Deconstruction of I Spit on Your Grave

-The trailer opens with the production companies alongside sinister non-diegetic sound, already creating tension.
-A tracking shot of the open road allows the audience to see that the location will be forest area. This is typical of the slasher genre as it is secluded and allows many places for the killer to 'hide' or appear from.
-The close up of the girl, gives the first introduction to the main character who is at first the victim before getting her revenge as the villain/hero.
-There is the on-screen diegetic sound of a harmonica as a mid-shot introduces us to male characters. 'Yeah you're lost alright' followed by sinister laugh as the shot pans to the girls face followed by a non-diegetic boom makes the mood uneasy for the audience.
-The point of view shot of her in the home before an over the shoulder shot of the camera used to capture this allows the audience to understand that someone is watching her without her knowledge.

-There is a non-diegetic bang as the scene straight cut to text. The text is a white background with red writing, the black marks and blood splatters make it look distressed and this links to the violence and distress of the slasher/horror genre.
-As the sinister non-diegetic music builds, creating tension, a panning shot of the female characters worried face before a loud knock on door and straight cut to man knocking is alarming the audience.
-Close up shot of girl visibly distressed is upsetting to the audience. An extreme close up of her surrounded by the men makes her look vulnerable and provokes audience sympathy for her.
-Fast paced straight cuts show audience that she is abused by the men, providing them with a reasoning for her later actions.

-A long shot straight cuts to a close up of the girl looking visibly changed and scary which is unnerving for the audience, accompanied by a low pitch sound.
-Straight cuts become fast paced and begin to build, showing glimpses of what she does to get her revenge against the men. There is a repeated sound every time it cuts to the next clip, accompanied by diegetic sound.
-The film title appears in the same distressed style as previous text had been, followed by the credits.

Lighting Practice

I wanted to practice different ways of creating light and the effect that they had when thinking about how to show the killers mask. Although the appearance of the mask is known and recognisable to the audience, as are many within the slasher genre, for example the 'Scream' mask, it is still important to keep some mystery within the trailer. The fear of the unknown within horror is what is so effective for the audience.
I used four different light sources which were a lighter, match, flashlight and red flashlight to evaluate the effect of colour lighting also. I had the basement scene in mind, in which one of the teenage characters creates light through one of these methods and the outline of the killer can be seen behind her, disturbing the audience.

Red Flashlight: I feel that the use of a coloured flashlight such as this is not appropriate for the type of 'natural' light we wanted to create, making it seem unrealistic. I feel that it is not really appropriate for our chosen slasher genre, and would more likely suit a sci-fi genre trailer. Having said this, it could be used for the poster image or an image to be featured on the website as the shade of red that it creates would give a strong link to violence and gore, therefore to our slasher genre.

Normal Flash Light: This provided a strong light source, giving off a lot of light. This is not ideal, as we want to keep some of the killer covered with low key lighting. This could be done however by shining the light on one side, as shown below right, instead of straight on (below left) or held above (top) as it still leaves one side unlit. The various positioning of the flash light also creates good shadows and although this cannot be used for the basement scene as it will be too dark, we can look at perhaps incorporating the creation of shadows into another scene.

Match: The match provided decent light, enough to see the shape clearly but still keep a fair bit of the detail hidden, which was what we were aiming for. The problem was that it was hard to do without the match burning out too quickly, meaning that it may be difficult to film a scene using this as a light source as it will fade out too quickly.

Lighter: At first it seemed that the lighter did not give off nearly as much light as we needed (right.) Yet interestingly, when the match was held close to the object, it provided enough light for the object to be seen and identifiable without showing too much detail. This may be the best light choice if we find a way for the lighter to be seen on camera without looking out of place e.g teenage character using a lighter to find her way, as the lighter must be very close to the object in order for it to be effective at all.

