Name and clothing mood-board analysis

Naming Our Film

For our trailer we came up with the name Purgatory. To show why we chose this name I decided to do a mood board of pictures and words that are associated with the word 'purgatory'. This style of research will  aid my development and refinement of initial ideas by clustering certain associations together. The words that I chose to put on the mood board were 'Supernatural' 'Heaven' 'Hell' 'Souls' 'Paranormal' 'Purification' 'Catholic' and 'Punishment'. These words all relate with the meaning behind the word purgatory is 'A place or state of suffering inhabited by the souls of sinners who are expiating their sins before going to heaven: the punishment of the souls in purgatory' so they were perfect to associate with our film name. We chose this name as we have chosen to do a psychological Horror, where the people suffer just before death, as if they were in purgatory before going into heaven having their souls cleansed. 
Although we thought Purgatory was a fitting name we still had to gain a general consensus as to whether the general public would agree. So, questionnaires and focus groups were set up and they too shared the same conclusion.
The focus group brought back some interesting points that we have taken away. They thought a lot of names like 'paranormal activity' are too generic and even "boring". However, the name 'Purgatory' sparked a lot of intrigue - they had a general idea as to what it meant, yet it was still a kind of ambiguous term. Although this could lead to potential confusion, we believe (as did our focus group) that the name perfectly compliments our style of filming. A psychological thriller is meant to have a sense of ambiguouty to develop the intensity, and if our name can cause the same curiosity then it will be very effective. 

Clothing in Our Film

The second mood board that I completed was on clothing. I split the page into four; each section is designed for each actor or actress. I found pictures on the internet of clothing that is very similar or the same as what the actors and actresses will be wearing in our trailer. Before doing this I looked at several trailers of the same genre to see what kind of clothing they wore so our trailer will fit in with the horror genre. While watching the trailers I noticed that the colours of the clothing tended to be blacks, blues, reds and whites with the odd different colours used. When I was choosing the clothing I tried my best to stick to these colours and make sure that the style of the clothing fits in well. Analysis of previously successful films such as, The Cabin in The Woods and The Devil Inside gave a nice balance and comparison as to the horror film conventions. So we shall try and follow suit.

However, we have tried to challenge the conventions of the horror genre - a lot of the time clothing looks forced simply to fit the scenery. Yet, we have tried to make our actors look as natural as possible by dressing them in clothes they're likely to wear. This is because we didn't feel the 'forced' look would work with our film - they're wearing suitable clothes for every day life, not a real-life horror scene. 

However, we have encountered some problems. Continuity is a big thing in filming and makes the trailer look very professional. In a lot of the trailers we have looked at, clothes become muddy or even ripped - something possible on a high budget. yet due to our budget and the actors wearing their own clothes, we found this nearly impossible - this is something we'd like to change. 

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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.

B&C

Make-up Mood board Analysis

Rationale:
To make our product as professional and authentic as possible we had to analyse every fine detail of the horror genre - including the make-up of each character. To develop an understanding of the 'do's' and 'dont's' of a characters make-up in a horror film, we chose a selection of films to analyse. This included 'Cabin in the Woods' and 'Insidious.'

Our Findings
Through analysing existing horror films, trailers and still images we found the common trend that most horror films started with normal civilians in a common situation e.g. going on holiday, being home alone or moving into a new house; this technique is used to try and relate to the viewer and make them feel involved. Therefore when analysing the use of make-up in the films they seemed to be very naturalistic and simple, again this is to allow the viewer to relate with the character. Normal day to day make-up such as foundation, mascara and a neutral lipstick allows the actors to look casual and even subtly innocent. Therefore when we create our own horror film we will conform to this common theme and have our actors in a casual day to day make-up (as seen on the mood board). As the film goes on the actors make-up seems to deteriorate as the heightened horrors that happen throughout the film don't allow for a 'make-up top up'. Therefore towards the end of our film we will remove some of the make-up to make the ordeals the victim have gone through seem more realistic and may even add cuts and bruises through the use of special effect make-up. 

C&B  

Questionnaire

We used this set of questions on 10-15 people randomly chosen from our target market (ages 15-18). We designed the questionnaire to get specific data we can use for our production. (Some amendments were made from our original questionnaire to the one shown below and the final production.) 



How long do you think is best for the length of a trailer?

1:51     2:25     1:29     2:21     2:31     1:59   

Which of the trailers is your favorite?

Insidious?     The devil inside?     The cabin in the woods?   

The exorcism of Emily rose?     The Texas chainsaw massacre?     Scream 4?

What do you like about it…

Colours – 

Costume –  

Settings –

Hand held –

Quick cuts –

Transitions –

Speed/pace –

Narrative/plot –

Typography –

Name –

Image –

Sound –

Continuity –

Is there anything missing?


Findings
Time - 1-2 minutes. This was the most favorable of all the possible timings. It was suggested that any longer than 2 minutes was too detailed and people got bored of watching. However anything less than 1 minute, not even detail was portrayed and the audience didn't have enough time to become interested in the product. We'll aim for around 1 minute of film for our trailer.

Trailers - The cabin in the Woods was the most popular trailer with our target market. They enjoyed the plot, the sound and the pace to the piece. Out of all the trailers it was suggested that the sound was the best in this trailer. As our target market decided this, we'll try and use similar sound techniques to this trailer.

