Researching Existing Media Texts

In this section I will be looking at various existing media texts, both still and moving, to get a better sense of what the professional companies manage to produce to pick up tips and tricks to make my film trailer and ancillary tasks the best they can be. I will look at film magazines, trailer and posters to understand the reasons for their decisions including colour, composition and font styles.

Jeepers Creepers Film Poster

The tag line reads ‘What’s eating you?’ This hints at the horror that the monster eats it victims, which is different from some horrors which just killed their victims this monster goes one step further. The tag line also relates to the monster’s truck number plate (pictured below). This clever number plate confuses the audience at the start because the way most people read the number plate makes no sense. You have to read it in a specific way to understand the monsters evil intentions.In the first scene of the film

the two main protagonists are driving down a long straight road. The monsters truck begins to catch the up and after it passes them they are confused by the number plate. They believe it reads ‘BEAT N GU’ but at the end of the film they realise it actually reads ‘B EATNG U’ This sinister personalised number plate tells the story of the monsters terror as he feeds on human flesh to improve himself.

The monster is looking through what first appears to be a tear in a piece of leather when in actual fact he is looking through the corpse of one of his victims, which he had stitched up after he had taken the desired piece of the victim's anatomy. Some people might not even notice another sinister about the poster and that he is just looking through some sort of material.

Anyone looking at the poster should be able to tell the figure in the poster isn’t a human and is probably the killer because his skin is dark and is hairy like a werewolf. The way his eye is starring makes you think he is evil with a menacing look on his face; maybe scoping out his next victim. His eye looks like a human eye which people would realise after the film that, that eye was taken from one of his victims.

The composition of the poster has the monster's eye located centrally with a hole through the skin of his victim. People who see this poster will be intrigued by the motive of the killer. The strap line is located in the upper third of the poster although it is quite hard to read. The messy font leads you to believe this is a horror film. Even the words 'Jeepers Creepers' are a catchphrase said when one is surprised by the sight of something shocking.

The general colours in the poster are brown and black with white used for the font. These dark colours indicate the genre of the film but more importantly signal the mood of the film. Full of gruesome, upsetting scenes that will most likely be rated as a certificate 18.

The codes and conventions of this poster is the use of a non-human killer. A grotesque creature that you can't reason with and is unrelenting. Their scary appearance means people will jump of out their seats if he suddenly appears. The type of font use, it looks like the text has been stamped on because there are bits of the words that are missing. This is a common font associated with horror films. This is the font I will use for my magazine front cover.

Halloween II Film Poster

The tag line is ‘Family Is Forever’, this relates to the fact that as a young boy, Michael Myers murdered his older sister. Fans of the series will understand this strap and realize the irony of it.

The poster is very dark, raining heavily with ominous clouds stirring in the background which is imagery for the tragedy that unfolds in the film. Weather is a popular source to show the audience the mood of the film without actually saying it. A common convention of horror films is to use the weather as a signal to the audience that the killer is about to strike.

He is camouflaged by the dark clouds which could mean he will kill his victims by surprise.

The only bright words in the poster is the title of the film; this helps people who see the poster to remember the name of the film if they forget everything else. The colour is blood red indicating that the film is full of blood and gore. The director of the film, Rob Zombie, may be recognised by some film fans which will remind them of Rob's previous work. This could persuade them to see the film if they liked a past film he directed.

The font is again rough with parts of the words not in red but scratched; this gives the words a masculine feeling because it looks like the title has been scarred maybe signalling the fate of the people in the film. The colour of the film's title looks like dried blood, indicating the bloodshed in the film.

The tag line's font appear to be riddled with bullets or infected by disease, either way it makes this a clear horror film poster that some people will find too scary or gruesome to watch.

Michal Myers, the serial killer, is pictured centrally with a knife in the air about to strike down upon his victim. The letter "Y" in the tag line is reflecting onto the killer's knife making the shot look realistic. He is also grabbing the hair of his victim among a field of long grass. This is quite subtle but the direction of the killer's eyes indicate something of importance in his sight.

