see a film if there friends want to see it or has said it is good.
- Film Posters - A well created and interesting poster is able to show off the stars/directors/star reviews to further whet the appetite of the audience.
- Trailers (Teasers and Theatrical) One of the most effective way to market a film is a well made trailer these are shown in a variety of media texts on TV, before other films in the cinema and also online.- Online & Mobile - Nearly every film company has a website to highlight and show off their films
- Social Media - One way in which social media is used in marketing is by competitions or on twitter in particular they can buy a promoted "trend" something which is widely spread to a large amount of people.
- Print Media (Magazine interviews, Reviews etc) Stars can be featured in magazines with a fresh interview and photoshoot.- Publicity - This is to do with the fact that people are more likely to accept independently written pieces rather than paid for advertising.
- Promotional Partnerships - Tie-in with other films of a similar audience e.g win a voiceover role in another movie.
- Merchandising - Special burgers with fast food restaurants, special edition lego etc.
- Premieres - Creates hype about the film.- Festivals (Cannes, Venice) - Picking up/nominated for prestigious awards.
All of these combined (if used correctly) can greatly improve a films successes
Once the films run has come to an end at the cinemas it is not the end for the distributor as they then go into DVD sales, pay per view/subscription based media, and finally free to view on televisions programming all this is enabled by the distributor.
Every film has a specialised distribution plan where the distributor, producers and the studio meet and decide on the objectives of the plan like any business plan it is normally to cover the large costs of production and then to make a profit. As so that every film has a successful launch it's release date is chosen carefully so that it doesn't clash with other films that may hurt its chances at going big, and also so that there is enough time to create enough hype and buzz.Something that goes hand in hand with the distribution plan is the marketing plan. This is the element of the distribution to create hype/interest surrounding the film, consumers awareness of the film and how many different ways it can be consumed.
A detailed target audience profile is created for each film, their age, gender, hobbies, interests,lifestyles, job, use of social media and consumption patterns. It's important to include a large percentage of your target audience to see the film but also as the distributor it's important to attract as wide spread audience as possible.
Wednesday, 4 January 2012
Inital Horror Trailer
Paranormal acitivty 3
The setting in this trailer is conservative to the horror genre its set in a house located in a rural suburban area. The whole trailer gives off an eerie feel to the scenes in the daylight and has the effect of making you skin crawl. It then starts to fuzz, crackle and fade in with flashbacks (flashforwards) and inter titles. This gives the trailer a good pace to lead it up to the fright points. I really think the video interruption gives the effect that there is something “messing” this is common in the horror setting for you to question the obvious and look for a paranormal explanation, whereas in a normal setting you’d question what’s wrong with the equipment as it’s clearly what the problem is.
Iconography for this trailer would be the two girls of which one clearly has something possessing her/influencing her when she doesn’t want to interact with the guy holding the camera this links to Barthes theory of binary oppositions in the horror genre. Little girls are conceived to be innocent, playful and jolly all of which are challenged by this girl.
Other things I enjoyed about this trailer was the way it cut to people screaming and giving you reason to jump this really sticks to the horror genre of giving a quick unexpected burst of fear.
The setting in this trailer is conservative to the horror genre its set in a house located in a rural suburban area. The whole trailer gives off an eerie feel to the scenes in the daylight and has the effect of making you skin crawl. It then starts to fuzz, crackle and fade in with flashbacks (flashforwards) and inter titles. This gives the trailer a good pace to lead it up to the fright points. I really think the video interruption gives the effect that there is something “messing” this is common in the horror setting for you to question the obvious and look for a paranormal explanation, whereas in a normal setting you’d question what’s wrong with the equipment as it’s clearly what the problem is.
Iconography for this trailer would be the two girls of which one clearly has something possessing her/influencing her when she doesn’t want to interact with the guy holding the camera this links to Barthes theory of binary oppositions in the horror genre. Little girls are conceived to be innocent, playful and jolly all of which are challenged by this girl.
