research- the sixth sense magazine analysis

I chose to analyse the movie poster for ‘The Sixth Sense 1999 becase it says on the IMDB it is the highest grossing horror film of all time, liked this poster because it is simple yet effective and is full of the typical codes and conventions of the horror genre.

The black background uses the colour black this connotes death, mystery, suspense, horror and danger, it is also a colour that fits the convention of the horror genre and is used in all movies in some way to create fear within the target audience. The background also allows for the characters on the poster to stand out and for the eye to be drawn to them, this works especially well for the  image of the boy on the right hand side that is emerging from a glow, by using a dark background it helps to emphasise certain parts on the poster.

The actors name (Bruce Willis) has been placed at the head of the poster, it is singled out and although there are other actors in this film the production company have chosen to only have his name present within the marketing product. The effect of this is to draw attention to him as an actor; he is a very successful and has starred in many other popular film titles, this will encourage people to watch ‘The Sixth Sense’. The colour used for this particular text is in white which works well to contrast against the black background making it stand out for the intended audience.

The title ‘The Sixth Sense’ situated towards the bottom of the poster stands out however does not draw your attention away from the main image. It  uses a font which looks like handwriting, maybe of a child’s level of writing as it is spaced out and the lettering is uneven, this infers the context behind the storyline. The font is also very eerie as it looks as though it has been scratched in the poster or written on a white board, this very idea creates images of horror in the audience. Again, the font is white which makes it stand out against the black background.

The dominating image used on the poster is a close up head shot of Bruce Willis, using his image will encourage people to watch this film as again, he is a successful actor which will influence people’s decisions into watching this film. Bruce Willis also has a shadow cast over his face, this is an enigma code (Barthes) which evokes mystery for the audience which works successfully for the horror audience as creating mystery is a typical convention for the genre. Using a close up shot is effective as is captures the emotions expressed by Bruce Willis, he is looking serious and has his head turned away from the image on the right, this infers how the image on the right is something of a serious nature and something to be worried about, this again creates mystery (enigma code).

The image on the right is a silhouette of a boy who is walking from a light. The use of a silhouette disguises the identity of this boy which creates mystery as to who he is and what he potentially has to hide – another enigma code. The light which shines behind him could connote the light of death or some body coming back from the dead, it could also represent life. The light/glow also reminds me of a spirit which could infer the context of the plot.

 

Research- movie codes&conventions/ movie poster cliches/ movie poster montage

This is a PowerPoint that I made on movie poster codes and conventions along with movie poster clichés and a movie poster montage.

 

Research - Analysis of a movie poster

This is my movie poster analysis of the Blair witch project, which I analysed in order to help me in the making of my movie magazine poster.

 

 

Research - How a movie poster is made?

This is my prezi presentation on the background in what goes on in the making of a movie poster.

Research-product placement

Product placement-

The Cannonball Run and Smokey and the Bandit film series featured conspicuous placements. The film E.T. is often cited for its multiple, obvious placements.Cheerios and Coca Cola, had product placement in the Andrew Lloyd Webber musical Evita and in Superman - the movie and the sequel superman 2.Clark Kent eats Cheerios for breakfast in Smallville. In superman 2's climax, Superman crashes into a giant Coca-Cola advertisement and saves a bus-full of people bearing an ad for Evita, before he smashes into a Marlboro delivery truck.

Placements fall into two categories: those that are donated to reduce production costs and those placed in exchange for compensation.  Lotz refers to two classifications within these two categories, what she refers to as "basic" and "advanced". Basic placement is when the logo of an object or a brand name is visible but the characters don't draw attention to the brand. Advanced placement is when the product or brand is mentioned by name by characters in the show or movie.



Viral Marketing Research-

In 1999, Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez began drumming up buzz for their now-legendary movie, The Blair Witch Project, using innovative techniques made possible by the relatively new culture of the Internet. The film is an early example of the “found footage” style that is made to look like amateur video shot by real people. Myrick and Sanchez, along with Artisan Entertainment, capitalized on the realistic look of Blair Witch to build a campaign around it that suggested the footage actually was real.

