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Horror magazine front cover analysis 3

This magazine cover uses typography well as when it mentions other film titles in the coverlines it uses the font that is used for the film itself. This is a good way to promote the films and bring recognition to them away from the magazine. The typography of the masthead works well as it uses red which connotes blood and danger and also the 'F' and 'A' look like fangs which is mentioned in the title "FANGoria". The cover image is successful as it makes audiences feel disturbed and uncomfortable looking at her bloody gums and teeth. The blood dripping from her mouth suggests she has just attacked someone which makes us feel scared and like a victim. The glassiness of her right eye adds to the fear of the girl, it further makes her look not normal. This and the mouth are the only things that stop her looking like a normal female, which adds to the fear because it makes audiences feel like whatever happened to her, could happen to us. The main cover line "Megan Fox will eat you alive!" may appeal to male audiences as Megan Fox is seen as a sexual icon in the acting world, and the idea of her eating you alive may be appealing to this type of audience. It could encourage a different audience to Fangoria's usual audience to buy the magazine because they have a specific interest in the actress of the main film being advertised.

Horror magazine front cover analysis 2

This magazine front cover uses the main cover image, main cover line, other coverlines and some general design techniques well but I feel the typography of the masthead let's the overall cover down as it takes away from the seriousness and fear that could have been successfully generated without the comical font of the masthead. The blood splashes in the corners work well as it conforms to the genre of horror and especially the subgenre that is being targeted on this front cover: zombie apocolypse. The main coverline "ZOMBIES", uses an extremely successful faded font. It is visible but you can see it's fading, this could represent our universe whilst its being possessed by zombies: still present, but slowly disappearing. The cover image is also a success as first, the audience is drawn to the zombie on the left and don't feel initimated as there is no mode of address, she's looking to the left and doesn't look particularly like a threat to us. Then, however, we are drawn to the zombie on the right who is looking directly at us and suddenly makes us feel threatened. The body horror of the zombies is done extremely well as it looks realistic and believable. The font of the masthead is red, so connotes the blood and danger of zombies and looks a bit like blood too as the dripping would suggest. It just looks a bit too bright and a bit comical for the otherwise, faded, classy look of the front cover. Even if the font was a shade of red like the blood in the corner and the font itself was like the "zombies", it may look better but as it's the usual masthead of all issues of Scream magazine they may want to keep its typical look to increase the public knowledge of its brand.
Fanzine - 1980s photocopied magazines sent between "hardcore" fans of the horror genre, and SCREAM recreates the home-made feel which is endearing to dedicated fans of the gory horror sub-genre. This is reflected with the word 'plus', it looks handwritten which would be appealing to this audience. Also, the three images look stuck on and photocopied. It looks handmade which would be appealing to this audience who like a low-quality, grainy 1980's horror films.

Horror magazine front cover analysis 1

This magazine front cover successfully portrays the genre of horror to its audience. It does this by the use of colour, font and the low angle shot of the frightening villain in the shot. The typography of the masthead is extremely eyecatching as the red connotes danger and the fire further shows the audience this. Also it could be saying that the character on the front is so destructive, powerful and scary that he's even causing the brand 'Empire' to deteriorate and burn. This magazine front cover uses primarily red and black with some white and gold. The red connotes danger and blood, the black connotes mystery and usually death but further backs up the danger connoted by the red. The white is probably used so the text stands out behind the red and black. The gold is used because of the tagline that states 'you and whose golden army?'. All of the gold that is used are things that you'd have to buy the magazine to find out e.g, the writing underneath the coverlines, "new pics and plot secrets revealed" and "five-star review inside", the tagline itself "first look! you and whose golden army" and the sticker on the right hand side "40 movies that will get you sex", all of these are things said to persuade you to buy the magazine and find out after purchasing. The gold may be used to add to the persuasiveness as it has connotations of wealth and winning and may persuade audiences to buy it. The stance of the character in the main image gives him power and makes the audience feel intimidated. There is direct mode of address in the shot which makes us feel like a victim. His fists are clenched and it looks like he's about to get violent towards us which victimizes us even further.

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The Devil Inside: Film Review.

The Devil Inside, a filmed directed by William Brent Bell that was produced in 2012 is a horror film that's storyline revolves around demonic possessions. The plot of the film is about Maria Rossi, who in 1989 committed three murders during an exorcism, 20 years later her daughter wants to know more about possessions, in particular, her mothers. Throughout the film, more possessions occur and it ends in a fatal car accident driven by a victim of demonic possession.

The two scenes which impressed me the most were:

1. Where the mother is having an exorcism, quick montage is used to make audiences feel tense and uncomfortable, it puts you into a position where you feel afraid for the other characters in the film as everything is happening so quickly. The scene used natural lighting and was in a setting which added to the realism, this intensifies the "horror" element of the film as it makes audiences believe it could happen to you. If there was bright, unrealistic lighting it'd reinforce the fact that what we're watching is just a film, however this wasn't the case and the lighting and setting used successfully added to the fear of the film. 
2. At the beginning of the film where the police are investigating the crime scene where Maria Rossi had committed the three murders, effective body horror is used. The three corpses are shown and it is obvious the murders were extremely violent with blood spatters, and deep, bloody wounds on the bodies. This was one of the only moments in the film where body horror was used in such a successful way, it did what it was supposed to do and made me shudder and made me feel extremely uncomfortable. This scene is set in a creepy location as it is in the basement of Rossi's home, this has connotations of coldness and feeling trapped in an uncomfortable environment. The lighting is low key adding to the mystery and the unbearable tension of the scene. 

