Blog 8 Analysis of 2 DVD covers.

Jennifer's body's DVD cover is typical of of the teen horror genre, it is typical because it follows typical codes and conventions set by previous films of a similar genre for example the blood on the blackboard behind is a typical convention used in horror films, the colours used in the DVD cover are red which connotes blood and horror, and black which connotes death and these are typical of the horror genre and are used in the majority of horror DVD covers and posters, this is because they are seen to be colours that fit in with the horror genre because of their connotations. The main image is also typical as it is an appealing image that will attract a younger audience who may feel attracted by that particular image and want to see the film, the main character which you can tell from the main image is typical as shes supposedly a teenage girl still in education because of the blackboard in the background and the desk in the main image, and she is also meant to look like one of the popular girls, someone that everyone should like and want to be like, the image also has the girl in the main image who we are lead to believe is Jennifer has blood from the mouth, this makes the image look Gothic and typical of the horror genre and codes and conventions. the cover itself is typical of a DVD cover because it has all the typical features such as a heading, the heading for Jennifer's body is in a San serif font making the film seem more modern and suggest that it is a more modern version of the film it is a remake of. another feature of the DVD cover is that it has screenshots from the film on the reverse of the the cover giving potential buyers a insight to what genre the film is if it isn't clear enough from the first glance, the lighting of the DVD cover is dark and shows the film in a darker view connotating that it is a horror.

This DVD cover is typical of horror posters, this is because it uses similar themes and conventions as Jennifer's body and other horror posters such as, a dark main image with the main characters and blood suggesting the film is a horror and contains gore the DVD cover being mainly black and other dark colours connotes that the film involves death. The title of the film is in a serif font, this is because sorority is a group which the main cast has become part of, the title is in serif font because it connotes heritage and tradition. Another way that this cover reflects teen horror is that the main characters in the main image are female and wearing little clothing like in the Jennifer's body cover this is because potential audiences of a teenage age will be attracted by this and become interested in the film, language used on the cover is dark and keeps in the theme of horror using words such as 'black, gore, death' these words are typical to the horror genre and give the poster that sense of horror using these words in the accolades, images on the back of the cover include an image of a dead person, this is what you would expect to see on a horror DVD as death is a typical theme and used in most DVD covers or posters for the horror genre.
overall both covers fit in with the teen horror genre by using typical themes and conventions set by previous films and also attract to the teenage audience by being relatable in situations that the audience can see themselves possibly in.

Blog 6 - The script

My script appeals to its target audience which is teenagers and young adults mainly because they have the most disposable income, it appeals to this group because a teenage audience can relate to the cast as they are typical stereotyped teenagers that do and act how the modern teenage person would act. my film also targets the psychographics of aspirers who are people that have more money or status and want to stand out with the latest product and keep up to date with current affairs and watching a current or latest film will keep them in the know and fulfil their needs, and also succeeders who are people who have disposable income to spend but don't feel the need to show it meaning that they will be able to afford to watch it these are generally the teenage market because thy don't have financial commitments such as bills to afford so will have a greater disposable income.
I feel that my script fits in with the conventions of teen horror because it has the typical teenage cast of a group of friends or family like existing horror films of this genre out currently today for example Jennifer's body and sorority row which i have been analysing for ideas for my script, other conventions of horror that my script fits into is that it has an obvious characters fitting into propp's theory with a clear hero who we are suppose to care for and want to succeed, a helper who follows the hero aiding their quest/journey in my case trying to save Steve and an antagonist who is the old man and monster who are trying to stop the hero or even kill him these are generally the killers in horror films.
People that have read my script felt it was typical of the horror genre and that it had made them want to see the film if it were to come out and felt it had fit the criteria for my target audience.

Blog 5 Evidence of wider reading

Horror films are unsettling movies that strive to elicit the emotions of fear, disgust and horror from viewers. They usually feature frequent jump scenes that make the viewers jump and startled through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres. Horrors also frequently overlap with the thriller genre.
Horror films deal with the viewer's nightmares, hidden worst fears, revolutions and terror of the unknown. Although a good deal of it is about the supernatural, if some films contain a plot about morbidity, serial killers, a disease/virus outbreak and surrealism, they may be termed "horror".
Its plots often involve the intrusion of an evil force, event, or personage, mainly of supernatural origin, into the everyday world. Some of the most common elements of horror films are ghosts, torture, gore, werewolves, ancient curses, satanism, demons, vicious animals, vampires, cannibals, haunted houses, zombies and masked serial killers. Conversely, many stories of the supernatural do not have to be, and are not, horror.
What's considered to be a horror film has varied from decade to decade. These days, the term "horror" is applied to films which display more explicit gore, jump scenes/scares or supernatural content (Wes Cravens New Nightmare, A Tale of Two Sisters, Saw films, The Strangers, The Ring, Session 9).
Early horror movies are largely based on classic literature of the horror genre, such as Dracula, Frankenstein, The Phantom of the Opera, and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. More recent horror films continue to exploit the monsters of literature.    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horror_film

Teen horror movies are meant to park butts in seats and sell popcorn. Girls should scream and want to hug their boyfriends. You should be able to make out and miss half the movie and not miss anything because you already know what's going to happen.

