Synopsis:
It is a summary of a screenplay which it includes main characters, stock characters and a plot. These three key conventions of a film can give an insight into the genre of the film and what it will be about.
A synopsis can be very important in the selling of the film and wether it should be shown or not.

Here is the link to 'A nightmare on elm street':
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1179056/

While at the Springwood Diner with his girlfriend, Kris Fowles (Katie Cassidy), Dean Russell (Kellan Lutz) falls asleep at the table and meets a man covered in burn scars, wearing a red and green sweater and a clawed glove on his hand. The burned man cuts Dean's throat in the dream, but in reality it appears that Dean is cutting his own throat as friend and waitress Nancy Holbrook (Rooney Mara) looks on with Kris. At Dean's funeral, Kris sees a photograph of her and Dean as children, but cannot recall ever knowing Dean before high school. Kris begins to dream about the burned man herself and refuses to go to sleep for fear that she will die in her dreams. Jesse Braun (Thomas Dekker), Kris's ex-boyfriend, shows up at her house to keep her company while she sleeps, but Kris meets the burned man in her dreams and is murdered. Covered in blood, Jesse runs to Nancy's house to try to explain what happened and he learns that Nancy has been having dreams about the same man; that man's name is Freddy (Jackie Earle Haley).Jesse is apprehended by the police under suspicion of murdering Kris, and is killed by Freddy when he falls asleep in his jail cell. With her friends dying, Nancy begins to question what everyone's connection is to each other, given that none of them can remember each other before their teenage years. Eventually, Nancy and her friend Quentin Smith (Kyle Gallner) discover that all of them, including more children, attended the same preschool together. Nancy's mother Gwen (Connie Britton) reluctantly tells Nancy and Quentin that there was a gardener at the preschool, Fred Krueger, who hurt Nancy and the rest of the kids. Gwen explains that Nancy was his favorite, and came home one day telling her mom about Freddy's "magic cave" and the things that happened down there. Gwen claims Krueger skipped town before he was arrested . Nancy does not believe her and attempts to track down the remaining kids from the school. Nancy eventually discovers that all of the other kids have been killed, most of them in their sleep. Meanwhile, Quentin tries to accept that everything is nothing more than repressed memories, but he falls asleep during swim practice and witnesses what really happened to Krueger. Quentin sees everyone's parents hunt down Krueger, and then burn him alive. Quentin and Nancy confront Quentin's father, Alan Smith (Clancy Brown), about the reality they murdered Krueger with no actual evidence that he had committed any crime. Nancy and Quentin, who both begin sporadically dreaming while they are awake as a result of insomnia, decide to go to the preschool and learn what they can about Krueger.On the way, Nancy falls asleep and is attacked by Freddy, but when Quentin wakes her up they discover she has pulled a piece of Freddy's sweater out of the dreamworld and into reality. Quentin takes Nancy to the hospital for cuts on her arm; there, he steals some adrenaline and a syringe to help them stay awake. Nancy and Quentin leave the hospital and eventually make it to the preschool. Quentin uncovers Krueger's "magic cave" and the evidence that proves Krueger was physically and sexually abusing all of the children. Nancy decides the only way to end this is to pull Krueger out of their dreams and kill him in reality. Quentin tries to stay awake long enough to pull Nancy out of her dream when she has Freddy, but he falls asleep and is attacked. Krueger then goes after Nancy, and explains that he intentionally left her for last so she would stay awake long enough that when she finally fell asleep, she would no longer be able to wake back up. While Nancy struggles with Freddy, Quentin wakes and uses the adrenaline to bring Nancy up and pull Freddy into reality. With Krueger distracted by Quentin, Nancy uses a broken paper cutter blade to cut Freddy's gloved hand off, and then slice his throat. Afterward, Nancy torches the secret room, with Krueger's body left inside, while she and Quentin leave. Nancy and her mother return home from the hospital, with Nancy being told she should get some sleep. Krueger suddenly appears in a mirror's reflection and kills Nancy's mother before pulling her body through the mirror while Nancy screams.

