The Pitch

Horror Trailer

My trailer would be suitable for paramount as it is similar to other productions which they have created. They have produced successful horror movies such as Friday The 13th,Paranormal activity and Insidious. As well as these productions being similar to the ones that you have produced, they follow correction conventions which relate to genre and form. I plan to follow conventions of this genre and not challenge them as this would allow me to appeal to your target audience successfully and create a successful production. I felt this as my storyline and use of conventions will help immediately grip the audience to the trailer and make them feel encouraged to watch the film.

Following conventions• Our trailer will follow the key features which makes the genre obvious to the audience. This is demonstrated by the ideas of mise-en-

scene that we will use in the production such as; low-key lighting, dark clothing. This would be conventional for this genre as it can hint into the mood and emotions of the characters and the mood in which the film wants to portray, thus keeping the audience interested. It is also typical for a horror film to use children as it makes everything a lot more sinister and real for the audience viewing, therefore we plan to use characters who are teenagers. This is because our target audience are of a younger age and this would allow us to fulfil their expectations of a horror genre. Also this will allow us to create a connection between the ones watching and the characters within the trailer, as the audience would be able to experience their emotions on a more personal level. By incorporating some of these conventions of this genre it enables us to make it clear to the audience the type of horror and allows the horror to come to life whilst watching it.

• In our trailer we also plan to use conventional camerawork, sound and editing to match the expectations of the audiences & keep their attention to our production. The main features that we plan to use are; close ups, over the shoulder, background music, diegetic sound & sound effects, fade to black & cross cutting. All of these techniques allow the trailer to complete the conventions successfully as it enables the audience to feel involved as the characters emotions are clear through the close ups, over the shoulder shots and background music. The use of the intense background music and sound effects during these types of camera shot it heightens the action that it taking place and keeps the audience interested and alert whilst watching. I will also use fade to black successfully by quickly cutting from each clip to add to the drama and build-up of excitement and tension. This is because the colour black is a signifier of danger, so by using this feature it would allow my trailer to portray this message.

Production work• The storyline of our trailer will be based around 3 individuals, who as a group go camping in the woods for the night. They start off with

a normal evening, however, during the night one of the girls wonder into the woods, alone. It comes clear from the scream that there is something in the woods that the girls were unaware of. However the scream will be the last time the other girls will see or hear of their friend. They begin searching the woods during the night, when one witnesses the danger of the woods. Quite quickly, one by one they get caught by the figure, but the audience will not know whether they will be dead or alive. Through the description of our production it is clear that our trailer would be suited to your institution as it follows a similar storyline to Friday the 13 th as it focuses on one character causing all the danger. It also shows here that we will follow conventions and not challenge as we will incorporate the use of the woods which would be expected for the audience. The reason for this is because it creates a dangerous setting and atmosphere for those watching. It will also allow us to use low key lighting within our trailer, because the woods is a natural setting than we will be able to use darkness correctly in the trailer. This would help make the audience tense and not knowing what will happen next.

• The setting of the woods will be introduced at the beginning with an establishing shot this choice of shot shows us to follow conventions as it will make the location clear to the audience and they will know the storyline from the very beginning. We will then use a cut to a low angle to introduce the characters into the storyline. The audience would expect this kind of shot as they like to become familiar with the characters. They will also be able to relate to the characters as they will be of similar age to them, which the audience would like.

• We will use a lot of fast paced editing to show the scenes building up to the climax of the figure getting their hands on the two characters. This would help follow conventions as fast paced editing is an essential feature to create a horror genre with as it allows tension and suspense to build up all the way through, keeping the audience gripped to the trailer and feeling encouraged to keep watching.

How it will appeal to the target audienceMy production work will clearly appeal to my target audience and your target audience as an institution as I am following and not

challenging any conventions which already exist in your previous production work from this genre. I will use the main convention of low key lighting which will set the scene and atmosphere for the rest of the film. Whilst it acts as a signifier for the danger which is on the agenda for my film trailer. This will also allow me to create the use of dark costumes to again portray this danger to this audience. By doing this, it will allow me to grip the audience to my trailer and feel encouraged to watch. I will make sure I will use a lot of fast paced editing which will allow my storyline to be continuous throughout, allowing the audience to understand the story from being to end. This feature would appeal to them as they would like to understand the storyline. Also the use of fast paced editing would be appealing as it would grip the audience to the trailer as they will be shown snippets of the film with the highest tension which therefore would keep them gripped whilst watching. Another way I will appeal to them is the use of characters/camerawork as the camerawork I will use will allow the characters ages to be obvious, which would therefore allow the audience to connect with the certain character. This would be appealing as it would make the storyline more real for them as they are experiencing their feelings first hand. Overall making my production appealing to the audience as I am able to fulfil their expectations and interests for this genre.