Michael Myer's head is located in the second third, directly in the middle of the poster and is always the first thing my eyes are drawn towards. It is quite clear he is wearing a mask as it has been damaged, maybe from the first Halloween film. He is wearing a dark jumpsuit which could show that he works as a mechanic as his disguise.

Finally, the release date is in white bold in the lower third clearly visible to remind people when it is released.

The code and conventions of this poster is the use of the weather to indicate a change of mood in the film. This method is used across many different genres of film, e.g. when a person stands alone in the road and the rain pours on to indicate their sadness. The killers face is again obscured by a mask that is damaged probably from a previous victim who tried to fight back but still died.

28 Days Later Film Poster

The background is coloured a vivid red to represent the sheer amount of blood shed in the film. Red is a very popular colour to use to relate to horror films because there is a lot of blood featured in these films. The colour red can also represent anger, like the anger in the zombies that try and eat the uninfected people still left.

The tag line is small and in the lower third of the poster saying 'The days are numbered' which talks about their fight for survival but also refers to the name of the film which also has numbers in it. This tag line implies that there is no escape and a brings a feeling of helplessness that some viewers may be able to relate to.

Again, this rough, 'scratchy' font which is synonymous with horror films has been used for the emblem behind the film's title and for the picture of Big Ben. The emblem refers to the company that created this disease and then accidentally released it to spread its viscous infection.

The picture in the poster is of the main protagonist, who is all alone in central London at the start of the film for a substantial period as it becomes clear the disease has infected almost everybody. They used a recognisable building like Big Ben to tell people where the film has been shot.

In the upper third they give a very brief outline as to the severity of the outbreak in the film, giving a five day report as the disease spreads and the condition gets worse. People may wish to see this film purely to see what life would be like if a disease would infect or kill the majority of people in the country regardless of the gore in the film. Without this segment people might not understand what the film is about if it just had the film's title, they needed to put this part in to make it clear to people what the film is about.

All the font on the poster is in capital letters, which is more masculine and clearer to read. The title and strap line stand out because it is in white compared to the red and black background.

The codes and conventions of this poster is the heavy use of red to symbolize the bloodshed in the film. Again, the black graphic behind the film's title has a scratchy look to it which can has been present in every example of existing media text so far. They include clues as to the location of the film with Big Ben clearly visible in the bottom right of the poster. The title is the first thing that attracts your attention so that you remember it. The tag line is also written in white highly contrasted by the red background, it describes the outbreak of the disease that sweeps across the country in 28 days. It tells the audience that this film is about zombies.

Empire Magazine Front Cover

On this issue of Empire, it features a new film, 'Sin City', with the main protagonist in the centre of the shot with the four other main characters behind him. It is raining in the shot creating a dark mood for the film's storyline, they probably used the same technique to create the illusion of rain.

The masthead is a vivid red against the dark blue background making it easily visible on the magazine shelf. it has a white outline and has a slight shadow behind it making the text readable.

In the bottom third there is a banner going across the page at a slanted angle. The banner is in the form of a piece of photographic film which links it to the films featured in the banner.

The image of photographic film is synonymous with film fanatics so they know instantly that it is a film magazine. Within the banner there are four different uses of the word 'view' which some readers might find comical.

The female on the right of the main protagonist follows the codes and conventions of a horror film by showing her in a provocative way. There is a light glow around her, exacerbating her figure. She looks almost angelic.

The main protagonist has a visible scar on his forehead in the form of a cross. This shows has been in a fight before and gives him a haunted past but has come out stronger and more determined, this is also a common trait in films.

The title of the film and the main protagonist are the two largest words in the main sell-line. "Sin City" "Bruce Willis". Bruce is a well-known film actor and has many fans around the world.

The main protagonist is looking down at his gun which seems out of proportion to the characters, a symbol of masculinity.

The main image was shot from a low angle giving the characters dominance. This would suggest that this is a action/crime/thriller.