Stock Characters
Main character (Killer)
Plot

From this Synopsis of 'A nightmare on elm street' we find out the killer is a man called Fred Krueger who worked as a gardener at a pre-school, is covered in burns, due to a group of childrens parents burning him and wears a red and green sweater and a clawed glove on his hand. He was killed for sexualy abusing the children in a school.
He kills all the children from the school now as they are adults, in their sleep.
A woman called Nancy and a man called Quentin set out to try and bring Krueger out of their dreams and kill him again. They succeed in doing so, but then at the end Krueger is then again seen in the reflection of a mirror.

Applying Conventions of Trailers

Applying Conventions of Trailers:

BloodShed High :
In order to apply with the recognizable conventions of trailers in groups, we came up with ideas about how to market and promote a new film Bloodshed High. To
do this task we came to together in small groups to discuss what we felt the most important aspects
of film trailers are. We came up with this list:

• Our trailer includes a unique selling point, this is something that makes our trailer different from all other horror trailers. The unique selling point lays in the plot of the movie. The main character who is a young boy, who has moved from london to america is bullied and these bullies all end up being killed. The predicted killer is the young boy, although the twist of the story is that the popular cheerleader is the killer who is only looking out for the boy. This challenges your basic teen-horror film, since the popular characters are never the killers.









• 
  
  The main character who is the young boy who is being bullied, is played by A
  sa Butterfield who is a young british actor. He fits the role of this character w
  ell since he has a very innocent, and timid look about him.
  

• The popular girl who is the killer, is going to be play by Dekota Fanning
  .This is because she is a very well known young actress, who has s
  tarred in many scarey and mysterious films. She also has a 'girl next door' look to her.

• 
  The trailer starts of with the production that it is made by, which will be 'Twisted Pictures'. This is because twisted pictures is well known for making horror films, such as 'Saw'.
  
  
  
  


• 
  It will then go onto an establishing shot of the school where the school is set 'Bloodshed High'. This is to set the scene for the audience and the setting is introduced. This also shows the audience who the target audience of the film will be, since teenagers between 15 and 18 are more likely to watch a film about a high school.
  
  
  
  
  The speed at the beginning of the trailer will be quite slow, and then gradually get faster with rapid shots. Thoughout these shots a soundtrack will be playing, which is going to be by 'Linkin Park' because it is heavy metal, so it will be very fast and loud to act to the effect of the trailer and create tension.
  
  
  
  Within the rapid shots Asa Butterfields name will appear, then followed by Dekota Fanning's name, so that the audience is fimilar with who the characters in the film are going to be.
  
  Jason Bennett will be the director of the film, who has also made such horror films as 'Bury Me'. This also gives an insight to what the genre of the film will be to the audience. This will be shown towards the end of the trailer, also to ingage audiences who liked his precious films to watch this film.
  
  
  The trailer will end with the film title, this is so that the question the audience have been asking thoughout the trailer is answered. Also it's so that it is rememberable and audiences can see what the film they want to see is called. This will then be followed with the words 'Coming Soon', to make the audience anxious and excited to find out when the film will be out in cinemas.
  
  
  Here is a copy of the presentation we gave to the class showcasing these ideas:
  
  
  
  

Characters

Character's

in horror movie's can range from general people to monsters. But character's that are simliar to human's, but have a slight abnormality to them make them seem realistic but at the same time terrifying.
Masks can also be very scarey, since there is much tension on the unknown.

knowing who the killer is, is one of the main questions the viewers ask.

Sound

Soundtracks for horror films often start of slow and calm, and then begin to get more fast and loud to create tension. Music that sounds like nursery rhymes is sometimes used, which usely means their is an evil child or something happened to the killer when they were a child. Or sometimes the music is almost electonic, giving an unreal atmosphere. The music can often sound like a clock ticking or a heart beating, which builds up great tension.

