Film institutions| Horror Films

FILM INSTITUTIONS JOCELYN

Overture films is an example of an american conglomerate who produce and distribute films their own films of varying genres, which enables them to target mass audiences e.g. Romantic, Comedy, Horror. The film company is a subsidiary of  the parent company Liberty Media and was first established November of 2006, founded by Chris McGurk and Danny Rosett. Overture films make their films avaliable to audiences via home viewing; DVD, Blu-ray and video, internet and television, e.g box office, where viewers are required to pay. What I most interested in are the horror films they make, how they target their audiences via the production and post production of their films. I will then compare their horror and pschological films to our film; Hysteria.

The Crazies film, certificate 15 is based around family and neighbours, they being the prey in the film. This potentially targeting young audiences as most young people still live with their parents, immediate family and so are used to idea of siblings commuciating closely with others and the family operating as one unit. Not to mention the fact the horror film is science-fiction; a 48hr virus spreads across the town causing people to behaviour inhumanly and murder. 

The setting of The crazies poster appears to have captured in a school, hence the lockers in the background on the side; which is very familiar environment to teenagers and will help us to understand the plot in a way that other audiences may not, e.g. understanding the school systems and routines. The fact that the poster is black and white creates a chilling atmostphere, which immediately makes the viewer feel afraid and anticipate the worst. The use of a garden fork in the poster makes the viewer think of murder, notice the strail created by the fork and small drips of what appears to be 'blood' stained on the floor. In addition, the fact the audience cannot identify the person in the poster as the legs are only seen adds to the audience's the fear.

Click here to find out about the Institution and the Crazies Teaser Trailer; http://motionlesspictures010.blogspot.com/2010/10/textual-analysis-crazies.html

How this relates to our trailer Hysteria, is that we are targeting young audiences, we have chosen to film in a school environment, which is obviously familiar to our target audience of 16-25, this in effect allows be to able to relate in someways to the trailer. The age of character in our trailer falls between this target audience and is protrayed in our trailer as someone who is being manipulated by evil spirits which causes her to behave and think irrationally. The Stacey's piercings and costume also adds to her youthfulness and so creates common ground for which young people can understand and relate.
We have adopted the idea of the crazies having a lack of colour in the poster to represent the connations of the film and how the film should make audiences film, for that cold, chillling. We have adopted this by using a green filter on shots in our trailer that is meant to confuse the viewer and make them uncomfortable. Green is often linked to hospitals; illness, sickness and so we have used this colour to represent the character as mentally ill.