The Blair Witch Project marketing campaign used a website designed to convince people that the horror/mystery scenario of the movie was an actual missing persons case. Myrick and Sanchez also visited online message boards to spread rumors about the mystery. The campaign was so successful that many people still believed the movie depicted actual events by the time it was released in theaters.
On a budget of less than $1 million, The Blair Witch Project grossed nearly $250 million. The buzz stemming from the innovative, Internet-based marketing campaign turned what could have been just another horror movie into a national phenomenon.

Production company research-

I would choose this production company because it produced the Blair witch project and as it is the kind of genre I am aiming for as well as the fact that they produced the film that I analyzed ( Teaser trailer analysis).

Haxan Films is a production headquartered in Orlando, florida. They are famous for producing the cult classic independent horror film The Blair witch project. The name is taken from the 1922 Swedish/Danish silent movie Haxan ("The Witch").
The company was founded by five graduates of the university of central Florida film Program. Also known as "the Haxan Five", the company is run by Eduardo sanchez, Gregg hale, Daniel myrick, Robin Cowie and Michael Monello.

insidious chapter 2-  is a supernatural horror film which was released in September 2013, which is the sequel to the 2011 movie insidious.it was distributed by FilmDistrict and stage 6 films and made 161,919,318 at the box office. At the beginning of the trailer the music is cheerful and happy. This is typical at the beginning of horror film trailers, and leads the audience to feel a false sense of security. We are introduced to the main characters at the very beginning which will intrigue the audience from the very start as their might be some of the actor’s fans in the audience, which will persuade them to watch the film more. The music then becomes more sinister as the trailer goes on and the lighting becomes more low- key, which creates a dark eerie atmosphere for the viewers and its normal for all horror trailers as the audience love to feel scared and get their hearts racing.



The use of happy music, high key lighting and the normal titles which change later on throughout the trailer, this shows the use of conventional narrative structure of horror films, set by todorov. This shows the equilibrium at the start as everything is as it should be and everyone is happy. We can tell from the establishing shot at the beginning that the location is big, old house which hints the narrative and where it’s going to be, it’s also makes the genre clear to the audience as most horror films are based in large old houses. The diegetic sound of the children’s toys in the close up of the female face is conventional of the genre as children’s toys are usually the focus in supernatural horror films as they have creepy connotations surrounding them, at this point the diegetic music that was playing stops and the audience can only hear the music from the toy. The use of have no music creates an incidental atmosphere for the audience and creates suspense which is done a lot in horror movies. This shows the disruption in the equilibrium that we had just seen at the beginning of the trailer.



In the title “from the makers of saw and paranormal activity”, some of the font is red which is an icon of the horror genre and makes it identifiable for fans of horror as well as the dirty old brick wall effect on the background of the title. Using this title convinces saw/ paranormal activity fans to watch the film because if they like those movies then there’s a good chance they will like these like they liked insidious. As the music gets louder and faster, the shot gets very quick and only lasts between 1-2 seconds, these shots only show the main parts of the film building up a narrative



storyline for the audience. Using fast shots in trailers are conventional of most horror trailers and other genres as well as it’s a good way of releasing little snippets of the narrative.

 

Throughout the trailer, there are quite a lot of close ups on the main characters, this shows and emphasizes how scared the characters are and this will intrigue the audience into what the main characters are afraid of and also make fans want to keep watching to find out more. There are many icons in the horror movie, that is featured throughout to make it more noticeable for horror movie fans. For example, in a medium backlit door a shadow of a person is coming through the window. Shadows are icons in horror movies and creates some mystery for the audience wondering “who is casting the shadow?”. \This introduces the audience and makes them want to keep watching and find out more.



The lighting was bright at the start and high- key which reflected the sunny weather outside in the establishing shot the film changes to low key lighting once we have the disruption in the narrative mid-way through. The lighting creates an eerie atmosphere for the audience which is conventional for the genre.





The music becomes louder and faster near the end, which creates suspense for the audience and had them biting their nails at the end. Unlike other movie trailers and equilibrium isn’t made because as the music gets faster the shots gets more fast paced which is a typical convention on the horror genre as it creates dramatic effect and draws in the audience. When the music reaches its end the film title appears on the screen, which is normal for its to appear then in horror movies. The title uses the same dark background of the trailer which adds to the sinister atmosphere set throughout the trailer and lastly the release date is shows which is conventional of trailers.