Deconstruction of Scream 4 Trailer

-Opens with the production company, overlapped with the non diegetic sound of a phone ringing, a main feature of the past scream films as the killer first communicates through a phone call.
-A female character (Sidney from the previous films) answers the phone during a pitch black transition. The killers voice on the phone is instantly recognisable.
-There is a non-diegetic sinister boom and straight cut to a close up shot of the female character looking distressed.
-There is a non-diegetic narrative from the killer as mid shots of characters flash up to low pitch boom that begins building up, starting to create tension for the audience which is the key component of the horror genre.
-The non-diegetic sound of the killers evil laugh is un-nerving for the audience, followed by a diegetic scream within a mid-shot of two characters before the screen fades to black and text appears.
-The instantly recognisable scream mask is shown. There is already the familiarity with him as the teaser trailer introduces other main characters to the audience. Most of these are teenagers, which is a character choice typical of the slasher genre.

-Both the use of a high school and suburb location is typical of the slasher genre.
-The sudden straight cut to a long shot of the first victim dying is shocking for the audience, but sets the tone for the slasher film.
-The line 'and virgins can die now' in which the characters are talking about slasher conventions within the film.
-There is a fast paced long shot of a girl trying to escape killer, another victim before more text appears. The text is black and white and red, which is typical of slasher genre as black and white can be dull yet sinister while red links to the violence and gore of the slasher genre.

-An over the shoulder shot gives the first glimpse of the killer in action with the instantly recognisable mask and weapon of choice.
-A close up shot of the character Gail links back to previous films.
-The fast paced straight cuts of the masked killer attacking his victims begins, accompanied by a non-diegetic narrative.
-The dramatic orchestral music begins to build to a climax, creating suspense for the audience before a blackout.
-The blackout fades into a mid shot of two blonde characters with no sound, before the sudden interruption of the scream killer coming towards screen, distressing the audience. The scream title appears in its classic typography, before a short phone call scene followed by the release date.

Genre Theorists

'A genre is ultimately an abstract conception rather than something that exists empirically in the world'- Jane Feuer 1992

-True of the slasher  genre in which despite classic conventions, ultimately anything can happen.

'Genres are instances of repetition and difference and difference is absolutely essential to the economy and genre'- Steve Neale 1980

-Our trailer conforms to these conventions such as the final girl and masked killer. One scene in which a series of close-ups and mid-shots of the final girl and the killers struggle clearly displays these conventions for example the mask, the final girls’ simple clothing and brunette hair.

'Genre is not … simply “given” by culture, rather it is in a constant process of negotiation and change’- David Buckingham 1993

-An example of this within the slasher genre would be the conventional character of the final girl. As women gained power within the 60’s/70’s with more freedom such as access to contraception (1961,) less religious restrictions as society began to become more secular and economic globalisation meaning women were being accepted into the work place.

'A new genre is always a transformation of one or several old genres'- Tzvetan Todorov 1990
'The boundaries between genres are shifting and becoming more permeable'- Abercrombie 1996 

-Our trailer followed the convention of a masked killer, using a distorted white pillow case and rope. The killer also has a weapon of choice, in this case a large knife, as is a convention in slasher movies. Our trailer also conforms to the ‘suburb location’ with a long shot of the outside of the house in low key lighting establishing this at the opening. There have been many remakes of famous films such as Nightmare on Elm Street (2010,) Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003,) Halloween (2007) and Scream, which like some of the other films, features various sequels that follow the storyline up until the present day. More recently, the genre has taken on more sex, violence and nudity, particularly towards women, morphing into a sub-genre now called torture porn. An example of this is Saw which is now a major franchise with seven movies made in total and I Spit on your Grave (1978) which is a rape and revenge horror film.

'The number of genres in any society depends on the complexity and diversity of society'- Carolyn Miller 1984

-For example, the slasher genre within horror has diversified in recent years to incorporate elements that it did not originally include. Our A2 teaser trailer, which follows the story of a masked killer terrorising a group of teenagers, is a classic example of a slasher genre film, following many conventions.

'Generic conventions embody the crucial ideological concerns of the time in which they are popular'- John Fiske 1987

-Such as women becoming liberated. Within the slasher genre there is always the sexually free, promiscuous, stereotypically blonde and attractive female character. This character will almost always be killed off first. The final girl is typically hard-working, plain and virginal. The fact that she then goes on to survive until the very end shows that this makes her more powerful than the other female roles. This was subverted when Scream (1996) presented the final girl as non-virginal yet still able to defeat the killer. In our trailer, a high angled close up of our final girl sees her applying makeup, subverting the convention that the final girl takes no care over her appearance.