Other things I enjoyed about this trailer was the way it cut to people screaming and giving you reason to jump this really sticks to the horror genre of giving a quick unexpected burst of fear.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Carol clover in men, women and chainsaws argues that many horror films are interesting in their representation of gender because they provide a female point of identification for a male core target audience. To what extent do you think horror represents gender progressively?
Carol clover in men, women and chainsaws argues that many horror films are interesting in their representation of gender because they provide a female point of identification for a male core target audience. To what extent do you think horror represents gender progressively?
It’s suggested that horrors are becoming or have become a progressive genre, while others say that is it merely conservative like other genres. During the course of this essay I will be trying to uncover whether or not the genre is a clear choice or if it is a mix between the two. To help illustrate the points I wish to make I will be using the films “The Shining”, “Eden Lake” and “Halloween”.
A way in which I can understand is by looking at the visibility of female characters. First I’ll look at Halloween, In Halloween there are less main male characters than women (approximately 5) you’ve got the main protagonist Laurie, her friends Linda and Annie, Judith Myers, the nurse and the babysitter. This is strange for this time as it was made in 1978 where you’d expect it to be quite in tune with the rest of the time period and have males dominating the numbers compared to females. In The Shining (1982) there are around 8 men which in contrast to the number of women are much more. There is only Wendy, Woman (who exits the bath tub, who you could class as two), the twin girls and the hotel secretary who make an impact in the film at all. This is very much keeping in turn that the horror genre certainly at this point is a conservative one. We move onto Eden Lake where there are only slightly more boys because of the group/gang. The women in the film are Jenny, Café woman (mother), Paige, Caring woman, the woman who slaps her child and Paige’s mother. As this film was made in 2008 and the fact that it is only slightly more males because of the gang, it shows that over the time that changes within society are now being slowly introduced into media texts such as film.
In the media usually women are seen as one (or more) of four roles: Domestic, Sexual, Consumer or Marital/familiar. In Halloween we look at the roles that they contribute to in the film. They are sex objects, domestic and familiar. This is because Annie and Linda are both sexually active teenagers creating a negative attitude towards women. Linda is shown during the film before and after her sexual encounter these are the only notable moments in which the film heavily features her this then classifies her as the sexual role. Annie is shown prancing around care-free in her underwear and then as she prepares to meet her boyfriend she is killed. Also during the film they are shown to make food and cook popcorn and to babysit which is usually a females’ job, Annie later in the film spills butter on her she then cleans it up further stereotyping her in to this domestic role. Annie also is the town sheriffs’ daughter meaning once again that she doesn’t have her own identity or has created her own identity she is merely just the sheriffs’ daughter. Her identity much like Judith Myers as being “the killers’” sister/victim has been formed through the relationship of another which in both these cases are women. There are no cases of “consumer” during this film although the 3 other roles have been used and rather extensively. In The Shining, the main woman is Wendy she is portrayed as a weak, feeble and domesticated woman her part was well played by the actress Shelley Duvall I found that she presented Wendy as you might expect from this hospitable environment, when she was shouted at by Jack on multiple times she held herself in such a recessive way that further enforced her role. On a few rare occasions she challenges this role and is seen dressed in overalls doing Jacks hotel maintenance work, which of course is a strange concept for a woman to be doing (in media texts). Wendy is also portrayed as a familiar having a role in the film directly linked with her relationship with being wife to Jack and mother to Danny. The woman from the bathtub introduces the sexual role to the film as she is objectified by Jack’s point of view when he enters room 237, we see her as a sexy, beautiful and young woman. These points therefore suggest that as three of the four roles have been fulfilled, society and time may go on this does not mean the horror genre does. Lastly on women’s role in the horror genre we apply it to the film Eden Lake. In this film we are introduced straight away to our main protagonist called Jenny, she is a school teacher who teaches the very young, they will have probably only been at school for a year and Jenny consequently complies with one of the roles a familiar she is defined by her relationship with the children giving the audience reason to believe that she is caring and emotional in her stereotypical job, it could be argued that her role is