How has watching this film helped me understand this genre of film making:

This film, although being one of my least favourite horror films, still made me feel scared and uncomfortable. This was done by use of horror conventions and successful acting. This shows me that when it comes to filming a horror, it is extremely important to use things such as creepy locations, low key lighting, close-ups and  collision cutting to succeed in doing what a horror should do: make audiences shudder. Without these conventions, a horror film is unlikely to succeed in making audiences feel fearful or disturbed.

Features I spotted in the film:

• Body Horror - this was seen in the film in several different occasions. One example was the wounded corpses at  the beginning of the film. The blood, gashes and bodies themselves looked hideous and I could barely look, but this simply means that it was done well as that is the intention of including body horror. Another example is the manipulation and distortion of the bodies whilst characters were going through a possession, when bones and joints were disconnecting, it made me feel uneasy and I found it disturbing, it is a convention of demonic possession films so was technically needed, however it was done successfully and I found it very disturbing. 
• Close-ups - these are almost compulsory to make a good horror film, I believe. This film used them very successfully and at the right frequency. An example of a close-up used is when Maria Rossi is being possessed and the camera is roughly two inches away from her eye, as an audience member I found this extremely uncomfortable and like I was invading the characters personal space, adding to the awkwardness of the shot. Every character that became possessed in the film had at least one close-up on their face, I think this is also to show their emotion and confusion about the occuring events and to put across to the audience that they are actually innocent, they are victims, they are the ones that need help.
• Collision cutting - there is a scene where this is used well in the film. It is dark and quiet in the shot and slow montage is being used. This very quickly changes when a character shoots himself, the movement was extremely fast and the gun shot was very loud, this part was very jumpy and shocked audiences. There is another part where something similar happens, a character is walking down the street and it is virtually silent, about 5 seconds later, a dog barks. Although it isn't anything conventionally frightening, it wakes you up and makes sure you are 100% watching the film. 
• Handheld camera - this was used constantly throughout the film as it was set as a "real-life" documentary. It was effective because of this and added to the realism of the storyline and made the events more believable. 
• Unhappy ending - it was an unhappy ending because the surviving characters who we believed were safe and unharmed all died in a car crash. The fact that we had sympathy and hope for the characters added to the sadness as we genuinely wanted them to get away from all of the negative things and demons but this ending proved it was too late for them. 

Which aspects of the film I'd include in my own trailer:

 I'd include brief moments of handheld camera, I don't want to do a documentary type film so I don't think that it'd work if there were lots of handheld camera, but to me it reinforces that what we're watching could actually happen to us. An element I'd definitely like to include is the use of collision cutting, I think this is vital to making audiences jump which with the storyline my trailer is going for, is going to be needed. Also, the use of low key lighting in the beginning scene inspired me to do something similar in one of the scenes in my horror trailer. Close-up's are extremely important to portray emotion and make audience members feel uncomfortable, this is a factor of The Devil Inside that I'd like to incorporate into my own trailer.

Which aspects of the film I'd avoid in my own trailer:

The ending spoiled the whole film in my eyes. I felt it was quite a pathetic way to end a film and to me, it looked like the director got lazy when it came to the ending. I was expecting a more exciting, momentous ending and was extremely disappointed with the one I received. This is not how I'd want the audience of my horror trailer to feel so after seeing this, I will put a lot of effort into making sure the ending/jump scare is as successful as it can be. The ending is also slightly an open ending, as there are some surviving characters that we don't know what happened to, I personally like finalisation when it comes to films so was also disappointed with this element, and won't be using one in my own horror trailer.

Context

This film was released in 2012 along with Woman in Black and Paranormal Activity 4. All films cover the paranormal theme and those of ghosts/demons and possessions. This shows there is a public demand for this type of film and explains as to why The Devil Inside was made and reached number one in the US box office and grossed around $144m. This was an extreme success as like Paranormal Activity, it was a low budget, low quality film.

The Others: Movie Review

Media: Horror film review

The others, which was produced in 2001 and directed by Alejandro Amanenabar is a horror/thriller which is about a family of a mother and two young children who are living in a house during the 1940’s at the time of World War Two. The children suspect and have encounters with what they think are a family of ghosts. The mother is constantly waiting for the return of her husband who is fighting in the war. Throughout the film, there are foreshadowing moments which suggests the family’s life isn’t that of a usual, happy family and in the end it is revealed that the ghosts in the house are actually the living ones and the family whose lives we’ve been following are actually the supernatural spirits. The children died of an outcome of the mother suffocating them with a pillow; however the mother believed that she and her children were given a second chance at life from God. However, this was not the case, after the suffocation, the mother shot herself with a rifle. This is foreshown throughout the film by the mother’s first encounter with a rifle; she becomes uneasy and from then on uses it as her weapon whenever she suspects danger. The film contains both historical and institutional context; it is set at the time of the war which is obvious from the costume and the storyline. Another major contextual theme is that of religion. There are constant references throughout the film on how religious the family are which is another reason why the mother refuses to believe that her and her children are dead and in contact with what could be spirits: because the dead and the alive never meet until the end of eternity.

