Analysis of Two Promotional Packages from chosen Genre By Angie Reda-Kahila
What is out chosen genre? My chosen genre for my promotional package is the horror genre. The reason why I decided that I would like my promotional package to surround the theme of horror is because horror movies are becoming increasingly popular as well as the fact that all horror movies have different story plots, hence they are fresh and original, therefore the audience wouldn t know what to expect whilst watching the film, making them be at the edge of their seats.
Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street This film is about the fictional infamous man named Sweeny Todd; an English barber and serial killer who murders his customers with a straight razor as a form of revenge and vengeance for his loved one named Johanna. This film is not your typical horror, in fact it is a hybrid; a Musical Horror. It still contains the common convention of a Horror such as gore and suspense, but it also contains songs with in the film, making it unique and original.
Trailer Analysis Through out the trailer we are repetitively shown a straight razor. This razor is shown through various different camera shot and angles. The close up of the straight razor stresses the importance this appliance has within the film. It is also an indication to the audience that this straight razor will be the main weaponry used with in the film, even though straight razors aren't used as weapons, it is used for shaving, hence challenging the use of this razor making the film unique and original. With another shot in the trailer, we can see how Sweeny Todd is proudly using the straight razor in front of the public. Typically in horrors, the villain is normally very discreet about their evil intentions, however Todd challenges this convention of being discreet, therefore one would think that this horror isn't very scary if the villain is very obvious, moreover, the public is fooled into believing he is simply asking them for a shave, when in fact he is luring them in to cutting them up. As the audience know what Todd s intentions are and the characters don t, it adds to the suspense of the film, hence one can say that by challenging the convention of villain being discreet had actually made the film more creepy. In this high angle shot, we are shown a creepy vintage doll. Children toys are now being commonly used within horrors since children are meant to be associated with pureness and happiness, however by incorporating it with in a horror it twists its meaning and makes the audience be creeped out. The fact that there is a child doll in this film indicates to the audience that there must be some form tale behind Benjamin Barker, since his profile is known world wide as a barbaric barber, however, as with in this shot, we can only see the doll it stresses the importance of this doll therefore implying that there is a story behind it, hence the audience would become intrigued as to why a child may be involved with this murderous human. Maybe he had a child of his own and it was taken from him and now he is seeking revenge?
Trailer Analysis During the beginning of the trailer we are introduced with the film production company Warne Bros. Pictures. This gives a form of reassurance for the audience since th audience know that Warner Bros. only distributes and produces top-notch films as they have made multiple major box office movies, therefore the audience would realise that this film will also be a successful one and may then be interested to go an watch the film. Also, the fact that the Warner Bros. Pictures is the company producing the film, means that they will be able to higher A-List actors, which in fact they did as Johnny Depp and many other famous actors are with in the film, hence an extremely large fan base will therefore want to go and watch the movie as there favourite actors are starring in the film. Within this shot in the trailer, fast page music is incorporated in order to enhance the concept of irrational motives and actions that will take place within the film, since typically in horror s, disturbing and irrational actions take place which make a horror become creepy.. Here we can vaguely see that the victim is already dead and will now be sent o the basement where he will be the main ingredient for the customers pies. This immediately exemplifies to the audience how they can expect lot fog gory deaths to occur with in the film and living up to the concept of the film being a horror, however, the editors couldn t put these gory scenes with in the trailer as this trailer will be readily available for all aged people to watch on the internet, hence they removed such scenes in order to avoid people being disturbed by it. Moreover, the sole purpose of this scene is to indicate to the target audience that if they want to to see a gory film filled with deaths, then this is the film to watch.
