Gabby's A2 Media Blog: November 2015

Summary of research From my research into horror I have learnt a variety of things within the genre. From analysing several horror posters I have learnt what makes it effective, the use of lighting to create a sense of fear almost for the audience for example, however also what gets it noticed and what successfully intrigues an audience to want to watch the film, such as things like does the poster actually look horrific and will this entice the audience. Whilst researching into actual movies such as Halloween I have learnt the classical narrative structure produced by Todorov and how films occasionally challenge this theory. I developed my knowledge around Propps’ character types and how films support this as well as challenge his character types. I have learned about Clovers’ theory, the final girl and how this is seemingly evident in the horror films I analysed, also Mulveys’ male gaze theory and how this is a useful theory to attract a male audience in particular, as from my research it seemed like the horror genre’s target audience is predominantly males. I’ve learnt the history based around the genre from my research, also what makes a trailer effective and there are various factors into this, but one thing in particular is that the trailer has to be attractive however without giving too much of the plot away to the audience because as a result they won't want to watch the film already knowing what will happen. All this knowledge will be useful for when I produce my own horror film trailer as I now know what to include within and also what not to include. As well as this, I've learnt about the distribution and marketing that goes on when producing a new film and the advertising that takes place, giving me an advantage when it comes to marketing my products.