 

 

The scene where the mother first goes on a search for an intruder includes a lot of effective techniques which result in audiences feeling tense and frightened. As the mother approaches the room, the camera is moving slowly and also gives a point of view shot to the door. When she enters the room, it is light. Usually, this would be settling to an audience but because the mother is convinced her children are allergic to the light, the whole film is shot in low-key, dark lighting. The audience have become used to the dark and feel safer in that environment. When she enters the light, it becomes immediately unsettling and tense. This scene includes parallel music as it reflects the suspense that the camera is showing. As the mother starts the search in the room, the director has used quick montage to add to the tension and horror of what may be found. The scene made me personally feel uneasy and on the edge of my seat because I felt in the world of the characters and was scared of what may come out of this search. However, I think that the scene was beautifully shot and was successful in creating suspense.

 

Another scene which I found impressive was the one towards the end when the alive “intruders” were trying to contact the dead family who the audience began to know and connect with. The alive people were sat around the table with someone who was sketching what was being said by the dead, as the mother approached, she was unhappy about being in contact with the alive and being found out about her brutal killings. At this point, the camera shows you the scene from both the alive and the dead families perspective. This is the first time in the film that us as an audience see the family as ghosts. This piece of cinema is the one moment in the film which I found mesmerising. The camera was tracking the table where they were sat, one moment showing the dead family along with the alive, the next only the alive family were shown. This shocked me as I was so used to the family and was convinced they were alive throughout the whole film, so this piece of cinematography I believe was more than successful in its aim to show the audience the real perception of the family.

 

Whilst watching the film, I noticed that it used several of the horror genre conventions. One which was used successfully was the use of creepy location. The house that it was set in was extremely large and grey looking giving it a connotation of coldness. Each room in the house was the opposite of homely and gave the audience scary vibes. The house was next to a forest and had a lot of land outside of it with gravestones. All of these features added to the creepiness of the location and was stereotypical of the horror genre. However, it all adds up to an overall feel of terror and unhappiness. An editing technique used throughout the film to make the audience jump and feel on edge was collision cutting. It was used really successfully in the scene where the mother is looking for the intruder in the junk room. The scene starts off silent with the only noise being her uneasy breathing, and as the scene gets tenser there is a sudden screech of violin music that is parallel to the action in the film. This alone is a feature which I believe makes a scene a lot more successful in creating a scared and jumpy audience. A theme which ran through the film was that of loneliness. The mother especially showed the audience how lonely was by the constant mourning of her husband, it was obvious she was incapable of coping without his presence and this began to make me personally feel the emotions she was feeling. I empathised with her character even though she wasn’t dealing with it in a correct way. The whole contextual idea of the war adds to this loneliness theme as war itself has connotations of coldness, unhappiness and loneliness for the soldiers and the families left behind. The mother also hints of her loneliness when she says angrily about the servants leaving her.  The ending of this film was not an open ending, however I wouldn’t say it was an unhappy ending either. Without looking deeply into it, it may seem an unhappy ending. However, I believe that the family themselves are now free from any regret or loneliness they may have been feeling, that they are now content with their lives and their house. To me, it seems they have got through each obstacle and are now finally content. Another thing which suggests the ending was happy is that the constant fog that was present throughout the film was finally gone and the rooms were now light. This shows the audience that the light is now normality again for the family and for us, and darkness was only their usual reality because of the misery their lives were in.
 

When it comes to my own trailer, I would like to include several aspects of this film in it. The psychological side of horror which is shown in The Others is definitely the path in which I want my trailer to go down, to me, the psychological horrors are the ones  which I find more interesting, believable and entertaining. The unexpected twist at the end of this movie is something I would like my horror trailer to hint at. I don’t want to reveal the twist in my trailer otherwise it would be giving everything away but to make the audience believe there could be a twist will draw them in further and make them more interested. A technical aspect which I would like my trailer to contain is the effective use of collision cutting and camera angles. I believe when this is done right, this shapes a trailer and gives it added quality needed to be successful. However, there are some aspects of the film which I would avoid in my own trailer. The theme of religion is one that does not appeal to me personally as I believe it could be unrealistic and boring to some audiences, also I don’t personally enjoy the link of religion and horror within a movie as it can be disturbing to some potential audiences. Another aspect I would avoid in my own trailer is the idea of darkness being normality and positive. I think that this was done effectively in The Others but in my opinion, it leaves the cultural dominant ideology and representation of horror films’ stereotypes too far that some viewers may not understand it and find it strange.
 

The most enjoyable moment of the film was the scene at the end where the alive family encountered with the dead, I believe this cinematography was so successful and dominant in terms of the whole film that it is something which I would love to recreate in my own horror trailer.