Class Trailer Movie Review 1 (Evil Dead)

Name of the film: Evil Dead                                                                                           year released 2013

Genre : Horror                                                                                                                  your mark 10/10

 

 

What happened in the trailer?

An ancient evil is awakened by a group of teenagers

 

What did you like?

It didn’t hold back on the gore (even for a red band trailer

It set the tone really well

Collision cutting worked well

Text was done well

It seem to show the story that didn’t give away the whole plot

 

What you didn’t like

The trailer was slightly short

Needed more bad guys being shown

 

 

                                 Class average 9.7/10

Shotlist

Health and Safety

Our Stereotypical Horror fan

Our stereotypical horror fan, mainly like action horror, but doesn’t mind elements of gore and psychological horror in the films that he watches. Wears casual clothing like jeans and a t-shirt. Generally goes to the cinema with a few friends. His appearance doesn’t bring across that he is a huge horror fan. Probably plays video games in his free time

He generally fits into the C2 and D1 demographics, but can also be above or below that. Mainly mainstream, he doesn’t have all the characteristics of a mainstream psychographic, because he also adapts to what society is like at the moment (clothing etc.). Usually around 18-35 years old. They see themselves as a mainstreamer. They like whatever is popular at the time, however also show signs of reformer. They see things in the world aren’t perfect and they want to change it.  They enjoy horror movies as they twist stereotypes and like the forward thinking. They like the fact there are black and women hero, it shows how the world is changing and that just because you are a certain sex or race doesn’t mean you can’t do things.  

Their favourite horror movies would be:

·         The Hills Have Eyes (2006)

·         Dawn of the Dead (2004)

·         The Crazies (2010)

·         The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)

Audience Research: Initial Class Poster

 

-Horror Trailer-

 

Plot details of your idea

Lenny grew up on a farm with his mum and dad. His parents died when he was seven and he took it upon himself to look after the farm. A pack of crows ravaged him one day, disfiguring Lenny. He vowed to protect the farm so any trespassers he sees he kills, dressed as a scarecrow. A group of drunken teens wander onto the farm for a party, and this doesn’t bode well for their survival.   

Positive responses from class members

Class members said that we had a good narrative and history for Lenny. The bad guy is iconic and memorable. And also there is an element of realism to the villain, making it that bit scarier, the suggestion of child abuse linking to a horrible real life event.  

Negative responses from class members

However some people said that some features where a bit too crazy, especially the ending where we wanted Lenny to be eaten by crows. However after looking back on this idea it would be very hard to film. So we change the ending to having the scarecrow alone in the field and then a crow lands of his shoulder, and then he starts to move. We felt this change was needed so the realism was maintained.

How many voted to say that they watched the film, where did it come out of all the groups?

We got 19/19 in votes from the class, meaning we finished as the top idea for the whole group. This shows why we decided to take it on for our trailer. The idea was clearly very popular with the class and they are our target audience, so picking the film was the right choice.

Are you happy with the score? Do you think the idea is worth making?

We are extremely happy with the score as it is top marks. It shows that this idea is exactly what the audience are drawn to. We feel that this is worth making as we could do it. We feel we could make a really good trailer from this idea which we get us a high grade.

 

Mood Board

Mood Board Planning: Why we chose the images

The image with Freddy standing in the hallway was chosen because the way the lighting is makes him appear as a silhouette. This consequently makes him seem creepy, because we fear the unknown, which in this case is the figure at the end of the hallway. The lighting also creates a tense atmosphere due to the mist, making us feel empathetic towards the final girl. In the other Nightmare On Elm Street pictures they both carry on with the silhouette theme, and also have Freddy wearing the hat, which relates to our scarecrow, who also wears a hat.

Scarecrow’s face from Batman Begins was chosen because it is a very simple mask, but very effective because you can still see the person’s eyes, which is quite disturbing. It was also chosen because the idea of The Scarecrow from Batman spreading fear was one we wanted to somehow use in our trailer.

The barn in the mood board is very similar to that of the one from Ed Gein, in which he hangs up a woman and cuts her open. We hope to have a decent level of gore in our trailer. This follows on to the crow image which we chose because we would like a crow to be with the scarecrow, and for it to eat people. The crow can connote evil, but it will be twisted around in our trailer because the crow is actually a friend to the scarecrow.

The scene from Cabin in the Woods was chosen for the level of gore it involves. The film is practically gore-less until that scene, which makes it even more unsettling and shocking. The image of the dead woman was also chosen due to its realistic nature, which makes it seem more disturbing because it is a real life death.

Chad from Tucker and Dale vs Evil is on the mood board because we believe him to be a typical male character that is generally not a very nice person, and also ends up dying in an incredibly brutal way.

The Birds on the climbing frame was chosen mainly due to the scene from The Birds in general when they are all squawking and flying around then go completely silent. This is collision cutting, but it is done in such a way that it just isn’t expected because crows aren’t thought to be violent animals.

Movie Reviews 1 (Land Of The Dead) 2005

Review of “Land of the Dead”

Film title: Land of the dead                                                                                        Director George  Romero

Year of production: 2005

Genre: horror/action

Brief Plot Outline:

The living dead have taken over the world and humanity survives in a small city and seems to be thriving and they are generally quite horrible to the zombies and see them as a big joke and it seem zombie remember who they are and attack the city.

Which to Scene impressed you the most?

1.            When the zombie Choco attack his boss in a sort of revenge way for not giving him an  place in the nice building instead of the slums

 

2.            The beginning when all the zombie wander the streets and just gives an eerie vibe from the place because they just wander around as though that what they would do in normal life and they almost seem human and help introduce the chief zombie which we feel sympathy for. 

 

How has watching the film helped you understand this genre of filmmaking?

This film has help me understand the horror genre for the body horror and all the characters conventions and helps you how to make an effective horror with the locations especially at the beginning

 

Which features on the genre checklist did you spot in the film? 

Body horror (when the man get his face pulled off/the foot in the boot with no leg attached)


 

Slow moving monsters (the zombies throughout the film however we seem to root for the zombies and not the people in the city)

 

Male hero (The Alpha Zombie “big daddy” for he has many features he’s big, he tough and he doesn’t die at the end)

 

Open ended ending (the majority survive the apocalypse although there is still zombie running around)
 

Creepy location (The beginning with the dark town full of zombies with the mist and the zombie in their work clothes when they died)

What Aspect would you like to include in your trailer?

The body horror (for the best impact on the audience and to freak them out)

The monster to be the hero (for that will surprise the audience and keep this film in their mind)

What thing do you want to avoid in your trailer?

Too many protagonist (for you can’t connect with the characters as well because there is too many to care about)

Two stories from different characters (because then the audience get confused and try to keep with the character and remember how is how)

The Body horror was one of the best parts of the film because the film was realistic (we can try to do this with other effects)

The characters and their development was good and you got to know and relate with them  (we can do that by properly think about our characters