undermined by the fact that she is employed and not a housewife or domesticated. This role of being a familiar is further reinforced by her later in the movie when she accepts her boyfriend (Steve) engagement ring meaning that she wishes to marry him and be for example Mrs Steve. A few points in the film she could be viewed as being sexual, for instance we are put in the view of the gang and watch Jenny through some binoculars when she is wearing a bikini this is quickly reversed as she covers herself up and us as they audience are made to feel perverse. Jenny and Steve are also seen having foreplay but Jenny herself is not made out to be objectified by this. I found the character Paige in Eden Lake an interesting one in the way that she doesn’t have a role but has elements of a sexual one, the first confrontation between Jenny, Steve and the gang she remarks “you looking at my tits!” it’s clear to the audience that this isn’t the case and we question why she is trying to objectify herself towards Steve? Her role within the group is also a peculiar one she is reasonably passive but as seen from the quote I included she is aggressive towards the “outsiders”. At the end of the film Paige is seen to run away from Brett after she deems that enough is enough and her morals kick in after the horrific events, she is seen running and looking upset, distraught and for the first time looking weak which I find intriguing as although from the conventions in this film have been progressive it appears at this point it swiftly comes back to being conservative and putting women back in their “correct place” in the media.
The male gaze is another way in which we can analyse how women are represented in the media. In Halloween Laurie is seen as androgynous therefore she isn’t objected by men as she is “man-ish” in her clothing and her look, just by looking at her name it could be used for either a man or a woman. Because we as the audience don’t objectify her she doesn’t die in the film. Whereas Annie, Linda and Judith Myers are all objectified which results in their death when they attempt to/have had a sexual experience. In the shining throughout the film we identify with Wendy who like Laurie is androgynous, this is a good and useful technique used in horror film which forces the main target audience (Male 15-24) to identify with the masculine female character, this is strange to make your target audience identify with the opposite sex. Although at the end of each film they become the final girl where they take control of the situation and are the ones who deal with it, this then helps the audience recognise with the final girl rather than affecting their sexuality. As all the films have a final girl it could be perceived that the genre is progressive this could be considered to override the minority cases of the conservative objectification of women. Carol Clover exercised this point of view by saying that men are willing to identify with on screen females in horror films even when in fear and pain. She also states it’s important for there to be this identification instead of a male gaze.
Narrative issues underlying in the three films are that in Halloween the amount of deaths involving women outnumber the deaths to men 3:2 and only one of the men’s death is on screen, this continues with the deaths in the shining, then in Eden Lake the ratio of deaths of men to women is almost the opposite to Halloween this could be a resultant of the gang conflict and the leader Brett picking “the weak” off and some being killed by Jenny. The narrative doesn’t especially have a pattern across the films but is seen to become more progressive as time goes on.
It’s suggested that horrors are becoming or have become a progressive genre, while others say that is it merely conservative like other genres. During the course of this essay I will be trying to uncover whether or not the genre is a clear choice or if it is a mix between the two. To help illustrate the points I wish to make I will be using the films “The Shining”, “Eden Lake” and “Halloween”.
A way in which I can understand is by looking at the visibility of female characters. First I’ll look at Halloween, In Halloween there are less main male characters than women (approximately 5) you’ve got the main protagonist Laurie, her friends Linda and Annie, Judith Myers, the nurse and the babysitter. This is strange for this time as it was made in 1978 where you’d expect it to be quite in tune with the rest of the time period and have males dominating the numbers compared to females. In The Shining (1982) there are around 8 men which in contrast to the number of women are much more. There is only Wendy, Woman (who exits the bath tub, who you could class as two), the twin girls and the hotel secretary who make an impact in the film at all. This is very much keeping in turn that the horror genre certainly at this point is a conservative one. We move onto Eden Lake where there are only slightly more boys because of the group/gang. The women in the film are Jenny, Café woman (mother), Paige, Caring woman, the woman who slaps her child and Paige’s mother. As this film was made in 2008 and the fact that it is only slightly more males because of the gang, it shows that over the time that changes within society are now being slowly introduced into media texts such as film.
