Monday 15 November 2010

Blog 8 - Analysis of 2 dvd covers

 It is important for me to research DVD covers of the teen horror genre and gain a understanding for when I come to design my own.


This is a dvd cover of Jenifers Body.
The main thing you notice is the image on the front of the actress Megan Fox. she is attractive and has eye contact which would attract the audiece. She is wearing and old school skirt which links to the setting of the film and a tight red tank top hinting a sence of 'sex appeal'  Megan Fox is sitting on top of a desk and slightly leaning back, looking slightly sinister and seductive,though trying to look innocent via holding her books by her chest.

The font /lettering is bold and designed to catch the audiences eye. It has been used has a slightly old and decayed effect towards the end of the title. Their is a conotation for the lettering represents how Jenifer seems like a normal teenager, as the lettering at the beginning is normal and not decaying whereas towards the end of the film Jenifer is revealed as not so normal which links to thewritting becoming decayed.

The colour scheme is bold on the cover colours such as Red and Black, some with more meaning (pollysemic) for example the colour Red is dominant on the cover, the word 'body' is printed in red also used in text boxes on the rear cover. The Red could signify passion, danger and also blood. There is blood splatter on the board just just under the title which acts as an anchor giving us an indication that the red signifies blood and danger.

  The lettering of the Title is a bold and big font which clearly states the title. The film cover states the age limit on the front of the dvd cover in order not to attract the wrong audience. it states that it contains very strong language, bloody horror and sexual references.

On the back of the dvd cover we can read the Synopsis, this is used in order to intise the audience and give them an idea of what to expect from the film. The film also states that there are special Features which include deleted scences, telling the audience that from buying the dvd they can gain an insight and extras of the film. The cover also publishes Quotes which are used to hopefully sell the film and make it sound attractive to the audience. 'Smart, sassy and sexy as hell' as quoted by Total Film.

On the rear of the DVD cover are four images which reveal other characters such as 'needy' the pictures hint that needy might be in danger as the film unfolds they also show a horror like image of Fox herself. one of the pictures shows 'Needy' standing in front of a burning building, this image also gives a sense of the budget of the film, as we can see they have included special effects.

The use of language is informal and aimed mostly at the male audienc as it states 'Sexy as hell.' there is also use of Alliteration 'Smart, Sassy, Sexy' making it easy to read and attracting audiences.

The film appeals to a male target audience between the ages of 18-29. Although this was thought when I researched the films ratings surprisingly females rated the film higher than males. Teenagers also gave this film a good vote although the certificate age is 18.

The DVD cover itself conveys the genre of teen horror via the use of  the colour scheme and the splattering of blood, the hand that is poking out from the bottom of the desk. The fact that the classroom is dirty hints that there is danger and horror as everything is unnerving and suspicious.

I also studied the dvd cover of 'Sorority Row' the Font used on this DVD cover is a serif font, creating a more detailed font instead of having a sans serif font. The serif font creates a more mysterious theme as it has straight 'hooks' on the ends of the letters which could relate within the film.

The dominating colours also appearing are red and black simular to the colour scheme of Jenifers body
this colour scheme seems to work really well together in order to create the sense of horror and mystery.
the color red has a n association with blood, which also works as the  image of the arrows have blood on them which works as an anchorage towards the association of death and gore. The black presents mystery and acts as a shadow making the audience question creating fear.

The lighting on the cover shows the six women on the front cover looking serious and dominant looking down at the audience, creating a sense that they are the heroes in the film.

The image is of six women and what looks like a burning house in the background. The photo is taken from a low angled shot which allows the characters to look as though they are looking down at the audience, giving the impression of higher status that they are powerful and important. They all have eye contact which would grasp the audiences eye and draw them in.
The burning in the background makes the audience gain an idea that it is a high budget film which would create real life effects, prompting the audience to ask qusetions of events in the film. there are also images on teh back of the dvd which are quite opposite to the images on the front as they show the women in positions of vunerability lying on the floor, and a girl screaming.

The language used is quite formal as it dousent desribe the girls as 'sexy as hell' like it does in Jenifers body.' however it calls them 'a group of sorority sisters,' this meaning being clear and explains about the film and the situation the group find themselves in.

The DVD appeals to a mostly mal etarget audience as this is a normal teen horror movie which shows the women as vunerale victims and possibly a male killer. The women are all attractive which attracts the male target audience between 18-29.

The DVD cover conveys the genre of horror by the weapons around the text, the blood splatters, the dark colour scheme, and the overall mystery and suspence surounding.

Blog 7- Introduction- Production

The production task we had been set is to make a dvd cover and poster for our script.

Friday 8 October 2010

Blog Four- Opening Sequence

The Opening Sequence of a teen horror film is very important to study for when I come to write the opening sequence to my script, it is important to caprure and grasp the audiences attention and draw them into the story and set the scence. The audience should also get to know the charactors, I watched the opening sequence of two teen horrors Jenifers Body and Sorority Row. SororityRow begins at a house party where we meet a group of friends who set out a prank on her friend which goes wrong. The logistics are simular in Jenifers Body we meet the charactors which are two best friends however we know from the start that she has been killed.

Blog Three - Institutional Contexts

I wanted to research which film companies were creating these horror films and what were their budgets were. for example there are some new recent horror productions, 'Devil' made by media rights capital and had an estimated budget of 10,000,0000 'Resident evil afterlife'made by constantin film produktion is another recent horror which had an estimated budget of 60,000,000. 'case 39' made by misha films which has estimated buget at 62,000,000. another example of a high budget horror is the ;nightmare of Elm Street' which the budget is estimated at 35,000,000. These high Budget horror films have well known actors and will have high tech effects and graphics etc... that is why most recent horror films have been made at a high budget.

Friday 1 October 2010

Blog Two - Target Audience

We have been studying the teen horror Jenifers body and the target audience it attracts, and its audience ratings. I found that 4,141 females voted, however a massive 19,044 males voted making it obvious that males are more interested in the film. The chart below represents the audiences voting report.


The age group that watched Jenifers body and gave their opinions were vastly aged between 18-29 years olds, this is useful and insightful infomation to keep in mind when I write my teen horror script.
The cheerleader figure and sexual references capture the teen audience which I can keep in mind when I write my script I could convey simular details and ideas in my plot.

We also studied and researched another teen horror film 'Sorority Row' which we discoverd attracted a simular audience,with 5,662 males voting, and 1,112 females voting, making it clear that again the teen horror genre of this film was more popular with males. As this chart proves.


The age group inwhich this film was most popularly attracing was again aged between 18-29 making it obvious that this is the key audience I need to attract when I am writting my script.

Blog One - Introduction - Pre Production

The pre production task which we have been set is to create a few miniutes of a script for a teenage horror film.