Textual Analysis

I have decided to analyse 4 horror film trailers because of the fact I am creating my own horror film trailer. In this process, I am hoping to find inspiration for my film trailer as well as seeing the codes and conventions of horror films trailers. I have decided to split the analysing of my film into 2. I have decided to analyse:

• 2 Zombie thriller films - one American and one British
• 2 Zombie comedy films - one American and one British.

The reason I have chosen to do this is because I wanted to see the difference between the way that American films and made into trailers and how British films are made into trailers. Additionally, I will also be looking at the film posters for these films for real in depth detail and research.

  

'28 Days Later', is a British horror action film directed by Danny Boyle and released in 2002. This film is based around an infection that has been let out of a secure scientific laboratory turning normal humans into flesh eating zombies. The story follows the break down of society and the military. The film directly follows a group of people from London trying to get out of the city to somewhere safer, somewhere the military has promised safety, security, food and shelter. However, this is not what the group of people find when they get there as the military have become the dictator.

• Language -
• Institution - The studios which made this film are: UK Film Council and DNA Films. The UK Film Council was put together by the Labour government in 2000 to promote UK made films. One of it main resources of funding is the National Lottery Fund. In 2010, the Conservative party abolished the UK Film Council, many of it's functions have been passed onto the British Film Institute.
• Ideology - Personally, I think the ideology of this film trailer is to make the film seem as realistic as possible to an audience, doing this by:
• Using little special effects - This mainly being using detailed make up on the zombie characters instead of using CGI and editing to create their looks and therefore, a more realistic look is portrayed
• Using local (to the director) locations - Because this is a British made film, a British audience is one of the main audiences which will watch this film however also, a range of other audiences will included in the audience. The fact that the film is based in London creates realism in three ways: it creates realism to a British audience due to London being the capital of England a country that the audience either lives in or knows well, it creates realism to audiences in other countries due to London being the most well known city in the UK and lastly, creates realism due to the location being in a realistic place where an audience member could put them self into personally as apposed to the film being set in a country like Spain or Turkey. 
• Using unknown stars - The characters in this film are not well known British or American stars and I think this is purposely done so that the audience cannot recognise anyone in the film. If a star like Johnny Depp were to be in this film it would take away the realism of this film because it would clearly not be real if a very familiar well known star would appear in the film. Unknown and unheard of stars included in the film makes it so the audience can relate to the character due to not recognising them from previous films as well as being able to create their own impression of the character without their previous role being included in their judgement.
• Audience - The age audience of this film legally, would be an audience 18 years old and over. However, people of a much younger age would have to be considered into the age audience due to digitisation effecting the way an audience watch films. These include: illegal downloads of films, streaming of films on the Internet and films being shown on television which exposes people younger then the certificate age. With regards to the target audience of this film, it would be specifically targeted at an audience who enjoy the feeling of being scared, enjoy other horror/zombie/thriller films, and therefore could be classed as a niche audience. Additionally, the main target audience age for this film would be people between the age of 18-24, fitting in with the age range of people who are the most likely to spend money on the cinema, DVDs, etc. I think the target audience age for this film wouldn't really go above the age of late 30's as I think people of an older age would not appreciate this film as it is not a stereotypical film for people of an older age to watch. Additionally, because the film is a British film, it could be said that a British audience would be more apparent then any other country. The reason for this is because British people are usually very loyal to their country and if a British made film is brought into the cinemas, a lot of the public will go and see the film. It could be said that an American audience or any other country audience could be less apparent due to film not having as big a budget for advertisement like a Hollywood block buster would.
• Representation -

'The Crazies' an American horror film directed by Breck Eisner and released in 2010. The film is a remake of the original film 'The Crazies' brought out in 1973 and directed by George A. Romero. This film although not actually a 'zombie film' follows the break down of society and government conspiracy within a village which water supply is infected thus infecting the villagers and turns them into bloody thirsty crazy humans and therefore, related to the film trailer I have previously analysed. The film directly follows a married couple trying to get away from the village without being detected by the government/military workers due to this ensuring their certain death.