Final Girl Theory- Carol Clover

-Use of final girl, conforming to conventions such as brunette, plain and well behaved but ultimately showing the change in genre due to the empowerment of women as she is the only one able to overcome the killers, not one of the male characters.

Narrative Theorists

'A narrative is a chain of events in cause-effect relationship occurring in time’- Bordwell and Thompson 1980

-It is important for the opening scenes of the film to grab the audience in order to keep their full attention for the rest of the film, in order to invest in characters and follow any sub-plots etc. It should also set a specific mood appropriate for the genre, for example films of the horror genre will contain many shots that build tension from the very start. The fact that we have created a trailer means that the narrative is restricted to an extent, as the full plot cannot be explained, only general hints to the narrative can be given. We therefore have a minute to capture our audience and give them a feel of what our film would be like in the hope of engaging them. Our trailer uses subjective character identification, giving unique access to what a range of characters see and do. The use of a group of teenagers within our trailer provides the audience with just this. As our trailer is a slasher, part of the horror genre, it features a restricted narration in which only minimal information regarding the narrative is given. 

Different character types-
'Villain'- Creates narrative disruption
'Princess'- The victim
'Hero'- Restores narrative equilibrium
'Donor'- Gives the hero something to help in the resolution of the narrative
'Helper'- Aids the hero in restoring equilibrium
'Dispatcher'- Sends hero on task
'False Hero'- Appears to be good but is revealed at the end of the narrative to be bad 
Vladimir Propp

-Our trailer conforms to this theory in terms of the inclusion of a villain that creates narrative disruption in the form of our masked killer. The low key lighting in one shot in which the only light source is a lighter, helps to keep most of the mask hidden and gives the killer a mysterious and distorted feel that is more distressing for the audience. However, this theory is also subverted in terms of the hero. Although our ‘victim hero’ (centre of the villains attentions) still tries to restore narrative equilibrium by trying to defeat the killer, but instead of being stereotypically male is is a female character. Our hero begins as the princess- a victim of the villain, before using her strength to become the hero and overcoming the killer in order to save herself. The fast-paced, straight cut mid-shot and extreme close-ups  of the hero struggling with the villain in her attempt to stop him supports this. 

'Five stage narrative structure' (This includes the state of equilibrium which is disrupted before being reinstated at the end) - Todorov


-A long shot of a party scene showing the teenagers socialising and having fun, accompanied by upbeat music as well as chatting and laughter. This creates a positive mood for the audience. The non-diegetic music stops when a knock on the door is heard, followed by a sinister boom. From here the trailer (sound, typography etc) begins to make the audience feel uneasy and tension builds, as is typical of the slasher genre. The state of equilibrium is disrupted by the arrival and actions of the killer, for example the mid-shot of the window in which one of the teenage characters is looking out as the diegetic sound builds, before unbeknown to him the killer appears behind, un-nerving the audience. The final shot is a low angled, close up of the killer slowly turning his head. We decided to do this in order to leave the conclusion (whether the equilibrium is reinstated) as a mystery to the audience, which the key component of a trailer. 

'Modular narratives articulate a sense of time as divisible and subject to manipulation'- Alan Cameron 

-We use this episodic structure within our trailer, separating the killing of each teenage victim to create their own ‘episode’. There is a low angled (floor level) long shot of one victim being dragged past the doorway behind the wall, whilst another is attacked in the hallway and tries to fight off the killer in a series of close-up and mid-shots. The repeating sound added in post-production helps to enforce the idea of a sequence.

'Narratives are like tangled balls of threads which need unravelling’- Barthes' codes 

-Our trailer is an example of an open narrative, in which different interpretations can be made, for example whether the final girl is a true hero who wants to completely destroy the killer or just wants to save herself. The trailer also conforms to the Enigma/Proainetic Code in which tension is built up throughout, leaving the audience guessing what might happen next. An example of this can be the close up of the killer in very low key lighting so not all of the mask is visible, waiting under the stairs as one of the teenagers walks down into the basement; leaving the audience to form their own ideas of what happened to that character.