 

Research -Teaser trailer analysis no.1

In the opening credits of this film we are instantly given the age certification, this is to ensure that the appropriate age, placing this at the start of the teaser trailer ensures that people that want to watch the film in the cinemas can be assured of the age limit. the blair witch project gained $248,300,000 in worldwide box office

Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American video studio until it was purchased by Canadian studio lions gate entertainment in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and distribution agreements. Mark Amin funded Artisan and sale was rumored to be backed by Keyur Patel, a media investor in formation of new studio. Its headquarters and private screening room were located in Santa Monica, California It also had an office in TriBeCa, lower Manhattan New York City. The company owned the home video rights to the film libraries of Republic Pictures, ITC Entertainment, EMI Films,Gladden entertainment, Hemdale Film corporation and Carolco Pictures before it went defunct.
 

The shot then moves onto a black screen, with white text. Having it black on white sets a huge contrast and so makes it seem more dramatic to the audience. Having text before seeing any action builds anticipation especially in this case, as the text is supplying the background on the story. Specific lexical choice was used like 'disappear' to increase tension and to signpost what you may expect in the film. A quite whisper is used when the text appears on the screen, with the rustling of trees, this sets the scene even though you are being shown a black screen. it links with the setting of the woods or a forest and plays on the anticipation that the audience is already feeling. By only playing with the audiences sense of sound, they are able to focus on just that and feel the atmosphere being created.

The shot stays the same and more text is added. This text increases the anticipation that the audience will be experiencing. It highlights how the students were never found, and the last that was seen of them would be on this tape. This immediately plays on the audiences minds, it is used so that the audience are already scared before any type of visual images and film is played. It is used regularly in film trailers and even the start of films. All to increase this mystery and wonder and so that the audience are conjuring up ideas which will work them up and act on there adrenalin so that they experience fright and panic when watching the film. The full stops used also set a dramatic feel, and in some ways a 'dead end' which could reflect the fact that the students were never found.
 
 

 
 A blank screen is then used for 15 seconds, this seems a long time when watching a trailer, this specific time was used as it is just past the threshold point of when you expect something to happen so then it catches the audience when they least expect it. The on going use frightful sounds constantly builds anticipation for the audience as they are so focused on the blank screen, waiting for some type of action. The audience will feel vulnerable as they don't know what to expect. As there is a blank screen they are unable to use their sight to help them feel at ease and protected, as the image shows nothing. We like to feel in control, and when watching a film we, the audience, are no longer in control especially when we cannot use all of our senses to help prepare us. This results in the audiences panic and anxiety to set in, and build up more tension and atmosphere, so the interest into the film is increased. Which should cause the audience to watch the film, which means the trailer was a success.
 

 
 The intensity of the piercing background sound increases to create a build up for the next shot of the trailer, which is a glowing icon and title of the film. This is shown with a cut edit so it is abrupt and hopefully causes the audience to react. The text also glows so that it has more impact, and a glowing text is also related to ghosts and the supernatural, so it could also act as an insight into what the film is about. The icon used also links to this theme as it looks like a type of voodoo doll, or witch craft, and that is linked to the supernatural also.

 

A cut edit is again used to end the trailer. The web address and season the film is released is shown, with the same type of glowing text as the previous text shown in the trailer. Two quick cut edits show this information so that the film seems sharp and abrupt. An echoing, hollow noise accompanies the showing of the text to make it more intense, as well as the heavy breathing of the actor. All in a way to provoke thought from the audience. This trailer was very much based on using the scenes of realistic but disturbing noises and although it worked well for this trailer, especially as it was accompanied by hand held filming, we feel it wouldn't particularly fit well with the type of trailer we are going for.

A cut edit is again used to end the trailer. The web address and season the film is released is shown, with the same type of glowing text as the previous text shown in the trailer. Two quick cut edits show this information so that the film seems sharp and abrupt. An echoing, hollow noise accompanies the showing of the text to make it more intense, as well as the heavy breathing of the actor. All in a way to provoke thought from the audience. This trailer was very much based on using the scenes of realistic but disturbing noises and although it worked well for this trailer, especially as it was accompanied by hand held filming, we feel it wouldn't particularly fit well with the type of trailer we are going for.