Definition of Transmedia: When a text is not limited to one media.
Transmedia text helps films appeal to an audience because not only do other medias promote the actual film but also if the audience like one of the medias shown they will most likely to check out the others to see whether they like it too. This is also a way to create a block buster film if it gets popular enough.
Blumer & Katz: Media Theories- Uses and Gratification.
There are only 4 reasons why an audience enjoy a media (Film)
1. Personal Relationships
- Relationships in the real world
- Talking to people about media - X Factor on Monday
2. Personal Identity
-When you see yourself in the film
- Relate to characters
3. Diversion
- Escaping from the real world
4. Information
- News
Evil Dead case study:
Media: Video game (PlayStation 2 & Xbox)
Release date: September-October 2005
Media: Video game (PlayStation, Dreamcast & Microsoft windows)
Release date: December 2000- June 2001
A step by step recipe for new film writers on how to make the perfect horror film
In order to make the perfect horror film you will need to identify what makes the perfect horror film for your audience to love & enjoy. First thing you will need to know are the key ingredients for a horror film. Ingredients
1) The setting of the horror film is commonly used as the base of the perfect mixture. Without the base the film will lack in flavor.
2) 3 or more tablespoons of themes that will tickle your taste buds,
3) You will also need a dash of a good daunting sound track
4) A couple of characters to tie the whole story together
5) And last but not least a delicious narrative that will have the audience on the edge of their seats.
Method
Step 1:
Firstly you will need to pick what type of setting the horror film will be, the usual settings for a horror film are normally
- Small communities or isolated places
- Urban environments
- Dark streets
- Narrow alleyways
- Large cities
- New house
Step 2;
After picking a setting you will need to toss it into a bowl and give it a quick mix. Then you will need to choose a narrative. Picking a narrative shouldn't be too hard after picking your setting, once you have the setting, the story can easily be made up based around what setting you have chosen. Say if you chosen 'new house' for your setting normally the narrative would be about a new family moving into a haunted house. An example of this would be the films 'Insidious' or 'The Haunting.'
Step 3:
Now that you have both the setting and the narrative in the bowl whisk the two together to give it a creamy texture.
Step 4:
The next thing to throw into the mix would be the themes. Now choosing the themes is a very important step to take in the process of creating a perfect horror film, if this step is missed out the whole thing could turn out like a disaster. With the theme you will need to choose it wisely by considering what you already have. An example would be: say you have chosen the setting 'new house' with the narrative with a new family moving in to a haunted house you would need to think about what sort of theme the story line fits into where its a 'Good vrs Evil' or a religious based film or a film that portrays depression. Choosing the right theme for your film will give it the right flavor and the right colour so your target audience will enjoy it more.
Step 5:
Next you need to start chopping up some human flesh and add 8 pints of blood to form your characters. The formation of character creating is the longest step because you have to choose each of the characters personalities and what actor would suit the characters look and be able to act the characters personality as well. This is a lengthy process because you will need to cast auditions so you get to see how each person acted and then at the end choose the best person.
Step 6:
Now that you have the setting, the narrative, the themes and the characters its time to bake your perfect horror film mix in the oven for a good 45 minutes until its a good deep red with blood oozing out of the top.
Step 7:
After the perfect horror film is ready leave it to cool for 10 minutes and then after sprinkle a dash of a
daunting, eerie soundtrack of your choice to tie the whole film together and bish bash bosh you have the perfect horror film.
Just because you have the perfect horror film doesn't mean its all over just yet, there are a few things you need to do to share the perfectness of your film with the public... and that is to advertise it correctly. When advertising your film you want to grab the audiences attention without giving away too much.
Here are some good examples of ways other films grabbed their audiences attention.
This trailer was promoting the film 'Carrie.' Its about a girl who has telekinetic powers just like the way this video was filmed. This grabs the public's attention because its funny to see peoples reactions and for the people who witnessed this happening this will definitely stick to their minds and when they see the film is out hopefully they will go to watch it.
A trailer isn't the only way to grab your audiences attention another way would be to create a whole load of different posters that could also grab peoples attention.. here are some good examples:
The image is the thing that really grabs the audiences attention, this image is unusual because the girls body is bent in an abnormal way also her body + shadow together looks like a 2 which is also quite interesting.