Storyboard

1. Opens with an establishing shot of the house in low key lighting
2. Over the shoulder/tracking shot of final girl entering the house and walking down the hallway with her friends in front 
3. Long/mid shot sitting around a table drinking (except final girl) with non-diegetic music
4. Close up of final girl looking uncomfortable in her surroundings 
5. Non-diegetic knock at the door followed by sinister boom with mid shot facing the door
6. Long shot of friends at tables with confused expressions as to the door knock

    7. Mid shot of boy checking door, looking through key hole as non-diegetic sounds start building 

    8. Non-diegetic sound stops and a point of view shot shows outside of the door, panning left to        right, loud non-digetic sound as door shuts 

    9. Loud non-diegetic boom with text

   10. Fast paced edits begin- long shot shows killer attacking girl in low key lighting so not too much of killer is given away

   11. Long shot at floor level of person being dragged through door way

   12. Killer scrapes knife along an edge close-up, loud non-digetic scraping sound

   13. Low angle, torch shone through key hole in mid shot of girl so looks like killer is walking past with non-digetic footsteps/creaking

   14. Close/mid shot of killer pulling curtains back making the mask clear

   15. From outside window with close up of victim and long shot of killer who appears in background with non-digetic boom carrying knife- victim unaware 

   16. Low angle of basement stairs, only stairs illuminated by light as one foot moves down a step followed by blood

   17. Close up shot of final girl crying, blood all over her looking at hands, steadicam? 

   18. Boy covering girls mouth in close up shot, heathy breathing as scared, lighting done by flashlight 

    19. Close up of back of the head as killer turns

    20. Side profile of final girl in close up, killers hand appears grabbing her hair and pulling her back 

    21. Point of view shot of final girl from the killers viewpoint 

Existing Slasher Poster Deconstuction

-There is the central image of the killer wearing well known hockey mask with weapon of choice 

-Use of backlighting means you can't see the killer completely, adding some mystery

-Outline of the forest can be seen in foggy light, which is a classic slasher genre location, and well known for this film

-The film title is capitalised in red, connoting gore and therefore linking to the slasher genre, with sharp serifs giving it a gothic look which is typical of horror genre films 

-Red typography contrasts against dark background which is sinister, the date of release is in red too drawing attention to key information  

-The tag line is capitalised on its own at the top, making it draw attention whilst being easily readable

-The credits are small at the bottom with the production company logos as well as the rating certificate 

-The link to former well-known slasher film ' The Texas Chainsaw Massacre' is clear

-The killers face is in flames and is easily recognisable

-The flames provide light for outline of killer who is holding a mask and weapon of choice

-Victims can be seen within the face, which is distressing for the audience, fire generally signifies hell and death which links to the genre

-A suburb house can be seen under the flames, which is another classic slasher film location, playing on the idea of realism that is disturbing for the audience 

-The credits are small in yellow at bottom, whilst the release date is bold in red, drawing more attention

-Tagline is in white at the very top, drawing attentions as it is clear and capitalised

-The main colours are red, orange, black, white, all typical of the horror genre, slasher in particular 

-Clear link to famous director Wes Craven who made the original Scream movie

-As it is the fourth in the sequel, the number 4 replaces the 'a' in scream, with red colouring that links to the violence of the slasher genre whilst making it stand out against the black and white 

-Classic thick scream typography that was used for all the previous films, it is capitalised and spaced out with the 'm' being sharp and blade-like, connoting a weapon and linking to the slasher genre 

-The release date is in red, standing out against the black background and white credits at bottom

-Key image is the characters as opposed to the killer, however the famous scream mask reflection can be seen in the knife which is tinted red connoting blood and linking to the gore of the slasher genre 

-The tag line is in red at the top, but is not capitalised 

-The main colours are black, grey, white and red which are typical of the horror genre 

-Past generation of characters can be seen in black and white above younger characters e.g courtney cox who has played Gail since first scream movie

-All black and white apart from the blue of the eyes, with the hand covering her mouth representing shock and distress

-There is no key image of killer or any features of them such as the mask or weapon of choice, however is does feature the final girl Sidney, who is the main character 

-There is again the thick and spaced out typography with the sharp blade-like 'm,' giving the idea of a weapon and linking to the slasher genre 