Poster Analysis The tagline NEVER FORGET. NEVER FOGIVES immediately causes the audience to wonder about what event may have happened to Sweeny Todd in order to cause him to never forget and never forgive. This causes the audience to become intrigued to the story behind this murderous man, and therefore results them to go and watch the film as they are interested to find out. The background is washed down with low key lighting foreshadowing the darkness and creepiness that may take place with in the film., hence horror convention has been used within the poster to hint to the audience that this film be dark and mysterious, hence earning its category to be placed with in the horror genre. The use of dangerous weaponry (straight razor) exemplifies to the audience how danger and violence will indefinitely occur with in the film, and the fact that this film is a horror the audience may then be aware that the violence that will occur win the film will highly likely be gory and a lot of blood will be present. Also, the way Todd is holding his straight razor is almost as though he respects it and deeply cherishes it, suggesting that his urge to kill is strong, therefore the audience would be interested to why he has such great passion in wanting to kill, resulting them to go and watch the film. The expression from his Todd s eyes suggest evilness, and his determinism to do his evil acts. The fact that he is looking directly at the audience send chills down their back as he is looking at them as though they are his next victim. His villainous character is complimented by the redness around his eyes, as though he is hungry for bloodshed, as well as the paleness of his skin. It represents that he is almost ghost like, foreshadowing how he no longer has emotions and that he is simply now a ruthless man who will kill just for revenge. The barbers chair in the background sets the scene for the film and gives an insight for the audience that the film will be mainly based at his barber shop. However, the fact that this chairs is coloured with bold red suggest gore and death, so rather than the customer going for a simply shave, they may infarct be literally walking to their deaths, hence making the audience creeped out and worried. By simply using an A-List actors name, it exemplifies how the film company producing this film is major one, and therefore a lot of effort must have been put in the film to make is visually exciting. Also, the fact that Johnny Depp is acting in it reassures the audience that the acting in the film will be top-notch and therefore have a good experience watching the film. The use of a blood splatter of DEMON BARBER further exemplifies the point of Todd being a demonic barber and therefore indicates to the audience that a lot of blood, gore and death will occur within the film, hence the film is not for the faint hearted.
Magazine Analysis The background fades from a dark to light colour towards the centre. This may foreshadows the story behind Benjamin barkers life; how darkness began to consume him and that initially he was actually and extremely humble and kind man who was then taken everything good away rom him which may resulted him to act in the barbaric manner that he does. Johnny Depp's face is dominating the magazine cover indicating how the film is going to be mainly based around him and his life story and aims, hence a large fan base will want to go and watch the film if they know the film will be heavily dominated by him. Also, the scary yet captivating eyes of Johnny Depp are starring directly at the audience. His eyes portray anger, sadness yet also revenge. The audience s attention is being drawn by his eyes. The emotions of villainous anger is heighted by the redness around his eyes. Since the colour red is typically associated with death and blood, it may suggest how he is hungry for death, and that he will not rest in peace until he has achieved salvation. His messy hairdo also exemplifies how he may have become mad over the past years due to the say life that he may have had in the past, resulting him to become the demonic barber he is. Johnny Depp's face is ghostly white, suggesting that how he now lacks emotion, since ghosts have no feelings as they have no souls. The audience therefore become intrigued to what may have happened to him in the past. The fact that he portrays no emotions of happiness but simply vengeance and anger gives an insight to the audience about how he may act within in the film. The use of black clothing's extenuates the villainous character Sweeny Todd is. However, these form of fancy suits were the trend during 1780 s, hence through mise-enscene, the audience are getting a representation of how life was during the 1780 s and therefore have a slight insight of what to expect when watching the film. Johnny Depp is in big, bold dramatic letters. The large size of the font draws the audiences attention to the text, and once they find out that Johnny Depp will be starring in the film, a large fan base will want to watch the film. Also since Depp is acting the audience are reassured that they will view a spectacular, priceless performance from him in the film.
Target Audience Demographic: The age range this film is targeted towards is to those who are 18 and above. This is simply because there is blood, gore and horrific death scenes that occur within the film that may be too disturbing for a young audience. Also, it would be aimed at adults since they would have lived a long time to have seen films that have the same storyline, hence this film is different and unique due t it musical twist to it which will appeal to a more mature audience who have an eye for different things. The film would typically appeal to western countries since they are all familiar with the story of Sweeny Todd, also as it has Johnny Depp in it, American Citizens would be extremely happy to see his face on screen again and so may got to see the film just because of him. Having said that, the story of Sweeny Todd is set in England and the film is heavy with British actors. This film is literally about the fiction story of Sweeny Todd who was born in England and so it would also greatly appeal to a British audience. In terms of gender, this film would typically be more appealing for the male trace as stereotypically, guys like blood and action, however, within the story is entwined a deep, soulful tragic love story which would immediately appeal to the female race as stereotypically females are more sensitive to romance. Also as Johnny Depp is playing some one who was in love it would excite females more hence a large female population would go and see the film, hence this film is targeted towards both male and females Psychographic: One can argue and say that this film would be the perfect cup of tea for mainstreamers as they are always in for the new and exciting things. It isn't usual that a horror film would be a horror musical and so this may interest mainstreamers (who are typically 18 and above) as this would be an original concept they ve never experienced before and they are always up for different films.
A Nightmare on Elm Street (2010) This film is a remake of the successful horror franchise A Nightmare on Elm Street. It is based around the character Freddy Krueger who harassed younger children and was the burned to death by the parents of those children. He is now seeking revenge through going into the children's (who are now teenagers) dreams and murdering them where they are vulnerable since they are asleep. This film is a classic horror since it conforms to all horror conventions with extreme gory deaths scenes.
