The Human Centipede - Poster Analysis

This poster for the film ‘The Human Centipede’ is disturbing but intriguing. The main image of a person being pressed against a window or mirror and seeing the mouth open as though he is exhaling a scream, is a scary and frightful sight. There is also blood smeared around the hands of the person which means he/she has been injured or harmed, this is a good technique to horrify the audience. The fact there are 3 people behind the person but you can’t see there faces allow the audience to use there imagination to wonder what’s happened to the other people. The dark greens, whites, reds and blacks create a grotesque visual image. Also the fact the image is blurred connotes nothing is going to be quite straightforward or sane in the film. The colours also connote dirtiness which should sicken the audience. “their flesh is his fantasy” this sick quote is purposed to disturb and make the audience feel very uncomfortable. This poster dosent give much away, but enough to make people interested, This is a good example of an interesting film poster.

The Human Centipede - Trailer Analysis

This trailer begins with shots of two vulnerable girls - we know they are vulnerable as they are about not wearing much clothes and they are alone together. The music in the background; a light xylophone tinkling emphasises the exposure and naivety of the girls, the music sets us up and builds tension for whats coming. The weather is then another key element which helps sets the scene, The stormy weather always connotes danger and horror. Then when the car breaks down we know that the girls are in trouble. There are shot walking alone through woods in the rain, tension should start building at this point. The weather continues to worsen, now the audience should be feeling very uncomfortable. When they are welcomed into a strangers house, which is lit with candles that are giving a red warm glow this shows that the man could be evil and menacing. He grips the sofa and seems almost aroused by the woman’s arrival. The lights are flickering, then we have a close up of a gagged man, we now no this man is dangerous. Then the written dialogue gives us some background information. Then we are shown the procedure that this mad man wants to carry through which should really shock and disturb the audience we are shown the reaction of the actors faces which should make us emphasis with them. We hear screams of terror which should scare the audience, then given subtitles “no hope” “no mercy” which means that nothing is going to end well.  We see a girl un successfully escaping, we can see the horror and terror which should really frighten people. The shots then speed up and we see quick snapshots of dead bodies and blood and surgical weapons,. All these should disgust and make the audience want to look away. We are then left with the films tag line “Your flesh is his fantasy” and the gruesome finished product of the surgeons sick idea. This trailer is effective because no matter how much it disturbs the audience it makes you want to watch it. The only problem is that I feel it gives too much away.

Defining Horror

"An overwhelming and painful feeling caused by something frightfully shocking, terrifying or revolting; a shuddering fear"

"An intense feeling of fear, shock or disgust"

Understanding horror is the first step when creating a horror trailer, you need your audience to apprehend the horror concept.

I researched and questioned my peers and found out what people are scared of, this will help and enable me to build a storyboard for my trailer.

1) The Unknown - People are scared about what they don't know. People's imaginations are there own worst enemy.

2) Being Alone - This is when people are most venerable, being isolated and away from help is a frightful thought.

3) The Dark - Having your sight taken away from you and not knowing what is around you links nicely with 'The Unknown' many children are scared of the dark because they don't have there sight to reassure there safety.

4) Death - Nearly everyone in the world is scared of dying, especially before you have lived your life to the full. "I don't want to die" is a common line used in horror films.

5) Ghosts - The thought of having someone who has died to haunt you; is a disturbing and scary propostion. Ghosts are used in many horror trailers because there is no evidence that they don't exisist...

6) Gore - Having body parts being ripped apart and your insides spilling everywhere is a disgusting and horrifies hundreds of people. Seeing other peoples bodies being beaten, broke and torn apart is scary because it could happen to anyone.

7) Torture & Pain - It's natrual for someone to be scared of pain, no one likes being hurt. And people are scared of how much pain could be caused physically and mentally.

8) Clowns - This is an ironic fear, but I was surprised by just how many people find clowns terrifying, I guess having something that is supposed to bring laughter being used as a weapon of manipulative terror is what scares people.

9) Animals (snakes,spiders,etc) - This irrational fear is very common. Many people fid the thought of having there bodies covered in insects and harmful animals very scary.

10) Aliens - This sci-fi fear is used in horror films because there is know real evidence that they do or don't exisit. Links with 'The Unkown'

I will encouprate many of these points into my trailer.

Do's And Don'ts Of A Good Horror Trailer

Trailers are produced to promote and advertise new films, each genre of film will adapt different techniques to make sure they have breached out to there target audience.
Horror trailers need to scare and entertain the audience.

DON'T tell us what the film is about...
If you really want to scare people, you have to withhold certain information a persons imagination is one of the scariest things ever, as they create and include there own personal fears. They need scary scenes and mysteries but some suffiencent clues, the plot should be left for the audience to discover.

DO cut the 'Announcements'...
Sometimes images speak louder than words when creating an atmosphere in a film, if scenes are repeatdly shown of horrifc horror with occasional phrases, the audience can read and fill the blanks. A voice over normally creates an anti-climatic input on the trialer. 

DON'T include all of the scary scenes...
A good horror traielr should never show all the scary scnees on the trialer, but the viewers do need something to hold onto. The scary clips should be chosen wisely if its too much the audience will be unmoved when watchin the full film but if you give to little, the audience will not be scared - BUILD THE STORY AROUND THE HORRIFYING CLIPS

DO add scary music...
A chilling musical score is imperitive when capturing audiences attention. Whenever scary music is being playes people stop what they are doing do stop and watch what they know will be frightful. It has to be intense and engaging everytime they hear the music they will think of the film

A2 Advanced Portfolio in Media

I have chosen to produce, a promotion package for a new film, and a teaser trailer.
Also I will be creating a film magazine front cover and a poster for the film.

GENRE: HORROR

I have chosen this option because I feel I am able to produce a realistic promotion package and imprint my modern viewpoint to make the finished product recent and effective. My genre is horror becasue I feel I am not easily scared and i'd like to challenge myself to create a trailer which I feel will scare not only myself but hundreds of others.