-The tag line at the top is long and not capitalised, however still readable and attention grabbing as it is away from the central image 

-Wes Cravens' name is clearly visible at the bottom

-The names of the actors are capitalised above the general credits at bottom of the poster 

-There is no clear release date as there is on other posters

-As this is the oldest film poster (1996) subverts a lot of conventions that the others have in common such as the feature of the killer on the front and a clear release date and short snappy tag line

-There is the central image of the masked killer with his weapon of choice, with the chainsaw linking to the title as well as being easily recognisable as this is a remake of the classic slasher film

-The credits are at the bottom above the larger and capitalised release date 

-The main colours are black, greys and red, typical of the slasher genre 

-The title is capitalised in a gothic font with sharp serifs, typical of horror genre films

-Colour of the title is distorted so it is not completely white, making it look old and worn, adding to the distressed feel 

-The tag line is not typically at the top, it is just under the title and although smaller, it is still capitalised and bigger than credits 

-The slight backlighting allows for some light to be shed on the killer allowing some of him to be seen, but still keeping a mysterious feel that is important for the killer to keep as the fear of the unknown is a key feature for the audience to find the film effective 

Still Scene- Quarantine

Mise en Scene

This is a collage of the props that we will need to be situated around the kitchen in order to make the teenagers trip seem realistic.
 Alcohol, cigarettes etc all symbolise the rebellious nature of the teenagers, which is stereotypical of teens in slasher genre movies.
The teens that indulge in rebellious behaviour are the ones to be killed off, leaving the final girl, who is well-behaved and virginal to overcome the killer.

Poster

Created on Photoshop.

-Key image of the masked killer is central, holding his weapon of choice which in this case is a knife. The mask is contrasted against a dark background, grabbing more attention. The mask is easily recognisable for the audience from the trailer and website, becoming the key figure as the killer in slasher genre films often does, for example 'Freddy Kreuger' in 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.' 

-The key hole in which the killer is being seen through links to the scene in the tailer where a long shot shows the girl opening the door after hearing a knock, setting off the string of violent killings. It provides a strong link to whole the whole 'Knock Knock' idea with the use of the killer being on the outside of the door.

-There are strong links to social media, in this case Facebook and Twitter. There is the universal symbols for both in the bottom left hand corner. This provides a global platform for worldwide promotion, as well as allowing the audience to get involved. The creation of the #KnockKnock hashtag again allows the audience to get involved, as well as creating another feature that is directly recognisable to the trailer.

-The same 'scream again' typography is used throughout, linking to the website and the trailer. As opposed to the trailer, it is distorted by blood splatters, which links to the gore and violence of the slasher genre. The typography is also slightly off white in order to blend better with background.

-The tagline 'Who's There?' uses the same typography as seen in the trailer, with sharp, gothic serifs that are typical of the horror genre. It is again distorted with blood smears to link to the gore of the slasher genre and is off white again to blend better with the background colouring.

-The credits are at the bottom in order to keep main focus on the key image of the masked killer. The same typography as tag line is used to stay in-keeping and provide a professional finish. The production company 'New Line Cinema' logo is also featured in the bottom right hand corner in order to give credit to the chosen production company. 'Coming Soon' a common feature within film posters if there is not a specific release date set.

Survey

In order to gain outside opinion on aspects that we were considering for our trailer we used Survey Monkey. Survey Monkey is an online site that allows users to create their own surveys that others can then access and complete via the web link-  https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/DGQN6MR. We asked for opinions on our film title, amount of gore, how much the killer is seen, what characters should be involved, powers the killer should have and the choice of weapon. There was also the option for people to comment ideas if there was not a choice that they felt was appropriate.

The options for our film title were 'Knock Knock', 'The Unexpected' and 'Who's There?' 11/20 (55%) voted for 'Knock Knock', whilst 8 voted for 'The Unexpected' and 1 for 'Who's There?' We included 'Who's there?' as our tagline as a play on the well known knock knock joke. It is common within the horror genre for twists on innocent child-like things such as jokes, as it is more disturbing for the audience. 