Preliminary task: The Meeting

From this task

This blog is going show the planning and making of.......(name of film)

It will include a preliminary task, all planning and reasearch, a trailer, a poster and a magazine front cover for the new movie of....

The purpose of this work is to highten and demonstrate my skill's within different parts of media. My ability to plan and construct media products will be shown, also my knowledge and understanding in my evaluation of my work and lastly my ability to undertake, apply and present appropriate research.

This blog will consist of images, audio, video and links to online resources.

Analysing a Trailer




Case 39

• The film title is shown at the end of the trailer, this is so that the viewer knows what the film is about and then if interested the name is told to be remembered and the movie can be viewed. This is very often used to build tension throughout the trailer and then give the audience a dramatic and much waited ending to the trailer.

• The trailer tells us the main character who is Renee Zellweger near to the end of the trailer. The reason why we are told who is starring in the film is a selling point, if people like the person who is starring in the film then they are more likely to go and watch it.

• The pace at the start of the trailer is slow, this is so that the story can begin to unravel. Then the shot's begin to get a lot shorter by the middle of the trailer and there is lots of flashing shots.

• The beat of the music at the beginning of the trailer, is almost like a clock ticking, giving the indication that their is a certain amount of time for something to happen. Then a slow subtle piano is played, giving a calm atmosphere. Then sounds from within the movie such as dialogue is heard, until a fast beat is heard which builds up tension.

• At the beginning of the trailer the speed is very slow and the storey is slowly unraveling. Then is begins to speed up and the shots become very short and quick, to in some way disorientate the viewer and leave them asking questions.

• At the very end of the trailer we are shown the name of the film and that it is coming soon.

• A film trailer is more effective then the film poster in making you want to see the film. This is because more is given away in the trailer into what the genre is and what the film will be about, unlike the poster which can sometimes not give an insight to the film much.

• This trailer would be shown at the cinema before films who have an audience over the age of 18, since the film is aimed at people over that age. Also would be shown before horror films, because it will mean that the audience like horror films. It would be shown late at night on tv for adult viewers. Also would be shown inbetween and horror/ investigation type programmes.

Film Posters:

Salt


The font is in white, which connects with the word salt; this would not appeal to young audiences, so this shows that it is for an older target audience. The font type looks like very computerised, it looks like the type of font used on databases; this giving the impression that the film could be about some sort of investigation.

The image is a close up of a woman's face. Her facial expression is very serious, but also seductive; this indicating that the film is for adults, maybe men. The only indication this image gives is that this woman is most likely to be the main character in the film. Not much is given away by the image or the text on this poster.


Grown Up's

The font used for this film title has a 3D effect, making the words stand out. The words look very cartoon like, giving the impression of a kids film. The writing is blue, meaning that the film could be stereotyped for males.

The image is of five men going down a water slide, all looking as if they are having a good time. Since all actors pictured usually play comedian like roles, gives an indication that the film will be a comedy. Also the picture is ironic to the title, since it is called grown ups yet the men are doing childish activities.

Blood Diamond

The font used for this film title is very plain and blunt, giving the impression that the film could be about a serious issue. The font being white is ironic, due to the words used in the title 'Blood' which gives the image of the colour red. All letters of the title are in capitals, making it stand out and seem very apparent to the viewer, also giving great emphasise to the words.

The image on the poster has a sepia colour, giving the impression that the film is about something that happened in that past, due to the old style of image colour. The two males facial expressions are very stirn, also adding to the feeling of seriousness. Also aeroplanes and smoke is pictured in the background showing that their is some sort of attack against the men.

What is more important images or words?
Altogether this research shows that the both text and image need to work together to make a film poster effective. It shouldn't give the storey away, leaving some mystery and the viewer with questions. Although it should show what genre and target audience the film is for. IN my research I have found that associations with words and their meanings is important to speack to its target market. However, I believe the visual language is as important to create anticipation and excitement for its intended audience.