In the media usually women are seen as one (or more) of four roles: Domestic, Sexual, Consumer or Marital/familiar. In Halloween we look at the roles that they contribute to in the film. They are sex objects, domestic and familiar. This is because Annie and Linda are both sexually active teenagers creating a negative attitude towards women. Linda is shown during the film before and after her sexual encounter these are the only notable moments in which the film heavily features her this then classifies her as the sexual role. Annie is shown prancing around care-free in her underwear and then as she prepares to meet her boyfriend she is killed. Also during the film they are shown to make food and cook popcorn and to babysit which is usually a females’ job, Annie later in the film spills butter on her she then cleans it up further stereotyping her in to this domestic role. Annie also is the town sheriffs’ daughter meaning once again that she doesn’t have her own identity or has created her own identity she is merely just the sheriffs’ daughter. Her identity much like Judith Myers as being “the killers’” sister/victim has been formed through the relationship of another which in both these cases are women. There are no cases of “consumer” during this film although the 3 other roles have been used and rather extensively. In The Shining, the main woman is Wendy she is portrayed as a weak, feeble and domesticated woman her part was well played by the actress Shelley Duvall I found that she presented Wendy as you might expect from this hospitable environment, when she was shouted at by Jack on multiple times she held herself in such a recessive way that further enforced her role. On a few rare occasions she challenges this role and is seen dressed in overalls doing Jacks hotel maintenance work, which of course is a strange concept for a woman to be doing (in media texts). Wendy is also portrayed as a familiar having a role in the film directly linked with her relationship with being wife to Jack and mother to Danny. The woman from the bathtub introduces the sexual role to the film as she is objectified by Jack’s point of view when he enters room 237, we see her as a sexy, beautiful and young woman. These points therefore suggest that as three of the four roles have been fulfilled, society and time may go on this does not mean the horror genre does. Lastly on women’s role in the horror genre we apply it to the film Eden Lake. In this film we are introduced straight away to our main protagonist called Jenny, she is a school teacher who teaches the very young, they will have probably only been at school for a year and Jenny consequently complies with one of the roles a familiar she is defined by her relationship with the children giving the audience reason to believe that she is caring and emotional in her stereotypical job, it could be argued that her role is undermined by the fact that she is employed and not a housewife or domesticated. This role of being a familiar is further reinforced by her later in the movie when she accepts her boyfriend (Steve) engagement ring meaning that she wishes to marry him and be for example Mrs Steve. A few points in the film she could be viewed as being sexual, for instance we are put in the view of the gang and watch Jenny through some binoculars when she is wearing a bikini this is quickly reversed as she covers herself up and us as they audience are made to feel perverse. Jenny and Steve are also seen having foreplay but Jenny herself is not made out to be objectified by this. I found the character Paige in Eden Lake an interesting one in the way that she doesn’t have a role but has elements of a sexual one, the first confrontation between Jenny, Steve and the gang she remarks “you looking at my tits!” it’s clear to the audience that this isn’t the case and we question why she is trying to objectify herself towards Steve? Her role within the group is also a peculiar one she is reasonably passive but as seen from the quote I included she is aggressive towards the “outsiders”. At the end of the film Paige is seen to run away from Brett after she deems that enough is enough and her morals kick in after the horrific events, she is seen running and looking upset, distraught and for the first time looking weak which I find intriguing as although from the conventions in this film have been progressive it appears at this point it swiftly comes back to being conservative and putting women back in their “correct place” in the media.