We then asked whether the audience would prefer to see a lot of gore, a little gore or no gore at all. 13/24 (54.17%) voted for little gore, whilst 7 voted for a lot of gore and 4 people voted for none at all. As it is within the slasher genre it would be unconventional to include no gore at all however as it is only the trailer we decided to make it minimal as we felt this would be more effective as we felt that showing too much could make it look unrealistic and therefore minimise the effect of our trailer.

When asked how much of the killer the audience would like to be physically visible of the killer 17/24 (70.83%) chose glimpses of the killer, as opposed to 5/24 that chose for a full view of the killer and 2/24 chose an unseen killer. We decided to go for partial view of the killer, as we felt that a full view would diminish the effect of the unknown slightly and the audience wouldn't be able to use their imagination. Having said this the killer is not completely unseen as we wanted to incorporate a mask and weapon of choice etc which is a large part of the slasher genre.

When asked what central characters the trailer should be revolved around, 13/20 (65%) chose for it to be a group of teenagers as opposed to a family or single character. The use of a group of teenagers is a classic convention within the slasher genre, with the group containing certain characters often found in slasher films such as the jock, final girl and her promiscuous friend. This was useful as it encouraged us to conform to this convention.

We asked if the killer should have super-human powers or no powers at all, which 19/24 (79.17%) preferred. Within slasher genre films, the killer is normally invincible, but does not obvious powers like flying etc. This worked well as we were able to perceive him as impossible to destroy, whereas it may have been hard to make him look like he has other powers such as flying without looking unrealistic. Having said this we did include a scene at the end which through the use of editing on final cut pro we made it look like he has just appeared in the mirror, giving the audience the feel of non-human powers.

We also asked for the preferred weapon of choice for our killer, which is a classic convention of the slasher genre. A knife was the most popular with 12/24 (60%) choosing it, instead of an axe, chainsaw or a rope. This worked well for us as we had easy access to a knife, as opposed to something such as a chainsaw. This also gave a more realistic feel to our trailer, with realism working  as a disturbing feature for the audience, conforming to our genre.

Here is a summary of our results. We conformed to almost all of them, as many of the responses also followed the conventions of existing slasher genre films. Although we wondered about subverting some of these conventions, the survey helped us to realise that this is actually what the audience would find most effective and therefore make our trailer more successful.

Filming Schedule

Filming Schedule

31st October 2014

Tors House- 6pm

Cast
Holly- Friend
Becca- Friend
Gaurav- Boy
Tor- Friend
Ella- Blonde Friend
Fraser- Boyfriend of blonde girl
Lorna- Final Girl
Edgar- Killer

Costume
Holly- Casual
Becca- Casual
Gaurav- Casual
Tor- Casual (leggings, top, trainers etc.)
Ella- Nose ring, girly clothes- crop top, leggings, heavier make-up
Fraser- Casual
Lorna- Conservative (jumper, jeans, minimal make-up)
Edgar- All black- black suit, black leather gloves, mask

Location
Tors- inside

Mask
Sack, cut out eyes, rope, stitch detailing

Props
Blood, knife, bottles, torch, weekend bag/any other bags, crisps, car keys. house keys, cigarettes, ashtray, coke bottles etc, drinking glasses glasses, phones, jackets, cards

To be filmed
All inside footage

Evaluation Question- 2

Typography 

The typography we chose to use is called 'Scream Again.' We felt that the sharp, distorted edges of the lettering linked well with the twisted nature of the slasher genre. We distorted the letters further, so not all of them were straight or same size, adding to the chaotic feel of the genre.

The website and poster for our trailer features the same scream again typography, we decided to add bloodied smears and splatters, giving a strong link to slasher violence and gore.  

The typography used on the poster is slightly yellow, this is in order to keep with colour scheme of the poster. Across all components the typography is kept light light against the dark background. 

The typography used for the 'Who's there?' tagline on the website is the same typography used for the credits etc. throughout the trailer, as well as across the website. 

The typography is capitalised, bold and easy to read. The sharp pointed serifs give it a gothic effect, which is typical of typography within the horror genre. 

Colour scheme

The main colours constantly used across all media components (trailer, website and poster) are shades of red, white, black and grey. The black and grey makes it look slightly dull yet sinister, which is typical of the horror genre. The red incorporated in the form of blood splatters across the title typography etc gives a strong link to violence and gore, the key features of the slasher genre. The strong link to violence e.g blood splatters is un-nerving for the audience. The red is not incorporated into our trailer in order to keep typography and colour more simplistic and minimal to allow more audience focus on what is happening. 