Likes - Our target market chose three main things they liked about the chosen 'Cabin in the Woods' trailer. 
They chose:

• sound
• continuity
• quick cuts

As sound and continuity has been previously favorable, the 'quick cuts' selection is very interesting. The audience enjoyed the pace and the pace change of the film. The film begins very slow and relaxed, yet as events take a turn for the worse the pace picks up. The trailer ends quickly with many shots. This is perfect for our film. We're going to emulate this pace shift as, not only did our audience enjoy it, but it suits the style we're going for. So we'll aim to use a lot of shots and particularly a lot of quick shots. 

All our findings have been very useful and we'll put them into our product in some way, shape or form. 

A&B

Market research rationale

Market research is the term used when gathering data from your chosen market about their consumer needs and preferences. It is vital to conduct this thoroughly as to create a product that fits the needs and wants of the consumer you need to understand what they are and how to achieve them. There are various techniques that we will use throughout including focus groups and questionnaires, which shall give us a comprehensive view of our target market's ideas and thoughts.

To create a convincing and professional trailer we'll need to gain a full understanding of what our audience want and expect from a film trailer. To gain this knowledge we need a direct link between ourselves and our audience - a questionnaire will acheive some of our objectives and ascertain some useful information. Questionnaires are a quick and easy method to achieve a large amount of useful qualitative and quantitative data. However, they do have some drawbacks. Firstly, participants may give socially desirable answers (ones that they feel are acceptable) and not really give their true opinion. The problem with this is that we'll collect false data and our product won't fit the viewers' true needs and wants. Secondly, If the questionnaire is too long, participants may get bored and tick/cross the first box that they see without properly reading the question. This again will give us information that is void; the data we've collected will neither help nor contribute to a professional, effective and succesful product. Lastly, when completing a questionnaire participants tend to keep their answers very brief, therefore detailed data on why a participant likes something will not be gathered. However, a questionnaire, done properly, can help gather relevent and extremely uselful data. So this method will allow us to interpret primary data, so we can manipulate our products to suit the 'audience preference.'

We will also use a focus group. A selected group of people from within our target market will be asked more open ended questions so we can direct and form the shape of our questions. We'll voice record the discussion as it's less invasive than a camera and allows for more creative influence than a simple tick-box questionnaire. Combining this with the questionnaires the finer details, in which a public questionnaire may not reach, can be discussed and ironed out. Before we begin creating our products we need to find out a few key things to ask our audience. We need to find out not just what it is the audience likes, but why they like it - in effect, why the product works for them. We need to find out what and why they're attracted to products, what type of products they like and what they'd like to see in a newly created product. These areas will be covered in greater detail in our questionnaire.

Immediate thoughts for a questionnaire:

• What attracts you to watch a film trailer?
• What type of horror film? Psychhological or killer?
• Which trailer is your favourite? Why is this trailer your favourite?
• How long should a trailer be to be at its most effective?
• What colours best describes a horror genre?
• What title would best suit a horror film?
• What typography would best suit a horror film?
• Which trailer most attracts you? Why?
• Which poster most attracts you? Why?
• Which DVD cover most attracts you? Why?

These potential questions dig into what the audience like and expect and also the reasoning behind their decisions. The questionnaire we produce will largely be a 'closed question' questionnaire because this will give us definitive answers and ideas that we can use as a basis for our production. We'll produce the questionnaire with multiple choice questions too; this will limit what the audience can say while giving a little chance for creative influence.  WHY? We'll also base some of the questionnaire around an online stimulus; meaning we'll show them 3 of the trailers and ask them questions around that. (The 3 examples will be of varying style and length etc to give us an over few of all types of the genre.) It'll also be very important to get what they dislike about the film; or what they think is missing from it. Under this comes a chance to ask them what their general expectations of a horror film are - this will give us chance to base the production to tick the criteria of our audiences needs.  

Textual analysis of posters

When i did the analysis of the three horror film posters i noticed that they had similarities and differences in the way conventions are used in existing products.

Images used: In all three of the posters they used one main image. The devil inside and Insidious both used the main character whereas The cabin in the woods used where the film was set, in a cabin. All of the three images are of the main subject that featured in the film. They all show a sense of possession, for The devil inside and Insidious they both have unrealistic eyes as on the Insidious poster the little boys eyes are scratched out and The devil inside has completely grey eyes, this all gives the audience a slight insight into the storyline of the film and what might happen. As well as the main image Insidious and Cabin in the woods also have an image in the background of where the film is set, Insidious has the house in the background and The cabin in the woods has some trees representing the woods. But The devil inside is just black with faint scratches, giving the idea of someone or something being trapped. 

Colour Scheme: All three of the posters have similar colour schemes, they all use dull colours like black, greys and whites, Insidious and The devil inside also use a hint of red which is perceived as the colour that represents danger. Each poster uses three main colours making the main image stand out more. All of these colours are representative of the horror genre which will attract people who are interested in this type of genre. This making it easy to spot on the DVD shelves.

Font: Each of the three posters have one main font which they use throughout the whole poster, they also use this font in the trailers which shows good continuity.   

Tag lines: Out of all the three posters they all have at least one tag line. The taglines are there to give us a insight into the film and keep us guessing for example Insidious' says 'It's not the house that's haunted'. They are generally placed above or bellow the main image or if there is two above and bellow. They fit in with the poster by having the same font and colours as everything else. They all link in with the main image for example The cabin in the woods says 'You think you know the story' and the people going to the cabin think that they are just going for a holiday in a cabin but unbeknownst to them everything is about to change.

Release date: Two out of the three posters have a release date on them. This is found under the main image, in capitals and the main colour of the poster its self, this is to make it stand out to the public.

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