Trailer Analysis In this medium shot, we can see a male character about to get burned to death. To those who are familiar with the film, they will notice that the clothing that character is wearing is the trademark clothing of Freddy Krueger. Fans of the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise would be ecstatic to find out the background story of how Freddy Krueger become the burnt, dream murdering killer he is now, as this shot presents Krueger being burnt, however it doesn t indicate why he is being burnt, therefore the audience would become interested to why he became burnt. As he also being burnt, it means that there will be some gory scenes of his burnt face being shown, however viewer discretion would be advised and therefore this film would only be available for an adult audience (18+) hence earning its genre of being a horror since there will be horrific scene only an adult audience may handle. During the presentation of this wide shot, low key lighting has been incorporated within this scene to heighten the darkness and sadness of the scene. Moreover the low key lighting can be also used to represent the dark, evilness that killed the victim who would be presumably Krueger. The audience would therefore be reassured that gory deaths will take place within the film since Kruger is famous for his creative ways of killing his poor victims. Additionally, during this scene and many others within th trailer, in the background we can here a child singing a nursery rhyme. However, if one listens closely the audience would be completely creeped out and disturbed since the child is actually singing 1, 2 Freddy is coming for you 9, 10 Never sleep again. The fact that a child si singing is add to the creepiness to song resulting the trailer to be even more disturbing as they are using an innocent child as a victim or clue for the audience hence making the audience feel sick and anxious. The slow pace of the music stresses each phrase and allow each phrase to hang coldly in the air creating an increase in tension and horror. This truly does make this film deserve for it to be categorised as a horror as it is being portrayed as an extremely creepy, scary film.
Trailer Analysis During the beginning of the trailer we first see this dark figure far away in some form of sewer, however occasionally through out the trailer we are shown shots of this figure getting close and closer to the screen, and as he gets closer we begin to get a better picture and shape of the figure and soon realise that this figure is in fact Krueger as at the end we can distinctively see his hat and claws from his hand. Its almost as though Krueger is coming for us, hence making the audience scared and anxious. Also, the way the light is manipulated during this scene says a lot about his character. The fact that there is light however it is completely blocked out by Krueger really exemplifies the point of his dark and sadistic nature, hence furthering the point that his soul is completely black. Therefore form the creative use if lighting the audience are given an insight to his character. During this close up shot we can almost make out how Krueger's face looks like in the film. The creative use of makeup allows his face to look creatively and stylistically burned, yet still extremely scary to look at. This sort of makeup would not be acceptable four a young audience to view as thy may be sacred or disturbed by what they are being, hence a mature older audience would be the acceptable age to watch this film as they can cope with this sort of make up. This once again puts the film in the category of horror as his face is almost horrific to watch. Moreover, in this shot, Krueger is point his claw at a girl, hence making the audience move to the edge of their seats as they become increasingly worried for her that she will be harmed by his villainous acts. The use of low key lighting enhances the concept of his dark acts as it foreshadows his evil character and his evil doings.
Poster Analysis The background appears to have a smoke like effect to it. This dark thick smoke protruding in the background foreshadows the fire that burnt Freddy Krueger within in the film which led him to become the creature he is now. This smoke is now the environment Krueger loves, and as he will be killing teenagers in this film, it gives an idea to the audience that maybe the way the victims will die is potentially within his environment where a lot of smoke will be present, since Krueger is now most comfortable in such setting. The darkness of this smoke foreshadows the evilness lurking within Krueger's soul. We can distinctively see that Krueger's face is deeply and severely burnt. The creative editing makeup on his face makes him look extremely scary, however we are only seeing his cheeks, hence one can not even imagine the rest of the horror shown on his face. Through makeup, it gives a clear insight to the audience that this film is not for the faint hearted, hence an audience made up of adults would be advised as this is clearly a horror, that youngster may not be able to take. If one looks closely, they can see a crooked looking smile on Freddy Krueger's face. This crookedness of the smile is extremely unsettling as Krueger is famous for taking revenge on teenagers by killing them in the most elaborative manner, therefore this smile may suggest how he has extremely evil and cunning plans on how to kill his new victims in this film. This causes the audience to feel anxious and worried for the characters in the film as they know something horrific will happen to the, however the audience can only simply watch the film as they can t actually help out the characters in the film. The audience therefore become intrigued to who will survive Krueger's evil, sadistic plans. The claw shown is much larger than his fingers. The large size draws the audiences attention to the claw and notice the gleam coming out of it. The use of dangerous weaponry makes the audience understand that this is the weapon that Krueger will use against his victims hence the audience begins to pity his victims. Also, Krueger's left hand is covering his hand that has the claws on it in a protective manner suggesting how he loves his claws dearly as it is the weapon that should bring him a peace of mind. The tagline sends chills down the audiences spine since everyone dislikes having nightmares particularly if Krueger was present in it, however fans of this franchise would become excited to watch the latest movie for Krueger as they know all the past films have been great as well as visually exciting. The title is bright red which contrasts well against the dark background behind it. It may in fact foreshadow the bold moves that Krueger will do in the film that can not be missed. Also, through the use of capital letters it stresses each letter, hence resulting it in stressing each word. This leaves a lasting impression on the audience, particularly on the word NIGHTMARE, making the audience realise this film is going to be heavy, creepy sadistic film, therefore putting it in the category of horror s.