Tagline 

Our tagline follows our chosen 'Knock Knock' title. The 'Who's There?' tagline is a play on the classic 'knock knock who's there' joke. The fact that this is meant to be fun innocent game, mainly for children and is now linked to something much more sinister is disturbing for the audience.

Within the horror genre there are often links to childlike innocence, such as the use of dolls etc as it is more distressing for the audience, something we have incorporated into our slasher genre film as it is a useful component in building both tension and terror, key features of slasher films.

We have also used 'Knock Knock' as a social media hashtag, allowing the audience to get involved on twitter, a global platform. The use of a constant hashtag also provided a recognisable link to the film, in the same way that a tag line does, also incorporating the use of social media as a way to get things trending and shared worldwide.

Layout

The poster includes a main image, which is the key image of mask, a representational link of the film for the audience. The killers mask is a classic convention of the slasher genre, with the villain becoming a famous figure within the franchise. It also include the film name with the repeated use of scream again typography, ultimately acting as a logo. Within the poster the typography is distorted by the addition of blood smears and splatters as a link to the violence within the genre. The tag line, 'Who's There?' again follows the same typography throughout. 

There are links to social media, a way of targeting and reaching a global audience. This includes the creation of the 'Knock Knock' hashtag as a way of getting the audience involved, for example sharing their opinions. There is the inclusion of social media logos (Facebook, Twitter and Google+) which are universal. 
The credits, names of producer etc placed at the bottom of the poster follow the same typography as tag line etc. We have placed the names at the bottom in order to allow complete attention to be given to the key image of the killer which is central to the poster, engaging the audience.

After researching other slasher genre film websites, we were able to ensure that our website included many key features. The first of these is an integrated trailer. The trailer plays as soon as you go onto website, so the viewer instantly watches it. 
The navigation buttons follow the same typography used for the tag line. They are clear and user friendly, making it easy to navigate around the site for anyone.

There are again many links to social media, providing a global platform. The 'Knock Knock' hashtag and universal media logos (Facebook, Twitter and Google+) again allow more ways for the audience to participate, therefor allowing for promotion of the film. 
The use of ratings by well known and trusted companies such as 'The Guardian' provides sincerity as well as a reliable source of information for the audience. 

The real time 'tweets' are there to encourage the audience to get involved, as well as displaying feedback about the film to other audience members. It is a moving feature that makes our website look technologically more advanced and professional.

Key Image 

The poster features the central image of the killer through the key hole, providing a link to the scene in the trailer where a long shot shows the girl opening the door after the knock is heard to see who is there. 
The knife, which is the killers weapon of choice is pointing forwards towards the key hole, making it feel unnerving and threatening to audience. The mask is easily visible in contrast to dark surroundings using low key lighting, which is important for projecting the audiences full attention on the killer.

The mask is a classic convention of the slasher genre e.g 'Halloween' and 'Scream,' both examples of films where the masked killer has created a franchise as audiences form a recognisable 'bond' with the killer. The mask becomes iconic for slasher films, therefore creating a strong image. The fact that it is an image as well makes it universal, not for one language etc. 

The mask is seen as a main feature in both the poster and throughout trailer, as well as on the webpage through trailer,  linking all the components together.

The typography has also carried through the same features that are easily recognisable, for example the scream again 'Knock Knock' title becomes a logo, again that the audience can link back to the trailer.

Combination


The killers mask is used within the trailer, poster and website, becoming the key image associated with this trailer.  The masked villains often become famous from many slasher genre films, for example 'Scream' with the ghostly mask and 'A Nightmare on Elm Street' with the disfigured face and clawed hand. The title has also become recognisable having been included within all components. The tag line is simple and easy to understand, again giving a twist on something child like as is common within the horror genre. We had learnt this through various research and deconstructions.

Our strong links to social media provide a world wide platform in order to promote the film through the poster, website and trailer through the participation of the audience through features such as the live streaming of tweets on the webisite and the 
#KnockKnock.