The male gaze is another way in which we can analyse how women are represented in the media. In Halloween Laurie is seen as androgynous therefore she isn’t objected by men as she is “man-ish” in her clothing and her look, just by looking at her name it could be used for either a man or a woman. Because we as the audience don’t objectify her she doesn’t die in the film. Whereas Annie, Linda and Judith Myers are all objectified which results in their death when they attempt to/have had a sexual experience. In the shining throughout the film we identify with Wendy who like Laurie is androgynous, this is a good and useful technique used in horror film which forces the main target audience (Male 15-24) to identify with the masculine female character, this is strange to make your target audience identify with the opposite sex. Although at the end of each film they become the final girl where they take control of the situation and are the ones who deal with it, this then helps the audience recognise with the final girl rather than affecting their sexuality. As all the films have a final girl it could be perceived that the genre is progressive this could be considered to override the minority cases of the conservative objectification of women. Carol Clover exercised this point of view by saying that men are willing to identify with on screen females in horror films even when in fear and pain. She also states it’s important for there to be this identification instead of a male gaze.
Narrative issues underlying in the three films are that in Halloween the amount of deaths involving women outnumber the deaths to men 3:2 and only one of the men’s death is on screen, this continues with the deaths in the shining, then in Eden Lake the ratio of deaths of men to women is almost the opposite to Halloween this could be a resultant of the gang conflict and the leader Brett picking “the weak” off and some being killed by Jenny. The narrative doesn’t especially have a pattern across the films but is seen to become more progressive as time goes on.
Tuesday, 15 November 2011
Existing Horror Trailer Analysis
Drag Me To Hell
In this trailer segments that I find particularly scary are the moments between 2:01 - 2:06 where a women is lowering herself back to her bed but instead of her partner lying next to her, it is the demon women who in turn screams at her. This for me is incredibly creepy as the thought of one moment there being the safety and security of someone you love next to you suddenly turning into the thing you are trying to avoid/escape is perpetually horrific. I would like to include a similarly significant moment into my groups trailer as I feel it makes an impact on the audience.
Insidious
In the trailer for "Insidious" a moment I found to be psychologically scary is found between 1:03 to 1:05 although it is a fairly short segment and I confess I didn't see it the first time I watched it.In the corner of the young boys room a dark mysterious being of which you can only really see it's arm with creepily long talon like fingers. This to me completely freaks me out, I've always hated the feeling of having something or someone always just in the corner of my eye, something you can never really spot. The unknown. I also feel I would like to include this kind of style of shot into my groups trailer by never having a long (length or time) shot of our "villain" as so to include the fear of the unknown into our own work.
The Crazies
While the item I highlight from this trailer doesn't scare me I do find it is a brilliant effect in horror films and trailers. It starts at 1:46 and continues for the rest of the trailer. It is the inclusion of a song called "Mad World" by Gary Jules the fact that the pace of the song is very slow which doesn't match what is happening during the trailer as it shows moments of terror, people running around and things on fire. This links to Levi-Strauss's narrative theory of binary oppositions. The song itself contains binary oppositions as it has a slow melodic tempo the lyrics are infact about his dreams of himself dying, these two things you would not expect to be together. This trailer made me aware of the importance of sound during a trailer. Sound is something that I believe has the poetiental to turn an average trailer into a brilliant one if it is correct. Also if the sound is not in tune with the rest of the trailer no matter how good the trailer's effects or choice of shots it is completely ruined by the poor syncing of sound. This is why in my trailer I will be pursuing a high quality of audio choice and sync regardless of whether I am in charge of it or another member is.
In this trailer segments that I find particularly scary are the moments between 2:01 - 2:06 where a women is lowering herself back to her bed but instead of her partner lying next to her, it is the demon women who in turn screams at her. This for me is incredibly creepy as the thought of one moment there being the safety and security of someone you love next to you suddenly turning into the thing you are trying to avoid/escape is perpetually horrific. I would like to include a similarly significant moment into my groups trailer as I feel it makes an impact on the audience.