How to write a teen horror script

Create a menace, the scarier the better. The best kind of danger is the kind of trouble only kids would get into or that their parents would never understand. The possibilities are endless: zombie classmates, teachers or parents; aliens impersonating classmates, teachers or parents; toxic sludge, radioactive meteors, killer clowns or mass murderers in hockey masks. What's most important is that any teen can die horribly and/or comically at any moment.

2

Find a theme or moral. Teen movies make at least a pretense of social redemption: the values of family or love, teen responsibility, the triumph of good over evil. The characters themselves are almost always in jeopardy because they did something stupid, irresponsible or wrong (broke curfew, smoked pot, used their parents' car without permission, explored the old mine shaft with warning signs posted, had sex).

3

Write your concept as a single sentence synopsis: "Masked mass murderer kills teens in while they dream of sex," "high school experiment mutates science nerd into T-Rex," "teen surfers wrangle with mutant sharks." A synopsis focuses your thinking during the screenwriting stage and becomes your pitch when its time to sell the script.

4

Develop your characters. They don't have to be consistent or complex, teen movies are about action and thrills, but you should give them more than a passing thought. Typical characters include the misfit, the jock and his girl, the science nerd, the party animals and the stoner. The hero or heroine is nearly always a misfit who everyone else ignores, usually to their peril.

5

Find a setting that makes the ordinary truly scary. Teen horror movies tend to focus on the everyday places teens hang out and relish turning safe havens into places of danger: the high school locker room, the soda shop, prom night, camp, lover's lane.

6

Outline your movie. Teen horror movies have three acts: act one establishes setting and character and ends with the first attack; in act two the characters realize they are under attack but can't find a way to escape or warn others; in the final act the few survivors finally overcome. In the last scene the threat reappears to set up the sequel. Don't forget to throw in some plot twists to keep your audience guessing (the boyfriend we thought was dead isn't, the monster laid eggs, the sidekick was infected when we weren't looking).

7

Write your script. Feel free to make changes to your outline. Write in screenplay format, which is about one minute of screen time per play. Keep the script under 90 pages; teen horror movies should never run more than 90 minutes with credits.

http://www.ehow.com/how_2316611_write-teen-horror-screenplay.html


When writing my script i will try to follow these conventions to make my film as appealing to my target audience as much as possible increasing the amount of people that come to watch the film.

Blog 4 Analysis of opening sequences

Sorority row, in the opening sequence the setting is a house party in the middle of the night giving it a sense of something horrific is going to happen, another setting is a building site were the main characters carry on the prank and were we see the first death early on in the film to keep the audience engaged. This setting is particularly used as it is deserted and anything/someone could be hiding round one of many corners. The costume in the opening sequence is very little exposing the bodies of both genders appealing to all of the audience, language used is typical teenage slang used in America, lighting in the sequence is low key as its a house party and its the middle of the night but also its typical of the horror conventions.
          In Jennifer's body the opening sequence starts out with the setting the same as sorority row a house in a remote location in the middle of the night but moves to another location where we are introduced into another character in a mental hospital two contrasting settings, costume in the sequence is Jennifer wears typical trendy teenage clothing and needy in the mental institution is wearing pyjamas but changes into her inmate overalls, lighting used is high key as its day time in the mental institution.This opening sequence appeals to the audience of teen horror as the main characters are teenagers making it easier to relate and they are all mostly female appealing to the gender that mainly watches teen horror as you can see in the table in blog 2.

Blog 3 Institutional contexts

Jennifers body was created by Fox atomic US this is because they are a big company with a lot of money behind them to make films, an estimated $16,000,000 was spent making the film and the gross was $16,195,523 by the 15th november 2009. Sorority row was created by Karz entertainment and Summit entertainment who are small less powerful media companies, the film also costed an estimated $16,000,000,000 and made a gross of  $11,915,856 by the 25th october 2009 in the US.
Taking these factors into account I will try to use the same approach as Fox took with jennifers body having big name actors and actresses, aswell as them being the same sort of age as the target audience so that they can relate to the characters and this will  make the audience want to come and watch the film.

Blog 2 Target audience

In the film Jennifer's body the main audience was 18-19 year old 19,044 male went to watch it and only 4,141 female showing the film appealed more to a male audience, However the female audience enjoyed the film the most and gave the highest average marks. These results show that the target audience is most likely to have been 18-29 year old males maybe females as well.

In the film Sorority row the main audience again was 18-29 year old and the majority of them were male with 3,639 viewers out of the 4,445 showing the film appealed to the male audience. the highest average marks came from 45+ year old females showing this age group enjoyed the film the most, these findings show that the target audience was most probably the teenage market both male and female but mainly focusing on male, however it may have also been targeted at 45+ as they may have watched the original.

The main target audiences for teen horrors which these film are would be 18-29 year old mainly because they are classed as teenagers and young adults, but also because they have the most disposable income as most don't have many bills or rent to pay. The main psychographics are aspirers who have more money or status and want to stand out with the latest product and keep up to date with current affairs, and also succeeders who are people who have disposable income to spend but don't feel the need to show it.

This is the target audience i will try to appeal to.

Blog 1 Introduction - Pre-production

For my pre-production i will be creating a script for the opening scene of a teen horror film.