Research Reflection

From doing research into different psychological horror films and looking at different film posters and trailers, it has enabled me to discover what I need to to and what I need to include in my trailer to meet the needs of my target audience. I look at both historical and contemporary film trailers to see what codes and conventions have changed at technology has developed over time. The films that I looked at were:

• Orphan
• Silent hill
• Silent house
• Black swan
• Insidious

All of these films follow similar conventions as they are psychological horror films. From looking at the different trailers, I established that the main characters in these films are predominantly young girls as they are seen to be more innocent which is juxtaposed when they turn evil in the film. In addition to this, the sound used within each film speeds up towards the end of the trailer to build up tension for the audience. The evil person within the film costume is very different to any of the other characters within the film which allows the audience to have a clearer understanding of each character within the film. All trailers use low key lighting to make the film more disturbing and to put the audience on the edge of their seats. Most of the props used within horror films are knives, fire and household items that would cause danger to people.

Not only did this research help me to understand what codes and conventions that I need to include in my trailer to meet the needs of my target audience but it helped me to understand who the actual target audience are and who horror films are aimed at. Most of the horror films that I looked at are aimed at both males and females between the age of 15-30. I think that this is a good age range because anyone below the age of 15 may find some of the scenes within horror films too disturbing for them to watch.

Overall I believe that this research has helped me to develop my knowledge on the codes and conventions of psychological horror and will help me when I come to create my own trailer because I now know what I need to do to ensure that I meet the needs of my target audience.