Trailer Research and Planning

By Yasmin Watkins

Equilibrium

Disruption

Solution

Todoroff’s narrative film

theory:

Film trailer:Equilibrium

Disruption

Trailer Details

Genre I aim to create a psychological thriller for

my film trailer with elements of horror

While I am following my initial ideas to an extent by using conventions of the horror genre, as a group we’re going to incorporate our ideas to create a storyline and use conventions from the supernatural/ religious/ sataniccult subgenres of horror.

Type of Trailer It will be a short teaser trailer, to give the

audience a snippet of the plotline and keepthem interested in the lead-up to the film.

Teasers can be made before a film’s beencompleted, thus, it doesn’t need to show scenes from the entire film –it can just give a basic outline

Furthermore, it will be able to be shown on the internet, in YouTube adverts, as well as being broadcast in the cinema and on television.

Target Audience It will be predominantly aimed at those aged

15-25 years, as this is the typical age of horror film’s target audience.

It will appeal to thrill-seekers; those who are fans of horror and teenagers who are curious and daring in personality.

It will be aimed at women, with a 60:40 gender ratio for our implied target audience, due to the majority of the actors in our current storyline narrative being female. However, this will still appeal to men through the male gaze theory.

How will the trailer relate to the intended target audience? In editing, the trailer will highlight both halves of the

hybrid genre through fast-cut editing The 15-25 demographic may stereotypically be too

busy to watch a full theatrical trailer that is approximately 3-4 minutes in length.

However, a short teaser trailer would fit in with the stereotypical lifestyle of the 15-25 age range due to being ‘digital natives’ in surfing the internet.

Our actors will be in the 15-25 age range, which will allow our intended audience to relate to the characters through Personal Identity, using the Uses and Gratifications theory by Blumler and Katz (1974)

Research for a Psychological Thriller: Suspense, tension, raising of stakes for the protagonist With a psychological thriller the conflict is internal, through the

mind, skills, and wit of main characters Elements of drama, mystery and horror can often find

themselves in the psychological thriller due to the emphasis on motivation and the mind.

There are Life and death situations and certainly at the end (climax) but this could well involve death or danger to the mind or intrinsic identity or values

Psychological thrillers often deal with common themes such as death, reality, perception, identity, existence or purpose

Motives and intentions are more important than technical aspects of how a crime is done.

Readers expect the story to focus around both the hero and the villain, via changes in point of view and scenes involving each separately.

http://hunterswritings.wordpress.com/2012/10/12/elements-of-the-psychological-thriller-mystery-suspense-andor-crime-fiction-genres/

What key genre elements will be employed?

Emphasis on the narrative of the protagonist White costume, conventionally used in horror to

connote innocence/ vulnerability of the female lead Religious undertones in the rituals participated in Eerie setting for the main events of the film, through

dark themes E.g using the woods ~connotes isolation Make the audience invest in the characters through

the psychological effect of the film Suspense/ tension created through framing and sound Inter-titles to narrate the film Limited use of dialogue –more focus on imagery

What will the key point of the trailer be?

The trailer is a subsidiary product to help sell the final film in the build-up to its release

To create a scare-factor –its purpose isto intrigue the audience to eventuallypay to watch the film

To highlight the hybrid genre of the film, by showing conventions of both horror and psychological thrillers

What studio film company will you assign the film to?

I researched into 3 films to see what studio company was used to produce the films that are under the same genres as my proposed film: Film Nation Entertainment ~House At

The End of the Street Relativity Media ~Limitless/ House At The

End of the Street Universal – Skeleton Key

Would be too big a company to take on the film, who are known for releasing large scale/ high-budget blockbusters and film franchises

Relativity Media’s films titles such as ‘Paranoia’ and ‘The Family’ connote the types of horror/

psychological thriller films and artwork that I would use in my own trailer. Furthermore the company was founded in 2005, giving more experience in how to successfully produce a film in the modern age, with the rise of piracy.

• At first look, the names of the films do not connote the psychological-thriller genre that my film will have.

• Also was only founded in 2008

What will be the marketing points of the film?

The hybrid genre of the film would be a marketing point, as it isn’t as conventional

The use of an unknown fate for the protagonist would be highlighted in the trailer in a cliffhanger-style ending

The verisimilitude created in the film of a normal-looking town/ the youth holding a secret, would allow the audience to re-think, and consequently interact with the film more.