If you're a Harry Potter fan then you will know what this is about, this poster didn't even need a title because everyone knows about it, this will get the fans talking which will get it more publicity,
Other ways you can get publicity is through
- Merchandise
- Media ( Twitter, Facebook, YouTube.)
Some horror films are influenced by true stories like Annabelle was and the conjuring.
So that is the way you could make a perfect horror film. I hope you enjoy creating a story that will make you sleep less at night.
Zara Butterworth researching horror audiences: Accessed date: 26/01/2015, Zara butterworth, http://www.slideshare.net/zarabutterworth/researching-horror-audiences
Zara Butterworth is a student who was doing research on horror audience, she produced a slide-share on what she has discovered, here is what I learnt from her slide share:
- Largest group of cinema goers are people between the ages of 15-24.
- In her opinion males see horror/action more than females whereas woman typically prefer watching genres such as comedy & romance.
- However recent figures show that females watching horror has exceeded male viewers for the first time.
- Not only are woman conventionally less likely to visit cinema but statistics show that vast majority of films within the genre are directed/written/produced by men.
Molly's A2 media blog: Target Audience of Horror films
Accessed date: 26/01/2015, Molly Rose Brown, http://enorfbrownm.blogspot.co.uk/2011/11/target-audience-of-horrorfilms-any-form.html
Molly is also another student who has done some primary research on the target audience on horror films. Here are some of the things that I learnt from it:
- The rating and audience on a horror film depends on what the horror film actually contains,
- Teenage males would be more likely to watch horror films as the simple stereotype of males being the more 'harder to scare' gender whereas females are supposedly easier to scare and quite feminine.
The Guardian: Everything but the ghoul Access date: 26/1/2015, The Guardian http://www.theguardian.com/film/2007/apr/06/2
From this article I have learnt
- There are very few female directors of any genre. I think the type of horror films women tend to like are perhaps more interesting, more psychological
- Psychologists have long believed that our attraction to horror films is that they allow us to explore and experiment with fears and emotions. But there are suggestions that women respond to fear in a way that men don't. "fear can facilitate sexual responsiveness in women, whereas it inhibits in men" - Dr Glenn Wilson
Pacific + Standard- The psychology of a horror movie fan
What I learnt from this article is that: Horror films that end un happily should then produce heightened dysphoria
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Conclusion:
From all the articles I have read and all the self research other students did I have learnt that the audience rating all depends on what the film involves.
Genre conventions are things that make the genre, things you would expect to see in a specific genre. To be able to recognise a specific genre you need to look at the setting, narrative, characterisation and the themes.
A horror film setting normally includes:
- Small communities or isolated places
- Urban environments
- Dark streets
- Narrow alleyways
- Large cities
- New house
Anything that connotes isolation or being alone.
The typical horror film narratives are:
- Revenge from the killer/supernatural creature
- Halloween night
- Friday 13th
- The dead not at peace
- New family moving into old house
The general characters in a horror film are:
- Victim
- Hero
- The villain (often a supernatural creature)
- Stupid immoral teenagers that always get killed
- Creepy children
- Police officers (good/bad)
And finally the themes that occur in most horror films:
- Good vs Evil
- Depression
- Religion
- Death
- Revenge
- Murder
- Nightmares
- Madness
- Envy
- Suicide
Here is a horror film called 'Annabelle' directed by John R. Leonetti produced James Wan:
The settings the trailer show are:
- New house
- Isolated places
The narrative that was shown was:
- New family moving into new house
- The dead (supernatural possessed doll) not at peace
And finally the characters that were shown:
- Victim
- Hero
- The villain (the doll and the serial killers)
- Creepy children
Themes shown:
- Religion
- Death
- Revenge
- Murder
- Madness
- Suicide
Sound:
- Typical scary music
- Screams
- Scary whispers
- Laughter
- ticking
- Door creaking
- Contrapuntal music
- Sounds louder than normal
Here is another horror film directed by Levan Gabriadze and produced by Bekmambetov & Greaves
Setting the trailer shows:
- In house alone (Isolated)