Insidious
In the trailer for "Insidious" a moment I found to be psychologically scary is found between 1:03 to 1:05 although it is a fairly short segment and I confess I didn't see it the first time I watched it.In the corner of the young boys room a dark mysterious being of which you can only really see it's arm with creepily long talon like fingers. This to me completely freaks me out, I've always hated the feeling of having something or someone always just in the corner of my eye, something you can never really spot. The unknown. I also feel I would like to include this kind of style of shot into my groups trailer by never having a long (length or time) shot of our "villain" as so to include the fear of the unknown into our own work.
The Crazies
While the item I highlight from this trailer doesn't scare me I do find it is a brilliant effect in horror films and trailers. It starts at 1:46 and continues for the rest of the trailer. It is the inclusion of a song called "Mad World" by Gary Jules the fact that the pace of the song is very slow which doesn't match what is happening during the trailer as it shows moments of terror, people running around and things on fire. This links to Levi-Strauss's narrative theory of binary oppositions. The song itself contains binary oppositions as it has a slow melodic tempo the lyrics are infact about his dreams of himself dying, these two things you would not expect to be together. This trailer made me aware of the importance of sound during a trailer. Sound is something that I believe has the poetiental to turn an average trailer into a brilliant one if it is correct. Also if the sound is not in tune with the rest of the trailer no matter how good the trailer's effects or choice of shots it is completely ruined by the poor syncing of sound. This is why in my trailer I will be pursuing a high quality of audio choice and sync regardless of whether I am in charge of it or another member is.
Sunday, 13 November 2011
Narrative theories in relation to "the shining"
This is todorov's narrative theory, He states that every story starts off with and equilibrium where all the opposing forces are in a balance. This links well if we relate it to "the shining" as the equilibrium is that Jack gets the caretaker job at the hotel and he and his family move there for the winter.
This is then disrupted by a possibility of events it could be Delbert Grady, Room 237 or the hotel itself. In my opinion it is the hotel as you can sense when watching that there isn't something quite right with it. I consider it to be the main agent of change as everything can be linked to it, the feeling of isolation and claustrophobia, the visions that are produced etc. I do also agree that Delbert is an agent of change as he convinces Jack that his family are in need of punishment. Room 237 also contributes to Jack's downfall to madness, the women in the bathtub seems to push him close to the edge as he denies anything was in the room when Wendy asks him about it linking to "the return of the repressed".
When Jack is chasing Danny in the maze we assume that he is going to die, but with Danny's quick thinking he manages to lead Jack astray as so he can escape with Wendy. Although this theory can't be completely applied to the film as we don't know for sure if Wendy and Danny escape the storm to complete the equilibrium.
Vladimir Propp's theory is that after studying 100s of folk tales he discovered they all seemed to have an underlying structure to them. 8 character roles and 31 narrative functions.
Character roles:
1. The villan/s. Jack? Delbert? The hotel?
2. The hero. Danny
3. The donor - who provides an object with some magic property. Tony
4. The helper who aids the hero.
5. The princess (sought for person) reward for the hero and object of the villain's schemes. Wendy?
6. Her father - who rewards the hero. No-one
7. The dispatcher - who sends the hero on his way. Hotel owner
8. The false hero. Jack?
Claude Levi-Strauss
Looked at narrative structure in terms of binary oppositions. Binary oppositions are sets of opposite values which reveal the structure of media texts. For example the known and unknown are oppositions as in we understand what the unknown means because we understand the known.
Bordwell and Thompson had hypothesised a more complex theory, by stating a narrative as "A chain of events in a cause effect relationship, occurring in time and space." While this doesn't divulge into a full explanation of a narrative it does invoke some interesting points. Basically it is describing that each narrative begins with a setting which then leads to various points of change which can tangent off depending on the various factors eventually leading to a new situation and the end of the narrative.
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