• Language -
• Institution - The studios which made this film are: Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Participant Media. Participant Media is an American film and television production company began in 2004 and is seen as politically involved. Usually, PM creates films which are relevant to current events and documentaries and therefore, this film is a non-stereotypical genre of film for the studio to be involved with. Imagenation Abu Dhabi was founded in 2008 and and is a subsidiary of Abu Dhabi Media which is fully owned by the government.
• Ideology -
• Audience - The audience of this film could include a slightly older audience due to this film being a remake of an original horror film
• Representation -

Zombie land is an American comedy zombie film directed by Ruben Fleischer and released in 2009. The film follows a group of survivors in a zombie apocalypse, brought on by a mad cow disease which turns humans into flesh eating humans, who unwillingly end up on a long and extended road trip to try and find somewhere zombie free. Each character has teamed up in a pair and are constantly fighting each other for the control and dominance by using threats of guns and violence to get control of weapons and cars in the abandoned world. Each character has a 'code name' which is the name of the place that they come from and do not reveal their real names until some time into the film.

• Language -
• Institution - The studios which made this film are: Relativity Media and Pariah Studios. Relativity Media is an American production company which was founded in 2004. The company complies with convergence as the company is not just involved with the production and distribution of film and therefore, had a lot more online advertising then some of the other films I have analysed might have done like; an official film website, online advertising on social networking sites (Facebook, MySpace - sites that target specifically their target audience). Pariah Studios is unlike most studios and is very independent, being one man who specialises in 3D/artist design (green screens, animation, modeling, etc) and therefore, being a very different studio to be included in a large American film.
• Ideology -
• Audience - The audience of this film would be a large global audience due to the film being a Hollywood blockbuster film and therefore, targeting a large audience as most popular well known films brought into cinema and onto DVD are from an American film director/American film institution/production company. Additonally the fact that the comedy included in the film is a widley used slapstick style of comedy, it attracts a large audience because of the codes and conventions of this stylistic being used are extremley popular to an audience, espeically an American audience due to the stereotype of American enjoying the same style of comedy being used in the majority of well known enjoyed films.
• Representation 

Shaun of the Dead is a British zombie romantic comedy film directed by Edgar Wright and released in 2004. The film follows the main character Shaun an average man who is trying to get his life on track and at the same time trying to get his friends, family and ex-girlfriend to a safe haven of a local pub to stay protected against the people who are walking to local streets turned into flesh eating humans with no known reason. Shaun is instantly put in charge of the group and therefore makes all the decision making, he does this in an obvious attempt to get his ex-girlfriend to take him seriously and see that he has changed.

• Language -
• Institution - Due to this film being a British Film, the budget for this film will not have been anywhere near as large as an American Hollywood Blockbuster would have and therefore, a lot of studios are involved in creating this film: Working Title Films and the subsidiary Working Title 2 Productions (also known as WT²⁾, Big Talk Productions and Film4 Productions. The amount of studios involved in the making of this film shows that the British made film needed a lot of financial help to get the film to be as big as a success as it became. All of the studios are British studios, being the main reason why they are included in the fully British made film - this linking with the geographical target audience. Additionally, the film being linked with the studio Film 4 Production, instantly linking the film with the well known British film channel Film 4.
• Ideology -
• Audience - The audience of this film would firstly be a British audience, mainly because the film is a completely British made film as well as the film being well advertised and shown on English TV channels like channel 4 and Film 4. Additionally, the film is targeted specifically at a British audience due to the 'Brithsh Humour' as some audience's from different countries do not understand the British Humour included as it is describes as witty, ironic, self negativity and very sarcastic and is sometimes confusing to different cultured audience. However saying this, this film did surprisingly well in America, a country who's audience is used to slapstick style comedy. This quite probably is because this specific country audience is used to seeing the same style of comedy over and over again in blockbuster Hollywood films and therefore, a difference in the stylistic comedy came as a refreshing change and subverted their comical expectations. Additonally, the use of up coming famous British stars targeted a larger audience as they're names are well known to a large global audience. 
• Representation -