Narrative (the Story)

We are creating a teaser trailer for a psychological horror thriller.

In our story our protagonist (Sammael) is able to see into a parallel universe when his eyes are closed. Once in this parallel world he can see into the souls of people who are both dead and alive. The souls of the dead are put to rest but the tarnished souls of anyone, such as murderers are trapped in this parallel world. A living person's soul can be changed through what they do so a murderer would have a tarnished soul where as a doctor would have a clean soul. Whilst in this world the souls are able to affect the real world. They are behind freak accidents and deaths which are unexplained. They can also kill but this leads to their power being drained and if drained too far they are cast to hell.
Sammael is one of the few warriors who are chosen to fight against this evil from birth but he ignored the idea of a parallel world thinking these no more than freakishly real nightmares. He slowly became an insomniac, not sleeping but never growing tired. When his girl friend, sister and brother all died at his 18th birthday party he tried to make sense of this. As he closed his eyes while holding his girl friend in his arms he saw an arm holding onto her. When he opened his eyes to look up he saw nothing. He sought out answers from 'The Hand' an ancient power who his family had talked about for years.

The film would start with Sammael on the run from the police (lead by Inspector Dwayne Jackson) after an accidental killing of his partner who was investigating a burglary. He traipses through bars getting into fights and kicked out of clubs. He is seen by all as a social outcast moving from place to place causing trouble where ever he goes. He is on the hunt of the group of demons who killed his family but his life on the run from the police ends with him getting arrested by Dwayne and sent to jail. Whilst in jail he attempts to save the life of an innocent inmate (Shelton) while struggling to come to grips with the fact he is surrounded by the souls of many murderers and rapists.
The jail is destroyed during a riot and Dwayne helps Sammael escape with Shelton after almost being killed by a demon but Sammael saves him. They all end up on the run. Sammael finds that certain places are hot spots for the other world activity and that a demon is trying to split some of these hot spots to release the souls into the real world. Sammael Dwayne and Shelton go in search of the 'Chest of Luso' which is a legendary set of weapons that can be used against the souls and also holds the 'Blade of Luso' which can cool the hot spots closing them and meaning less activity happens around that area. Sammael and Shelton go on a quest to the 'TS Caverns' and works their way past many obstacles till he gets out with the 'Chest of Luso'. Unfortunately Dwayne is shot whilst saving Sammael and he dies.
Sammael returns to find the hot spot which the demons are trying to open. Sammael finally kills the demons but is also killed by a police officer. His soul is dragged through the hot spot by the demons and he dies. Shelton lowers Sammaels body to the floor and some red mist exits sammael and enters into Shelton. Shelton then runs from the police. The film ends with Shelton and his girlfriend having a baby. Shelton kisses the baby and the smoke enters the baby. We then see the baby open its eyes and he has 'the sight'.

Genre - USP

The unique selling point for our film is the fact that it is not just a horror film but it has many sub genres in it and it is also a hybrid with thriller.
Our text will do everthing that a typical horror film would do for the audience in the fact that it will have parts that scare them and it will hopefully make them jump and keep them hooked, however, it will do this in a psychological way aswell as it will have aspects of a psychological thriller in it. It will try and make the audience think about it and try to get them involved in trying to understand what is going on and how our Protagonist will overcome the odds.
The sub genres of horror that are going to be shown in this film are; Gothic (because of the monsters), Fantasy (because it has a paralll universe), Psychological and Thriller.
We hope to bring a lot to the horror genre as we are creating our own monsters that dont exist in any other film so we have a reason fr people to maybe find this film interesting if they are getting bored of the old vampires and wolfman films.

Questionnaire Results

These are some of the results my group gained from our audience questionnaire:

Question: What Sub-Genres of Horror Films Do You Like?

Results:

This shows that the most popular sub-genre of horror in our target group is slasher. Fantasy,thriller and zombie are the second most popular and the least popular horror sub-genres in our target group are cult, and techno. As our project is a mix of fantasy/supernatural horror with elements of thriller, it should be quite popular with our target audience.

Question: Do You Watch Horror Films On Your Own Or In A Group?

Results:

This shows that most of our target group watch horror film on their own.

Question: What Key Scenes Do You Enjoy Watching In Horror Films?

Results:  Killing Of Victim, Stalking Of Victim, Damsel In Distress Killed, People Being Chopped up.

This gives us and idea of what scenes to include in our teaser trailer to maximise the audience's enjoyment.  

Questionnaire

Questionnaire
Age....  Gender....  Parents Socioeconomic Status........  Race..............
Do You Enjoy Watching Horror Films?
Yes
No

If So What Is It You Like About Horror Films?
.............................................................................................................
.............................................................................................................
Have You Seen A Horror Film In The Last 6 Months?
Yes
No

Have You Seen Any British Horror Films? If So What?
Yes
.............................................................................................................
No
What Sub-Genres of Horror Do You Like?
Techno
Slasher
Gothic
Fantasy
Torture Porn
Black Comedy
Cult
Thriller
Psychological
Zombie
Body
What Are The Typical Scenes You Like To See In A Horror Film?
..............................................................................................................
What Key Scene Do You Always Enjoy In A Horror Film?
..............................................................................................................
Do You Watch Horror Films On Your Own Or In Groups?
Own
As A Couple
Group Of 2-5
Group Of 5 +
What Age Rating Would You Say Are You Favourite Horror Films?
12
15
18

This is the questionnaire my group used to gain primary research into our target audience.

