Our Target Market

Rationale
To come up with out target market group for our horror film, I firstly began to look on the BBFC (British Board Of Film Classification) website to study the key features in which causes films to be a certain rating. Firstly as our film trailer was in the horror genre we elmininated children from our target market group as the content would not be suitable for them, therefore U and PG rating for our trailer would not be possible.

"Some horror films are passed at this category. Moderate physical and psychological threat is permitted at 12 or 12A as long as disturbing sequences are not too frequent or sustained" - BBFC

As our horror trailer will contain many scenes of psychological threat, the BBFC will not allow our trailer to be rated either 12 or 12A.

"Many horror films are rated 15. At 15 there can be strong threat and menace (as long as it is not sadistic or sexualised), although the strongest gory images are unlikely to be acceptable." - BBFC

Following the rules given to us from the BBFC I believe that our film will fit into the 15 rating category, therefore our target market group will be males and females interested in the horror genre aged 15-25. We decided this as due to our filming restrictions (budget and equipment in our film will not exceed the boundaries of a 15 rating.  

As we get into further production schedules we'll use the information we've obtained to manipulate our piece to suit the given criteria. This not only will make for a quality product but will allow us to narrow our thought frame. In other words, we now know what we can and cannot include in our product - thus giving us guidelines to work too. This again will develop the professionalism of our film and overall production.

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Location shots slideshow

Rationale

We decided to take some recee shots to gain an understanding of what looked good/professional/authentic. We decided to use various locations and framing techniques to allow to see what shots we liked the most. We also opened up shots to a small focus group to see what our chosen audience would like to see - this means a third party has a say in what we're doing. This is effective as it allows us develop an understanding of what our audience will enjoy - something key to making an effective product. 

Below is a slideshow showing the shots we took at our film locations e.g. house and woods.

Firstly, We took some shots of the outside of the house to show the location we will be filming. We took the pictures as it was going dark to show how the house would look when filming the horror trailer and hopefully to give the house a more creepy and eery feel. The house is surrounded by large grounds with no other houses nearby therefore it will be effective when creating the horror trailer on making the victims seem alone and vunerable.

The bedrooms in the house are all empty as the house is currently not being lived in, the average size rooms can be used throughout the trailer and the use of the empty space can help when creating out trailer as it is a 'blank canvas' that we can adapt as we want. Large wardrobes, mirrors and windows are throughout the bedrooms and can be used as props throughout the trailer e.g. reflections in mirrors, noises from the wardrobes.

The upstairs landing can be used throughout the trailer as a place to run away from the 'ghost', we will also use this in our final scene where the character is walking along it. The stairs can also be used for this reason, different angle shots can be taken to create different effects e.g. low angle shots to make the stairs seem long and mysterious. The stairs also feature gaps between each step therefore we can take shots from underneath the stairs to create a sense of being watched.

The rooms downstairs are being used mostly at the beginning of the trailer where the characters are investigating the house, these rooms are empty therefore are good to use in our trailer. There are many windows throughout the rooms which can be used to create reflections and handprints. The rooms also feature lights that can be dimmed and flicked on and off, this technique will used throughout the trailer to make the house and situation feel creepy.

The kitchen and little bathroom will not be used throughout the trailer, as they both seem too homely and not significant enough to feature in the short 2 minute trailer. The garden room may be used as it is a large space with a creepy looking fireplace however we currently have no shots to be filmed in there on our storyboards.

The Shed and the woods will be used for some scenes in our trailer, the woods will feature scenes where the characters are 'hiding' from the paranormal villian. We decided to use the woods as they were avaliable for our use and feature in many existing trailers that we analysed. The woods at night are extremely dark and eery, therefore we will need to use flood lights to be able to get our shots. The wendy house will feature in our trailer as it looks old and creepy, we will use it to 'lock' one of our characters in to create tension and horrific events through the trailer.

The upstairs windows will be used to get effective shots of the group arriving to the house, we chose to do it from the window to make it seem like someone is watching them arrive, however the house is supposed to be empty. Handprints will be used on windows of the house and car to make it seem like there is a paranormal presence throughout the house and grounds.

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