Treatment

What

We hope to create a 90 second trailer for a 70's slasher movie while also creating a corresponding poster and magazine cover.
Why
At first, we had ideas to create a modern horror trailer but then decided to try a different era and we landed on the 70's. as the effects aren't hard to recreate and the genre also interests us as we all enjoy horrors.
How
Using the cameras, we are given we plan to film either in the school or at another location. Already, we have a number of friends who wish to help, whether it be pertaining to make-up, props, costumes or filming. After filming, we'll use iMovie or Sony Vegas to edit our movie. We'll also need to create a strong score to fit the era, most likely a garage band.
Interest
Erin always had an extensive knowledge of horror films. We also agreed as a group that it would be the most popular genre and easiest to create for our project. 
Conventions
We plan to basically conform to the conventions of the era such as; a strong focus on score, a teenage cast, the killer's backstory oddly explained in the trailer and only glimpses of the killer are shown. We don't really want to challenge the conventions of a 70's horror as the style is what attracted us the genre. 

Shot List

Based on our prior research into horror teasers, we recorded into notes camera shots ordinarily associated with horror trailers. These are a few of our notes, we will discuss which of these shots to feature in our project.

1. Extreme close-up of killer's eyes through mask
2. Close up of weapon in his hand
3. Long shot
4. Medium close up of the victims
5. Medium Long shot of the killer stand still, whilst people walking past, add a time lapse to speed the walking. When the final people walk past the killer disappears.
6. Wide angle close up of victims and/or killer, used for horror effect
7. Over shoulder shot
8. Over head shot
9. POV from killer's face.

Target Audience 2

Target Audience 1

In our early stages of planning, we briefly discussed which type of target audience we wanted to reach. We researched horror movie goers and ultimately concluded that the best target audience were teenagers and young adults (13-28).
Charles decided that we should conduct a questionnaire amongst our fellow students to gain further information on what elements of a typical horror appealed most to our target audience.

The questionnaire is featured in the next post, along with our feedback.

Research - The "Slasher" Genre

The subgenre first emerged in the 1960's following the release of Hitchcocks "Psycho"which featured all the classics traits that we expect in a slasher; A deranged psychopathic killer, a 'whodunit' plot and a cast of victims. Despite Norman Bate's small bodycount of only two it is know as the first slasher but "Black Christmas", released in 1973, is widely accepted as the first true slasher.

Research - The height of slashers!

The 1980's box office was filled with terrible cliche slashers so much so that 60% of all takings in 1983 were from only slashers! Almost all slashers were released on public holidays such as;

Black Christmas - Christmas

My Bloody Valentine - Valentines Day

Humongous - Labour Day

All obviously to increase sales, two series stood out among the crowd these being "Friday the 13th" and "Halloween" as they went on to make many sequels and prequels and have even been remade in the past few years.

Preparation: Friday the 13th

Throughout all the trailers we viewed, it became apparent that music created important dramatic effect to the audience i.e. suspense and fear. Friday the 13th trailer used iconic music for each of the scenes that were shown. The music has a major influence over the effectiveness of the trailer. For example, abrasive synth stabs (used by someone like Dario Argento) or low bassy rumbles on the soundtrack, help create a considerable amount of tension and generally create an atmosphere laden with foreboding.