The codes and conventions of this poster is the use of rain to signal the type of mood the film has; a hard-hitting storyline. The guns appear larger than my actually are to make the characters seem powerful and dominant in the frame of the poster. They use the female on the right to lure in the male audience by her attractive body; a common convention of horror and action films.

Wrong Turn Film Trailer

The trailer starts off by showing the production company, '20th century fox' but they adapt it to the film by playing an eerie screech which people might associate as an uninviting sound that makes people unsettled. The image has been edited so that in has that old grainy effect and the clip slightly shakes about and if this was some lost archive footage. This gives the impression that there is a evil secret waiting to be discovered.

The first shot of the trailer might make you jump as a car appears to crash straight into the camera, accompanied by a loud bang. Then the edits show the people in the car crash try to figure out what happened.

Throughout the edits that same eerie screeching sound plays to indicate something sinister is happening although the people in the film don't actually know it yet. There are dead black outs for every cut.

After they realise someone made them crash on purpose a split second shot of one of the killers appears who is spying on the group from within the woods (picture left). As the killer comes into view for the quick shot a high pitch scratch plays to make you realise he is the culprit. You can see he wasn't a normal human being and is deformed in some way.

It then cuts to a strap line saying they were apparently only urban legends and then follows several newspaper reports of mysterious disappearances in the area which people will realise that it is because the deformed humans have killed them and that this group are soon to follow. Basically the audience is being let in on the secret but the people in the film are still unaware of any apparent danger. A repetitive shot of one of the killers with that same sound similar to putting the needle down on an old gramophone, that initial scratching sound or the sound of tuning your radio to a frequency that is only static. A very unpleasant sound which is associated with the killers on purpose because they are out to kill the group in the car crash.

The majority of the trailer so far (45 seconds) has just been flashes of very short edits of newspaper clippings to try and explain to the viewer what the killers are, deformed, inbred creatures. Each strap line has a light that runs along the text which makes it look like they're telling a story.

A long clip using CGI to zoom into a keyhole as one of the group witnesses one of the killers hack apart a person who has died already. You see the killer's knife through the reflection in the persons eye. From then on a collection of very fast edits shows the chaos as the group realise the grave danger they are in. These quick edits come to an abrupt halt as a lengthy dead black out to a clip of one of the group, still unaware of the danger, says "Sweetheart? This isn't funny" as the camera makes a full 360 degree turn around him as he tries to see who it is, the trees shake wildly and the only noise you can hear are crickets chirping which can be very unnerving which people can relate to as complete silence means something is wrong, in the film world. The silence mounts then he is grabbed on the shoulder and then it cuts. This is an interesting clip as you are left unsure whether it was simply one of his friends messing around or if it was actually one of the killers.

The quick edits resume and as the trailer goes on you see more and more of the killers as they become more reckless and desperate to catch and kill the group before they escape. One of the clips is a flashback of the car crash clip at the beginning of the trailer. In the final clip, a female in silhouette is standing beside a tree breathing heavily and trying to hide from the killers and then one of the killers comes into shot from beneath the camera with his axe at the ready although, again, you don't see whether or not the female escapes or dies. Then the dead black out reveals the title of the film and then the release date of the film.

Note that as the title of the film is revealed in a very clever way as they appear the wrong way round but then rotate to the correct way. This relates to the title of the film which is called 'Wrong Turn'. This subtle trick can make all the difference in a film and I will try to be creative and clever when I create my trailer.

The codes and conventions of this trailer is the fact that they have very fast flashes of the killers stalking the group from the woods. These brief encounters tell the audience that they are the killers by the eerie sound clips used when they appear. Using tag lines that hint the storyline and the intentions of the killers. The tag lines are short but meaningful to make the audience feel excited by as they are teased as they want to know more about what happens in the film. They are left with many unanswered questions which can be answered if they go and watch the film.

The Hills Have Eyes Film Trailer

Again, this trailer starts by having the production company in the first clip with the film's speical twist on the original clip to coincide with the film's story. The sound played during the production company's clip is of the blitz warning siren because it relates to the story as to why there are deformed creatures living in the desert. It is due to the testing of several hundred nuclear bombs over the space of thirty years which have caused irregularities in births since. Again, the archive footage shows nuclear bombs being dropped and the huge explosions.