Social Media - Facebook Anyone who is still interested after watching the trailer to find out more about the film will be able to find more details about the new film as well as the previous other film on Facebook. This is an advantage since as the target audience is to those who are 18 and above, they are the ones who are more likely to have a Facebook account, hence information about th film will be readily and easily available for them. Within its Facebook page, there is an about section which contains the trailer as well as other pieces of footage for the audience to watch and see in order to get them even more excited for them, resulting them to be even more intrigued and tempted to go and watch he film. It also states the specific, official website for the film which contains and even greater amount of detail and information related to the film as well as teaser poster and other footage. Before this version (2010) came out, there were other films as well. Not only does the Facebook page promote the film, but it also advertises the past franchise, since people who are interested in watching this film may also be interested in watching the other films made I the past.
Merchandise As I have stated before, there is already an extremely successful horror franchise for this film. Since warner Bros. was about to promote a new film, they decided to refresh the memories of past fans the franchise and promote products related to the film such as the Krueger costumes for Halloween parties, since Krueger's costume is extremely distinctive and stylistic. They also took this chance to once again promote the past films and sell even more copies of the DVD s on Blue-ray as well. Hence through producing a new film to add to the franchise, Warner Bros. was able to once again promote their older films and create and even larger sum of money from it. Warner Bros. had to work with other together with other companies including toy and clothing companies in order to help produce their wanted merchandise, which allow them to not only promote their new film but to also make a profit out of it. This is known as synergy.
Target Audience Demographic: Undoubtedly this film is aimed to an audience who are 18 and above. This is due to the fact that the concept of a severely burnt man coming into teenagers dreams, then tormenting them then killing them brutally is just a horrific concept that a young audience may not be able to handle, hence it is only appropriate that this film would be classified as an 18 as by then you are an adult and are mature and strong enough to cope with disturbing scenes and also you are aware that this is all fiction. None of it is real, unlike youngsters may think that Freddy is really and so will struggle whilst watching the film. This film would appeal more towards the male race as there is allot of action and gore that males stereotypically enjoy watching. There is little or in fact no romance at all in the film hence it wouldn t stereotypically appeal to females. On the other hand, now in current society, females deviate away from stereotypical views and are now interested in all forms of subjects hence this film can also appeal to females as well who have an interest in horror. The film is set in Elm Street which is mean to be set in the U.S and allot of the film is set in westernised school and pubs, hence th American Society can relate to this film and so are more likely to go and watch the film. Also the U.K would go and watch this film since most horror films U.K citizens watch are American and they are normally successful, hence after knowing the amazing success of the past franchise this film had, they would be interested to go and watch the film. Psychographic: Horror s are now highly accepted by current society and are now the new it genre, hence mainstreamers would be the ones who would want to watch this film as they are always interest in the latest trends particularly in the film industry. Furthermore, this version of the film is part of an extremely large franchise and so people who are fans of the past Freddy Krueger films would be extremely excited about this film therefore also a large number of Krueger fans would go and watch the film.
Evaluation To conclude, after conducting a thorough analysis on two horror promotional packages it has made it clear to me what to include with in my own horror promotional package. Both film have repeatedly used horror conventions such as blood, eerie music, low key lighting and many more, which added towards the suspense and creepiness to the film making it earn their genre of being a horror. Furthermore, something that really sparked my interest was the use of a nursery rhyme in the film A Nightmare on Elm s Street. They completely twisted its meaning of it being an innocent song to something that send chills down people back, and so I would like to incorporate some form of nursery rhyme with in the horror film as it is an original concept that I believe added to the creepiness of the film. Another point I have concluded after my analysis is that I would like to do a traditional horror, in which there would be a typical villain or evil spirits and that there would be victims. As much as it is exciting to see songs incorporated within horror making it fresh and original, I have decided that my target audience would be more comfortable watching a typical horror with an interesting storyline.