Genre

The film that we are going to create a promotions package for is going to be a horror film.
The horror genre is popular due to the fact that media critics claim it has

"A Closer Relationship To Social Reality (Society) Than Any Other Genre"

(Elaine Scarett)

The genre deals with universal fears, ones that all of humanity share. For example, fear of death, fear of the unknown, fear of the breakdown of morality etc. They appear at times in history when there is a particular threat to society.

The typical conventions of horror films are as follows:

• Isolated locations, eg the haunted house on the hill etc
• The 'monster'
• Female victims (traditionally)
• Male hero (traditionally)
• The law
• Non-diegetic high string music
• Low-key lighting
• Canted angles
• Point-of-view shots
• Anti-climaxes
• Weapons (usually blades)
• Gore (blood etc)
• Religious iconography
• Good defeats evil (usually)

There are many sub-genres of horror, a few examples are: torture porn, zombie movies and psychological horrors.

Our film is going to be a supernatural, gothic horror with elements of thriller.

Inspiration For Our Project

In our teaser trailer we plan to use shadows as our 'monster' and also to create fear and anticipation in the audience, this is a technique used by many films. For example, in '28 Days Later' (2002) Danny Boyle shadows of the infected are used to create anticipation in the audience before the infected are actually seen.

As you can see, the facial expressions and emotions of the infected are hidden by the shadow covering them, this makes the scene scarier and more tense for the audience.

In our teaser trailer we want to use shadows to create a similar effect, but instead of having the 'monster' being covered by shadow, the shadow will be the actual 'monster'.

Feedback 24.11.09

Well done guys! You have done some good research here already. I'd lie to see you conduct some primary research to help you define your target audience clearly and also to help you to clarify your ideas for the tasks. Quantify this information and evaluate your findings in relation to your ideas etc. Use the checklist to ensure you have covered all angles for your research.

Mrs A

Similar Products

The marketing campaign for Danny Boyle's '28 Days Later' (2002) gives a similar brand image that we are trying to promote.

The trailer causes a feel of fear and anticipation as although it draws us in enough to understand what happens but without giving any of the story away. The brand image this trailer is trying to push is that it is dangerous, devastating and infectious this is put across by the way in which each stage of the 'virus' is shown.

The brand image also comes out in this poster as it is a red poster which symbolises danger and we can see that it is infectious as it has a biohazard symbol as the film logo. we can also see that the eyes are symbolic of this product. The magazine cover of 'Time Out' also pushes the same feel and brand image.

Another film that pushes brand image is Dog Soldiers. The tag line for this film was 'A New Breed Of Horror'

Chosen Brief

We have decided to create a teaser trailer for a British horror film.
Our initial idea is to have a parallel world that only certain people can see, but only when they close their eyes. The parallel world is full of 'monsters' in the form of shadow like creatures that attack and kill their victims. Our protagonist is a young male who as a child discovered he could see a parallel world when he closed his eyes, but didn't realise the power that is had on the real world. However, seeing his sister killed by one of the deamon shadows, he realises that he needs to protect the people close to him.

Institution (Traits)

The institution that our film is going to belong to is the British Film Industry. This is because Hollywood films are usually higher quality and they use a much larger budget. British films also generally have less promotion an distribution. This means they are not as well known as Hollywood films as they dont get the hype a Hollywood film gets before its release. Another reason we will probably be in the British Film Industry is because we will be using a whole British cast and crew to film our teaser trailer and our target audience will be mainly British.

Institution (History Of The Teaser Trailer)

An early example of the teaser trailer was for 'Superman - The Movie' (1978) directed by Richard Donner:

The trailer was made to re-invigorate interest in the film as it was already nearly a year late. This marketing move was successful and the film was a massive success, being nominated for three oscars.
Another example of an early teaser trailer was for 'Batman' (1989) directed by Tim Burton:

The reason Warner Brothers created this teaser trailer was, again, for a specific reason. It was an emergency marketing move that successfully convinced angered comic book fans that the film would stay true to and respect the source material.
After these teaser trailers successfully aided in making the films massive successes, Hollywood started to create teaser trailers for most of their films, releasing the trailers long before the film's were due to be released, sometimes even before the films had finished being made.

Institution (Branding)

A brand is a particular make of a product. There may be many different brands of the same product, for example chips. Branding is more than just advertising, it is about creating an image that the public associate with a particular type of product - an image and a message that will influence them into buying the same product over and over again.

'advertising any given product is only one part of branding's grand plan'

(Naomi Klein, No Logos)

'Brands need to provide customers with a consistent compelling experience in order not to confuse them, as confusion leads to doubt'

(mudvalley.com)

There are 8 elements that create brand identity:

• Brand slogan - often a catchphrase linked to the brands logo.
• Brand Essence - what the brand means in a sentence.
  
• Brand Personality - what kind of character the brand has, this humanises the brand making it easier for us to relate to it.
• Brand values - what the brand stands for or against.
• Brand appearance - what the brand looks like, sounds like or tastes like.
• Brand heritage - the traditions that the brand has.
• Emotional benefits - what the consumer feels when they hear or see the brand.
• Hard Benefits - what is special about that brand that will make people buy into it? (is it cheap? high quality? more entertaining?) What real quantifiable benefits the brand offers the buyer.

Brands work as they turn a product into something unique and special, and enable them to stand out from the crowd. It is important to remember branding when creating a teaser trailer as we need to create a brand image for the film that we are promoting. We need to do this to make the film stand out from other films being released at the same time, the promotion for the film, including the teaser trailer, poster etc, need to be memorable and stand out from the rest.

Group

Our group is made up Bethany Eddleston and David Perkins. We have decided to create a promotions package for a film and the first thing we are going to produce is a teaser trailer.