Several strap lines accompany the footage of the bombings to clearly outline the reasons for the mutations in the area. It then cuts to the start of the film as the group drive though the desert whilst the radio plays upbeat music to signify the group being oblivious to the imminent danger they are driving towards.

They stop at an isolated gas station to fill up and chat to a man working there. As they are about to leave as he smokes his cigar whilst starring at the women as he says "Have a safe trip". This long clip of just him starring at her was intentionally long so that the audience realises the importance of this man, he is likely to be the ring leader for the mutated people in the hills. This clip finishes by mimicking the end of the film reel to signify that their luck is about to change and refers to the 1940's nuclear bombs test clips which where old clips during the war. This is followed by a lengthy dead black out.

After they crash they try and use their mobile phone to call for help but they have no signal. This relates to the fact that we are always reachable and when we lose phone signal or internet connection we feel detached from the world. We feel the need to stay connected and when is luxury is taken away we feel a sense of helplessness which the audience can relate to.

There is then a shot of an attractive blonde female sun-bathing after the crash making the most of the bad situation. Having a good-looking female is a common trait in horror film as the majority of viewers are male making it easier to persuade people to watch a film if it has a beautiful female in it. After a few clues of something watching them, one person looks gingerly through the blinds of her RV as an object is hurled after the window, which may cause some people to flinch.

The identity of the mutated people is not revealed until (1 minute 45 seconds) as again you only a glimpse of the killer who appears to be wearing a mask on his face or this is part of his mutation.

In the final few edits of the trailer a non-diegetic sound plays throughout similar to a generator starting up. Another sound plays as a quick collection of clips flash up, the sound of gun shots ring out and then with another selection of clips, the sound of time slowing down plays as the clips come to an end. It then goes to the title of the film. It then goes back to the final scene which is featured on one of their promotional posters and then cuts to the strap line which says "The lucky ones die first" which really surprised me by how these few words can make you imagine to sort of treatment they were subject to, to want to die quickly.

The codes and conventions of this trailer is that it starts of by using old war footage of the US army testing out nuclear weapons in the desert. This forms part of the story as the fallout of the tests made the people who live in the area to have deformities. They use a care-free song to start off the trailer as the family drive through the desert just like any other normal day. After they meet a man at the gas station the film stutters and the mood of the trailer dramatically changes as the family become paranoid someone is stalking them. They use quick bursts of edits as the tensions rises.

To Recap

This analysis of existing media texts has taught me a lot of valuable lessons about what to do in my trailer to make it interesting so that people will want to watch the full version. What these posters and trailers have shown me is that I have to make the viewer wanting more, I must leave them guessing throughout the trailer and even in the posters. Only showing the killer in short bursts to intensify the viewers desire to want to know more about the killer. Have a long moment of silence after a series of quick edits to heighten the drama making the viewer try and second-guess what is about to happen.

Be clever and creative in the way I show the trailer, be intuitive and think outside the box to produce a unique high quality film trailer. One example of a creative and interesting shot was as the 'Wrong Turn' trailer was coming to an end (1 minute 46 seconds) one of the shots was of the a vehicle's wing mirror as one of the group tried to escape. It showed one of the killers starring at the camera through the mirror's reflection which I found a very haunting image that stayed with me until the end of the trailer. I am very keen to add these types of abstract shots to my trailer to give it an edge and interesting look.

Other techniques I which to use in my trailer is to try and scare people or make them jump somewhere in the trailer. If I don't succeed in making the viewer jump or be startled they may not want to watch the full film if they thought the trailer wasn't scary enough for a horror trailer. After analysing the film trailers it has become apparent to me that the killer is shown and their face is clearly seen although this is kept to a fraction of a second so that the viewer only sees a flash of the killer, may be even just a glimpse of their outline. They do this so that you recognise who the killer actually his and that you get a look at their terrifying face.